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The Music of David Bowie and The Eagles

January 20, 2016 by bjcorbin

Given the requisite age of rock stars from the late 1960s, and early 1970s, it’s not really surprising that many of these pop culture icons are passing away.  This last week has seen two significant figures from the world of rock and roll step into the annals of music history.  First it was David Bowie, whose eclectic collection of musical styles, and personas, made him impossible to categorize.  If you’ve never listened to his music, here are ten cuts worth seeking out:

  1. Space Oddity (from the 1969 album, “Space Oddity”)
  2. Changes (from the 1971 album, “Hunky Dory”)
  3. Ziggy Stardust (from the 1972 album, “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars”)
  4. Suffragette City (from the 1972 album, “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars”)
  5. Rebel, Rebel (from the 1974 album, “Diamond Dogs”)
  6. Fame (from the 1975 album, “Young Americans”)
  7. Golden Years (from the 1976 album, “Station to Station”)
  8. Ashes to Ashes (from the 1980 album, “Scary Monsters”)
  9. Fashion (from the 1980 album, “Scary Monsters”)
  10. Under Pressure – w/Queen (released in 1981 as a single, and included on the 1982 Queen album, “Hot Spaces”)

In recent days, Glenn Frey, of the band “The Eagles”, also passed away.  After starting out as background singers for Linda Ronstadt, Frey and drummer Don Henley went on to form what became one of the most successful rock bands of all-time.  Though detractors have often criticized the groups soft-rock, country tinged sound, the music buying public devoured their records, and turned out in mass for their concerts.  If you’ve never listened to their music, here are ten cuts work seeking out:

  1. Peaceful Easy Feeling (from the 1972 album, “Eagles”)
  2. Desperado (from the 1973 album, “Desperado”)
  3. Bitter Creek (from the 1973 album, “Desperado”)
  4. Best of My Love (from the 1974 album, “On the Border”)
  5. One of These Nights (from the 1975 album, “One of These Nights”)
  6. Lyin’ Eyes (from the 1975 album, “One of These Nights”)
  7. Hotel California (from the 1976 album, “Hotel California”)
  8. Life in the Fast Lane (from the 1976 album, “Hotel California”)
  9. Wasted Time (from the 1976 album, “Hotel California”)
  10. Seven Bridges Road (from the 1980 album “Eagles Live”)

Posted in Entertainment/Music/Sports, Lists, Tributes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Thought for the Day – Sharing in Christ’s Sufferings

January 19, 2016 by bjcorbin

I believe that we as “Christians” like to think of our hardships as suffering for Jesus’ sake.  But unless we are partaking of the “divine nature”, genuinely attempting to follow the leading of His Spirit, and/or manifesting the character of Christ, it is doubtful that we are actually sharing in His sufferings.  More often than not, we are simply reaping the consequences of acting in our own strength, and doing what is “right” in our own eyes.

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Thought for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 18, 2016 by bjcorbin

Despite being a person who has taken the time to publish a few books, write hundreds of articles, and produce countless presentations over the years, I have to say that most talk is incredibly cheap.  Though words have the potential to be powerful within the right context, they rarely find that setting.  And even when they do, they can still come up empty if they’re not backed up with corresponding action.  It’s so easy to say that we believe in something, when that belief doesn’t cost us anything.  But the truth of our heart is revealed when it comes time to put hands and feet on our rhetoric.  If we’re not willing to get out of our comfort zone, or make a sacrifice, or even just risk being criticized, our words mean nothing.

 

Our nation was once renowned for its creativity, productivity, and resilience; but in recent decades we’ve largely become a culture of big talkers, who produce very little.  On a day when we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr, it seems a good time to remember that it wasn’t just the eloquence of his speech that made such an impact.  Ultimately, it was a life lived as profoundly as the words he spoke.  We, and the leaders of our nation, would do well to follow his example.

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Thought for the Day – Silent Lucidity

January 1, 2016 by bjcorbin

It seems to me that life is lived amidst the tension between who we were created to be, and who we’ve always been.  And that in moments of forced sobriety, and silent lucidity, we are confronted by the sense that there must be more to life than what we are experiencing.  Though we like to think of ourselves as victims of circumstance, we come face to face with the reality that we are far more responsible for the state of our condition than we’d ever care to admit.  The fact that we make bad decisions does nothing more than qualify us as members of the human race.  But a steady refusal to learn from those mistakes, or to change direction, will ultimately brand us a fool.

