Whether you’re an adult or a teenager who likes to read young adult novels, you might want to check out book reviews at Chuck Colson’s BreakPoint. Editor Gina Dalfonzo created the Youth Reads section to give Christians some guidance on the latest (and popular) young adult novels.

I’ve written a few reviews for the site, and I have an upcoming short feature on sex-selective abortions.

For more information on the topic, see Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men. The author is “pro-choice,” but the book is objective enough, informative, and well researched.

I hear the zombie show on AMC, “The Walking Dead,” is getting hot. The second season premiere broke records. Good for them. Zombies are underrated, don’t you think?

In 2008, I interviewed the actor Jon Bernthal, who plays Shane Walsh. I’d reviewed an independent film called Day Zero for Blog Critics and wanted to talk to one of the actors. From the available actors I chose Bernthal.

Day Zero is set in the near future, and America is going to war. Three friends receive draft notices and have 30 days to report for duty. Bernthal played a cab driver, and his character’s love interest was played by Elisabeth Moss, who portrays Peggy Olson on AMC’s “Mad Men.” Small world.

Since I’m getting a number of hits for “jon bernthal,” I thought I’d reprint the telephone interview originally published at Blog Critics in 2008:

Raised in Washington, D.C., country music-loving actor Jon Bernthal went to Russia to study acting and ended up playing professional baseball. He’s no longer playing ball, but his acting career is on the upswing. In the independent film Day Zero (read the review), Bernthal plays a street-wise cab driver named James Dixon who, along with two friends (played by Elijah Wood and Chris Klein), receives a draft notice and has 30 days to report for duty. The story follows the trio as they struggle with political and personal convictions, fear, and leaving behind loved ones.

I asked Bernthal about his character, his patriotism, and his upcoming projects.

What was your first reaction after reading the script?

My first reaction was I had to do this movie. I just read a character description on Dixon, and I called my agents and asked for a script. As soon as I put it down…I was a man on a mission. I wrote to the producers, I wrote to the writer, and I said…you’ve got to let me audition for this, you’ve got to see me. I know I’m meant to play this role. You know that the business of Hollywood is difficult. These guys, they really took a risk on me. They need big stars to get these movies made, and there’s a lot of interest in this. I wasn’t able to get in the room because nobody knew who I was and it was a challenge. I knew I had to play this role, and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Your character, ready-to-fight tough guy James Dixon, seems to have nothing to lose. Then he falls in love. How did that affect the character’s strong convictions?

He’s a guy who lives by a code and being there for his friends, the few people he’s been able to make connections with in his life. I think this code he lives by and these convictions he’s lived his life by wound up getting him in a lot of trouble. That being said, he would never change who he is. It makes him the guy that he is. Finally, somebody shows him what he’s shown to other people. I think that it’s totally revolutionary for him, and I think that he has to stay, he has to be with her. It made everything kind of haywire, and he’s got to prioritize for the first time.

Which character in Day Zero do you most identify with?

Dixon.

Meaning you’re that patriotic?

You know, patriotic is a weird word. There’s many kinds of patriotism. It doesn’t mean that you have to be a hawk, you know? That you have to be pro-war. I think that Dixon isn’t necessarily pro-war. I think he’s pro-responsibility, pro-duty. He thinks, as I do, that this country affords many people a lifestyle that other places and other people in the world could only dream of. Unfortunately, there’s not much that this country asks of us, and I think we…sometimes get caught up with being as comfortable as possible and don’t think about any sort of the responsibilities we have to the environment or to our neighbors around the world. I think [Dixon's] conviction is something that I aspire toward.

What was it like working with Elijah Wood [Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings]?

Oh man, it was terrific. Elijah’s the most professional person I’ve ever come around. He works incredibly hard. He’s incredibly positive. I’m kind of a slob. I just could not believe the way he took care of his costume. He was just such a consummate professional. He was such a joy to have on set. In the beginning of that process, he was really the heart and soul of everything. He just kind of inspired everyone to work the longer hours.

We had no money, so we were up all night, you know, out in the cold and the rain a lot of the time. I know it’s “boo-hoo,” these actors, right? I know it’s all ridiculous, but at the end of the day it was so great to see a bona fide movie star so incredibly down to earth…always has time for a guy on the street, you know? And just never a bit of negativity from him. He was an inspiration.

What projects are you working on now?

