Posts tagged "David Zahl"
Another Week Ends: Roger Ebert, Judgment, Ben Folds & Nick Hornby, and TS3
Comics / Film / Music / Psychology / Religion / Testimony / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Roger Ebert, Judgment, Ben Folds & Nick Hornby, and TS3

by Todd Brewer on Jun 25, 2010 • 4 Comments

Filling in for DZ this week…

1. An interesting piece from George Elerick over at the Huffington Post about the destructive power of judgment. Though his alternative of a love-filled justice leaves much to be desired, he’s on to something…

“We judge others and ourselves because we have forgotten in what it looks like to be generous towards the potential of another. Judgment is a kind of amnesia that blinds us from the need to be people of generosity. Judgment, much like cigarettes, can kill. Judgment also puts everyone below the judge.”

2. A worth-while follow-up to Mr. T’s recent post about…

Read More »

High Brow Grace: Just A Little, Not Too Much – Verdi’s "Stiffelio" and Rossellini’s "Stromboli"
Film / Music / Religion

High Brow Grace: Just A Little, Not Too Much – Verdi’s "Stiffelio" and Rossellini’s "Stromboli"

by Mockingbird on Jun 23, 2010 • 2 Comments

Earlier this year the Metropolitan Opera mounted a handsome production of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Stiffelio”. It was well reviewed, and what caught the eye, in the photographs published in the New York Times at least, was the set created to represent the interior of a Reformed Church. It was Pieter Saenredam come to life.

But Wait, There’s More!

Turns out that Verdi’s 1850 “Stiffelio” is a neglected work of art. Because it was to be produced in Italy, its subject, a married Protestant minister, was controversial at the time. Therefore Verdi altered the original, and…

Read More »

A Letter From The Board: Mockingbird, Charlottesville and R.E.M.
Music

A Letter From The Board: Mockingbird, Charlottesville and R.E.M.

by Mockingbird on Apr 30, 2010 • No Comments

On June 1st, Mockingbird will be moving its headquarters from New York City to Charlottesville, Virginia. One of Mbird’s chief supporting parishes since day one, Christ Episcopal Church has graciously invited us to make our “nest” there, and we have accepted! You may remember that The Rev. Paul Walker, rector of Christ Church Charlottesville, was the founding president of Mockingbird’s board of directors.

We see this as a tremendously positive development. The move will put Mockingbird on more solid ground financially and institutionally, allowing us to embrace our calling as a resource ministry with deeper confidence and enthusiasm. While the past…

Read More »

Rod Rosenbladt is our Hero
Conferences / Law / Religion / Suffering / Theology

Rod Rosenbladt is our Hero

by JDK on Apr 7, 2010 • 6 Comments

Many of you may already be familiar with our distinguished conference speaker, Dr. Rod Rosenbladt, but for those of you who are not, I thought I would put up a few posts that illustrate just why he is so important to us and why you should run, not walk, to next week’s Mockingbird conference in NYC. Way back when this ministry was not even a glint in DZ’s Mockingeye, we ran across his article entitled, “The Gospel for Those Broken by the Church”, that has, I think, remained a foundational document for what we are trying to do here–one of…

Read More »

Pensacola Mini-Conference – THIS WEEK!
Conferences

Pensacola Mini-Conference – THIS WEEK!

by Mockingbird on Jan 25, 2010 • 1 Comment

Final reminder: our first ever mini-conference happens this Friday and Saturday at Christ Church in Pensacola, FL. The illustrious Dr. Mark Mattes will be our speaker, and there will also be breakout sessions from Jeff Hual, Gil Kracke and David Zahl. To view our full-length invitation, click here. For more details, or to register, please visit the mini-conference website (only $20/person or $30/couple). It should be amazing.

IMPORTANT: The online registration deadline is this Wednesday, January 27th. If you decide after the deadline – on Thursday, or even (gasp!) Friday – that you’d like to join us for all or part…

Read More »

The Year That Was (1999)
Film / Year In Review

The Year That Was (1999)

by Stampdawg on Jan 11, 2010 • 3 Comments

A couple weeks ago, Dave Zahl asked me to produce a list of my own favorite films of the last decade. And in trying to come up with it I kept having the following frustrating experience. I’d think “Well, I gotta include movie _________. I mean that was amazing! Wasn’t that done in 2000 or 2001?”

And I’d look it up, and I was wrong. It was ALMOST in this decade. But it was actually made in 1999.

