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Musical Truth
The music chosen as the Mass setting in the Diocese of Knoxville is okay but it’s not my favorite. As I wrote at the start of Advent, I was looking forward to hearing different settings when I traveled.
I was in St. Louis a week ago, at a church that uses the Mass of St. Ann by composer Ed Bolduc. It has a much more joyful sound and is ideal for youth choirs. In the old days, we might have heard that sound at a “folk mass.” You can hear a demo version of it by clicking on the play button to the left.
In conversations with Fr. Gary Braun in St. Louis and Fr. Michael Woods in Knoxville, both priests mentioned the misguided video entitled “Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus.” In it, Jefferson Bethke begins with the erroneous claim that Jesus came to eliminate organized religion. Jesus actually said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” He said to Peter, “upon this rock I will build my church.” He instructed the disciples to carry on without him, forgiving sins (the sacrament of penance) and commemorating the Last Supper (the sacrament of the Eucharist).
This morning, Fr. Michael Woods suggested I read a column by fellow parishioner Bob Hunt in yesterday’s Knoxville News Sentinel. A week earlier, I had told Fr. Gary that Catholic blogger Frank Weathers (another All Saints parishioner) said organized religion is like the military. It may not be perfect, but you need it to fight evil.
A blog called “Bad Catholic” posted a great repudiation of Bethke’s video. Perhaps even better, they shared a link to the following response video by a priest in Evansville, Indiana, named Fr. Claude (Dusty) Burns aka Fr. Pontifex.
Choosy Mothers Choose GIF
Krisha Newport stopped by my remote broadcast on Wednesday. She was on her way to a planning meeting for the Gatlinburg Improv Fest, which starts five weeks from today. The entry deadline is January 25. The festival will run February 23 to 26 at Sweet Fanny Adams Theatre, located at traffic light #3 in Gatlinburg.
The headliner is a one-man musical improv act called 6 Guitars. The star, Chase Padgett, had to buy a new guitar when his home was burglarized recently.
Krisha said there will be an improv jam, in which all the participants get to play improv games with each other. Although I’ve been doing improv for over ten years, this will be my first improv festival and I can hardly wait. I saved a few bucks by signing up Einstein Simplified before the early registration deadline last month.
Relapsing McPheever
They say that ” Smash” is like “Glee” for grown-ups. It’s actually better than that. My interest was piqued by the frequent promos, which inexplicably say “introducing Katharine McPhee.” She was on “American Idol” six years ago.
The series debuts the day after the Super Bowl but NBC has made the pilot episode available three weeks early via several methods including Xfinity On Demand and Amazon Instant Video.
“Smash” tells the story of a Broadway musical being created. The show-within-a-show is a musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe. It only took a few minutes of the pilot to get me hooked. McPhee’s character is competing with another girl for the role of Marilyn. I especially loved the baseball number, in which Marilyn sings and dances with Joe DiMaggio’s teammates.
Jack Davenport plays the director of the musical. I always enjoyed watching him on the British version of “Coupling.” There are a couple of other recognizable faces in the cast including Debra Messing as one of the writers and Anjelica Huston as the producer.
When Katharine McPhee was on “American Idol,” my family and I were interested to know that she had attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks. Several of my daughter’s elementary school classmates went to Notre Dame and she considered going there herself before choosing a different school.
No Surrender
Jilly’s Cupcake Bar & Café in St. Louis has expanded since my visit in August. They knocked down a wall and took over an old fabric shop that was next door. They have a fun atmosphere and a great Sunday brunch. In August, I learned that I should have made reservations. Yesterday, I learned that the reservations have to be made a few days in advance. They don’t take same-day reservations.
As soon as my family and I arrived, we noticed a sign that said they would be on “Cupcake Wars” again that night for a battle of previous champions. Casey Shiller saw us watching him through the window that now surrounds the kitchen. He washed his hands and came out to the hallway to chat with us. He remembered us from August and graciously welcomed us back. When we asked about the show, Casey spoke carefully so as not to reveal the outcome of the episode.
After brunch, we saw Casey and the staff assembling four types of fancy cupcakes. It was obvious to us that these would be the same cupcakes we would see on “Cupcake Wars” that night. My wife knew immediately that he had survived the first round. I hoped he would win and based on his plans for local media appearances this week, I thought maybe he would. Unfortunately, he was sent home after the second round.
The judges seemed unusually harsh in their criticism of Casey’s decorations. The unintelligible French pastry chef Florian Bellanger thought they did not capture the spirit of the American Music Awards. When we lived in California, I was fortunate enough to take my daughter to the American Music Awards and to the after-party. I think Casey’s cupcakes would have been a fine fit for the event.
Keep on Turning
Finding other Frank Murphys online amuses me. As proprietor of frankmurphy.com, I feel a certain responsibility to steer wayward Internet traffic back to the right Franks. This happens mostly with a realtor in California whose email address is very close to mine.
My latest discovery has an Irish accent and a YouTube channel full of cover songs. It wouldn’t surprise me if “Frankie Murf” turned out to be the same guy as “Master Frank Murphy.” What do you think? Here’s his version of “Proud Mary,” bar chord blips and all:
Storm Team
The torrential rain in East Tennessee yesterday prompted me to watch “Stormy Weather,” one of the movies I bought with the Amazon.com gift certificate I received for Christmas. “Stormy Weather” has some laughs, great singing and phenomenal dancing.
It was a famous dance scene that prompted me to put the film on my wish list in the first place. Near the end of the movie, the Nicholas Brothers do amazing splits on the floor and on stairs. Somehow they glide back to their feet after each split.
About a year and a half ago, I was chatting with a friend outside church after Mass. Her young daughter approached and wanted to show off a few tap dancing steps. I told the family about the Nicholas Brothers and suggested they look for the scene on YouTube. The girl grabbed her smart phone and within minutes was watching the scene I had described.
12 Pianists Percussing
On the twelfth day of Christmas, I listened to the Christmas music I bought with an Amazon.com gift card. The best song was one that was absolutely free. I downloaded “Ave Maria” by Celtic Woman. during Amazon’s “25 Days of Free” promotion.
“O Holy Night” by Point of Grace had been on my wish list for a long time. The song used to get airplay on a local Christian station before the deejays were fired and replaced by syndicated programming.
“A Steinway Christmas Album” by Jeffrey Biegel was on sale for $4.99 when I bought it. Biegel is a friend of Maestro Lucas Richman and has performed in Knoxville several times. Many of the album’s solo piano performances are very relaxing with a few uptempo surprises mixed in. I can picture my family opening presents next Christmas while this album is on. I wonder if I can stream it on my new Sony SMP-N100.
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