I’ve been working on The Pacific, which is an HBO mini-series. It’s the next installment sort of like Band of Brothers. It’s Steve Spielberg and Tom Hanks, just like Band of Brothers. It’s another WWII mini-series. We were trained by the Marine Corps, by real Marines, and it was just an honor for these guys to take the time and let us sort of feel and taste what it’s like to be a real Marine. Obviously without real bullets being shot at you.

I’m not going to sit here and go, “Oh, it was so hard,” but the fact of the matter is that these guys take a lot of pride in what they do and they really want the Marine Corps represented in the right way. What these Marines did for us in WWII was just astonishing. It’s time for this story to be told, and I can’t imagine a better group of people to tell this story. They’re doing it right, and I think it’s really going to be a terrific project.

Besides that I have a project called Bar Starz coming out, and a movie called The Air I Breathe [starring Kevin Bacon and Forest Whitaker] coming out, which also was at Tribeca. They’re both [directed by] first-time directors.

When you blow up and become a big star, will you let me interview you again?

[Laughing] You’re crazy! I will always let you interview me. I promise you that, no matter what. And you’ve got to promise the same for me.

Definitely.

What makes a movie “Christian?”

Does a story with no explicit reference(s) to Christ qualify? What if it contained a redemptive and/or sacrificial message, or focused on atonement?

Perhaps the question isn’t whether a piece of art is “Christian” or even Christian-themed, but whether we can “take joy in God’s material creation, in the colors and sounds and textures and tastes of all the good things he has created,” as Brett McCracken writes in the recently published Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide (which I reviewed for the Christian Research Journal.)

God’s handiwork is part of general revelation, God revealed in nature (as opposed to special revelation, God revealed through his word and through Christ), and there’s beauty and truth in secular pursuits. Christians can and should discuss with unbelievers spiritual and transcendent messages that may be found in secular films.

While I’d like to see more Christian entertainment in Hollywood, as Christians should be salt and light in the world, even in Hollywood, the message doesn’t have to be explicit. The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity author C.S. Lewis talked about smuggling the Gospel past “watchful dragons” in his fiction. That’s what I’m attempting to do as I work on novel revisions (which is why draft #3 is essentially a rewrite). I’d intended to be explicit, but decided to be subtle, as I have embarrassingly high hopes of seeing the book published by a mainstream house and read by secular readers.

Movies like The Matrix and Atonement don’t qualify as Christian movies, but they contain a shadow of the Gospel, one might argue. In the third movie of The Matrix series, a man’s sacrifice saves a city of survivors from physical death, as opposed to the Son of God’s sacrifice saving the forgiven from spiritual death. In Atonement, an old woman tries to make amends for telling a lie that kept her sister and the man she loved apart by creating a happy ending in fictional form. For the Christian, Christ has done the substitutionary, atoning work for us, once and forever, on the cross.

I am a middle-aged, overgrown child. I can’t wait to see the third installment of The Chronicles of Narnia film series, based on C.S. Lewis’s books. Watch the trailer for “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”:

I rarely blog about celebrities because it seems so, you know, shallow.

I make an exception for right-leaning celebrities. In 2008, I put up a post about Republican-registered Hollywood folks like Kelsey Grammer, Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis, Jon Voight, Pat Sajak, Angie Harmon and her husband Jason Sehorn, former cornerback for the New York Giants, and Gary “The Book of Eli” Oldman. Patricia Heaton, Stephen Baldwin (brother of Alec), and Kirk Cameron also are conservative Christians.

It appears that WCBSTV updated the list. Danny Aiello is conservative. The late Johnny Ramone of The Ramones was a registered Republican. Models Kathey Ireland and Kim Alexis are Republicans. Gloria Estefan, Heather Locklear, and James Earl Jones are Republicans. And so is Dean “Superman” Cain (pictured).

And Tony Danza and Vincent Gallo. Never would have guessed. Adam Sandler is a Republican? Where have I been? Rapper 50 Cent said he voted for George Bush.

Hollywood is a bastion of liberal intolerance, and I’m sure many more actors and artists lean right but have chosen to keep their politics and careers separate. I admit my bias. I don’t want to hear Barbra Streisand ranting and raving about George Bush. But if James Earl Jones or Dean Cain wants to share why he believes conservatism is better for the country than liberalism, I’m all ears.

Addendum: I forgot to include Adam Baldwin, who likes my blog. (Squee x 10.)

