U2 Album Shaping Up to Be Something Special
NME reports on the progress of U2's next album:
"We did some recording in Morocco last year[, said Bono. "All the band went to an amazing religious music festival in Fez with some incredible sufi singers. It was a real humbling thing for a punk rock shouter, listening to these people who just close their eyes for 40 minutes and sing the most sophisticated melodies."
He added: "We got this little riad, a small hotel with a courtyard in the middle and set up the band there, with a square of sky over our head. The two great catalysts of U2's recording life, [producers] Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, joined us. We'd record during the day and then disappear into windy streets of the medina at night. It was an inspiring experience and a drummer's paradise."
The singer said the band are now working through those demos during the French sessions and that while the new record is not world music, he promised fans would "feel the difference".
Front Street Reviews on "Auralia's Colors"
Now... this (from TitleTrakk.com). And this from Truer than Truth.
The review of Auralia's Colors at Front Street Reviews says a little more about the conclusion of the story than other reviews. But I'm grateful that Susan Helene Gottfried is so pleased...Read more
Lap Cat.
Last night, while the weather outside turned frightful, Mardukas decided to become a lap cat, and well... just look at those eyes... he wasn't about to be dissuaded from his decision. So I worked on Cyndere's Midnight, the sequel to Auralia's Colors, for three hours straight with Mardukas (the inspiration for that big, wild, black cat named "Dukas" in the book) draped over my lap with his paws on the keyboard.
Bonus points for anybody who knows where my cat's name comes from.
"Bono's Calling" - The Washington Post on "the One Man Who Can Unite Us"
Yesterday, as the first big snow of the year hit Seattle, I sat in Hotwire Internet Espresso Cafe and listened to the 20th anniversary, re-mastered version of U2's The Joshua Tree, which my friend Danny Walter had just picked up. And the thing just shines. It sounds better than ever, and the bonus disc of b-sides and rarities has some big surprises.
So I've been thinking back about just how much inspiration I've drawn from their music, and how much I've learned about artistic integrity and service from the way they've lived their lives.
This morning, snowed-in at home, I'm sitting here sipping Bewley's Irish breakfast tea (appropriately), listening to Irish Christmas music, and browsing headlines at Thunderstruck.org... and I stumble onto onto this new article about Bono. This kind of profile of the legendary lead singer pops up every few months, it seems, but it always challenges me to ask if I'm doing what I can with the resources and opportunities given to me.
Jimmy Akin on Philip Pullman
Apparently, Philip Pullman is shocked that Christians would dare to claim that he is... well... exactly what he himself has said that he is. Jimmy Akin reports.
Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden, and Over the Rhine Christmas albums
Fans of Over the Rhine, The Innocence Mission, Mazzy Star, Sixpence None the Richer, 10,000 Maniacs, and The Cranberries will find themselves warmed through the winter by the golden glow of Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden in their new, self-titled release.
I've been listening to Tucker and Company's moody pop for several weeks now. This isn't an album that grabs you and shakes you... it's one that slips quietly into the back of your mind, and soon you find yourself humming these melodies to yourself.Read more
Chattaway: New Line Marketing "Golden Compass" to Catholics? Plus: Catholic News Service Pretty Much Gives It a "Thumbs Up."
The controversy over The Golden Compass is becoming so much more interesting than the movie itself.
And it turns out that a review of the movie written by Harry Forbes and John Mulderig for the Catholic News Service has been published early.
Which begs the question: Why are film reviewers instructed to hold their reviews until opening day? I would assume it's because the studio wants to maximize publicity. But still, when the studio provides me with an opportunity to see the movie early, I assume that I should take their instructions seriously and withhold the publication of my review.
And yet, I'm beginning to doubt that the studio really cares about this much at all. After all, reviewers are posting their reviews... even the religious press... and nobody seems to be holding them accountable.
What's the deal? If I praise the film, then I won't be punished? But if I'm critical of the film, well, I've broken the rules? 