Which made me realize how very differently this decade ended vs. the last. 1999 was just a…

Read More »

Film / Year In Review

Best Films of the Decade

by Stampdawg on Dec 30, 2009 • 6 Comments

DZ has been demanding that I produce some kind of end-of-the-decade list for movies. I realized tonight that I had one more day left. So here it is.

First let me say again what a wonderful time the last several years has been for character driven documentaries, stories about people and their struggles and joys and failures, rather than ideas and issues. I posted a list of these a while back along with some thoughts about each. I still feel like these are some of my favorite movies of the decade.

Apart from those documentaries, here are my…

Read More »

Mockingbird Mini-Conference Details
Conferences

Mockingbird Mini-Conference Details

by Jeff Hual on Dec 2, 2009 • 3 Comments

This January 29th and 30th, please join Christ Church Parish and Mockingbird Ministries in Pensacola, Florida as we explore the theme, “God’s Grace in a World of Glory”. Together with our speakers Dr. Mark Mattes and David Zahl, we’ll delve into the theological and cultural underpinnings of how God’s forgiveness finds and transforms us even in the midst of our hectic modern lives. Our approach will be biblically-rooted and Cross-centered, with an emphasis on how the Gospel speaks to the problems and demands of everyday life.

For lots more information, including programs, schedule and nearby accommodations, please visit the Conference Website.

The…

Read More »

"Broken" – The Season 6 Premiere of House
Addiction / Reviews / TV

"Broken" – The Season 6 Premiere of House

by LGF on Oct 2, 2009 • 3 Comments

My wife and I have been big House fans for some time, but the demands of school have been keeping me away from the television these days. However, between my wife’s telling me that I had to see the season premiere, “Broken,” and DZ’s flagging it last week (see #5), I caved. (How could I not with that title?) I’m not going to attempt to analyze it, but rather am just going to give a little background for those who might not be familiar with the series and offer a few choice quotes from the episode to entice you into…

Read More »

Mockingbird at the Movies: 8 Reasons to See Dark City
Film

Mockingbird at the Movies: 8 Reasons to See Dark City

by SZ on Aug 11, 2009 • 13 Comments

A few days ago I finally saw the 1998 science fiction cult classic Dark City, and it was pretty awesome. So here are 8 reasons to see it, if you are into that sort of thing. And by that sort of thing, I mean dark, well-crafted science fiction parables about life and human nature.

1. Awesome trailer, including taglines like “In a world where night never ends, where man has no past, and humanity has no future…”

2. It was directed by Alex Proyas, the same guy who did The Crow, which I haven’t seen since high school but remember being…

Read More »

Mockingbird’s Anthem? a la Derek Webb
Music

Mockingbird’s Anthem? a la Derek Webb

by Jeff Hual on Jul 31, 2009 • 2 Comments

Derek Webb’s new album Stockholm Syndrome is making quite a few headlines in the Christian music world lately. DZ tells me that he will have a review of the album forthcoming in the the near future, so stay tuned!

But I wanted to point every one’s attention to the title track off of the album “Mockingbird”, which dropped in 2005. DZ mentioned the album in a comment yesterday, and the name certainly caught my eye, so I downloaded it last night and now I can’t get this song out of my head. As you probably guessed from the title, it could…

Read More »

Shame on You?
Everyday / Law

Shame on You?

by Justin Holcomb on Jan 6, 2009 • 2 Comments

On Monday, DZ posted about a NY Times article on how very few resolutions last past Valentine’s day, which causes one to question how and if people change. That article didn’t offer much hope for change. But an article in Tuesday’s The Washington Post, “Practice What You Plan to Preach,” offered one solution to the resolution conundrum…SHAME:

“The most effective way to get people to change their behavior revolves around the clever use of…hypocrisy. When people feel not only that they are failing themselves but also that are failing to live up to what they tell other people…

Read More »

Cain Said To Abel – Bloc Party
Music / Psychology / Theology

Cain Said To Abel – Bloc Party

by Tom on Sep 2, 2008 • No Comments

I am frequently amazed at how unpopular the popular, post-enlightenment idea that humans are basically good seems to be among rock musicians. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (flashback!) by the Smashing Pumpkins is a classic example of this — look no further than hit singles “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” and “Zero” to hear Billy Corgan probe the depths of his emptiness and loneliness.

Along these lines, I’ve recently started collecting 7″ vinyl singles, and was struck by the lyrics in an unreleased b-side by the band Bloc Party. In the song, called “Cain Said To Abel”, singer Kele Okereke…

Read More »