Keywords by David Yonke

Woody Allen has made some of the greatest movies, from slapstick like "Bananas" and "Sleeper" to urbane comedies like "Manhattan Murder Mystery" and "Small Time Crooks" to provocative dramas like "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and "Annie Hall."

Nevermind his personal life, which has gotten enough negative publicity -- probably some of it accurate and some just wild misstatements. His worst movie, the repulsive "Deconstructing Harry," was made during the depths of his troubles (1997) and for me is unwatchable.
Allen's films are so intriguing to me because of his intelligent humor, his hilarious expressions, great casts, and his propensity to explore eternal issues. I've seen them all and some of them many times.
But a new Newsweek interview shows how heavily his atheism is weighing on his mind.
"At 72, he says he still lies awake at night, terrified of the void," the article says.
And this: "... he knows why he makes movies: not because he has any grand statement to offer, but simply to take his mind off the existential horror of being alive. Movies are a great diversion, he says, 'because it's much more pleasant to be obsessed over how the hero gets out of his predicament than it is over how I get out of mine.'"
This is a man who is not at peace, who has no faith and ultimately no hope.
He says he enjoys life, and I believe it, with his clarinet and his love of New York and Paris and his wife of 11 years Soon-Yi Previn and their 2 adopted children.
I feel sorry for Woody Allen after reading this article. You want people to reconcile their spiritual and physical lives, their eternal and mortal existence. I think this brilliant artist is trying to rationalize the big issues, bring then down to human level and understand them through his intelligence.
That's not how faith works. It takes the faith of a little child.
I once heard a good explanation of faith by Lester Sumrall, an evangelist who is now deceased. He said that to understand faith, think of child standing atop a ledge looking down at his or her parent. Faith is not standing on the edge, it's leaping into a parent's arms, trusting they will catch you.
Woody Allen is standing on the ledge, and, in his view there's nobody there to catch him. Without faith in God, he has nowhere to jump. Sooner or later, however, he's going to get knocked off whether he's ready or not.
Here's hoping -- and praying -- that Woody finds his way to faith. And consequently a peaceful night's sleep without an abject fear of "the void."
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Sylvania, Ohio
Aug. 20, 2008

I watched Flight 93 last night, the movie about one of the airliners that was hijacked on 9/11. I've avoided the movie until now because it's so disturbing, but it was on TNT (in high-def) and I just happened to be channel surfing when it started.

When the movie first came out in 2006, I remember talking to a critic about it. A lot of people were upset and said it was too soon after the event. Some cried in the theater, some walked out. Many expressed renewed anger at the terrorists. Movies have such strong emotional impact that they are unlike books or magazine articles, or even TV shows.
I really don't think I could have watched the movie even a year ago, and was surprised I could view it even now. But time has dulled some of the pain and once I started watching it, I could not turn it off.
It was a powerful film, well-made and realistic. Who knows exactly what happened on that plane, we just have isolated incidents mostly through cell phone and air phone conversations with passengers. There's the heroic line from Todd Beamer, "Let's roll."
These were just ordinary citizens on a typical trip -- old ladies, young men, all of the strangers you see in the airport. The movie did not show any children passengers, which was probably not accurate but understandable.
When they got word from loved ones that two planes had hit the Twin Towers and a third may have hit the Pentagon, they realized the hijackers were on a suicide mission. They fought the terrorists and hoped to take over the cockpit and fly to safety. But the jet was too low and they crashed in a field.
Incidentally, a high school friend of mine, Joanne Hanley, is an official with the National Parks Service and is one of the people in charge of the Flight 93 memorial.
The movie brought the horror of that flight to life in a powerful way. Although it's not overly violent or bloody, it is definitely not for the faint of heart.
The opening scene shows four Muslim men in their hotel room, deep in prayer, preparing for their deeds. It's probably the most haunting image of all, knowing that these attacks were perpetrated by religious people.
Every religion has its zealots but this was such a dastardly attack that shook our nation to the core, and the terrorists supposedly were doing this to glorify Allah.
It's a day that will live in infamy, and one that will have repercussions for many generations.
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Sylvania, Ohio
Sept. 8, 2008

Did you sleep better this weekend knowing the government is going to try to bail out the teetering financial institutions? 60 Minutes had a segment last night about how Wall Street created this disaster and some of the execs who were earning $50 million to $100 million a year are now turning to taxpayers to pay their corporate tabs.
Nice deal for them.
Update: The stock market took a major dive today, dropping below 10,000 for the first time since 2004. There doesn't seem to be much confidence among investors in the government's $700,000,000,000 bailout plan.
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I wrote another item about the movie Fireproof being a surprise hit in the box office and producing a best-selling book. You can read it here.
I see it earned $4.1 million last weekend, which pushes the total grossed in two weekends at $12.4 million. Not bad for a $500,000 investment.
By comparison, Bill Maher's Religulous earned $3.5 million in its opening weekend. The movie blasts all religions and militantly promotes atheism. Even most mainstream critics don't like the film because of its insulting, condescending tone. One critic said Maher did what few people could do: Make Michael Moore look like a nice guy.
The book from Fireproof, called The Love Dare, was created after the movie. It had been a plot device in the film, and the Kendricks Brothers decided to make it a real book and maybe help some people trying to save their marriage. It already has sold 300,000 copies. You need to sell 40,000 to make the best-seller list.
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My book club is meeting to discuss "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. Have you read it? It's been out a while. It's a sincere biographical look at institutional religion and God written by a disillusioned 30-something who was raised in the church.
I like Miller's personable, unpretentious writing and his eye for nailing hypocrites and charlatans, but he does tend to whine a bit. This book touched a lot of people in his generation, however, and it became a best-seller and opened the door for a successful writing career for Miller.
Update: I just got a note today that Miller is speaking at the University of Toledo on Friday.
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I'm having lunch with The Exorcist today -- Bob Larson, a man who has cast out more than 6,000 demons in 90 countries. I watched him perform an exorcism nearly three years ago and wrote about it, and the story generated a lot of attention both good and bad.
I'm not sure what I'm going to write this time but I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to meet with this controversial, interesting man.
I think people discount him because they don't believe demons exist. I believe they are real, although it's something that is hard to verify, quantify, and/or write about. Unless you're a fiction writer like Dan Brown or William Peter Blatty.
I did a quick Bible search and found 104 references to the word "demon". Jesus certainly talked about them a lot and cast them out of people.
What do you think about demons, possession and exorcism in the 21st century?
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Sylvania, Ohio
Oct. 6, 2008

This would be funny if it weren't so sad... Here's a guy who is living the good life because he happened to hook up with three of the greatest musical talents in rock history -- certainly not because of his adequate but unremarkable drumming skills.
You'd think he'd be grateful that people are still asking for his autograph -- and buying his music and paying to see him in concert. But nooooo... Ringo is quite put out by the burden of being asked to sign things.
Maybe the stock market is ruining his mood. But a friend of mine who writes about music for a living told me a few years ago that Ringo was turning into "a grouchy old man."
This Reuters story that was published today is proof my friend was right:
===============

Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has told fans to stop sending letters and requests for autographs, saying mail will be thrown away after October 20 because he has too much to do.

