Musing on The Chosen

 

L-R: Thomas, Ramah (F), John, Simon the Zealot, Judas (sitting), Matthew (standing), Simon Peter, Jesus, Mary Magdalene (standing in rear), Andrew (sitting), James (standing), Mary Mother of Jesus (standing in rear), Eden (wife of Peter, standing), James the Lesser (standing in front of Eden), Philip (on ground), Thaddeus (sitting), Tamar the Ethiopian ((F), standing in rear), Nathaniel.
[(F) - fictional characters]

As a general rule I have an aversion for watching anything to do with history published within the last decade or so.  I know that's not fair.  I'm sure some good productions have come out during this time.  It's just so often things are infused with the Leftwing anti-Westernism it's tough to get by any fair viewing or enjoying of the content without choking on the agendas. 

That's why, despite the buzz, I didn't try to get hold of The Chosen when it was first released.  If I have an aversion to historical productions, I avoid like the plague modernist spins on anything Scriptural.  

Nonetheless, a couple years ago when my mom was still living with us, and everyone was at Mass while I was home watching her, I decided for her TV viewing of the day, I'd turn this on.  It just happened to be one of the first options, and there are only so many times I can watch Matlock.  

At first I was befuddled.  What was this dumpster heap I was watching?  Yes, I immediately recognized the actor Erick Avari as Nicodemus, who was the show's obvious ringer.  But it made no sense.  The first episode was almost over and no Jesus. It was all about Mary Magdalene, her demons, Nicodemus's and the Pharisees' inability to help her, and her downward spiral.  Until, at the end of the episode, she leaves a tavern, stumbles into a back alley, and suddenly, there is Jesus.  All he says is 'Mary.'  And that's that. End of episode. 

Which is about how the show handles things.  Now, I have come to enjoy and, more importantly, appreciate the show since that first Easter weekend when I saw it.  But before telling why, a few notes about some issues that I or others have with it and how it handles things in ways I think could be better.

First, it's a series.  Like all television series in the history of television, even with the greatest series, you will have good seasons and not so good seasons.  Good episodes, and not so good episodes.  Same here.  The first season was inspired, and the second season batted it out of the ballpark.  Some of the best religious production I've ever seen came from those.  After that?  A hit, two hits, there's a miss, another hit, a bunt, a strike, and a hit again.  Both in terms of seasons as well as episodes. Every season has had at least some shows worth their salt.  But again, a full TV series with the warts and all.

Second, its basic gimmick.  In some ways, the show approaches the Gospel like a combination of DC Comics and Tom Stoppard.  That is, Jesus, especially in the early episodes, is basically Clark Kent. He's your buddy Jesus from Nazareth.  He laughs, kids, jokes about.  He's an itinerant carpenter, building different things to make a buck.  He hurts his hand while crafting something.  He's one of the guys.  But then, when the Bible story hits, he's all Second Person of the Holy Trinity.  No suffering fools or taking gruff there.  From the beginning, it makes it clear his eyes are on his passion and he never loses sight of that, no matter how much tomfoolery in the meantime.  

Likewise, a tremendous amount of the story is pure fan fiction.  Like your 'Dracula: The True Story!' types you see today, whereby they mean completely changed around and made up, same here.  But like Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, that all changes when the biblical accounts walk into the room.  With Stoppard, the titular characters are modern, speak modern, act modern, and more or less carry on like a modernized sitcom.  But when the actual characters of Hamlet come into the scene, it's straight from Shakespeare quote by quote.  Same with The Chosen.  However fictionalized or made up the characters or storylines, once the biblical narrative kicks in, it's usually verbatim from the Scriptures. 

Now, this is all fine and dandy, but I think one thing it suffers from is an abundance of time.  They know they now have many seasons and episodes, and the temptation to fill the air with endless fictional accounts or this and that can be a bit much.  Some is done well, such as a fictional exposition to help the audience understand the political factions within the Jewish leadership.  But sometimes it's a bit much.  I mean, you can't make things too suspenseful because we all know what will happen.  So endless fictionalized machinations and intrigue and subplots can lose their flavor after awhile.

