The End Of The Century

several weeks back i watched a documentary about the Ramones entitled ' The End of the Century.' the film was an inside look into the lives of the band members and the rise and fall of one of the most underrated and underappreciated bands of the last several decades. chock full of interviews, live concert footage, and videos from recording sessions and world tours, it was hard not to be drawn to the Ramones as a simple punk band playing the constant underdog role in the big world of rock n' roll.

i personally came to know their music much too late into their tenure, during the late 90's when they seemed to have been reduced to some sort of novelty act, playing gigs such as the MTV movie awards , and Lollapolooza with much younger and more grungy slash alternative bands.

As most kids my age, I went through a punk phase where all i really listened to was punk and all i cared about was punk. i didnt get into the whole lifestyle thing and never sported a leather jacket, dog collar, or mohawk, but the music for a time really spoke to me. and one of the bands that i discovered, when i was exploring the earlier days of the genre, was the Ramones. and sadly they are one of the few punk bands that I still can stomach now.

'The End of the Century' reminded me that the Ramones, love them or hate them, love punk or hate it, inspired and influenced the punk movement. bands like the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and many more got their start after being turned onto the Ramones, not to mention countless others.
Sure I know the whole thing with all the band members using the name Ramones for their last name might seem silly. and i will acknowledge that a lot of their lyrics were less than stellar. and yeah the music was about as minimalistic as you can get. But man, i cannot help but really like this band. and to see and hear that their was a ton of drama by way of love-hate relationships and in-fighting amongst members, even to the point where Johnny and Joey didn't speak to each other for over a decade eventhough they were in the same band. I mean this is some pretty heavy and deeply interesting stuff.

Sadly though three of the original members have passed away. but they leave behind a legacy of music and style that will live on. It all just goes to show that the Ramones were way more than meets the eye or ear. I gotta go, I think i am gonna go listen to their greatest hits...

A Serious Way of Copying A Title

i would like to begin this post by welcoming myself back to my blog. its been a little while since we last spoke. i apologize for not getting back to you sooner...
anywho, i thought i would explain the title of my blog. in my ongoing quest of unoriginality, i chose to copy the title of book. a couple weeks back i began reading, and soon after finished, an interesting little piece written by Reynolds Price, a Duke professor of English and Literature, also a respected novelist, poet, and commentator on religious thought, and someone who affectionately calls himself a 'religious outlaw.'

the book is entitled 'A Serious Way of Wondering: the ethics of Jesus imagined'. i must admit that i knew going into this work that this book would be quite provocative and controversial in nature, anything written about Jesus is generally considered so, but i have never been one to avoid such a thing simply on those grounds alone. i am one who thinks that controversy or thoughts other than my own should be confronted and learned from, not avoided and pushed aside without proper examination.

so in this book, mr. price provides a glimpse at what he feels, and in some ways i tend to agree, are the apparently contradictory ethics of Jesus as articulated in the Gospels. he does so using quite a bit of artistic license and makes his own personal opinions known throughout. the central thought of the book is found in price's presentation of three problems of burning moral concern, not only in Jesus' time, but especially in th year 2007. often arguments given for many things involve someone stating: "but Jesus never said anything about (blank)." and we fill in the blank with whatever issue we want like homosexuality or abortion or whatever. And so price attempts to present a Jesus who does confront such issues, and speaks at length on homosexuality, suicide, and the plight of women in male-dominated areas like faith and ministry.

although i don't agree with all of price's observations, i think he has done a great service to us by exploring these issues with honesty and humility. i tend to see most of the Christian culture as being narrow minded and unable to see a much larger picture outside of their own 'world'. i am sure i will be posting more thoughts on such things in the near future. but in the meantime, if you want to read something interesting and outside of the conservative scope of evangelical Christian thought, go ahead and give this book a try.

The Mormons

recently i watched a very interesting pbs documentary on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also known as: the Mormons. the film was a fascinating glimpse into the history of what is perhaps the one truly American faith, that is, it was created here and has spread across the world, whereas Christianity, Judaism and Islam, started elsewhere and spread here much later.
i have been an admirer of the Mormon faith for some years now, dating back to a girlfriend i had in the 8th grade, who was one, and travelled to Utah every summer to visit her humongous family. years later, in 2002, i worked in Salt Lake City for the Olympic broadcast team, and visited Temple Square and couldn't help but be taken back by how incredible the architecture was and how much of a presence the faith has on that city. on my crew i worked with many Mormons, and honestly i found them to be good people, hard-workers, who were disciplined and serious about their faith.
so watching this documentary was a further way of me exploring this faith which i don't completely understand, but has drawn followers by the millions to its message. the film was very good, and i recommend it to anyone interested in religion or who has questions about Mormonism in general. i am not Mormon, and i certainly do not adhere to all that they claim or profess, but i appreciated the unbiased approach of the film, allowing the viewer to decide for themselves what to believe.
i can sit here and say that there are too many crazy aspects of Mormonism to buy into it such as the visions of Joseph Smith, the book of Mormon, the polygamy thing and so on. but as a Christian i have to be brutally honest and admit that there is quite a bit about the Christian faith that can be viewed in the same light to one who does not already 'buy into it'. i personally have mixed feelings about the Mormonism and whether or not to classify it as a "Christian" faith. i am quite sure though that it is not a cult, in the sociological sense of the word, although i am certain many would debate that point with me.
anyway, i think much of our feelings toward the Mormon church is based out of ignorance, simply meaning that we don't know who they are or what they stand for. when we think of Mormons, we think of two guys in white shirts and neckties ringing our doorbell to talk to us about their faith. there is much more to the Mormon faith than what you may think and i think its important to gather more information before we come to premature conclusions.

what am i doing?

i guess i have caught onto the whole blog bug and have broke down and started my own little thing here. i have very little as far as expectations for this and wouldn't be terribly surprised if nobody actually reads this besides my family.
i have no idea what i will be writing about or how often i will be posting, but i have a feeling that much of my time will be devoted to topics of great interest to me, which include, but are not limited to music, religion, love, sports, politics, and et cetera.
so to those of you who have chosen to take part in this adventure with me, welcome to my blog. thanks for stopping by.

JD


currently listening to:

Calexico- garden of ruin
The White Stripes- get behind me satan
The Roots- game theory
Wilco- sky blue sky