Music Review: Elder – ‘Reflections of a Floating World’

Heavy metal is a mythical creature. Its tropes and boundaries seem clearly defined. Almost all metal acts share the same fiery guitar tones, aggressive vocals, and powerful drums. Despite that, there is almost as much diversity under the umbrella of heavy metal as there is outside of it.

You have the brutal, punishing djent of Meshuggah, the breakneck thrash of Megadeth, the gloomy, industrial atmospheres of Ministry, and every shade in between. French blackgazers Alcest don’t even sound like they share a planet with Cannibal Corpse, let alone a genre. And yet both wear the “metal” tag comfortably.

And then there’s Elder. This Massachusetts metal trio isn’t content with just one corner of metal’s kingdom. It masterfully blends elements of doom, post-metal, and psychedelic rock to create an album that is far more than the sum of its parts. Reflections of a Floating World shifts from Isis-esque sludge to headbang-worthy, arena-ready guitar solos reminiscent of Rainbow—often within the same song. Pink Floyd-ish psychedelia rears its head. “Sanctuary” even has a few moments that bring Jimi Hendrix to mind. Its thick sonic palate is augmented with electric pianos and acoustic guitars.

But for all of its chameleonic transmutation, the record never sounds unfocused. None of its disparate elements are at odds with one another. Instead, the record feels like exploring the distinct regions of an alien planet. The desert might look nothing like the forest, but they undeniably exist within the same world.

Despite an hour runtime, the album only has six tracks, one of which is a nine-minute instrumental krautrock jam. Such a patient album is a bold move in a culture that loves the instant gratification of two-minute pop tunes, SMS marketing, and Amazon Prime. But it pays off big time. Reflections of a Floating World is one of the most rewarding metal albums to come out this year, and perhaps my favorite album of the year, period.

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MIGS 2017 – Interviews with Julien Charlebois and Johannes Saam of Framestore VR

One of the more interesting developers at MIGS 2017 was Framstore VR.  Framestore is a major name in Hollywood having performed CG work on many films such as Thor: Ragnarok, Blade Runner 2049 and Alien: Covenant to name a few.  Framestore is active in the film industry and leverages their experience with their VR division creating a variety of experiences.  They have worked on partnerships with the Smithsonian American Art Museum to create VR experiences and mainstream projects such as a Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them VR experience.

Framestore VR is investing heavily in this industry and has distributed groups in all of their offices with a prominent group in the Montreal location.  They create many types of experiences, some are permanent installations at museums or schools, others are promotional experiences as movie tie-ins or games.  The studio has been an early innovator in the VR ecosystem starting back in 2013 with the Oculus DK1 unit.

Since then Framestore VR has become a huge name in the Virtual Reality space and is now developing more and more games for the ecosystem.  They are generally agnostic to hardware having created large scale projects for Vive and Mobile platforms.  At MIGS this year I had a chance to sit down with Julien Charlebois and Johannes Saam from Framestore VR to get some details on their studios history, their personal path in the industry and what they are working on.

Julien Charlebois – Head of Production Framestore VR Montreal

In speaking to Julien I dug into his progression in the industry.  He started out as a software engineer and got an internship at EA’s mobile studio in Montreal.  While there he was able to work on emerging technologies and practices as smartphones were in their infancy when he started there.  He mentioned that he finds it similar to the VR industry, the technology is known and out there but we have not figured out everything we can accomplish with it yet.

During his time at EA Julien realized he wanted to go into a more production focused role so he started a second degree in business as he worked with EA.  After a few years he was getting known within the Montreal developer community and was approached by Framestore to join their newly formed VR group in the Montreal office.  VR is not new to the company as they have been working in that space since 2013 at their other offices in New York, London, and Los Angeles.  The Montreal office is to be games focused and Julien is working on their current projects as Head of Production.

While Julien could not tell me any details about their upcoming project due out in January, he did say it is a known IP and will be pretty amazing.  They have other projects in the pipeline as well, one of which is a theme park VR experience.  What he appreciates about Framestore is that they work on small and large projects as well as experimental ones. This allows his team to try new ideas and concepts and grow their expertise in the VR space.

Please listen to the full interview below to hear Julien discuss his path to VR, the team makeup of Framestore’s international organization, and many tricks of the trade when working as a VR developer.