I do love the idea of Jesus as 'every dude' in that Clark Kent sort of way.  After all, it's refreshing to discover that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity is actually lousy at handball.  But there are times when they go a bit far with that, or with the more modernized dialogue.  Sometimes it works.  Sometimes it doesn't.  It's just one of those things.  The worst part is probably for those well versed in the biblical narratives.  Sometimes the show changes around timelines or stories to the point that those who know the biblical accounts might be genuinely confused.  Though people who have no clue will not be bothered.  And the series does begin, it should be noted, with an opening text explaining that this is a heavily fictionalized account, and recommending all viewers grab a Bible and read for themselves.  So there is that. 

Finally you have the character portrayals. The show goes out of its way to reimagine various biblical characters in new ways.  And that, as can be expected, has caused a great deal of discussion. Matthew is heavily autistic, which accounts for his obsession with details.  James the Lesser is disabled (more on that later).  Pontius Pilate is a fop, an almost effeminate popinjay who is in over his head but knows Emperor Tiberius is ever behind the scenes like a Romanized Sauron, ready to drop the hammer if he doesn't get his act together.  Simon Peter, while muscular, is one of the shortest in the cast.  Simon is often shown as a larger, dominant natural leader type.  Simon the Zealot is practically a ninja warrior Judea style.  There is reason to believe that the character of  Yussif, a major secondary character who is in the Sanhedrin, whose family are wealthy stonemasons, and is sympathetic to the Jesus mission, will turn out to be none other than Joseph of Arimathea.  And on it goes.  Like any creative decisions, these have brought praise and condemnation, with many preferring more traditional portrayals, even if they like the series as a whole. Others, naturally, find them refreshing or thought provoking.  In this case, a matter of opinion I suppose.  

Now, to paraphrase Peter O'Toole in the movie Becket, I have told you why I hate The Chosen, but I haven't told you why I love it.  Though hate is a strong word.  Simply some criticisms I believe are valid.  Next time, however, it will be the positives.  And don't worry, they far outpace the negatives, which is why I don't hesitate, despite the issues I have, giving it a rousing thumbs up. More on that next time. 

Just act like you believe it

An article from some time back lamenting the overall drop in Catholic membership over the decades.  

Here's the thing.  I've learned Christians are forever trying to put the best spin on - anything.  It's as if we don't like to think things are bad in the one place we can go where we want them to be good.  So it's not just a Catholic thing to latch onto any scrap of news and use that to say 'things are looking up!'.  It's as if we believe because of God, things always have to have a happy ending.  Which I'm sure, on the grand eternal scale, they will. 

That doesn't mean it will be that way always, or even over an entire generation, or even century or so.  If we really believe the Christian Faith to be True, as it has been handed down through the ages, then it's safe to say the overall Church (not just Catholic) is at a low ebb right now. 

With all that said, now let me be one of those 'but the bright spot!' types.  There have been trickles of good news here and there.  In our neck of the woods, the number of seminarians cropping up in our diocese has skyrocketed, as have several other indicators of growth and overall ecclesiastical health. 

Now, why is that?  Probably like many things, there are several reasons.  But one is our bishop who I've written about before.  Bishop Fernandes made news because of his ethnicity, as we can expect.  That's what the press zeroed in on, and that's about all the media seemed to care about.

But here's the thing.  He's actually a phenomenal Christian leader.  He's literally everywhere.  In the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth, a fictional customer of Mary Magdalene explains that she has a friend in town, Jesus of Nazareth.  She engages with him about who Jesus is and how he knows of Him.  The man says when you're on business like he is, it's impossible not to run into Jesus.  Cross a town, go into a market, turn a corner and there He is!  

That's the way our bishop is.  My sons and I were walking down a sidewalk near St. Patrick's in Columbus and who did we see walking toward us?  Almost every day he's out and about, meeting these, talking to those, leading this or doing that somewhere in central Ohio.  His energy almost gives the impression that this is important stuff, and he's on a mission.  A mission that is real and matters. 

Beyond that, he's from a STEM family you might say.  Science and medicine appears to be the family trade, though they were also strongly devoted to their Catholic Faith.  As he obviously is.  According to some of his own stories, he was originally expected to carry on the family tradition of going into the field of science or medicine.  Nonetheless, not only did he enter the priesthood, but he also became an actual exorcist for the Church.  Which is believable, since he seems to preach it as if - get this - it's real. That it's true.  That the things in the Bible and our Faith actually happened.  While no open critic of Vatican II era Catholicism, and never one to badmouth any pope I can think of, it's clear his preferences are along the lines of more traditional, old time Christian belief.  And that, I can't help but think, makes a big difference. 

