Monday, April 27, 2009

Children and Fairy Tales

It is accused of giving children a false impression of the world they live in. But I think no literature that children could read gives them less of a false impression. I think what profess to be realistic stories for children are far more likely to deceive them. I never expected the real world to be like the fairy tales. I think that I did expect school to be like the school stories. The fantasies did not deceive me: the school stories did. All stories in which children have adventures and successes which are possible, in the sense that they do not break the laws of nature, but almost infinitely improbable, are in more danger than the fairy tales of raising false expectations.
—C.S. Lewis,
On Three Ways of Writing for Children

read the rest of the excerpt here...

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity

Composed by Gustav Holst between 1914 and 1916.
This is awesome.
And Eiji Oue is...entertaining to watch.
The spirit of this music is very much in keeping with the astrological significance of Jupiter as the planet of benevolence and generosity. This Jupiter has no thunderbolts to hurtle down on us, but only knowing smiles and a wink or two. He has come down from Olympus to flirt with beauties in the mortal realm and, if flirtation leads to something more, so much the better. We hear him chasing but not catching the ladies. The music emerges from its cavorting, twirling and gambolling out onto a central plateau of graceful dance music, then sinks back into the carefree patterns of before.
- Bryan Trussler

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

Nickel Creek guitarist Sean Watkins wrote this in his online journal back in '05.

I’m so sick of sugar-coated songs from the Christian perspective. One of the most comforting and inspiring lines to me is from the last chorus of ‘Come Thou Fount’ where it says, ‘Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.’ Not many un-watered-down songs make it through the filter of the Christian music industry mafia these days.


Sufjan Stevens - Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing


Found at skreemr.com