Related:

Hollywood Conservatives: Should They Just Shut Up and Entertain?

I wrote this yesterday:

Spoiler Warning

When I first heard about “The Book of Eli,” my first impression was “must-see.” Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman in the same movie? I’m there. I avoided spoilers, but I remember seeing a headline that the movie was “friendly” to Christians and one calling it offensive or insulting to Christians.

I was wary. Was the title alluding to some “lost,” non-canonical book of the Bible called “The Book of Eli,” which would enlighten the post-apocalyptic world? Was it a lost book of the Bible that, if found before the apocalypse, could have prevented it?

Today I saw “The Book of Eli,” liked it, and concluded it’s neither pro-Christian nor anti-Christian.

Story (If you’ve seen the movie, skip this part if you like. Pardon typos!)

A man named Eli walks through a post-apocalypse Mad-Max, lawless world with a mysterious book in his backpack. Water is scarce, and so is human decency. Eli beats back an ambush (understatement!) and witnesses a group of “travelers” shoot a man and rape his female companion (no gratuitous images of the attack). Eli doesn’t stop the attack, because he knows he needs to focus on his mission, which is taking him west.

He stops in a sort of barter town to charge a battery and replenish his water. Gary Oldman’s character, Carnegie, is leader of the town and wants the book Eli possesses and asks Eli to stick around. Eli declines. Carnegie “invites” Eli to stay overnight and think it over. Carnegie sends his blind girlfriend’s (wife’s?) daughter, Solara, to convince him (ahem) to give up the book. Eli doesn’t take the bait.

Eli clearly is on a mission with the book. Although Solara can’t read, he doesn’t want her (or anyone else) to even touch it. Carnegie says if he had the book, people would listen to him. He and his men could establish more towns and run their small new world. What is this book?

Jump-cut to Eli escaping and killing most of Carnegie’s men, and injuring Carnegie in the leg. Naturally, to slow things down plot-wise, Solara follows him out of town from distance. He ditches her but returns to save her from gang-rape. We learn that whatever caused the widespread devastation happened 31 years previous. Eli and Carnegie are old enough to remember a time when people had “more than they needed.” Eli tells Solara a voice told him to go west with the book.

Carnegie and his men catch up with Eli and Solara, Eli is shot, and Carnegie and his men take the book and the girl. At this point I’m thinking Carnegie in fact doesn’t have the book, and Eli pulled a switcheroo. As it turns out, Carnegie does have the book. But there’s a catch.

Meanwhile, on the way back to barter town against her will, Solara strangles the driver, which causes the vehicle to flip over. Not only does she survive, she gets out of the car, unpins a grenade, and throws it under one of the returning vehicles. Boom. Gone. Carnegie decides not to go after the girl. He has the book. That’s all that matters.

Solara returns to retrieve Eli, but he’s gone. She finds him on the road, and they continue west to San Francisco. They row across the bay to a museum-like place, which apparently preserves and restores artifacts from the old world.

Back to Carnegie in barter town. He opens the book and looks at the pages, stunned. The book he risked lives and lost men for is in Braille, which he can’t read. He asks his blind girlfriend to read it, but she claims she’s forgotten how. A lie, obviously. This is her revenge for the way he’s treated her and her daughter.

Back to the museum. Here is the point of the whole movie, the whole journey: the book is the Bible, King James Version. The museum has been searching for a copy of it. Eli has memorized the Bible and begins to dictate it to the museum guy. After his work is done, he dies. The museum guy puts a printed and bound copy of the Bible (dubbed “New King James Version”)next to the Koran and other books.

This is not the full plot, and some of the facts and order of events may not be accurate. These are my recollections based on one viewing a couple hours ago.

Commentary

So, did the voice of…God?…tell Eli to read and memorize the Bible to preserve it, or was he delusional? First, the book is in Braille, but throughout the movie, Eli obviously wasn’t blind. Or was he? Did “God” gave him sight for his mission, or the brief ability to read Braille?

Second, the Bible is the world’s best selling book. It’s not plausible that one would be unable to find a copy a mere 31 years after an apocalypse. If a biography of Mussolini and a copy of The Da Vinci Code are still around, surely one would find copies of the Bible. Then again, maybe there are other people like Eli wandering the planet bringing Bibles and other books to places of restoration and preservation.