Think on it.  Secularism and atheists did a wonderful job convincing the world, and not a few believers, that we're mostly in an atheistic universe with purely physical solutions to material problems - but kick around God on a Sunday if that's your meat.  But here is a man weaned in a family of science, who was himself expected to follow in the same footsteps, who ended up becoming, among so many other things, an exorcist?  That thing the movie by the same name says nobody believes anymore except some Catholics who keep it in a closet as a sort of embarrassment. 

That is a powerful witness, and the type of thing young people, fast losing all faith and trust in our modern institutions and societal foundations on either side of the fence, take note of.  We're at a stage in history where the great post-war promises of ditching the past in deference to inevitable progress are taking a black eye from reality. And even if institutions that once challenged the status quo - like higher education, arts and entertainment, and the press - are now the status quo, it doesn't mean everyone is biting.  In fact, just the opposite,  Many are applying the same jaded skepticism to their claims of authority as many in those institutions did to the heritage they inherited generations ago.   

Which is why, at the end of the day, it won't be this program or that strategy that matters.  It certainly won't be a willingness to throw the first 2000 years of Catholicism under the bus and insist this time we're getting it right.  It won't be following in the dying liberal Protestant denominations and assuming an alliance with a post-Christian world view is the way to go.  It will be acting like Bishop Fernandes.  Acting like the Catholic Faith and Christian Truth claims are in fact correct.  They're real.  That Jesus is what He said, that the One True God is, that the Church is, that the Faith is, that the miraculous and demonic and angelic is, that eternity is.  Because at the end of it all, the great dividing line will be those who really believe it is true, and those who don't. 

Remember this:

Now as they were eating, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?”  He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it.”   Matthew 26.21-25

Note the disciples ask 'Lord, is it I?'  Judas, on the other hand, asks 'Rabbi, is it I?'  Belief that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God.  And belief that He is, no matter what He or others say, merely one of a busload of rabbis running about.  Then look what happens next.  

At the end of the day, there is a gulf beyond the size of the universe between believing Christianity is true and not believing it is actually true.  And when we are led by people who act like it is true, the results usually speak for themselves.  And they do for what should be obvious reasons. 

A dancing fish

Really, an old clip of Abe Vigoda, who played the character Phil Fish in the show Barney Miller and famously Sal Tessio in The Godfather, gives a glimpse of his singing and dancing abilities: 

A good sport, he joked that when people met him on the street in his later years, they usually expressed shock that he was still alive.  It didn't seem to phase him.  People with that level of humor and understanding always impresses me. 

A movement based openly on lies

Is a movement that should be avoided.  As should be those organizations and agencies that support that movement by sharing the lies, or simply avoiding mentioning the lies.  My first question when I saw the headline was 'What surgeries?  We've been told for a dozen years that nobody is performing sex change surgeries on minors.': 

Here is the story.  The second image is from one of many such discussion a few years ago. 

Yep. What do you expect from a movement that insists there is no objective biological gender or that men can have babies?  Of course originally, the Trans Rights movement was a fringe offshoot worried about people trying to keep tax payer funding from going for sex change operations on adults, often in prison or similar institutions. 

Then the Mental Health Industry dropped the bomb and said transgenderism was no longer a mental health problem.  Which shocked everyone at the time.  How could this be?  If I say I'm Napoleon Bonaparte, you'll say I have a mental health problem that needs addressed.  

Easy.  We'll just say there is no objective definition of Napoleon Bonaparte.  In the case of Transgenderism, we'll just say there is merely a myth that was thrust upon humanity that gender is binary (male and female of species) or that it has anything to do with our bodies.  

What was stunning was the speed with which this was picked up and enforced.  It took the Obama Administration no time to pick up phone and pen and announce that anyone receiving federal funding will accommodate this new post-gender reality or pay the piper.  Which was quickly mandated across the country, often becoming a problem when it resulted in a four year old girl in a bathroom with a 300 pound biker named Thor.