Starr, 68, made the announcement in a video message titled "Sorry, No More Signing Stuff" posted on his official web site www.ringostarr.com.
Wearing sunglasses and flashing a peace sign, he says;

"I want to tell you after the 20th of October please do not send fan mail to any address you have. Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed.

"I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing."

He said; "This is a serious message to everybody watching my update right now. Peace and love. Peace and love."

Starr, who with fellow Beatles Paul McCartney and the late John Lennon and George Harrison, comes from Liverpool, England now has homes in Los Angeles and France.

Starr has released more than 12 albums since The Beatles broke up in 1970, the most recent of which was "Liverpool 8" in January 2008.

Here are a few notable quotes on religion from that great theologian, Homer Simpson, which I found while cleaning out a file cabinet:

I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman!

I'm not a bad guy! I work hard, and I love my kids. So why should I spend half my Sunday hearing about how I'm going to hell?

Dear Lord, the gods have been good to me and for the first time in my life, everything is absolutely perfect just the way it is. So here’s the deal: you freeze everything as it is, and I won’t ask for anything more. If that is OK, please give me absolutely no sign. [no response] OK, deal. In gratitude, I present you this offering of cookies and milk. If you want me to eat them for you, please give me no sign. [no response] Thy will be done.

But Marge, what if we chose the wrong religion? Each week we just make God madder and madder.

Dear God of England, please get me out of this. If you do, I promise to spell the word 'color' with a U, and use the metric system with every cubic milliliter of blood in my... oh, I can't do it! It's so stupid!

Don't worry, son. I'm sure he's up in heaven right now, laughing it up with all the other celebrities. John Dillinger. Ty Cobb. Joseph Stalin. (sighing) I wish I were dead.

Homer: Your mother had this crazy idea that gambling is wrong. Even though they say it's okay in the Bible.
Lisa: Really? Where?
Homer: Eh, somewhere in the back.

The lesson is: Our God is vengeful! O spiteful one, show me who to smite and they shall be smoten.

And one from neighbor Ned Flanders: Bless the grocer for this wonderful meat, the middlemen who jacked up the price, and let's not forget the humane but determined guys over at the slaughterhouse.

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Toledo, Ohio
Oct. 17, 2008

My brother John, who lives in Tampa, was in Ohio last week for a brief visit. I drove to Canton to meet him and his friend Keith at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where we spent much of the day on Friday -- Halloween.
I had never been to that hall of fame before and it was an interesting place to visit, even for a non-hardcore football fan like myself.

Here are a few photos from the visit.

The hall of fame with the football-shaped dome.

John and I outside the hall of fame.

An early football "helmet" with nose guard, from the late 1800s.

The Hall of Fame Gallery, where bronze busts of all the inductees are displayed.

A bust of one of my all-time favorite players, having grown up on Long Island: Joe Namath.

A sculpture of a football player on display.

Me, John and Keith holding helmets during a presentation on the evolution of football helmets.

"Crazy Legs' Hirsch, a great football player and apparently also quite a dandy. Look at that hair!

John under the football dome.

Soaking up the rays of an overhead "Hall of Fame" light.

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Sylvania, Ohio
Nov. 3, 2004

It's been a rough time for Michigan fans. Sure it's a rebuilding year but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be humiliated! Losing to Toledo was bad enough, but to get blown out by Ohio State yesterday just added insult to injury.
Real fans stick through their team through thick and thin, but this "thin" stuff has been going on for too long.
I can't wait for the basketball season to start. At least my precious Dukies always give us a good show, and most of the time a great show.
I couldn't believe Rich Rodriguez, Michigan's new head coach, said the Ohio State game was just another game.
It's just a game in the way the Super Bowl is just a game, or the World Series is just a game. All sports are just a game but some are more important than others, Richie my friend. Wake up and learn how to coach!
It just shows how out of touch Rodriguez is with the history and drama and intensity of this unparalleled rivalry.
I missed this but my daughter Dana said when Rodriguez was interviewed by ESPN shortly before the game he compared it to the Lion King movie. What a joke.
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Nov. 23, 2008
Sylvania, Ohio

I enjoy watching the TV show American Idol, especially the early rounds when there are so many goofy people who act as though they really think they can sing. (I wonder if most of them are seriously deluded or if they are just hamming it up for a chance to get in the national spotlight, even if it means looking like a fool.)
But we usually watch the show as a family and it's always fun. You've got to give Simon credit for honesty, even if he delivers it with a hammer and cup of poison.
This season, one of the competitors is a friend of my daughter and her fiance. His name is Reggie and we know he makes it to the top 30.
So far, however, the producers have only shown Reggie for a few fractions of a second, usually panning a group of people celebrating their advancement to the next round. They haven't even shown him singing a single note.
Meanwhile, we're seeing lots and lots of scenes involving a select few drama queens.
Perhaps Reggie is a terrific singer but also a really nice guy, at a time when the show's producers probably are looking for controversy, chaos, tears, jeers and backstabbing -- not talented, wholesome young people with good voices.
Since he's made it to the final 30, it seems obvious we'll be seeing Reggie eventually. But it's interesting that the show has pretty much ignored him so far, don't you think?
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Toledo, Ohio
Feb. 6, 2009

This is a true story... I think I'll apply tomorrow! -- David

British university boasts first Beatles degree

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) — A university in Liverpool has launched a Master of Arts degree in The Beatles, the city’s most famous sons, and called the qualification the first of its kind.

Liverpool Hope University says on its website that the course entitled "The Beatles, Popular Music and Society" consists of four 12-week taught modules and a dissertation.

"There have been over 8,000 books about The Beatles but there has never been serious academic study and that is what we are going to address," said Mike Brocken, senior lecturer in popular music at Hope.

"Forty years on from their break-up, now is the right time and Liverpool is the right place to study The Beatles.

"This MA is expected to attract a great deal of attention, not just locally but nationally and we have already had enquiries from abroad, particularly the United States." The university said it was the first postgraduate taught course on The Beatles in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world.