Was Eli delusional in thinking a voice told him to go west? He may have heard about the museum, and through years of walking, convinced himself that a voice told him to go. It definitely makes the journey more spiritual.

Why did Carnegie want the Bible? Did he know the book he wanted was the Bible? Why would having it mean he’d rule over more people?

I was pleased when I realized this mysterious book was–lo and behold– God’s revelation. From a Christian standpoint, this is good. Let’s assume Eli was guided by the God of the Bible. He persevered through adversity, memorized God’s Word, and dictated it for preservation. We Christians believe that for thousands of years, God has supernaturally protected and preserved his revelation. The movie gives the impression that Eli is the only person left who knows what’s in the Bible, however, and only he (or another Braille reader) can reveal it.

Hmmm…God, Creator of the universe, has put all his eggs into one basket, so to speak? The Gospel of Jesus Christ would be lost to new generations but for Eli?

I don’t recall if Eli mentioned God at the museum. Who will the museum guy say is the author of the book: Eli or men of old inspired by the Holy Spirit?

When I saw a “rare” copy of the Koran and other holy books, I thought perhaps there were others like Eli, “walking in faith” to San Francisco to help preserve civilizations’ important books. If so, did these people also hear a voice tell them to go west?

The Bible teaches that through Jesus Christ the Son is the only way to God the Father. If this is true, then other faiths claiming otherwise are wrong. If the God of the Bible indeed told Eli to memorize the book and go to the museum and dictate it, would that same God also lead others to do the same with the Koran or the Tipitaka? My first impulse is to say no. But I don’t know. For reasons of his own, God has allowed false gospels to spread, all to his glory. But I can’t believe that God, as revealed in the Bible, would empower and guide someone to risk his life to preserve the Koran.

The movie is neither pro- nor anti-Christian, in my opinion. Preserving important books after an apocalypse is good. Risking one’s life to protect what’s probably the only copy of the Bible is even better.

Head-Shaking-Time-For-Football Moment

At this point, I have to laugh. It’s only a movie, and people will divine their own meaning (pardon the pun) from it.

Based on these and other impressions, here’s my interpretation of the movie:

At an earlier point, Eli decided to go to the museum, because he’d heard people there restored and preserved important books. Walking alone for so many years, traumatized by the destruction of civilization and rampant violence, and having to kill or be killed, Eli convinced himself that a voice in his head told him to keep going west. Over the years, he forgot the specific location, and the journey became spiritual for him.

I can’t remember the last time I blogged a movie. It’s rare that something out of Hollywood makes this kind of impression of me these days. Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman were the draw, and finding out the mysterious book was the Bible was the inspiration.

Rest easy, everybody! Gotta get ready for pre-game.

I’m an unabashed fan on William Shatner’s portrayal of Captain James Tiberius Kirk on Star Trek.

I’d like to appear on his show, taking it easy and talking about the issues. I’m regressing just thinking about it. So cool.

Shatner recently interviewed Rush Limbaugh. I don’t listen to Limbaugh as much as I used to, but whenever I do, I always feel better. Without fail. Then I should listen more often, yeah? Check out Limbaugh and Shatner:

Creed:

I like writing about secular bands whose members call themselves Christians. I perceive they’re trying to remain secular and keep the fanbase, but at the same time, they seek something deeper themselves and/or want to spread subtle messages to fans. I don’t have anything against overtly Christian music per se, but I find tension in the former fascinating.

Check out my article at Christianity Today, Glimpses of God: Creed: Full Circle. An excerpt:

“The not-a-Christian-rock-band Creed was huge in the late 1990s and early 2000s, eventually selling 26 million albums in the U.S. The band’s first three studio releases, My Own Prison (1997), Human Clay (1999), and Weathered (2001), spawned such hits as ‘One,’ ‘Higher,’ ‘With Arms Wide Open,’ and ‘My Sacrifice.’

“Creed began as a crew of college-age friends making music together, and rose from independent band to full-blown arena rock band after signing with Wind-up Records. Opinions about Creed tend to run hot and cold, with little room for lukewarm. Some called them derivative, and others lambasted frontman Scott Stapp’s onstage ‘Jesus’ poses. Rolling Stone called Creed a ‘ham-handed version of early Pearl Jam.’

“Love them or hate them, the band reached stratospheric heights. Stapp confirmed the worst successful-yet-tortured-artist stereotypes, however, when he came crashing down in an alcohol-fueled rampage, dragging the multi-platinum-selling band with him.”