Johannes Saam – Senior Creative Developer Framestore VR Montreal

One of the things that struck me about Johannes when chatting with him is his infectious interest in 3d modelling and its technology.  He knew at a young age he wanted to learn 3d art and started teaching himself at 14 years old how to work within that environment.  His determination never faltered as he continued studying techniques in school and then headed to Australia to learn and work in the industry.  Once he had some experience, Johannes headed to Los Angeles to work in the movie industry.

One of the really interesting things Johannes discussed was his technical Academy Award he won with his team at Framestore.  I don’t pretend to understand what they developed, but essentially he explained that it is a process called Deep Image Compositing.  This allows per pixel color depth which can greatly speed up production time as images can be layered more effectively.  This achievement was a crowning moment for Johannes, but he is a very modest guy and he still feels there is much more he can learn and accomplish.

He also gave me some history on Framestore; they have been working on movies and television for many years with some huge movies under their belt.  What really surprised me is when he told me that one of their first projects was Aha’s Take on Me video.  They have been innovating for years and have their eyes keenly focused on VR with Johannes specifically looking at ways to use procedurally generated worlds to improve what we see and do in VR experiences.

He is also looking at Fractal engines and mining techniques to help populate these procedurally generated spaces.  With Fractal mining you can search for a keyword and generate shapes made of fractals to add to a database.  So if you need a bunch of chairs use the Fractal system to generate a database of chairs and when the world is being generated it will add chairs as they are needed.  Again the conversation veered to a point that my limited knowledge was stretched but it was fascinating to hear the process he was discussing.

Please listen to the full interview below to hear Johannes describe the procdural systems and his academy award winning technical achievement in greater detail.

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Weighing Prison Time for Juvenile Offenders

The debate on whether or not teens should be tried as adults and be locked up in adult prisons rages on on each side of the issue. Some take a more compassionate stance that young offenders deserve second chances after making big mistakes, especially if their crimes are nonviolent in nature. On the other hand, there is the view that stiff penalties act as deterrents to offenders to re-offend and serve as a message to society about the consequences of criminal behavior.

Each crime has individual circumstances and each perpetrator a different background, but one thing we do know is that teen brains are not yet fully developed. Children’s Hospital Boston research indicates that teen’s brains operate at 80 percent of their full potential development. The frontal lobe — the part where impulsivity, hindsight, emotional control, and other signals that might help steer them toward more reasonable behavior is simply not fully tuned. Because of their age, teens are, scientifically speaking, not fully rational. That doesn’t mean, however, that every teen is a ticking criminal time bomb, nor does it mean that they can’t learn from their mistakes.

Centers for Disease Control has found that youth sentenced in the juvenile system are less likely to return to a life of crime compared those that are tried and sentenced as adults. Alternatively, youth that do time in facilities rather than performing community service or other types of restorative justice are much more likely to drop out of school, be unemployed, and perpetuate a cycle of poverty, crime, and violence.

And there are indeed instances when youth commit very serious crimes that warrant harsher responses. Twelve year old Christopher Pittman murdered his grandparents with a shotgun. Rachel Shoaf and Sheila Eddy, both 16, lured a classmate out of her home and stabbed her to death. John Katehis, also 16, brutally stabbed a man multiple times. In instances such as this, it’s difficult to imagine going light on sentencing because the perpetrators are youth who lack the ability to fully rationalize their decisions. There’s a definite line between stealing a video game and ending a life.

What the juvenile justice system needs is more balance. Each youth deserves to be judged on their circumstances and the crime. Background, environment, exposure to crime, and the adults and role models in that youth’s life should all be factors taken into consideration when deciding a sentence, and whether to sentence as a juvenile or an adult. For example, was the crime motivated by hate, or a necessity such as hunger, or was it committed in self-defense? Each case should be judged on its individual merits. If a youth commits a heinous crime serious enough to warrant the harshest penalties, it makes sense to remove such an offender from the streets and to incarcerate. But if a youth is teetering on the edge of adulthood and is found guilty of a nonviolent crime, it’s worthwhile to consider consequences that can actually help reform them, rather than a sentence that dooms them for life.

Christopher Zoukis is the author of Federal Prison Handbook: The Definitive Guide to Surviving the Federal Bureau of Prisons, (Middle Street Publishing, 2017), and College for Convicts: The Case for Higher Education in American Prisons (McFarland & Co., 2014). He regularly contributes to The Huffington Post, New York Daily News, and Prison Legal News. He can be found online at ChristopherZoukis.com, PrisonEducation.com and Prisonerresource.com.