The Fab Four were born and raised in Liverpool and went on to become arguably the most successful pop band of all time.

I've been awaiting the release of U2's album for months and it finally hit the shelves on Tuesday (you'd think Interscope would send us an advance copy but nooooo).
The band's last album came out five years ago... And while they were out of sight they were out of mind for many of today's college students -- a huge market for pop and rock music.
I found this out tonight when I gave my journalism class at Bowling Green State University a quiz. For an extra credit point I asked them for the name of U2's new disc.
Only one of 16 students got it right.
When I asked them if U2 was still relevant or did they consider them to be old fogies, they politely said they weren't into their music. One girl said that her mom really likes them.
This is, of course, a very unscientific and unofficial survey.
But it probably is representational.
We tend to get a skewed view of reality, thinking that a band we like will defy generational boundaries and appeal to music fans of all ages.
Precious few actually manage to do that, like the Beatles and Stones and Doors and the Dead.
I thought U2 was in that category but I suppose not.
The guys in U2 are all in their late 40s now. They had a great run and will continue uto sell millions of albums and play stadium shows. But the vast majority of their fans got on the U2 bandwagon 20 years ago with "The Joshua Tree". Some joined in with "Achtung Baby" in 1992. Not too many got on board because of 2004's "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."
Don't get me wrong, I still love the band... but I'm already a longtime fan. It appears they are not winning a lot of new converts.
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March 4, 2009
Sylvania, Ohio

Most

Bob Dylan does not do many interviews. He prefers to let his art speak for itself. But with his new album due out April 27, he seems to be doing a little more promotional work than usual. This is quite an interesting, albeit brief, interview with the London Times. His views on Barack Obama are particularly interesting. -- David

Bill Flanagan: In that song Chicago After Dark were you thinking about the new President?

Bob Dylan: Not really. It’s more about State Street and the wind off Lake Michigan and how sometimes we know people and we are no longer what we used to be to them. I was trying to go with some old time feeling that I had.

BF: You liked Barack Obama early on. Why was that?

BD: I’d read his book and it intrigued me.

BF: Audacity of Hope?

BD: No it was called Dreams of My Father.

BF: What struck you about him?

BD: Well, a number of things. He’s got an interesting background. He’s like a fictional character, but he’s real. First off, his mother was a Kansas girl. Never lived in Kansas though, but with deep roots. You know, like Kansas bloody Kansas. John Brown the insurrectionist. Jesse James and Quantrill. Bushwhackers, Guerillas. Wizard of Oz Kansas. I think Barack has Jefferson Davis back there in his ancestry someplace. And then his father. An African intellectual. Bantu, Masai, Griot type heritage - cattle raiders, lion killers. I mean it’s just so incongruous that these two people would meet and fall in love. You kind of get past that though. And then you’re into his story. Like an odyssey except in reverse.

BF: In what way?

BD: First of all, Barack is born in Hawaii. Most of us think of Hawaii as paradise – so I guess you could say that he was born in paradise.

BF: And he was thrown out of the garden.

BD: Not exactly. His mom married some other guy named Lolo and then took Barack to Indonesia to live. Barack went to both a Muslim school and a Catholic school. His mom used to get up at 4:00 in the morning and teach him book lessons three hours before he even went to school. And then she would go to work. That tells you the type of woman she was. That’s just in the beginning of the story.

BF: What else did you find compelling about him?

BD: Well, mainly his take on things. His writing style hits you on more than one level. It makes you feel and think at the same time and that is hard to do. He says profoundly outrageous things. He’s looking at a shrunken head inside of a glass case in some museum with a bunch of other people and he’s wondering if any of these people realize that they could be looking at one of their ancestors.

BF: What in his book would make you think he’d be a good politician?

BD: Well nothing really. In some sense you would think being in the business of politics would be the last thing that this man would want to do. I think he had a job as an investment banker on Wall Street for a second - selling German bonds. But he probably could’ve done anything. If you read his book, you’ll know that the political world came to him. It was there to be had.

BF: Do you think he’ll make a good president?

BD: I have no idea. He’ll be the best president he can be. Most of those guys come into office with the best of intentions and leave as beaten men. Johnson would be a good example of that ? Nixon, Clinton in a way, Truman, all the rest of them going back. You know, it’s like they all fly too close to the sun and get burned.

BF: Did you ever read any other presidential autobiographies?

BD: Yeah, I read Grant’s.

BF: What was he like? Any similarities?

BD: The times were different obviously. And Grant wrote his book after he’d left office.

BF: What did you find interesting about him?

BD: It’s not like he’s a great writer. He’s analytical and cold, but he does have a sense of humor. Grant, besides being a military strategist, was a working man. Worked horses. Tended the horses, plowed and furrowed. Brought in all the crops – the corn and potatoes. Sawed wood and drove wagons since the time he was about eleven. Got a crystal clear memory of all the battles he’d been in.

BF: Do you remember any particular battle that Grant fought?

BD: There were a lot of battles but the Shilo one is most interesting. He could’ve lost that. But he was determined to win it at any price, using all kinds of strategies, even faking retreat. You could read it for yourself.

BF: When you think back to the Civil War, one thing you forget is that no battles, except Gettysburg, were fought in the North.

BD: Yeah. That’s what probably makes the Southern part of the country so different.

BF: There is a certain sensibility, but I’m not sure how that connects?

BD: It must be the Southern air. It’s filled with rambling ghosts and disturbed spirits. They’re all screaming and forlorning. It’s like they are caught in some weird web - some purgatory between heaven and hell and they can’t rest. They can’t live, and they can’t die. It’s like they were cut off in their prime, wanting to tell somebody something. It’s all over the place. There are war fields everywhere ? a lot of times even in people’s backyards.

BF: Have you felt them?

BD: Oh sure. You’d be surprised. I was in Elvis’s hometown – Tupelo. And I was trying to feel what Elvis would have felt back when he was growing up.

BF: Did you feel all the music Elvis must have heard?

BD:No, but I’ll tell you what I did feel. I felt the ghosts from the bloody battle that Sherman fought against Forrest and drove him out. There’s an eeriness to the town. A sadness that lingers. Elvis must have felt it too.

BF: Are you a mystical person?

BD: Absolutely.

BF: Any thoughts about why?

BD: I think it’s the land. The streams, the forests, the vast emptiness. The land created me. I’m wild and lonesome. Even as I travel the cities, I‘m more at home in the vacant lots. But I have a love for humankind, a love of truth, and a love of justice. I think I have a dualistic nature. I’m more of an adventurous type than a relationship type.

