The Alternative Christmas No 1

As I write this there's lots of hype about who will go on to win X-Factor and subsequently gain the prize of the X-mas No.1 record... By the time this is posted we'll know who will carry Cowell's imprinature in the Christmas charts... But I can't be bothered revising this in the light of whatever the result is...
Last year the Cowell-machine was derailled by the campaign to put (Sony-EMI backed) Rage Against the Machine, into top spot, but there doesn't seem to be a coherent alternative being offered this year, although blogger Cranmer was, earlier in the month, pushing a facebook campaign to at least make Sir Cliff's "O Little Town" (one of the few of his offerings that I can actually stomach) chart, and a group of other artists have banded together as "Cage Against the Machine" to record John Cage's (See what they've done there?) "4 minutes 33 seconds" of silence. Given some of the artists involved, this will be the best album they have ever recorded. But I doubt that either of these offerings will wrest the top spot from Cowell's anointed one.

I doubt that the song below would ever be in the running... But it is refreshingly apposite and doesn't take itself too seriously... It reminds me of some of the earlier Housemartins stuff, or an act from way back in the 90s called "Fat and Frantic" (anyone remember them?)
A few friends posted this on facebook earlier in the month, but I thought I would post it now as a bit of an antidote to the mainstream nonsense...
Enjoy...

Shalom

Comments

Living under the Empire... (2) Where is Babylon?

We were driving back from school last week, talking about books that we had been reading and my younger son, Ciaran, asked me "Where is Babylon?" I have to confess that my history is better than my geography, and I said that it no longer exists as an inhabited city, but its ruins were to the north west of the current capital of Iraq, Baghdad. When I checked however, I discovered that it is actually about 50 miles south of Baghdad and the modern town is the administrative centre of the province of Babil... But just as the modern city is but a shadow of the historic capital of 2 ancient empires, first under Hammurabi in the 18th century BCE and then the "Neo-Babylonian" empire (under Nebuchadnezzar etc) in the 6th century BCE, so the earthly Babylonian empire/s was/were fleeting in comparison to the enduring metaphorical idea of Babylon. The original Empire under Hammurabi was probably the ultimate origin of some of the early Biblical stories, including the ...

A Woman of no Distinction

Don't often post other people's stuff here... But I found this so powerful that I thought I should. It's a performance poem based on John 4: 4-30, and I have attached the original YouTube video below. A word for women, and men, everywhere... "to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known." I am a woman of no distinction of little importance. I am a women of no reputation save that which is bad. You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances, Though you don’t really take the time to look at me, Or even get to know me. For to be known is to be loved, And to be loved is to be known. Otherwise what’s the point in doing either one of them in the first place? I WANT TO BE KNOWN. I want someone to look at my face And not just see two eyes, a nose, a mouth and two ears; But to see all that I am, and could be all my hopes, loves and fears. But that’s too much to hope for, to wish for, or pray for So I don’t, not anymore. Now I keep to myself And by that ...

Psalm for Harvest Sunday

A short responsive psalm for us as a call to worship on Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday, and given that it was pouring with rain as I headed into church this morning the first line is an important remembrance that the rain we moan about is an important component of the fruitfulness of the land we live in: You tend the land and water it And the earth produces its abundance. You crown each year with your bounty, and our storehouses overflow with your goodness. The mountain meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are filled with corn; Your people celebrate your boundless grace They shout for joy and sing. from Psalm 65

Virtual Methodist

Search This Blog