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Thought for the Day – Christmas Memories

December 26, 2015 by bjcorbin

If you ask a young person about their favorite Christmas memory, they will most likely tell you about the best present they ever got.  But if you ask an older person that same question, you’ll almost always hear about the people they were with.

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Happy Birthday My Friend

December 17, 2015 by bjcorbin

Today is my dear friend Jeff’s birthday.  We’ve now worked together for over twenty-four years, and in that time we’ve become like brothers.  We started out as peers, both working as supervisors in the plant’s decontamination facility.  He ran the crew that worked the large parts, and I had the crew that did the smaller parts.  Jeff had started out as a worker, years before I got to the plant; and I started as a supervisor, after finishing my time in the military.  The first thing I noticed about him was his pension for practical jokes, and I quickly assumed that he just wasn’t a very serious person.  But in the years since, I’ve discovered that he is actually one of the most thoughtful and diligent people I have ever known.  He is passionate about the things he believes, and he tries to live his life by them.  After a few years, Jeff became my boss, and working for him was a real pleasure.  Because he believes that family comes first, it was never a problem when situations arose at home.  No matter what that cost him in terms of the work, it was a price he was willing to pay so that people could be there for their families.  That is typical of my friend Jeff.  He is a man of principle and character.  Being around him caused me to take a hard look at my own character, and I didn’t like what I saw.  His example convicted me, and was a meaningful part of the inspiration that eventually caused my own life to turn.

 

Growing up in the Catholic Church, I was always taught that Saint Jude was the patron saint of lost causes, but I’m pretty sure that Jeff has now taken that baton.  He always seems to find himself at the helm of some ship that appears to be headed for its doom.  Whether that’s putting a new engine in some ancient mini-van, or running an old, under-staffed, & perpetually under-funded facility; or pastoring a church that has only a handful of congregants left; or giving a second chance to people who everyone else has already written off; or reaching out to families in a local housing project that have long since been forgotten by their neighbors; or running an annual Vacation Bible School to teach under privileged kids about Jesus. He instinctively steps up to take the job that no one else really wants, and holds out hope where there seems to be none.

 

Through the years we have labored, learned, and laughed together. We have embarrassed ourselves just to get a laugh, and we’ve prayed through tears for our family and friends. Hanging around Jeff has inspired me to be a better man, and our friendship continues to be a source of great blessing in my life. My hope is that I could one day be as good a friend to him, as he has been to me. So today, on the 61st anniversary of his birth, I celebrate, and thank God for my dear friend Jeff. Happy Birthday Brother!

Posted in Personal, Tributes | Tagged | 2 Comments »

Thought for the Day – Game On

December 10, 2015 by bjcorbin

With our two youngest (Andrew and Bekah) playing for their respective high school basketball teams, we spend a lot of time courtside.  As a matter of fact, we’re in the midst of a five day stretch where either the boy’s team, or the girl’s team, has a night-time away game.  And when you frequently hang around such venues it’s not uncommon to encounter people who think that “basketball is life”.  But from where I sit, it is life that is a lot like basketball.

 

Like basketball, life requires preparation.  You may get by for a while on natural ability, but at some point you have to invest yourself in it, if you hope to have sustained success.  Just like traversing the length of the floor, and getting to the rim, there will always be situations, scenarios, and obstacles, that stand in your way.  It requires patience, perseverance, and some amount of skill, to negotiate those hurdles.  It is only on rare occasions that you find yourself completely on the other side of these things, with a clear path to the goal.  When those openings come, you must be ready; because such windows of opportunity close quickly.  There are times when you need to press, and other times when you need to let the game come to you.  Sometimes you can simply cover a zone, but other times demand one-on-one attention.  Discerning those times is a significant key to victory.  Likewise, you will find that there are often fouls in life that never get called, times when your teammates won’t pass the ball, and moments when you inexplicably dribble the ball off your own foot, or shoot it over the backboard.  How you handle these moments of disappointment, frustration, and failure, will drastically impact your potential for future achievement.  Finally, there is the noise that surrounds the game.  The instructions of a coach, the cheers and jeers of the crowd, the call of a ref, the encouragement or chastening of a teammate, the trash talk of an opponent, and the little voice inside your head that responds to all of them.  Knowing which voices to listen to, and which ones to tune out, is a crucial skill that every player needs to develop.

