Candy just got more fun

Go to www.fusiongorumet.com , if you please. Green tea latte candy? Iced Tea candy (I just ate one, a little too sweet, but definitely reminiscent of a summer's Southern-sweet day)? We have a few of these at the receptionist desk here where I work. I'm thrilled. But check it out, it looks delicious. ;-)

Em

I'm back, from brief hiatus

Can't write a whole lot right now, but here's something to console you for the long absense I recently took from Bloggy world. :-)

Again, you know me and my righteous disdain for unhealthy food. Here is the an article from MSN on the fat substances of Fast Food. I never eat any of this stuff, but I like knowing the truth about things, especially what I eat (or don't eat).

Be Back Soon!

Viva La Continuation of my Argument

I found this Protestant interpretation of the album (let me just say, I only call it Protestant because of the name of the blog, denomination means little when it comes to this stuff).

I'm not so sure this guy is really getting it, though. I don't think there is an underlying Christian message, as he calls it, within the album. As I've read the lyrics more and more, my doubts are given assurance that Coldplay is mocking Christianity, not celebrating it or "discovering" it. It's like small children mocking or mimicking something they only have partial knowledge of, so they do an "interpretation", if you will. That's Coldplay. Perhaps they are exploring Christian themes, but they are certainly not elevating them. Anyway, give it a read.

More thoughts on Coldplay

I was doing some more research on attempting to understand the un-understanable "Viva La Vida" album, and came across this very sober article from a Christian perspective.

The author is of course recognizing the spiritual references that permeates most of the band's music and I don't believe he comes to any more of a conclusion than anyone else, but he does make some good points about Coldplay's philosophy. So give it a read, if your interested.

Being a person of faith, particularly Christian faith, in contemporary society is never an easy role to play, yet it is what we are. Pop culture and faith are strange bedfellows, but necessary ones when it comes to the dialogue of how they should and do interact and the Christian response to it. This is something has always sparked my own attention, especially seeing how history, society, and culture interact. Throw religion into the mix and it becomes something else entirely. Paying attention to the signs that culture plants in front of us, good or bad, whether negative or positive, is an obligation of the modern Christian. Not paying attention and not analyzing the world around us is, if I may be so frank, anti-intellecutalism, or a shying away from facing the more challenging aspects of what our faith means to us. It's simply spiritual laziness. Christ did not call us to take the easy route, after all.

A few thoughts on "Viva La Vida"

Coldplay's new album has been on my mind recently. I was attracted to it initially by its historical refrences: the Delacroix painting cover-art, the "VLV" music video that mimics it (I'm always impressed by that kind of video work) and looking at the track listing, it seems the songs would be sort of pretty.

But it's been handed a bad rap due to purported anti-catholic references within the lyrics "For some reason I can't explain/ I know St. Peter won't call my name", etc.

I've always been wary about getting too sucked in to music that could easily depress me or just isn't good for the soul (more latter than former), so I'm always analyzing everything I listen to (honestly, it keeps me busy while I listen to almost anything with lyrics). :) So I decided to do some research on the new Coldplay album because frankly I love Coldplay, but was feeling slightly odd about this one.

I read the entire lyrics for the album and there seems to be a running theme of "I know that God exists, but I'm not sure or I'm not ready, to let Him in yet." There is at least one religious reference within each song. Most of them are maudlin little ditties about cemetaries of London at night and "banks that became Cathedrals/And fog/that became God," (Violet Hill). But others are at least a little more poignant: "You thought you were a ghost/ You didn't get to Heaven, but you made it close."

?? Who wants to listen to that? It's rubbish (a polite word I use for something else, I'm afraid). I know that Chris Martin has given interviews about growing up Catholic in Anglican England, so perhaps this is his way of venting his needless struggles with faith, but I honestly don't see how Viva La Vida, which seems to be spouting the words of every disposed despot that ever lived, has anything to do with religion. It would make an excellent theme song for a biopic of Napoleon, starring Gerard Depardieu. :-P

So, no, I will not download the song Viva La Vida (the only one I like, anyway). I'm religious, if you hadn't guessed already, and I won't fund secularity, no matter how much it appeals to my senses. But...I will listen to it on YouTube from time to time, via iPhone. Something about driving with the top down and listening to Coldplay with the wind in your hair goes hand in hand. I think it's the string sections.

Viva La Optimismo!

Fast Food Banned in L.A.

The low-income areas of South Los Angeles are getting a food make-over, hopefully. Poor families only have access to McDonald's (there is nothing good about McDonald's. Positively nothing. If anything, it's an American icon. OK. So is Howard Stern) and other fast-food joints, so they're planning on simply banning anything with a drive-through window in poor areas of L.A. The reason I'm posting this is because a) I'm always happy to see fast-food banned anywhere, but b), I'm not sure this is going to help the over-all health of low-income families in poverty-stricken areas around the U.S. That starts with health-care, not french fries.

For one thing, if you take the relatively cheap, affordable fast-food out of there, what do they plan to put in, if anything? Will they sincerely vow to put in the fresh-food markets and restaurants with better, nutritious choices? I doubt it. The plight of such folks who live in these areas are far from important (let's admit it) to people of certain constituencies. In the end, I think banning french fries and high-fructose corn syrup is a dream come true, not only because of the health factors but I'm also tired of Americans blindly thinking that what they're being fed is actually good for them. Trust me, it's not rocket science: if you can read, you can look at the side of a box and see it's contents (which can also be deceptive advertising).

Gee, kids, what's more healthy? A carrot or a pitiful Chips Ahoy Cookie? Water or sugar-laden Cola? Yogurt (wait now! Read the contents!) or an evil Hershey Bar?

Yes, I'm amusing myself, but I'm also telling the truth. And the truth, kids, is a very good defense.

Georgian England - It's Everywhere You Want To Be

Everyone who knows me knows that I love England in general, but the Georgian period of British history has always fascinated me, if only because of the way it's presented in pop media. It's always bathed in glorious colors of liberty, parties, decadence, manners, love affairs...and corsets.

So I thought I would dedicate this post to anyone who revels in such visual finery and the history of a tumultuous, yet prosperous time in British history (and American, as well!). So let's get started:

• The big news of the moment is the new Keira Knightley film, The Duchess, portraying one of Princess Diana's famously scandalous ancestors, Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire. From the short trailer I saw, it looks moderately well-done. It has Ralph Fiennes, for heaven's sake. Of course, most of the period pieces he does (with the exception, perhaps, of Schindler's List or The English Patient- but I don't consider that "period") end up being gorgeous, eye-candy films but critically lousy (The White Countess, Onegin, for example). I won't mention the early 90's version of Wuthering Heights here because...well...I really like that one!) Go here for more "Duchess" info with video and pics and the whole shebang.

• If you truly want a vast (vaaaaasssttt - I warn you) cornucopia/Encyclopedia of Georgian history, you must look no further than The Georgian Index. This is a very detailed (and image laden) website that covers everything from the royal gossip of the day, food, daily life, politics, money, underwear, where to shop and eat and be scene in London in 1795...I mean, it's all there. Certainly for Jane Austen fans, aside from their official watering hole, The Republic of Pemberley, this is where it's at if you want to immerse yourself in a forgotten world (especially if you want to get away from the present one, which Austenites like me often do).

So there's a start! Next week: Imperial Russia...oh yeah, get ready...