But it was clear that the Left now sanctioned this new 'squares are in fact round' reality:  Anything to destroy any truth claim of the Christian, Western Tradition. The press, academia, much of the medical world, certainly the entertainment industry, and at least by omission, the Democrats.  Liberal branches of various religious traditions also jumped on board.  See Dave's Rules of History: That no matter how stupid or evil something is, if the ruling institutions sanction it, 1/3 of the population will jump on board, and 1/3 will simply look away and avoid talking about it. 

Of course all of this was still largely confined to accommodating men with a yearning for showering and relieving themselves in women's facilities.  When it came to sex changes, we were assured without hesitation that this only pertained to adults, that no procedures were done on minors.  

As it became clear that minors were, in fact, receiving guidance and even medical procedures to change their sex, suddenly it became true and obvious.  Though we were assured that at no point would parents ever, ever be kept out of the loop.  Plus, it was only a vicious transphobic lie that minors were actually being surgically altered.

By the 2020s, the movement came to Ohio.  And by that time, the jig was up.  Activists pouring into the State House made it clear that parents in no way can be allowed to harm their trans children by denying them the only care that will keep them from killing themselves (the 'condone or suicide' tactic being something the whole of the Gay Rights Movement had already adopted years before).  However - and this is important - it was still screamed from the rooftops that nobody, and they mean nobody, was performing surgeries on minors.

A rare photo of our bishops confronting transgenderism

Of course we knew all of this was and had been lies. Though that dead thing people used to call the news media has all but ignored the stories.  So getting information was difficult, and that happy second 1/3 of the population was free to ignore since the press certainly wouldn't actually investigate the movement.  And I include most of the modern Church leadership in this category.  

Now, of course, with stories emerging of high profile lawsuits going the way of young girls who were given mastectomies as minors, it's been hard to contain.  The press still largely ignores it, but it's out there and the press knows it.  So we have this.  Acting like it's no big deal.  Of course they're performing surgeries.  Has anyone said otherwise?  So what do you think of Trump ending care for this?  

None of this is to address the trend of rising violence and violent rhetoric of the transgender movement.  The horrifying threats and attacks on women, the mocking of victims of transgender shooters.  Nope.  This is merely pointing out that the entire movement from its Mental Health Industry sanctioned kick off has been one giant lie, wrapped in lies, and for nothing other than to do what it had to lie about since it admitted at the time it would be a grave evil to cut up minors.  

When the entire substance of a movement has been lie, lie, lie, slander, attack, harm children, destroy families, lie and lie some more, I'd wager it's a movement one should flee from.  All movements have people and people can do bad things.  But when a the essence of a movement has shown itself time and again to be driven by evil, to do evil, to be grounded in evil, to celebrate evil, and to consistently lie and slander to accomplish that evil, one becomes a living mockery of God and man to do anything other than condemn it. 

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8.44

Challenge accepted

"The four kings of EMI are sitting stately on the floor"

Speaking of my youngest son, he recently asked an ancient question that still brings much controversy and debate even today.  That is, regarding the album The Beatles, more famously known as The White Album, which songs would I keep and which ones eliminate?  If you recall, I did a series of posts on my opinion about the least good to best Beatles albums.  Naturally The White Album was brought up. It is most famous for showcasing the quick unraveling of the Beatles camp, with each of the band members more or less producing their own songs while the others went their ways.  

They had come back from India with over thirty new compositions, and wanted thirty to be on the next album, for a double album of original material.  The problem was, their producer, the famous fifth Beatle George Martin, felt many of the songs were subpar at best.  He argued that if they cut the number of songs in half and ditched the lesser ones, they would have a great album, perhaps one of their best ever.  But by then, Martin's opinion was having less and less of an impact.  So it was the full monty.  

When it was released, it obviously went to number one.  But for really the first time, critics were mixed, and many said it was disjointed and inconsistent in style and quality.  Of course today, it stands as one of their greatest, and one of the greatest of all time.  Largely because it shows where they were moving as individuals by that point in the band's rather brief time together.  

Nonetheless, never one to shrink from a fun challenge that costs nothing, I thought I would step up to the plate and make my case for which of the songs should stay, and which could be let go, in order to have that greatest of all albums.  I'll start with the first album of the two, then the second, in order of the songs as they appear.  