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Thought for the Day – Ungrateful

December 2, 2015 by bjcorbin

As the Thanksgiving holiday approached my heart was burdened to consider those who have no family to gather with; but as we emerged from the weekend, I was even more saddened by the number of those who have no appreciation for the families that they have.

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10 of Our Family’s Favorite Christmas Movies/Shows

November 30, 2015 by bjcorbin

It’s funny what people consider to be “classic”.  I suppose a lot of it comes down to what you grew up with.  For instance, I grew up watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, so it has always been a part of my holiday tradition.  Some of the shows on this list are “favorites”, but don’t necessarily qualify as “classics”, while there are some classics that didn’t make the list of favorites.  An example of this would be “It’s a Wonderful Life”.  Because, while I love the message of that movie, and I think that Jimmy Stewart’s performance is outstanding, watching George Bailey’s life unravel on an annual basis is just too painful for me.  The productions included below are some of the shows that have become a part of our annual Christmas tradition. 

 

  1. Miracle on 34th Street (1947 movie, starring Edmund Gwenn): This heartwarming classic (featuring Maureen O’Hara and Natalie Wood) is ostensibly about whether to believe in Santa Claus; but it is the contrasts between the kind and generous Kris (Gwenn), and the cynical commercialism of a couple of large New York City department stores (Macy’s & Gimbels), and the oppressive pragmatism of Doris (O’Hara) and the spirited idealism of her neighbor Fred, that convey a more timeless, and transcendent, message.  Favorite scene: When Susan finds Kris’ cane at her dream house.

 

  1. White Christmas (1954 film, starring Bing Crosby): Though this big budgeted Hollywood musical is only loosely tied to Christmas, the opening scenes with soldiers on the battlefront taking a break for a little yuletide celebration, the closing scene with snow coming down around a picturesque Vermont Inn, and the inclusion of what is arguably the most successful Christmas song of all-time, make it an indelible part of the holiday season.  Favorite scenes: The surprise party for the General, and the eventual arrival of snow at the inn.

 

  1. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965 animated television special): Though the production value of this special is absolutely primitive by today’s standards, it retains a sweet innocence that is sadly missing from almost anything produced in the last 25 years.  Charlie is a type of every-man, who generally plays the role of underdog, but who aspires to do great things, and who searches for meaning within life’s mundane events.  The inclusion of a classic soundtrack, provided by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, has been a significant part of the show’s continued success.  Favorite scene: Linus’ speech on what Christmas is all about.

 

  1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966 television special, featuring Boris Karloff): Based on a book by Dr. Seuss, this story touches on themes (e.g. repentance and redemption) similar to those found within the classic Dickens story, “A Christmas Carol”.  The narration by horror film star, Boris Karloff, and the memorable song, “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch” only add to the charm.  Favorite scene:  When the Grinch hears the Whos down in Whoville singing their joyous song.

 

  1. Scrooge (1970 musical, starring Albert Finney): Despite some very poor special effects (e.g. Scrooge flying over London), a bizarre performance by Sir Alec Guinness as Jacob Marley, and a forgettable scene where Scrooge descends into hell, this is still my favorite adaption of Charles Dicken’s classic tale.  Albert Finney is superb throughout, and the musical score manages to enhance the story.  Favorite scene – When Scrooge unwittingly comes upon his own funeral procession and thinks that the town is having a parade in his honor.

 

  1. The Homecoming (1971 movie, starring Patricia Neal): This movie became the de facto pilot for the long running television series, “The Waltons”.  It beautifully captures both the virtues and the struggles of the depression/war era it portrays.  It is both subtle and rich.  Favorite scenes – John Boy’s narration, as he recollects the events of his life on Walton’s mountain.

 

  1. Silent Night (2002 Hallmark TV movie, starring Linda Hamilton): This made for TV movie portrays a German woman (Hamilton) who takes her young son to a cabin in the woods to escape the advancing armies.  On the night of Christmas Eve, both American and German soldiers come to take refuge there, as they all wind up spending a tense night together.  Each of their stories unfolds throughout the evening, and in the light of Christmas day, they emerge from this experience changed.  Favorite scene – When the young German soldier (Peter) sings a Christmas carol for them, and they realize that he is only fourteen years old.