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Roy Moore, Donald Trump, and the Fall of White Evangelical Christians

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Theater Review (NYC): ‘A Regular Little Houdini’ by Daniel Llewelyn-Williams

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‘Star Wars’: Why Rian Johnson Isn’t Any Better Than George Lucas

For the past two years, Star Wars fans have been speculating on all of the questions J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens posed. Who are Rey’s parents? Who is Snoke? Where the heck did the First Order come from? Etc. The moment finally came. Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi arrived in theaters and fans’ reactions couldn’t be more polarized if we separated audiences on opposite ends of the planet.

You have your haters and your lovers and hardly anyone in between. But Rian Johnson doesn’t care about fans. He cares about Star Wars. If you search the internet hard enough, you’ll actually find a picture of Rian holding a postcard that says “Your Snoke Theory Sucks.” And this is entirely evident in the way he composed Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Rian Johnson isn’t any better than George Lucas when it comes to fan pandering (a good thing in my estimation) and in the next few paragraphs, you’ll find out exactly why.

George Lucas’s Legacy

Goerge Lucas is most likely the most hated and beloved characters in the Star Wars Universe except perhaps Jar-Jar Binks. In 1977 he launched one of the most influential films of the 20th century and the most popular franchise in the world.

But there is always a downside to being popular. Lucas created a monster, the Star Wars fandom.

When LucasFilm released The Phantom Menace in 1999, fans expected a spectacular return to the Star Wars Universe. They instead received a poorly written mess fraught with bad CGI effects, two-dimensional characters, and racial caricatures.

Yet, some fans stick by Lucas as a brilliant filmmaker. How can they back Lucas when his prequel trilogy was so obviously flawed? Isn’t he a washed-up hack who sold out to Disney?

The answer lies in the structure of the entire Star Wars Saga from Menace to Jedi. And if you watched The Last Jedi, you’ll quickly realize that Rian Johnson returned to Lucas’ structural roots and created a brilliant film on par with The Empire Strikes Back.

Ring Theory

In 2014 a blogger named Mike Klemo wrote a long treatise on Lucas’ use of chiastic structure, visually and narratively, in the Star Wars Saga. He called this his Ring Theory. If you want to understand Klemo’s Star Wars Ring Theory (a simplified version), imagine a ring or a loop. Each Star Wars film fits somewhere on the loop.

The top of the loop represents a high point in the Saga and the bottom of the loop a low point. With Star Wars, the plot points revolve around the Skywalker family. We start out in A New Hope. Anakin is entangled in the Empire as Darth Vader a dark lord, Luke is hidden away on Tatooine, and Leia is on a desperate mission.

As we move forward in the trilogy, Lucas takes his heroes upwards to victory against the Empire and the establishment of the New Republic and Anakin finds redemption.

The Prequel Trilogy Repeats This Pattern in Reverse

At the end of the original trilogy, we are at the top of the ring. This is where Episode I The Phantom Menace begins. We find our heroes at the height of the Old Republic. Everything is shiny and brilliant. A veritable utopia exists in the universe.

The rest of the prequel trilogy outlines the fall of our hero, Anakin Skywalker. His transformation into Darth Vader returns us to the low point on the ring along with the galaxy shifting events around him.

Lucas’ Visual Structure Trumped Narrative Fidelity in the Prequel Trilogy (He Didn’t Care About Fans Either)

Lucas went into the film industry to make art films. He never intended on making blockbuster films (a term coined around the Star Wars phenomenon).

By the time he started production on The Phantom Menace he had built his own film studio and thus answered to nobody. He was free to make Star Wars into an art film. Except, he really couldn’t do this properly, it’s Star Wars, not the Criterion Collection!

His solution? Focus on visual structure more than the narrative structure throughout the prequel trilogy. He only basically followed the chiastic hero’s journey when writing the plot. What mattered to Lucas was that his Star Wars saga rhymed like visual poetry.

If you look carefully, the opening of Episodes 1 and 4 are framed exactly the same. This is a clear indication of where we are in the ring cycle. But from there everything is framed in reverse as we move in opposite directions on the ring.

When a ship moves from left to right in Empire, it will move from right to left in Attack of the Clones, which is parallel to Empire on the ring.