ALBUM 1

Back in the USSR

The 'hook' that producer George Martin so valued.  That first song on an album needed to grab the listener.  Largely Paul's production, it's not his greatest, but as an homage to, among other things, a Beach Boys vibe, it works, and is too good to jettison.

Verdict: Keep

Dear Prudence

An idyllic Lennon piece, using the name of a friend he got to know in India.  It's a perfect segue from Paul's USSR.  As a set, they demonstrate well the radical differences between Lennon and McCartney as songwriters, especially by the White Album's recording sessions.  And, in its own way, a good song.  Paul's bass work is alone worth the listen.   

Verdict: Keep

Glass Onion 

A Lennon rant, largely aimed at Paul.  By now the cracks were showing, and this song is Lennon venting.  "I told you about the fool on the hill, I tell you  man he's living there still"?  "Here's another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul"?  Yeah, we get it.  Not a bad song, and a good listen, but a bit 'give it a rest John.'  If pressed for space, it can go.

Verdict: Scrap

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

The much maligned Paul ditty so famously hated by Lennon. It's problem isn't that it's not a fun listen.  But by now Paul was obsessed with production and seemed to think that if you took Mary Had a Little Lamb and poured three months of production onto it, you could make it into an operatic masterpiece.  Still, it's fun, and I don't care what people say, you can't help but tap your toes when it's on. 

Verdict: Keep 

Wild Honey Pie

Burn it with fire.  The Beatles earned the right to be goofy, and many of their studio tricks became a Beatles staple.  Even the wonky You Know My Name, Look Up My Number is earned given their contributions to modern music and the recording industry. But that is no excuse for this hunk of audio garbage. 

Verdict: Scrap 

The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill

Another case of Lennon sermonizing.  This was a dig at America's war machine in Vietnam and the general tendency of America to fight and want to win wars.  It's OK, but not Lennon at his best.  With both albums present, I'm glad it's there, but if we have to cut, it goes. The clearly discernable vocalizing of Yoko Ono only makes the vote easier. 

Verdict: Scrap

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

What can I say.  I know people who don't like the Beatles who concede this is a great song.  With Eric Clapton on guitar, some say it isn't just one of the Beatles' best, but one of the best of all time. Certainly George at the top of his game.  Easiest vote on the album. 

Verdict: Keep

Happiness is a Warm Gun

The first of the Wacky Three.  Taken as a single song, this is pure Lennon.  I don't think getting rid of this works, because it's Lennon in all his 'throw the rules out with the bathwater' glory.  Almost five different song ideas smashed together, they say that all four of the Beatles agreed this was the most fun to record during the White Album sessions. When joined with the next two, the song is even better at showing the vast sweep of styles the Beatles could produce. 

Verdict: Keep

Martha My Dear

The second of 'the Three.'  It's more noticeable on CDs, where this immediately follows Happiness.  On the albums, this is the first song of side two.  As a result, it misses some of the punch of being a perfect Paul insert between two Lennon contributions that demonstrates yet again their stark contrast in writing styles.  Inspired by his beloved sheepdog Martha, it's a toe tapper to be sure.  But on its own, it isn't particularly memorable otherwise, except as part of the three song set.  

Verdict: Scrap 

I'm So Tired

Supposedly a Lennon lament over being tired, having insomnia, and yearning for Yoko, you can't help but wonder if it inspired Madeline Kahn's Dietrichesque performance in Blazing Saddles. Apart from the dig at Sir Walter Raleigh, however, it's more just listening to John fume.  As part of that three piece set, it works perfectly after Paul's Martha. But on its own in attempting to condense the song list, it could be removed without much loss. 

Verdict: Scrap 

Blackbird

The first of the "Zoo Section" (each having animals in their titles), Blackbird was Paul's subtle shoutout to the Civil Rights movement.  It's a pretty and somewhat moving song, especially if you don't know the context and think of it more in terms of general human experience.  Nonetheless, with Paul alone on acoustic and some bird sound effects, it's not his greatest by far.  Not bad at all, and quite a lovely listen worth being on the two album set, but just not necessary.  In a pinch, it can go. 