BF: But the album is all about love – love found, love lost, love remembered, love denied.

BD: Inspiration is hard to come by. You have to take it where you find it.
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Bob Dylan's new album Together Through Life is out April 27 on Columbia Records

To read more, go to bobdylan.com

Commuters in Antwerp, Belgium, were treated to a surprise musical/choreographed performance at Centraal Station. Check out this YouTube video and you will definitely find yourself smiling...

Kris Allen won American Idol because (a) he's from Arkansas; (b) he's a Christian, and (c) he's a talented and likable young man.
Probably in that order.

I heard on TV this morning that of the nearly 100 million "votes" cast nationwide for the final two contestants, 38 million votes came from Arkansas -- Allen's home state. There are only 2.8 million people in the whole state.

First: If the TV reporter was accurate (which, logically, may not be the case), it means that Allen's Arkansas fan base almost melted the phone lines calling in for their hometown hero.
Not much exciting happens in Arkansas, so having Allen as a finalist really got people fired up.
Adam Lambert, on the other hand, is from San Diego, Cali-for-ni-ay, where celebrities and media are around every corner. Yawn. Having a Californian in the Idol finals is not something the natives would get worked up over.
Second: Many Christians feel the media are out to get them and that our culture is going to hell in a handbasket. When they have a chance to support "one of their own," they jump at the opportunity. I'm sure Kris Allen got a lot of votes from conservative/evangelical Christians just because he is a worship leader at a church.
Third: The young teenage girls were all ga-ga over Allen's good looks and low-key, aw-shucks humility. They're the ones that use their cell phones as naturally as if they're breathing air.
And fourth: Adam Lambert is an amazingly talented artist and performer but he's a bit too edgy for mainstream America. He probably won the votes on the West Coast and Northeastern United States but got slammed in middle America.

It doesn't really matter, however. Both of them will have successful careers. American Idol is truly a phenomenon and it has proved its success in giving ordinary people a shot at stardom. Allen, Lambert, Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta will all get record deals. And I predict that Allison and Danny will be the most successful of the group in the long term.

Also, last night's finale was terrific entertainment. I Tivo'd it and sped through some parts because it was late, but performances by the Idol singers with Jason Mraz, Queen, and Kiss were superb and fun.
Rod Stewart sounded like Kermit the Frog but he's still got charisma. I couldn't skip through his song even though I thought he sounded horrible. I remember meeting him backstage at a Faces concert when I was in college. He was a nice guy but seemed a bit out of place in Durham, North Carolina, with his spikey hair, gold shirt, and GQ style. He's quite short, by the way. Ronnie Wood was there, too, before he joined the Rolling Stones. I remember him carrying a jug of orange juice and wondering if it had vodka in it.
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May 21, 2009
Toledo, Ohio

If that doesn't make sense to you,

This is a poor-quality, very amateurish video but you can hear Allen in his element... and some teenybopper girls screaming their hearts out for him...

Ryan Garko is greeted in the dugout after his fourth-inning HR, the first of two he hit yesterday.

It's the kind of comeback that happens once in every, oh, 13,000 games, statistically speaking. The Cleveland Indians rallied from 10-0 deficit to beat the Tampa Rays 11-10 yesterday, ending with a walk-off two-run single by Victor Martinez with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to cap a seven-run inning.
After such a horrific start to the 2009 season, this could be the game that turns things around for the Indians.
The Clevelanders have so much more talent than they have shown on the field thus far. The Indians currently have the worst won-lost record in the American League and there's only one National League team with a worse record: the Washington Nationals.
It's only one game, but yesterday's dramatic comeback could spark a new start for the Tribe.
Stay tuned...
Oh, the last time a team came back from a 10-run deficit to win was May 8, 2004, when the Rangers beat the Tigerrs 16-15.
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May 26, 2009
Toledo, Ohio

The deaths of blues great Koko Taylor and 'Kung Fu' star David Carradine were announced today.
* * *
Koko was a sharecropper's daughter orphaned at age 11, and her amazing powerhouse voice earned her the title of "Queen of the Blues."
She won a Grammy in 1984 and I always loved her recording of "Wang Dang Doodle."
Taylor died at 80 of complications from surgery following gastrointestinal bleeding.
''Blues is my life,'' she once said. ''It's a true feeling that comes from the heart, not something that just comes out of my mouth. Blues is what I love, and blues is what I always do.''
* * *
David Carradine, who died at age 72, was the "grasshopper" who learned kung fu at the foot of the master in the hit 1970s TV show.
He apparently had a busy acting career, with 209 listings in the "partial filmography" on his website. I missed almost all of his films and TV shows, however, until the two "Kill Bill" movies came out in 2003 and '04. They were bizarre but compelling theater, weren't they? There was so much blood that it soon became sensory overload and a spoof on slasher/martial arts films.
Sad to hear he committed suicide in his hotel room in Bangkok.
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Toledo, Ohio
June 4, 2009

Adam Lambert Finally Confirms: "I'm Gay"Us Magazine - June 9, 2009 5:37 AM PDT

Matthew Rolston for Rolling Stone
Us Magazine

Adam Lambert finally confirms his sexuality in the new issue of Rolling Stone (on stands tomorrow).
============================================================

"I don't think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I'm gay," the American Idol runner-up says.

Look back at the Season 8 Idol's finale most unforgettable moments.

"I'm proud of my sexuality," continues the rocker, who was photographed holding hands with interior designer Drake LaBry earlier this month. "I embrace it. It's just another part of me."

Check out photos of star couples who can't get enough of each other.

But Lambert, 27, from San Diego -- who performed Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" on the Idol finale -- says he's not the poster boy for gay rights.

"I'm trying to be a singer, not a civil rights leader," he tells RS contributor Vanessa Grigoriadis.

Lambert admits that he was nervous about coming out while Idol was still on the air because contestants are under a media embargo, and he wanted to do it on his "own terms." (He also says producers were open to him handling it however he wanted to.)

"I was worried that [coming out] would be so sensationalized that it would overshadow what I was there to do, which was sing," Lambert tells the mag. "I'm an entertainer, and who I am and what I do in my personal life is a separate thing. It shouldn't matter. Except it does. It's really confusing."

Find out what an Idol stylist has to say about Lambert's look.

Lambert credits the FOX reality show with helping him gain self confidence.

"I finally checked into my self-worth for the first time in my life, and the fact that it coincided with Idol is so sweet," he says. "I mean, I still have moments where I think, 'Oh, my skin is terrible, and I'm a little fat -- I should really go to the gym more.' But for the most part, when I look in the mirror now, I finally see somebody who can do something cool."