If you look at the shot of Luke shocked at the death of his master in A New Hope and a similar scene of Obi-Wan’s shock at the death of his master in The Phantom Menace, you will see they are exactly the same. The only difference you can see: opposite colors. Obi-Wan dies (becomes one with the Force) near the beginning of ANH and Qui-Gon Jinn near the end of Phantom. These narratives rhyme, but they play out in reverse from each other.

You can read Klimo’s extended explanation and see all of the comparisons he makes between the two trilogies. But warning, it’s a long read.

How Rian Johnson Made a Star Wars Movie Lucas Would Be Proud Of

When I reached out to Mike Klimo after the release of The Force Awakens and asked whether he thought Abrams had failed at Ring construction, he said, “Not sure, honestly.”

But Abrams clearly did not want to continue Lucas’ visual legacy. He wanted to make his own Star Wars. And he admits as much in various interviews saying that Lucas was too much of a structuralist. while The Force Awakens was an excellent film, it does not fit within the Saga’s chiastic structure visually. Yes, narratively we begin where we should. The New Republic controls the galaxy and the Empire is no more. And yet things are beginning to fall apart. The narrative spirals downward from there. But this only follows the hero’s journey and not ring construction.

Rian Johnson, however, seems fit to restore Lucas’ vision. And he’s done a wonderful job of returning the Saga to its original structure with The Last Jedi.

Two Scenes as Evidence Rian Used Ring Structure in The Last Jedi

First, a warning: From here on out there be spoilers. It’s on your head if you continue reading without having watched The Last Jedi.

I can’t cover the entirety of The Last Jedi here. I’d be writing for days. But I offer two prominent scenes as evidence Rian used ring structure in The Last Jedi.

First, some proof Rian even understood ring construction. In a recent interview, Rian compared Luke’s cave scene on Dagobah to Rey’s scene on Ahch-To and said, “These movies rhyme with each other.” While this isn’t proof positive that Rian intentionally used ring construction, it’s strangely similar to something Lucas said before as well. “It’s like poetry, they rhyme. Every stanza kinda rhymes with the last one.”

We’ve established that Rian already echoes Lucas. But what about actual evidence?

The Two Caves

The entire structure, both narrative and visual, of The Last Jedi is backward to the structure of Empire Strikes Back. We end Jedi Where Empire starts off, in a trench war with the Empire/First Order.

But one iconic scene sticks out prominently among all others, the cave scenes of both films. Ahch-To and Dagobah are opposites in their own right. The island where Luke and Rey hash out their future roles in the Star Wars Saga might as well be floating in the sky, whereas Yoda’s home on Dagobah is a fetid jungle deep within a swamp world.

But the visual structure of the scenes are both similar and opposite. They “rhyme.”

In Empire, Luke enters from the right and remains on the right every time we see from his perspective. The camera shifts as Luke confronts Vader/himself in the cave and we’re seeing the fight from the opposite end of the cave. This continues until Luke decapitates Vader and the faceplate explodes to reveal Luke’s face.

Likewise, in Jedi, Rey enters a cave (she falls into the cave, no real comparison there, but whatever), but she approaches the mirror in the cave from the left. We hear her inner dialogue as she talks about confronting the darkness there and wanting to know about her parents. The mirror is foggy. Now the great reveal happens first rather than last in this scene. A shape appears behind the fog and when the fog dissipates, all that’s there is her own reflection. And as she touches the mirror an infinite number of reflections appear. The camera shifts and we see the scene from two angles as Rey snaps her fingers. We hear an eerie echo that resembles the nothingness of her past.

The Escape From Canto Bight and the Approach to Cloud City

Cloud City or Bespin is a fantastical Las Vegas in the sky. Smuggler and gambler, Lando Calrissian is the Baron Administrator of the place and friend to Han Solo.

After evading capture by the Empire, Han Solo and his crew drop by Cloud City for repairs and refuge from the Empire. Their approach is one of the most memorable scenes in the entire series. Han’s ship, the Millenium Falcon follows two Bespin Security vehicles through the sky toward Cloud City. The city hangs magnificently over a gas giant.

Later Han and his crew are betrayed into the hand of the Empire by Calrissian. This all happens about midway through The Empire Strikes Back.

In The Last Jedi, Finn and Rose wind up in a similar city. Canto Bight is another extravagant city only this time it’s situated on the ground and by the sea rather than in the sky (another opposite to indicate where we are on the ring). Rose and Finn escape on a giant horselike Fathier, a creature with a long neck and too-big pointy ears (this scene also echoes Anakin and Padme’s escape in Attack of the Clones, further evidence of ring construction). The Canto Bight Police chase Rose and Finn through the surrounding fields until they lose them near a cliff.