Verdict: Scrap

Piggies

The song that shows George had all the subtlety of a communal bedpan when it comes to social commentary.  We get the point.  It's a fun song to be sure.  And its blues riff on a harpsichord is classic 'do anything musical that you want' Beatles style.  Nonetheless, its own lack of anything but bludgeoning the message makes it easy to dismiss if pressed to eliminate songs. 

Verdict: Scrap

Rocky Racoon

OK, Paul.  A narrative song in which everything seems to hinge on a Gideon's Bible in a hotel room that ultimately has nothing to do with the song.  The whole song is like that.  A Paul attempt to tap into some faux Country Western musical theater, it can easily be dropped.  A common theme with the Zoo Collection. 

Verdict: Scrap

Don't Pass Me Buy

Ringo's first solo song writing credit (under Richard Starkey).  It's also a nod to the Country-Western genre since, by all accounts, Ringo was quite the fan of that form of music.  A bizarre lyric at times gets drowned out by recording styles and heavy arrangements. Still, it's his first composition, and only one of two songs with him on vocals on the album, so I'd be reluctant to get rid of it unless hard pressed. 

Verdict: Keep

Why Don't We Do It in the Road

Verdict: Scrap

I Will

This works only as a follow up to Why Don't We Do It in the Road. Both are essentially Paul solo performances with a couple exceptions, demonstrating his talent for extreme shifts in musical styles if not musical genres, as well as his command of various instruments.  I would either want to keep both or jettison both. Since I don't have a third option, however, I'll let this one stay. 

Verdict: Keep

Julia

John's tribute to his mom.  Both John and Paul lost their mothers at a young age, and that was the glue that cemented their 'soulmate' relationship in the early days. Despite this, the song somewhat meanders and isn't the best output from John.  It isn't bad, and is touching given the context.  But if we have to cut songs, this one can be cut.

Verdict: Scrap 

ALBUM 2

Birthday

The hook song for the second album, Birthday has drawn its share of critics over the years. It does sound like an amateur jam session in someone's garage to be sure.  But it's also high energy and a reminder that despite all their world and music changing influence, the Beatles were, in the end, merely a rock band wanting to rock.  

Verdict: Keep 

Yer Blues

A John number in pure John fashion.  A straight blues performance with a variety of influences, it's just too John not to include.  The ending drags a big, but overall a strong addition and one that segues, once again, so wonderfully into Paul's follow-up. 

Verdict: Keep 

Mother Nature's Son

One of Paul's home runs.  It sits perfectly after Yer Blues as yet another 'compare and contrast' between his output and Lennon's.  It's a wonderful, peaceful, evocative song from start to finish and there is no way it could be taken off an album. You can almost hear the sound of the music as the waters of that mountain stream rise.  

Verdict: Keep

Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey

Another of Lennon's goofy for goofy's sake songs.  The final riff at the end, with the band doing a strange sort of 'sound like a monkey?' chant, has a certain flare, but not enough to warrant keeping the rest of the song.  So much of Lennon's output this time lacks the usual edge or intent.  It's as if he's wanting to be weird for weird's sake, and if we have to cut songs, this one goes.

Verdict: Scrap 

Sexy Sadie

On the other hand, here is Lennon at his sharpest.  It's a well known dig at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (get it? Maharishi - Sexy Sadie) because of rumors that the guru's intentions were not altogether spiritual where the women on the trip to India were concerned.  The lyrics make it clear how imbittered Lennon was from the experience.  But it's a strong song even without the backstory.  One of his best on the album, and a keeper.

Verdict: Keep 

Helter Skelter

Forever linked to the Manson murders, it's the song that made spinning records in reverse to hear hidden messages all the rage.  It is also considered by not a few music historians to be the first proper 'proto-heavy metal' song based on its instrumentation and style.  Paul is showing he can be nitty gritty bombast with the best of them.  And when you hear this next to his loves ballads like Yesterday, or Michelle, or Here, There, and Everywhere, you can't help but appreciate his ability to tap into almost any musical genre, if not lay the groundwork for new ones, and make it work.

Verdict: Keep

Long, Long, Long

Of two minds on this one.  It's a pretty song of George's.  But the way the sound was mixed (and my son has explained it to me more than once), it's almost purposefully muted to contrast it to the ear splitting volume of Skelter.  Therefore, you either turn up the volume or spend most of the song struggling to hear. Nonetheless, the effect works, and if you make it through the first part of the song, you see it's a pretty good offering from George.