For more details on which Idol Lambert is attracted to, how he came out to his family, and what was going through his head when those photos of him in drag hit the web mid-season, pick up the newest issue of Rolling Stone, on stands Wednesday.

Ed McMahon died this morning at age 86. When I was a kid, staying up to watch "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson was a special treat. Later on in life it became a regular end-of-the-day ritual to watch the show in bed -- long before TiVo or even VHS tapes.
I always got a kick out of Carson and have to say he had a terrific sideman in Ed McMahon, someone who helped him at times and was a great foil for his sharp wit.
Away from The Tonight Show set, however, I don't think I ever saw McMahon do a single thing of interest.
He hosted Star Search and was a pitch man for Publisher's Clearinghouse and a bunch of infomercials, but nothing notable. Apparently all those side jobs didn't provide enough income for the high-living second banana because he was threatened with eviction from his Beverly Hills home last year.
McMahon's belly laugh and his "He-e-e-e-e-e-re's Johnny" introduction were signatures of the classic talk show and his repartee with the witty Carson -- especially in the famous Carnac the mystic skits -- were part of the daily lives of so many loyal fans, myself included, which ran on NBC for a whopping 30 years -- from 1962 to 1992.
I and many others still consider Johnny Carson the all-time king of late night TV and nobody else has ever matched his humorous monlogues, his on-the-spot quips, and his ability to interview people from celebrities to average joes.
Johnny died in 2005 and today's passing of Ed McMahon marks the end of a golden era of television.
* * *
Toledo, Ohio
June 23, 2009

It's hard to believe that Michael Jackson, King of Pop, is dead at 50, isn't it?
He has been part of our pop culture world since he was just 5 years old.
Reports are surfacing today that he had a daily injection of demerol, a synthetic version of heroin, and that an overdose might have caused his death.
Poor Michael, he didn't really have a childhood and now he won't get to have an old age.
He was a brilliant singer and entertainer, but he also was a bizarre and troubled individual. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be MJ.
Here is a collection of newspaper front pages from today, almost all of which featured Jackson. I'm surprised that any paper chose not to put Jackson's death at the top of A-1.
This tragedy follows the death of Tonight Show sidekick Ed McMahon and came on the same day as Farrah Fawcett's death. A sad week for American pop culture.
* * *
I never met Michael Jackson but came close. In 1997, the Jackson 5 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the ceremony was held in Cleveland at the Rock Hall. Inductees met the press in a separate room for group interviews. That year's class featured Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills and Nash, Joni Mitchell, Parliament-Funkadelic, The (Young) Rascals, The Bee Gees, and the Jackson Five.
When it came time for the Jacksons to meet the press, I was in the front row of this rather small room. I saw them walking behind a curtain. Just before they stepped out, I heard Michael whispering. "Nooooo, I can't do it." His brothers tried to encourage him to come out onto the stage with them and answer questions, saying it was about the music. There were, of course, some allegations of child abuse surrounding Michael at the time.
He never did come out. I could see his sparkly silver shoes through the opening between the curtain and the floor. After a few awkward minutes, the four other Jackson brothers walked out but Michael stayed behind the curtain. He then scooted away, never coming out to talk to reporters.
* * *
I was at a bookstore in Tower City, downtown Cleveland, during the festivities and the clerk said I just missed Michael. He had been dressed up like an old man as a disguise, the clerk said. But of course everyone knew who he was. Nobody and nothing could disguise that unique face, whatever stage of plastic surgery he was in at the time.
* * *
To me, one of the funniest Jackson stories occurred in 2001 when he was performing at Madison Square Garden. I was watching the show on TV when he seemed to suddenly put his hand to his face and went offstage for a moment.
Rumors flew that his weird plastic-surgeried-to-the-max nose had fallen off and landed in the second row. Next thing you know, the rumors said his nose was for sale on eBay.
Never really knew what happened to Michael during the concert, but there was no truth to the nose-for-sale rumors.
* * *
June 26, 2009
Toledo, Ohio

This story first ran on Beliefnet in December, 2000.

My Childhood, My Sabbath, My Freedom

What I wanted more than anything was to be ordinary. The Sabbath was when I could be.

By Michael Jackson

In one of our conversations together, my friend Rabbi Shmuley told me that he had asked some of his colleagues–-writers, thinkers, and artists-–to pen their reflections on the Sabbath. He then suggested that I write down my own thoughts on the subject, a project I found intriguing and timely due to the recent death of Rose Fine, a Jewish woman who was my beloved childhood tutor and who traveled with me and my brothers when we were all in the Jackson Five.

Last Friday night I joined Rabbi Shmuley, his family, and their guests for the Sabbath dinner at their home. What I found especially moving was when Shmuley and his wife placed their hands on the heads of their young children, and blessed them to grow to be like Abraham and Sarah, which I understand is an ancient Jewish tradition. This led me to reminisce about my own childhood, and what the Sabbath meant to me growing up.

When people see the television appearances I made when I was a little boy--8 or 9 years old and just starting off my lifelong music career--they see a little boy with a big smile. They assume that this little boy is smiling because he is joyous, that he is singing his heart out because he is happy, and that he is dancing with an energy that never quits because he is carefree.

But while singing and dancing were, and undoubtedly remain, some of my greatest joys, at that time what I wanted more than anything else were the two things that make childhood the most wondrous years of life, namely, playtime and a feeling of freedom. The public at large has yet to really understand the pressures of childhood celebrity, which, while exciting, always exacts a very heavy price.

More than anything, I wished to be a normal little boy. I wanted to build tree houses and go to roller-skating parties. But very early on, this became impossible. I had to accept that my childhood would be different than most others. But that's what always made me wonder what an ordinary childhood would be like.

There was one day a week, however, that I was able to escape the stages of Hollywood and the crowds of the concert hall. That day was the Sabbath. In all religions, the Sabbath is a day that allows and requires the faithful to step away from the everyday and focus on the exceptional. I learned something about the Jewish Sabbath in particular early on from Rose, and my friend Shmuley further clarified for me how, on the Jewish Sabbath, the everyday life tasks of cooking dinner, grocery shopping, and mowing the lawn are forbidden so that humanity may make the ordinary extraordinary and the natural miraculous. Even things like shopping or turning on lights are forbidden. On this day, the Sabbath, everyone in the world gets to stop being ordinary.

But what I wanted more than anything was to be ordinary. So, in my world, the Sabbath was the day I was able to step away from my unique life and glimpse the everyday.