 

  1. The Polar Express (2004 animated movie, featuring Tom Hanks):  Like Miracle on 34th Street, this beautifully animated feature would seem to be about believing in Santa Claus; but when the kids in the film come face to face with the “Big Guy”, he reminds them that he is only a symbol of the true spirit of Christmas.  While the movie does take an occasional side trip to show off the special effects facilitated by the computer animation technology, it manages to keep the characters at the center of the story.  Along with some stunning visuals, the musical score by Alan Silvestri, and songs featuring the likes of Josh Groban, are top notch.  Favorite scene – The duet sung by the heroic young girl and the poor boy (Billy).

 

  1. Christmas in Canaan (2009 Hallmark TV movie, starring Billy Ray Cyrus): While this TV movie tackles broader themes (e.g. race relations, poverty, stereotypes, loyalty), it also maintains a strong enough connection to Christmas to be considered a holiday movie.  Favorite scene – When the impoverished family opens their presents, which are pictures from the catalog of what their father wanted to buy for them.   

 

  1. A Christmas Carol (2009 animated feature, starring Jim Carrey): There is a lot to like about this Robert Zemeckis film.  The computer animation is beautiful, and it solves the problems that most productions have with realistically portraying the supernatural elements of the story.  Carrey does an admirable job voicing Scrooge, and demonstrates his range by voicing several other characters as well.  Overall, the story sticks pretty close to Dickens original material.  Favorite scene – When an unseen Scrooge comes face to face (i.e. within inches) with a grieving Bob Cratchit.  As he stares deeply into his tear filled eyes, you can almost feel Scrooge’s heart break.  .

Posted in Christmas, Commentaries, Entertainment/Music/Sports, Lists, Opinions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

10 Holiday Movies/Shows that I Can Live Without

November 30, 2015 by bjcorbin

One of the things I have appreciated about the Christmas season has been the opportunity to take a break from the relentless, cynical, rude, and sexualized rhetoric that seems to rule our everyday entertainment. Unfortunately, within the last couple of decades, those things have found their way into the seasons entertainment offerings. Many of which are listed below.

 

1. The Christmas Story (1983 movie, starring Peter Billingsley): Though Peter Billingsley is utterly charming throughout this movie, the rest of the cast, and the story, make it hard to watch.

 

2. Scrooged (1988 movie, starring Bill Murray): Little more than Bill Murray being obnoxious and trashing a classic story.

 

3. Die Hard (1988 movie, starring Bruce Willis): I actually enjoyed this movie, but the fact that the terrorists take over the building during the company Christmas party doesn’t really qualify it as a Christmas movie.

 

4. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989 movie, starring Chevy Chase): If you like National Lampoon, Chevy Chase, and/or the other “Vacation” movies, you probably consider this a classic. But for someone like me, it’s everything I dislike in a comedy, wrapped in Christmas lights.

 

5. Home Alone (1990 movie, starring Macaulay Culkin): Though I’m not a fan of slap stick comedy, my main contention with this film is that it isn’t a Christmas movie at all. Christmas is just a plot element, and not a substantive part of the story.

 

6. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993 animated feature from Tim Burton): Like all Tim Burton creations, this is a fascinating film to watch, but it’s eccentricities overwhelm any genuine sense of connection to Christmas.

 

7. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000 movie, featuring Jim Carrey): Jim Carrey goes way over the top in this overly long adaption of a beloved story. It’s painful to watch.

 

8. Elf (2003 movie, starring Will Ferrell): This is as close as Will Ferrell ever came to playing a role I could watch, but in the end it was just too ridiculous to be heartwarming.

 

9. Bad Santa (2003 movie, starring Billy Bob Thornton): Bad Santa = Bad Movie. The end.

 

10. Fred Claus (2007 movie, starring Vince Vaughn): This movie aspires to be something that it never quite achieves. All the rude, slap stick, Vince Vaughn mugging, buries whatever mild sentiment they may have been shooting for.

Posted in Christmas, Commentaries, Entertainment/Music/Sports, Lists, Opinions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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