Verdict: Keep

Revolution 1

The beginning of side 2 of the second album, this is John's wading into politics.  Contrary to what an activist recently wrote online, modern day justice warriors don't want this blazing out of the speakers. It's a warning as he watched protesters, and in many cases those who shared his views, begin to spiral into violence, or embrace alternate forms of hateful or other dangerous views.  Just because you see a problem doesn't mean you will always approach it correctly. This is also an iconic song for being a Beatles song that the Beatles themselves covered.  It would take the Beatles to cover their own song, and in a completely different style.  While the single release is a hard rock anthem, this is a slow, understated, tripped out mumble.  One of Lennon's most famous and iconic compositions, and an easy keep.

Verdict: Keep

Honey Pie

No wild honey pie here, this is McCartney invoking an old, vintage 1920's era jazz scene and pop culture motif.  It sounds it.  You could believe it was written ages ago as a backdrop for a Fitzgerald biopic.  The transition phrase that uses a worn, scratchy phonograph sound to suggest an old recording is typical Beatles cleverness. It works as an homage, and as a standalone, and deserves to stay on the album.

Verdict: Keep

Savoy Truffle

Sorry George.  A playful dig at his friend Eric Clapton's insufferable sweet tooth, it's a rousing, fun, and upbeat song.  But not terribly unique or special.  Fun to listen to, but if something has to go, let it be this, and we'll keep While My Guitar Gently Weeps with no complaints.

Verdict: Scrap

Cry Baby Cry (Can you take me back)

No clue about this one.  At one point, in today's sensitivities, I could almost see it banned.  The refrain 'you're old enough to know better' just doesn't sit well for many modern listeners.  Though we don't have to assume the worse behind its meaning.  Even so, the song itself is a strange concoction with dreamy lyrics that bring to mind strange settings in a pseudo-Mother Goose sort of way.  It's an interesting tune, and if there was space, I'd want to keep it.  Plus you have the attached 'Can you take me back'; the part of a song McCartney was working on but never finished.  So what do you do?  If you're the Beatles you just paste it onto another song. Too much to lose, so unless there is no choice, it stays.

Verdict: Keep

Revolution 9

The greatest and most famous argument at Abbey Road studios in Beatles history. Everyone, and I mean everyone, wanted this off the record.  But it was a John and Yoko avant-garde sound experiment, and it stayed.  Coming to this "song" while listening to the album is like driving 70 mph down a highway and suddenly hitting two hours of traffic stuck in construction.  In reality, if the album is cut for any reason, this is the first to go.  As the double album, it stays due to its historical place in the canon.  And as a testimony to the  Beatles' vast influence over the evolving technology and development of the recording industry.  But if we must cut, there is no way this nine minute fever dream on tape remains.

Verdict: Scrap 

Good Night 

Not written by Ringo, but sung by him.  An almost lullaby.  The orchestrations are straight out of Percy Faith, and the lyrics seem as if Ringo is putting his children to sleep with a gentle verse for pleasant dreams.  It's almost parody, and yet it isn't.  Like most Beatles output, it manages to be many things and few at the same time.  It works as the finale for the album, and whether two albums or one, I think it stays and is a fine closing out of the whole work.

Verdict: Keep 

How the modern press became the biggest enemy of the truth

Closer to Ohio Appalachia than north of Cincinnati

If you've not heard, a living nightmare of a home was discovered in Vinton County here in the Buckeye State.  Over a dozen children were living as animals.  Strike that.  Animals live better.  They were abused, imprisoned, and starved.  When authorities discovered the living hellhole, most of the children were on the verge of death.  The four adults - all family - have been taken into custody.

Of course this has opened up quite a debate.  How did the authorities miss this?  Where were local health professionals?  How about social services?  And the schools?  Apparently they were enrolled in the local school district, but never attended.  Did anyone notice?  Where was everyone?