Sundays were my day for "Pioneering," the term used for the missionary work that Jehovah's Witnesses do. We would spend the day in the suburbs of Southern California, going door to door or making the rounds of a shopping mall, distributing our Watchtower magazine. I continued my pioneering work for years and years after my career had been launched.

Up to 1991, the time of my Dangerous tour, I would don my disguise of fat suit, wig, beard, and glasses and head off to live in the land of everyday America, visiting shopping plazas and tract homes in the suburbs. I loved to set foot in all those houses and catch sight of the shag rugs and La-Z-Boy armchairs with kids playing Monopoly and grandmas baby-sitting and all those wonderfully ordinary and, to me, magical scenes of life. Many, I know, would argue that these things seem like no big deal. But to me they were positively fascinating.

The funny thing is, no adults ever suspected who this strange bearded man was. But the children, with their extra intuition, knew right away. Like the Pied Piper of Hamlin, I would find myself trailed by eight or nine children by my second round of the shopping mall. They would follow and whisper and giggle, but they wouldn't reveal my secret to their parents. They were my little aides. Hey, maybe you bought a magazine from me. Now you're wondering, right?

Sundays were sacred for two other reasons as I was growing up. They were both the day that I attended church and the day that I spent rehearsing my hardest. This may seem against the idea of "rest on the Sabbath," but it was the most sacred way I could spend my time: developing the talents that God gave me. The best way I can imagine to show my thanks is to make the very most of the gift that God gave me.

Church was a treat in its own right. It was again a chance for me to be "normal." The church elders treated me the same as they treated everyone else. And they never became annoyed on the days that the back of the church filled with reporters who had discovered my whereabouts. They tried to welcome them in. After all, even reporters are the children of God.

When I was young, my whole family attended church together in Indiana. As we grew older, this became difficult, and my remarkable and truly saintly mother would sometimes end up there on her own. When circumstances made it increasingly complex for me to attend, I was comforted by the belief that God exists in my heart, and in music and in beauty, not only in a building. But I still miss the sense of community that I felt there--I miss the friends and the people who treated me like I was simply one of them. Simply human. Sharing a day with God.

When I became a father, my whole sense of God and the Sabbath was redefined. When I look into the eyes of my son, Prince, and daughter, Paris, I see miracles and I see beauty. Every single day becomes the Sabbath. Having children allows me to enter this magical and holy world every moment of every day. I see God through my children. I speak to God through my children. I am humbled for the blessings He has given me.

There have been times in my life when I, like everyone, has had to wonder about God's existence. When Prince smiles, when Paris giggles, I have no doubts. Children are God's gift to us. No--they are more than that--they are the very form of God's energy and creativity and love. He is to be found in their innocence, experienced in their playfulness.

My most precious days as a child were those Sundays when I was able to be free. That is what the Sabbath has always been for me. A day of freedom. Now I find this freedom and magic every day in my role as a father. The amazing thing is, we all have the ability to make every day the precious day that is the Sabbath. And we do this by rededicating ourselves to the wonders of childhood. We do this by giving over our entire heart and mind to the little people we call son and daughter. The time we spend with them is the Sabbath. The place we spend it is called Paradise.

MICHAEL JACKSON, 2006:

"If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with."

I am working on a story about a "Home Plate" event with the Mud Hens this Sunday at Fifth Third Field, in which players talk about their Christian faith in a pregame gathering and then fans stick around for the ballgame that follows.
It's a great event and truly inspiring -- I've been to a few.
Today I interviewed Mud Hens players Donnie Kelly, Brent Clevland, and Jeff Larish. I tried to get an interview with former Detroit Tiger Willie Horton but he isn't available. He did send a bio, however, and here's the trivia question for today:

When Willie Horton was born Oct. 18, 1942, in Arno, Virginia, he was the youngest of how many children in the family?

The answer ...

drumroll please...

21.

Yes, little Willie had 20 brothers and sisters.
The family moved to Detroit when he was 9 years old.
Must have rented a Greyhound bus for the move.

I attended the 2009 Leadership Summit Thursday and Friday, broadcast by satellite live from Willow Creek Community Church in S. Barrington, Ill. The summit is one of my favorite events of the year and I am always uplifted, inspired, challenged, and encouraged by the speakers.
This year Bono made a return engagement, via a prerecorded interview with Willow's founder Bill Hybels, three years after he addressed the Summit.

You can watch clips of Bono being interviewed by Hybels for the summit on YouTube, like the segment I've included below. In it, Bono talks about why he doesn't belong to a local church, squirming a little bit. His explanation is amusing and funny, yet serious and deep, like so much of what Bono the Prophet says and thinks.

==========================
UPDATE ON 8/11/09: Bono interviews have been removed from YouTube due to copyright issues from Willow Creek Association. Now you'll have to buy the entire summit DVD package (only $299 online here).
========================

I wrote an article in today's paper about the Leadership Summit and included a few of Bono's comments. Here's a link to that article.

Although the Bono interview was relatively short, wrapped into a series of other videos about the church's response to the African AIDS and debt crises, the U2 rocker said a lot more profound things that didn't fit into my overview of a story, both physically and thematically.

Bono being interviewed by Bill Hybels in a prerecorded video shown at the 2009 Leadership Summit in South Barrington, IL, and broadcast via satellite to 140 sites in North America including CedarCreek Church in Perrysburg, where I snapped this with my cell phone and sent it to myself via email. Don't you just love technology?

So here are some of his comments, based on my reporter's notes. Most of the quotes are pretty close to verbatim but please check it out for yourself on YouTube to verify. UPDATE: as noted above, they're no longer on YouTube.)

On having watched African mothers lay their children down on the dirt to die of starvation or disease, and the gains made in recent years:

"It's an affront to Christ, it's an offense to any concept of truth and justice that we're not getting these pills to people... And now we are. We're really doing it."

"I have to say it irks me that the church is doing incredible. The church is in the lead, not in the rear. 41 million bed nets distributed in places like Rwanda and Ethiopia. Malaria deathes are down by 50 percent. Isn't that amazing?"

"There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that had the church not woken up on the issue of AIDS, we would not have 2 million Africans on antiretroviral drugs and that simply would not have happened. See the concept of neighbor has completely changed. And we believe that 'Love thy neighbor' is not advice. We believe it's a command. And that's got some real implications because can we enjoy the benefits of a globalized economy where our shores or jeans are made in the far corners of the world without taking some responsibilities saying, in the global village, Africa is down the lane. We are neighbors."

On songwriting:

"When words form and a song comes out, I feel blessed or touched. We play a song called 'Where the Streets Have No Name,' which just goes of and it's eerie to me and it's like, that's when God walks through the room. And it's humbling because it's not a very good lyric and I wrote it very, very quickly and I've always wanted to flesh it out, finish it, and it annoys me 20 years later that I still have to sing it."

One of the underrated gifts in this world is the ability to make people laugh.

When I was a kid growing up in New York, I used to watch The Soupy Sales Show and laugh out loud. His slapstick humor and his cast of characters -- White Fang, Black Tooth, and Pookie, among others - were simply hilarious.
It was nothing deep, there was nothing to ponder. You just watched and laughed.

Sad to see that Soupy died last night at age 83. (His real name, by the way, was Milton Supman.)

The New York Times quoted Soupy as saying he threw about 20,000 pies during his TV days.

In his 2001 memoir “Soupy Sez!” he supplied the precise ingredients for successful pie-throwing:

“You can use whipped cream, egg whites or shaving cream, but shaving cream is much better because it doesn’t spoil. And no tin plates. The secret is you just can’t push it and shove it in somebody’s face. It has to be done with a pie that has a lot of crust so that it breaks up into a thousand pieces when it hits you.”

Soupy was in Toledo in 2004 and was definitely not in good shape. I didn't go to the show but several people who were in the audience told me they couldn't understand a word he said, and his interviewer would repeat each of his lines as sort of an interpreter.

Soupy was a born entertainer and apparently he couldn't resist the spotlight even when he should have passed on the offer. But give him an A for effort when he was 78, and lots of extra credit for the decades of inspired nuttiness.

Scott Calhoun, a professor at Cedarville University in Ohio, organized the world's first academic conference on U2, held last month in Durham, N.C.
The professor has also written an essay for the periodical Books & Culture: A Christian Review, entitled "Where Do We Go From Here: The State of U2 Studies."
Here is a link to the article.
It's a broad look at the Irish rockers, their message, their mission, and how academia views it all.
There's one newsworthy note, however: The band is planning to release a new album in early 2010 titled "Songs of Ascent."
Here's what the ever-colorful Bono has to say about the new material:

"We're making a kind of heartbreaker, a meditative, reflective piece of work, but not indulgent. It will all have a clear mood, like [Miles Davis'] Kind of Blue. Or [John Coltrane's] A Love Supreme would be a point of reference, for the space it occupies in people's lives, which is to say, with that album, I almost take my shoes off to listen to it."

By the way, I just posted some of my photos from U2's Oct. 9 concert in Tampa, Fla., on my Facebook page (including the photo above). The pics came out OK, especially considering I was about a mile away from the stage (kind of sad that "the cheap seats" cost $100 a pop).

I went to see James Cameron's "Avatar" with a little trepidation. My hopes were so high for this sci-fi mega-budget movie that it would be easy to fall short. But I'm happy to report it was terrific in almost every respect.

The 3-D effects were stunning, better than any 3-D movie I've ever seen except perhaps some of those Imax specials (Nascar, Titanic) and a few of the shows at Walt Disney World (Muppets).
The cgi creatures, planet and main characters set the bar even higher for the genre.
And the story, although a bit predictable and verging on hokey, was good enough to keep your interest and move things along swiftly. The plot never dragged and you barely noticed until you checked your watch (or cell phone) afterward that something like 2 hours and 50 minutes had flown by.
As much as I enjoy sci fi and fantasy films and books, Janet usually dislikes them to the same degree. With rare exceptions, such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the latest Star Trek movie. But she is raving about "Avatar" and the love story was the key to winning her over.
It's almost as powerful and well crafted as Lord of the Rings but obviously cannot match the depth of plot and character development supplied by the masterful writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and delivered by Peter Jackson over the 9 or 12 hours of the trilogy (depending which version you watch).
Overall, I'd say "Avatar" is thoroughly engaging escapism. The new generation graphics and the solid story make it an instant classic in the sci-fi/fantasy genre.
I'll give up thumbs way up to 5 stars ;-)
(don't you hate it when people judge a movie or any piece of creativity with a couple of thumbs or stars? What a weak way to explain something that an artist has poured his or her heart and soul and energy and time into -- not to mention money.)

The home of Elvis fan Paul MacLeod, known as "Graceland Too," has become the number one attraction in Holly Springs, Miss. Photo By Rogelio V. Solis, AP

Campy 'Graceland Too' is a hit with Elvis fans

By Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press Writer
HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. — Paul MacLeod is a perpetually caffeinated Elvis fanatic who's taking care of business 24-7-365 at the antebellum home he calls "Graceland Too."
Pound on the door at any hour — seriously, it's OK to arrive at 4 in the morning — and the 67-year-old former auto worker will escort you through his discombobulating, floor-to-ceiling collection of photos, records, figurines, cardboard cutouts, candy wrappers, clocks and other random kitsch featuring the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

"I'd give my life right now if I could bring this guy back," MacLeod says in his auctioneer's staccato, his gray hair slicked back in a '50s style.

MacLeod says he rarely leaves Graceland Too, sleeps only sporadically and is fueled by 24 cans of Coca-Cola a day — a claim at least partially verified by the aluminum pull-top tabs he collects in sandwich bags and the stacks of flattened red cardboard boxes on the back porch.

Graceland Too is in Holly Springs, a northern Mississippi town of 8,000. It's a convenient stop for fans on an Elvis pilgrimage, sitting about halfway between Elvis Presley's birthplace in Tupelo, Miss., and the King's final home and resting place, the unaffiliated Graceland mansion in Memphis

Until Graceland Too became a magnet for offbeat tourism, Holly Springs was best known for its traditional — and tastefully kept — white-columned antebellum homes.

"He's our number one attraction," says Suzann Williams, assistant director of the local tourism bureau.

She says that people call daily wanting information about Graceland Too, and that the Japanese and the British are the largest groups of overseas visitors. MacLeod doesn't have a telephone, but the tourism folks take him notes to let him know visitors are coming.

MacLeod is so obsessed that 36 years ago, he named his only son after the man he considers the world's greatest entertainer and humanitarian.

"My son was born Elvis Aron Presley, with one A for Aron," he says, noting the spelling Presley used for years. "I didn't put the other A to his name until Vernon Presley put it on his son's grave."

Floors creak beneath visitors' feet as they walk through the 157-year-old home warmed by space heaters that sit perilously close to raggedy shag carpet and stacks of papers and magazines.

For $5, visitors get to experience sensory overload, harshly lit by unshaded bulbs.