It’s the visual aspects of this scene that rhyme with the Bespin scene in TESB. Our heroes are being chased rather than led like in Empire and there are two security forces chasing them just like the two Bespin speeders in Empire. The security forces appear on opposite sides of the screen from each other as they give chase or lead the Falcon to Bespin.

The visual similarities are striking between the two scenes. And if you understand ring construction, you’ll see it everywhere in The Last Jedi when compared to The Empire Strikes Back.

Conclusion:

At the moment it’s impossible to create a visual comparison of The Empire Strikes Back and The Last Jedi. Disney is just too good at keeping a tight reign on any photo leaks.

But I challenge you to watch The Last Jedi and spot all of the places where the visuals rhyme with either Empire or Attack of the Clones. I think you’ll be surprised that Rian Johnson really does take after George Lucas.

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Music Review: Jeff Beck – ‘Live at the Hollywood Bowl’ (Blu-ray/2CD 50th Anniversary Concert)

Besides being the world’s greatest living guitarist, Jeff Beck is a man of few words (in concert). On August 10, 2016 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, he celebrated 50 years of being a professional artist in the public spotlight (which began with The Yardbirds in 1965). And about a handful of songs into it, he went up to the mic to say that over 50 years earlier, he was at the same venue (in ’65) “as a tourist” but that nobody was there. The guitar wizard humbly said he couldn’t have imagined that he would be back there all these years later (as a performer) and graciously thanked the crowd for their presence for this historic show.

In truth (no pun intended), it is the fans who are thankful that Beck is still flying high on his Olympic White Fender Stratocaster. And now you can see the career-spanning performance for yourself on Blu-ray, CD, and other formats, simply titled Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Over the course of 21 songs in 100 minutes, he played many hits from his years in The Yardbirds, the Jeff Beck Group, and his legendary solo releases. You get to relive all the stylistic shifts, from ’60s pop rock, hard rock, blues, jazz rock (with a little funk thrown in here and there), electronic/synth-aided rock, and more.

The Jeff Beck Band

Rhonda Smith, known for being Prince’s bass player for a decade, handles this role flawlessly. (She also counts Beyonce, Chaka Khan, and T.I. among her other credits.) Carmen Vandenberg is the rhythm guitarist (and member of U.K. band Bones, as is guest singer Rosie Bones), and Jonathan Joseph is on drums. Vandenberg and Rosie Bones also played on Beck’s Loud Hailer LP from last year.

The 50th Anniversary Concert (Blu-ray)

The crowd was respectable for the bluesy opening number, “The Revolution Will Be Televised,” featuring the megaphone-sung vocals of Rosie Bones – you can see screenshots of people eating/drinking. It’s a decent start but would not have been my first choice for an opener.

Next comes a trio of classics from his short but vital career in The Yardbirds (where he replaced some guy named Eric Clapton): “Over Under Sideways Down,” “Heart Full of Soul,” and “For Your Love.” Guest singer Jimmy Hall’s booming voice does these short pop rock ditties justice, with Todd O’Keefe also providing backing vocals. Beck has always said he is not a “long solo” guy, believe it or not. It’s on songs like these where you understand that he can say as much with short, aching note bends and small fiery solos as most guitarists do on five-minute jams.

Beck’s 1968 debut solo album Truth gets a lot of live at this show, highlighted by “Let Me Love You” (a Willie Dixon composition that features the man who first released it, the always energetic blues icon Buddy Guy), “Morning Dew,” and one of the earliest heavy metal/hard rock songs ever recorded, “Beck’s Bolero” (which is actually credited to Jimmy Page). The most joyous of these is “Let Me Love You” for one simple reason: Buddy Guy. Guy is one of Beck’s guitar heroes, and one of the last remaining blues greats still around. No one brings more passion and feel to every note sung or played than him. His performance here with Beck backs this up. Enjoy it folks.

Beck continues his cruise through the blues with powerhouse vocalist Beth Hart on “I’d Rather Go Blind.” Hart, who has recorded with blues titan Joe Bonamassa in recent years, brings her A-game on this intimate aching blues ballad.

In the 1970s, the fusion of jazz and rock reached its zenith, and Beck was in the middle of that new and exciting mix of genres, having worked with Jan Hammer, keyboard wiz for Mahavishnu Orchestra. