Peace In Our Time, Almodóvar, The Folksmen
¦¦The late, great band, Big Country, released an album in 1988 that remains one of my favorites, called Peace In Our Time. The title song always struck me as a powerful, simple message – can we achieve peace before we leave this earth? This past weekend, tens of millions of people on the planet let our governments know that they subscribe to this theory. Geoff noted that sadly, the US Government doesn’t give a damn about public opinion regarding their foreign policy. If the voices of millions mean nothing, what must happen to make them heard? There was a rally in Edmonton to protest the impending war against Iraq, but I did not attend.
There are some interesting web sites supporting anti-war activism. In Alberta, there is wage-peace.org. In the US, check out United For Peace and Justice.
¦¦On Monday night I saw my first Almodóvar film, Talk To Her. A powerful, moving story of two men who sit next to each other at a dance concert, and meet sometime later in a hospital, one because he is a nurse attending to a woman in a coma, and the other because his girlfriend in in the hospital, also in a coma. An intense friendship develops as the story involving the comatose women becomes more intriguing and layered. Highly recommended.
¦¦Finally, I must make mention of the upcoming movie, A Mighty Wind. The movie is the latest from Christopher Guest (Best In Show, Waiting for Guffman), and is the story of the “famous” 60s folk group, The Folksmen. Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer dreamed up The Folksmen subsequent to their success as Spinal Tap, and featured them in a sketch on SNL in the mid-80s. I have that sketch on tape, and never fails to make me laugh considerably when I watch it. Two songs from that sketch, “Blood on the Coal“, and “Old Joe’s Place“, inspired me to transcribe the music and lyrics. Do not miss this movie when it opens in April. (Thanks to Geoff for posting info on this film.)