As someone who also stopped a nasty alcohol habit, I’d love to talk to Stapp about his. If you know him, tell him to call me!

Related articles:

• Glimpses of God: Rissi Palmer: Rissi Palmer
• Glimpses of God: Hanson: The Walk

Abortion:

I blog about abortion a lot these days. The issue’s become more important to me. Can’t stand the idea of a tiny human being sucked down a sink. Check out my latest Pajamas Media column, The Return of Abortion as a National Issue.

MLK:

Do you subscribe to the Christian Research Journal? I wrote a looooooog article critiquing Martin Luther King, Jr’s theology, to be published in the February/March 2010 issue.

You Generation Y types probably have no idea who Scott Baio is, but Gen-X-ers like me should know. Baio was Chachi on “Happy Days” and spin-off “Joanie Loves Chachi,” and Charles on “Charles in Charge.”

I just learned this morning, through Jill Stanek, that Baio is pro-life and a conservative. He responded to someone on Twitter, and his leanings leaked out. He tweeted, “People that are Pro-Choice should ‘Thank’ their Mother for being Pro-Life.”

But, as Jill notes, the tweet is no longer there. “For whatever reason Baio – or his agent – apparently decided it best to remain underground with his pro-life convictions.”

That’s too bad. I’ve made similar complaints about Christian rockers who don’t like talking about their faith.

One actor who isn’t shy about his pro-life views is actor Jim Caviezel, probably best known for portraying Christ in “The Passion of the Christ.”

So few in Hollywood (or in the music business) hold views similar to mine. They’re like diamonds buried in a pile of manure. When I find one, I’ve got to pluck it out, clean it off, and present it.

Sparkly.

Later…A man who killed a 13-week unborn child faces murder charges. Unborn life is only worth protecting if the woman carrying him wants him. Otherwise…

The wanted unborn baby is protected under law. The unwanted baby is not.

Does that sound right to you?

Related: “old” article at Pajamas Media about NYT aborted baby photos.

We know a lot more about the development of babies in the womb since Roe v. Wade. A re-examination of the law is overdue (pardon the pun).

*********

If you live long enough, you’ll eventually see everything.

I used to watch “Law & Order.” Fed up over what I considered leftist preaching and no longer willing to suspend disbelief over the statistically weak saga of the Great White Defendant, I stopped.

Anyway, in the usual “ripped from the headlines” fashion, a recent episode was loosely based on the murder of infant killer George Tiller. An abortionist performing a partial birth abortion failed in his attempt, delivering a viable baby. He asked the mother if she wanted him to finish the job he botched, and she said yes. The abortionist kills the baby, which at that point is murder as defined by law. A “pro-life” man murders the child killer. One detective investigating the case is pro-life, and the other is pro-abortion. Interesting exchange between the two at the beginning of the episode.

Jill Stanek, pro-life blogger and former labor and delivery nurse, posted the episode on her blog. I watched it. Still not a fan of the show, but I’m pleased the writers, likely pro-abortion, crafted such a script. Kudos to the network for airing the episode. There are a couple of pro-life swipes here and there, but overall, it’s watchable. The show is, for lack of a better word, groundbreaking.

Ironically, groundbreaking was used to describe pro-abortion shows in the 1960s. How times have changed. If you have 43 minutes to spare, check it out.

(Photo source: National Medical Slide Bank/Wellcome Photo Library)

Update: My bad! I assumed the band only recently got back together, as others have. Not true. Lead singer Corey Glover said, “People need to know we’ve been back together for nine years. This new record should help people get the facts straight.”

No, he didn’t tell me personally, but I hope to personally get some quotes from him about…nevermind. Here’s the source.

***

I’m tickled peach that the late 80s/early 90s rock group Living Colour is back together, for how ever long. They’re looking a little older, as we all are, but they still sound good. Last night they performed the Grammy-winning “Cult of Personality” from their first album on Jimmy Fallon’s show. Check them out rocking out:

What does black sound like, indeed!

Update: A Facebook commenter says when he sees Obama, he’s reminded of this song and wonders if Living Colour members support him. If I were a wagering woman, I’d bet $10 they do.

A brief interruption, if I may, from blogging about ACORN employees with “contacts” in Tijuana advising a “pimp” and his “whore” how to operate a whorehouse without getting caught and smuggle girls into the country to turn tricks. (And claim the child tax credit!)