Doorways are decorated with several Elvis-patterned curtains in '70s-era hues of turquoise and lime. There are photocopies of a newspaper with MacLeod's all-time favorite headline: "Elvis Presley Excites Girls, Scares Critics."

A poster-sized display in the entryway declares — sans punctuation — "The Universes Galaxys Planets Worlds Ultimate Elvis Fans."

"My ex-wife told me, 'Make up your mind. Either me or the Elvis collection.' So that put an end to that," MacLeod says with a chuckle.

MacLeod says he has owned his home since the mid-1970s, and that he's had 368,000 visitors since he started opening it to strangers since the late 1980s or early 1990s.

Heaven help the fact-checker who'd have to verify the statistics he tosses out during his tours, which typically last an hour and a half.

Fans say the random, nonstop flow of information is part of the campy appeal.

Garreth Blackwell, a 27-year-old journalism teacher at the nearby University of Mississippi, said he has been to Graceland Too a half-dozen times and recently took his wife and three friends for a nighttime tour.

"It's kind of hard to talk about this guy, because you come enough you hear the same things over and over again," Blackwell says. "It kind of puts that in your mind, 'Well, maybe this is all true.' You don't ever know. But it doesn't matter because it's a good time."

MacLeod says that he became an Elvis fan when he was 13, and that he attended 120 Elvis concerts.

In Graceland Too, MacLeod claims to have 35,000 records and 25,000 CDs. He says he has 185,000 square inches of carpet that once was in Graceland. He constantly monitors radio and TV broadcasts and records any mention of his idol, claiming to have 31,000 videotapes and 43,000 audio recordings.

Then there's the scrapbook filled with teensy slivers of paper — 1 million mentions, he says, of the name Elvis Presley.

"There's my burial suit up here to come back and haunt my ex-wife," MacLeod says, pointing to a gold number in one of the front rooms.

Robert Lopez of Los Angeles, who has performed 21 years as El Vez, the Mexican Elvis, says he has toured Graceland Too at least a dozen times and is attracted to its folk-art oddness. He once donated one of his stage outfits to MacLeod's collection — a maroon crushed-velvet jumpsuit with a cape featuring a sequined Virgin of Guadalupe.

He says Elvis MacLeod is a walking encyclopedia about Elvis Presley who helped his father give tours for several years, but was a calmer presence: "The son would translate in a slower monotone: 'What my father said was ...,'" Lopez recalls.

The younger MacLeod moved to New York in the 1990s, and a phone listing for him could not be found.

Lopez also cautions that Graceland Too "might be a slight warning about what too much love can do."

The ceiling of the TV room is covered with baseball card-size Elvis pictures and visitor comments printed on fluorescent pink, blue and yellow paper. Wrote one man from Pensacola, Fla.: "This Elvis shrine is as close to Heaven as an Elvis fan can get. This is the ULTIMATE."

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

We watched the movie "Angels & Demons" recently, the film based on Dan Brown's novel that preceded the megahit "The DaVinci Code."
I think his DaVinci Code was a highly entertaining book although Brown created a dangerous blend of fact and fiction. There was just enough factual material to confuse a lot of people into thinking it's all true.
The same is the case with "Angels & Demons." A lot of it is based on facts and history but Brown sprinkles a lot of fiction into his story, which is why it is a novel and not a nonfiction book.
The newer film is much more entertaining and well-paced than the first, which dragged along at times. But "Angels & Demons" does throw out a lot of information in the opening scenes, so much so that it can be hard to follow. I hit the pause button a few times to discuss plot developments. One friend said she had to watch it twice to understand what was going on.
Brown has found a way to tap into the public's love for conspiracy, religious wariness, and ignorance of history to create taut thrillers. It's proved to be a winning formula, selling millions of books and creating box-office hits.
Readers and viewers need to do their homework, however, so they can separate truth from fiction.
* * *
Latest word from AutoWeek is that Spyker is still trying to work out a deal to buy Saab from General Motors, with the deadline set for Thursday.
Spyker would keep Saab HQ in Sweden and use lots of GM parts in production, including the engines.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Saab's survival. The company makes terrific cars that are fun to drive, safe, functional, and affordable, and I hope to keep driving Saabs for many years.

We just got back from seeing "The Book of Eli" starring Denzel Washington. I knew very little about it but Denzel is one of only a handful of actors whom you can trust to make it worthwhile whenever he's in a film. I don't like all of his movies but at least he gives it his all and it's never boring (I strongly disliked "Training Day" and "Man on Fire," but those are the exceptions).

Anyway, "The Book of Eli" blew me away. When the film ended, I just sat there almost unable to move. My head was spinning from the film and its amazing message. In fact, my head is still reeling.

I feel like I should write something about it in the paper next week just to let spiritually minded people know what it's about, and to help them not miss something that they might find fascinating.

I won't reveal too much here, especially because I don't want to spoil any of the plot twists.

But at its heart, it's about a man on a mission. Eli lives in a bleak and violent post-nuclear-war world. Such a scenario has been played out countless times in Hollywood and is sometimes a mere cliche, but "Eli" is remarkably different. This man has been walking across the country for years with a Bible in his backpack.

The movie is about Eli and his mission, as well as the power of Scripture and the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

It is extremely violent in some scenes, and deserves its R rating. But the violence is integral to the story. I detest gratuitous violence and horror movies but felt the type and level of violence in "Eli" was appropriate and whenever it got close to the limit, the director pulled back.

Without saying or revealing anything more, if you don't mind some a little blood and guts and if you have a genuine reverence for, or just a keen interest in, God and scripture, go see "The Book of Eli" before it's gone from the theaters.

I have been watching the AI season from the start this year, usually Tivo'ing it and then watching when I have time ... and skipping the commercials. Gotta love TiVo.
The competition is getting serious but I only see a few people who have what it takes to win this season.

Siobhan Magus, 19 years old

This week, I would have to say Siobhan Magnus blew everyone away with her powerhouse rendition of Aretha Franklin's "Think."
Aretha, in my opinion, is the greatest female vocalist ever in pop/rock/soul (not counting opera or classical). Tackling one of her signature songs was a bold move but Siobhan nailed it, and when she hit that high power note, it was just, wow.
Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Lee Dewyze, and Lilly Scott are the other top contestants, in my humble opinion.
* * *
There are a few others who have the vocal talent but seem kind of lost or not quite ready for prime time -- Alex Lambert, Katelyn Epperly and Andrew Garcia.
* * *
Who's going home tonight? My guess is: Haeley Vaughn and Paige Miles for the girls, and John Park and Tim Urban for the boys. We shall see.