I'm not one to always rush out and blame anyone and everyone when something like this happens.  I understand we are an imperfect brood, despite what we might want to think.  But I'll admit, this was so horrific, sustained for over such a long period of time, and dealt with so many children, it does make you wonder.  But it doesn't make me wonder about this:

That's from the local NBC outlet, though others jumped on the bandwagon. But what debate?  At no point has homeschool even entered the discussion.  There is no evidence that school in any form existed.  Reports so far suggest they weren't even enrolled in the local school district, much less that they filed notification to homeschool.  So nothing reported has suggested this was in any way linked, even with the most extreme stretches of the definition possible, to homeschooling.

So why say something that is based on absolutely no evidence?  Because homeschooling is anathema to the modern Left establishments, for which the media is the propaganda organ.  It doesn't matter if it's true, if there are or aren't facts, if there is any reason in the world to suggest a link could be found.  It's important to attack. 

In many ways, the press has emerged as a sort of secret police industry for the Left.  In addition to nakedly ignoring endless human death and suffering if it might make the Left and its narratives look bad, it has no compunction over attacking anything that challenges or stands in the way of the Left, with or without evidence for doing so. 

Again, based on all reports so far, homeschool has no more to do with the household of horrors than NASA does.  It hasn't been brought up until this article.  This was merely an attack.  It was a purposeful assault on a perceived threat to the Left - homeschooling.  Doesn't matter if it's true, if the facts point that way, or if there are no facts at all.  Journalism that cares about such things as facts and truth and humanity sailed off into the sunset years ago. 

Another Birthday has come and gone

He is a good uncle whose love is more than returned in kind

This time our youngest.  Or as we like to call him, our little Catholic gift.  Nine years behind his next older brother, he has probably had it toughest of the bunch.  At least in terms of the context of his growing up.  In fact, he has spurred a debate in our family for some time.  Is it better to have had and lost, than never had at all?

In this case, the three older boys did pass the first decade or so of their lives in normal, middle class living.  We did the American middle class things.  My parents were still around and we visited them.  We took long trips to see my wife's family.  We went on family vacations.  Did things through the year.  Sports and school activities.  Of course church activities goes without saying.  Then we came into the Catholic Church. 

But by the time our youngest was beginning to be aware, we were entering into our half decade of hell.  And not just because of vast, societal and global events and economic collapses.  Some of it was just timing.  As the youngest by almost nine years on both sides of my family myself, I know the feeling of hearing tales of how the families all got together once upon a time.  Of seeing old photos where all the grandparents and uncles and aunts and cousins were falling out of windows at any event that took place.  And then only seeing a smattering of that by the time I cam along, until almost nobody was left to see my kids or attend my wedding. 

Nonetheless, his brothers did yeoman's work bringing him in and trying to make him part of the four.  And this gave him a spunky spirit to be sure.  He's not afraid to stand up to people three times his size.  Though he sometimes struggled finding that balance, as often happens when kids grow up fast or are surrounded by grownups.  The maturity sometimes lagging behind the experience. 

But I think he's come out looking pretty good.  As the only one in the family born into the Catholic Church, he tends to embrace the whole package of Catholicism more smoothly than those of us from other backgrounds.  He also loves tech, and we're trying to impress upon him the wisdom of pursuing a career in that direction.  Not just physical tech, he loves the history, and can tell you how the sound was mixed when you're watching a movie, or the development of this or that video style, or what have you.  He also loves mixing sound and audio and, to a lesser extend, video.  He's gotten into a serious Beatles kick recently.  Which makes sense.  Diving into the world of audio recording and mixing and not studying the Beatles would be like diving into the space program and not studying NASA.

Apart from his unbridled hatred of all things Windows 11, he's also handy with building and fixing PCs.  As well as video came consoles.  Since he's the last one home with my wife and me, it's a bit of a change.  Though as always, his brothers continue to come through and make sure they're there with him when they can, even as their own lives are going strong in new directions.  Which, as always, can't help but make me glad.  So a blessed birthday year for him, and I must say, all is right with the world.  

With him here alone, it has given my wife a chance to step in and share times in ways she
didn't always do when the four were home together and doing things with me.

It captures his general pensiveness

Happiness is

Taking some pictures of your granddaughter, and seeing her decide to start striking different poses with each click sound: 

We did get to see both grandkids this weekend, but that one was too good to pass up and not post.  Nonetheless, never one to miss a chance to brag on them both, we had dinner with them today and that yielded a few good shots itself. 

The chunko whose favorite pastime is eating, and his sister invoking her inner hobbit