Dillard on eternity

"Time is eternity's pale interlinear, as the islands are the sea's. We have less time than we knew and that time buoyant, and cloven, lucent, and missile, and wild.

-Annie Dillard, Holy the Firm, pg. 21

Paul Thomas Anderson on There Will Be Blood

Terry Gross of NPR's "Fresh Air" conducted an excellent interview with writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson about his new movie There Will Be Blood.

So far, There Will Be Blood is getting a 100 at Metacritic, though there are only 5 reviews up.

Also, the soundtrack, composed by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, came out this week. Here's an early review.

I have extremely high hopes for this latest film from Paul Thomas Anderson and I cannot wait to experience it. Daniel Day-Lewis looks like he will offer another magnificent performance and the rest of the cast looks to be quite solid.

If this movie is even close to as good as I think it will be, it will be the best movie of the year, hands down.

daniel day lewis there will be blood paul thomas anderson jonny greenwood radiohead

Some free Christmas tunes

Ellery- December Days EP

Sounds Familyre Records- A Familyre Christmas (Sufjan, Danielson, Half Handed Cloud, etc.)

Happy Christmas!

Edit: Almost forgot Sleeping at Last. You can download "Silver Bells", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and listen to "O Holy Night" here.

sufjan stevens free christmas music danielson half handed cloud sleeping at last

The Hobbit- 2010

And...Peter Jackson will be producing! Good news! Here's a blurb from CNN:

Two "Hobbit" films are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, similar to how the three "Lord of the Rings" films were made. Production is set to begin in 2009 with a released planned for 2010, with the sequel scheduled for a 2011 release.

Also see info here at the "Official Hobbit Movie Blog aka We-Are-Tolkien-Nerds".

the hobbit peter jackson jrr tolkien lord of the rings

How to not waste 8 billion dollars

Consumer Reports on gift card pitfalls.

MSNBC on avoiding gift card waste.

Have a Martin Luther Christmas

Phillip Ryken shares some neat thoughts about how Martin Luther preached and wrote songs about Christmas.

From the article:

We might be tempted to think that if we had been in Bethlehem, we would have given the baby Jesus the welcome he deserved. “If only I had been there!” Luther imagines us saying. “How quick I would have been to help the Baby.” And yet, said Luther, “You only say that because you know how great Christ is, but if you had been there at that time you would have done no better than the people of Bethlehem. Why don’t you do it now? You have Christ in your neighbor. You ought to serve him, for what you do to your neighbor in need you do to the Lord Christ himself” [p. 31 from Martin Luther’s Christmas Book].

martin luther church history christmas

Generation Y in the workplace

MSN has an interesting article about Gen Y in the workplace.

Employees under the age of 29, also known as Generation Y, expect their employers to provide more benefits and other perks than their older counterparts, according to a new survey from CareerBuilder.com and Harris Interactive. Gen Y workers want better pay, a flexible work schedule and company-provided BlackBerrys and cell phones.

generation y entitlement

WTS Books- Top 10 books of 2007

Mark at Sacred Journey shares the top 10 books that WTS Books has sold this year.

You can also read a staff review of the top selling book "When Sinners Say I Do" at the WTS Books blog. 

I can personally say that I have been blessed by the work of WTS Books, both in the quality of the books they are offering at great prices and the generosity they have shown me by being a blog partner with them.

best of 2007

Radiohead- In Rainbows.Disc 2 and other Radiohead news

Rolling Stone (those evil cigarette peddlers!) takes a detailed look at the 8 extra songs you get when you order the deluxe box set version (while supplies last) of Radiohead's In Rainbows.

MK1

Down is the New Up

Go Slowly

MK2

Last Flowers

Up on the Ladder

Bangers and Mash

4 Minute Warning

Also, the potentially download-for-free-legally offer from the band will be ending on Dec. 10th, so go get you some.

Finally, Radiohead's first 7 records will be collected in a nifty box set and available Dec. 10th. 

Radiohead out.

radiohead  in rainbows

The Golden Compass- an author's perspective

Pete Peterson at The Rabbit Room shares some good thoughts on The Golden Compass and the entire His Dark Materials trilogy.

golden compass

Even the wind and the waves obey Him...

Forecast for today:

LARGE WEST SWELL WILL MOVE INTO THE WATERS TODAY...PEAKING NEAR 27 FEET AT 17 SECONDS. THESE POWERFUL WAVES WILL GENERATE BREAKERS OF 30 TO 35 FEET IN THE SURF ZONE BY AFTERNOON. THE SWELL IS EXPECTED TO RECEDE BELOW 18 FEET WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

BEACHES...JETTIES...AND ROCKS ON EXPOSED COASTLINES ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS IN THESE CONDITIONS. LARGE WAVES CONTAIN TREMENDOUS FORCE AND CAN SWEEP INDIVIDUALS INTO THE FRIGID AND TURBULENT WATER WHERE SURVIVAL IS UNLIKELY. PEOPLE ARE ADVISED TO REMAIN AWAY FROM THESE AREAS UNTIL THE WAVES SUBSIDE.

I work about 5 minutes from the beach and I will be watching these during my lunch break. From a far distance of course. Lord knows I don't want to be swept in frigid and turbulent waters where survival is unlikely.

Meditations on Psalm 27- Safe

Author Paul Tripp (who penned the wonderfully helpful and encouraging book Instruments in the Redeemers Hands) has been sharing his meditations on Psalm 27 since mid August (this is the first post).

He says:

Psalm 27 really is an amazing psalm. There are moments when it soars with the thoughts of what it means to be a child of the Lord. There are places where it reaches into the harshest realities of life in a very broken world. There are times when this psalm is a scalpel, cutting through the layers and exposing the heart. It is a psalm of worship, commitment, trouble, beauty, and patience. There's a way in which Psalm 27 is a biblical worldview done as a podcast. There simply is much more there than you think there is after your first reading.

Today he shares a wonderful meditation entitled "Safe." Here is the conclusion:

I am safe
from my evil heart
and this shattered world,
not because I can escape
them both,
but because in the middle of
temptation and trial,
danger and disappointment
sickness and want,
You give me everything
I need to
fight temptation
and avoid defeat
and to point others
to the safety
that can only be found
in You.
So, I will wake up tomorrow
and face the anxiety
of not knowing,
the fear of my own weakness,
and the reality of the fall.
I will live with
faith,
courage,
perseverance,
and hope.
And when danger comes,
and it will,
I will whisper to
my weakening heart,
"Emmanuel is your shelter,
You are safe."

psalm 27 paul tripp