Jan 04 2006

More blatant, over-the-top affection for Walk the Line

Category: Uncategorized — dryvetyme @ 17:10

I just wish I had some pictures and the true source/link for this article to post for you wonderful readers. Enjoy, nonetheless….

Phoenix Takes Cash Film to Folsom Prison
Thursday Dec 22, 2005 10:00am EST
By Todd Peterson

It’s back to the scene of the crime, so to speak, for Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

Folsom State Prison near Sacramento, Calif., has asked 20th Century Fox to screen the film for its prisoners, and Phoenix, who plays Cash in the movie, has agreed to attend the screening, Variety reports.

Folsom Prison proved to be a pivotal point in Cash’s career when the “Man in Black” played a live concert there in 1968 at the request of many inmates. The show came at a time when Cash’s own life was nearly in shambles.

“Only 13 days before the concert, (Cash’s) previous marriage had completely dissolved, he was just kicking drugs, and it was the first time he was really able to look clear-eyed to June Carter as both a husband and father. And as an artist for the first time he was in control of the black horse that was dragging him down,” Walk the Line director James Mangold tells Variety.

Cash’s concert not only inspired the performer, it inspired many inmates as well. It’s a tradition Phoenix hopes the screening can continue.

“John believed in the power of redemption and offered his unique gift to anyone who needed to find it within then, and in the process, he inspired millions,” Phoenix said. “I can think of no greater way to honor him than to carry on his legacy of using music to connect to all people.”

The screening, which will take place Jan. 3, is organized by the Folsom Prison Fellowship, which ministers to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families.

Jan 04 2006

Top 5 Moments of 2005

Category: Uncategorized — dryvetyme @ 15:45

In no order & inspired by my blog-friend Erin (aka Surface Ripple) and (as usual) Rob Gordon:

1) My 26th birthday: It had been years since I had collected my friends around me to celebrate my birthday. It just had never happened. I think that what sets my 26th apart is that it was diametrically & completely different than the depressed NOTHING that was my 25th birthday celebration.

2) The ever-developing cohesion of my small group: This is simple. My best friends collecting themselves once a week since June to talk about God, Jesus, faith, our struggles, our lack of faith, and growing so much as people, friends, and followers of Christ. Beautiful….

3) My current job: After 15 months of struggling to make things work at the bookstore and after leaving post at the private church-school, coming upon and securing my job as a teacher at a Waldorf school has been such a blessed event. It has been years since I have felt more loved, appreciated, encouraged and wanted in a work environment.

4) My level of involvement at my spiritual community: Getting involved with the missional community that is Ecclesia has been such an infusion of lifeblood into my spirit and my faith. Not only do I get to receive so much from the people leading the community, but I am blessed to be able to be involved, give, and serve.

5) It’s good to have options: I have lots of possibilities and potential in front of me, such that I haven’t had since entering college back in 1997. Much like Erin choosing to enter law school, I am weighing the benefits & drawbacks to either graduate school (MA/PhD in Political Science/History) or seminary (Regent in Vancouver, BC or Biblical in Philly, PA). It is good, though rather intimidating at times, to have options.

Granted, as my most recent post outlines, these Top 5 really have to be expanded to be a Top 7. Alas….

Jan 04 2006

Perspective(s)

Category: Uncategorized — dryvetyme @ 15:20

I would have to say that the past month has been one of the best in recent memory. Actually, the past month has been filled with some of the best memories and best times in a long while. To recount them all might take awhile, but I’m OK with that. I just hope that you’re willing to read through them all and feel like sharing along with me. I have resisted returning this blog to more of a journal format, but I could not resist sharing my story through this medium, mostly because I know how powerful story (and narrative) can be in terms of effectively communicating with people.

As many of you know, things have been really that comfortable between my parents and myself since March of 2004. At that time, I chose to leave the church of 5 years and the Pentecostalism of 10-15 years in which I had been living. My mother did NOT take this well, did NOT understand it, and did NOT like what I had done. To be totally candid, my mother told me, on more than one occasion, that, since I had left “the truth,” I was not saved anymore and that it hurt her that she wouldn’t see me in heaven. Granted, as he is a observant Roman Catholic, my Dad (in the strict Pentecostal sense) isn’t going to heaven either, but my Dad is mostly concerned with my mother’s emotional well-being. He didn’t weigh in on the issue really, but just simply loves my mother (and she loves him equally as much).
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