I developed a weird fascination with how digital technology has changed the music industry. I still have it. In fact, I’m trying to set up an interview with…Fun stuff. Basically, the microchip altered the whole game, the industry’s scrambling, and the “hit” has been defined down. Radio has suffered, and it’s hard to sell millions of records or even be heard these days. It’s not about the mass anymore; it’s all about the niche.

Some artists try to make up for the attention/access deficit by licensing music for ringtones and games, offering free songs, and interacting with “hardcore” fans and cultivating new ones on Facebook, Twitter, and the like. A few lucky ones get to hear their music in commercials, and on TV and movie soundtracks.

Guess which movie soundtracks are coveted above all (at the moment?). If you’re thinking about fangs, blood, and deliciously engorged veins, you’re on the right track. From the New York Times:

The major labels long viewed soundtracks as low-risk, high-reward vehicles for promoting mega-singles. And until that model was eroded in the early 2000s by the rise of single-track downloads, there was a steady stream of multiplatinum hits. “The Bodyguard,” from 1992, has sold 11.8 million copies. But along with recent films like “Juno,” “Twilight” has emerged as an example of a new approach: choosing songs that are entwined with a film’s narrative, and which appeal to viewers through emotional resonance rather than superstar familiarity. “There have always been amazing soundtracks, like ‘Flashdance’ and ‘Saturday Night Fever,’ where the music was attached to what the story was about,” said Livia Tortella, general manager and executive vice president of Atlantic Records, which is releasing the album on Oct. 20 with Ms. Patsavas’s label, Chop Shop. “Somewhere along the lines it became about a single tie-in opportunity and not about the film itself. It diluted things.”
…
For bands placement in a “Twilight” film means huge potential sales and wide exposure.

“If you’re an artist that’s successfully branded with a film as enormous as ‘Twilight,’ you get a lasting benefit beyond the movie and the soundtrack itself,” said James Diener, president of A&M/Octone Records. “You’re able to access marketing dollars that the film company has been spending beyond what a record company could or would spend.”

Love it or detest it, there you go. But don’t you have to be somewhat well-known to have a shot at being on a mainstream movie soundtrack? A Christian band called The Wrecking isn’t what you’d call “well-known,” but they’re trying to get on the soundtrack of “New Moon,” the movie based on the second book of Stephenie Meyer’s four-book Twilight series.

Christians and vampires don’t mix, you say? Tell that to Christian writers like Eric Wilson and…others.

Downloading: a blessing and a curse?

Unrelated update: It’s getting old, but I had to try it.

Got 50 minutes to spare? Let’s lighten up and watch one of the best Star Trek episodes of the series: “City on the Edge of Forever.”

If you haven’t read Stephen King’s The Stand, please do. Compelling reading, especially in light of the swine flu.

The Stand is about a nasty bug (referred to as “Captain Trips”) that wipes out something like 99 percent of the world’s population, and survivors separate themselves into “good” and evil groups. The book, which I read in 1991, was made into a movie. I watched it but didn’t like it as much as I liked the book. Isn’t that usually the case?

At over 1,000 pages, the book is a satisfying read and pure Stephen King, if you know what I mean. If you’re a Christian who doesn’t read supernatural/occult fiction as a matter of conscience, steer clear.

Update: What do you know? Characters from The Stand are twittering!

Stu Redman
Mother Abigail
Larry Underwood
Nadine Cross
Nick Andros

Too much time on their hands!

Every now and then a song captures me enough to blog about it. I haven’t turned my back on music and digital tech blogging. Just taking a haitus while I finish my strangely funny at-times Christian paranormal novel (it’s not supposed to be funny, but the characters are attempting to have their own way). After trying to squeeze into my schedule a long list of things I want to do, I chose one and decided to put most of my creative energy into it.

But I digress. This song is from Prince‘s new three-CD set, available only through Target (so retro!). It’s a psychedelic remake of Tommy James and the Shondells’s “Crimson and Clover” with a bit of The Trogg’s “Wild Thing” mixed in. The song is rocking. Sounds so good to my brain. Check it out (listen to it through bass-friendly speakers/earphones):

Crimson & Clover – Prince

My teenaged self adored Prince, and my middle-aged self tunes in every now and then. He sounds better than he did all those years ago.