What if I broke my silence about the movie? Let's suppose, for a moment, I told everyone that, controversy aside, the movie is a whopping letdown... a tangled mess of storytelling... with an off-puttingly shrill and obstinate little girl in the lead... and that it's anticlimactic and unsatisfying. Let's pretend that I found its climactic confrontation between polar bears to be a hollow re-enactment of the climactic scene from The Karate Kid, something so muc less satisfying than the stories of true heroism offered by Tolkien and Lewis. Let's imagine I was underwhelmed by the concluding hubbub, a CGI battlefield spectacle so much like those we've seen in other recent films. Let's just pretend that was my opinion, for kicks. Would I be in trouble for saying so?
Apparently not. As I've pointed out in previous posts, reviews are popping up from professional critics, and I haven't heard a peep about embargo-breaking.
New Line seems happy to take the "any press is good press" attitude.
I'm writing my review. And I won't publish it until opening day. But I will ask some rhetorical questions, just because I'm baffled by the charade of "embargos."
It's back: My Original Post on "The Golden Compass" is Up (and Abridged) at CTMovies
Today at Christianity Today Movies, you'll find an abridged version of my original response to questions about The Golden Compass controversy.
If you have comments or questions, please email them to me at joverstreet [at] gmail [dot] com. But be advised: I will post those responses either in the "Comments" section of the original post, or in a new post on this blog, and I'll include your name unless you request that I withhold it.
Happy Birthday to Madeleine L'Engle and C.S. Lewis!
Thanks to Martin Stillion for pointing out that today is the birthday of two writers whose work has been an inspiration to me since childhood.
I wish I had been able to present them with copies of Auralia's Colors in person, as a gesture of gratitude and evidence that their testimonies, ideas, and stories have changed my life dramatically.
Controversy Aside: Is The Golden Compass a Good Movie?
My review of The Golden Compass will be posted here on opening day. You might want to wait before you order tickets, unless you plan to see it no matter what critics say.
Apparently the Times Online doesn't have to respect the studio's rules about publishing reviews early. Their reviewer went to the star-studded premiere last night and was not swayed by the hype. He refers to the movie as
... Weitz's spectacular shambles. The books weave a magic that the film simply cannot match.
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The problem with the film, which has its world premiere in Leicester Square tonight, is the haystack of derivative film twists and the fatal lack of genuine drama.
At The Guardian, the critic sounds like he wants to like the movie, but then he says things like this:
As with many adaptations of this sort, a lot of the novel's supporting background material which might acclimatise us to the story's strange and distinctive world has been stripped out.
You're just plunged straight into the action and have to get used to this bewildering, exotic new universe as best you can. The effect is interesting and alienating, though the tiniest bit more absurd than I think Philip Pullman would have intended. It's not hard to see which buttons this movie is hitting: Narnia, Hobbits, Hogwarts, Star Wars.
...
The crowded imaginary universe of The Golden Compass takes some getting used to, and in some ways, as a non-follower of the Pullman books, I have still to be entirely sold on it.
Emmanuel Levy gives it a "B", but he sounds like he's willing to disregard aspects of the film that I certainly won't disregard in my review:
There are so many original ideas and intriguing characters in "The Golden Compass," the film version of Philip Pullman's first book of his acclaimed trilogy "His Dark Materials," that one is willing to disregard the movie's major flaws: Chris Weitz's uninspired direction and the uneven special effects that ultimately don't reflect the state-of-the-art technology of fantasy films.
Overall, "Golden Compass" is a likable, moderately engaging, and well-acted children's fable, but it lacks the magic and unified style visionary directors such as Guillermo Del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron, and Peter Jackson would have given to such rich literary source material.
...
... Weitz's conception and pedestrian execution are problematic. The gulf between the cosmic aspects and the personal stories, which is crucial in Pullman's book, is not well served by Weitz the scripter or helmer.
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It's too bad, for while Weitz succeeds in conveying the thematic elements of a compelling fantasy about the human spirit and free will, loyalty and kindness, his "Golden Compass" lacks a sense of magic and wonder.
There are three reactions to the film at Ain't It Cool, and all three of them voice varying levels of dissatisfaction with the the movie. 
More to come...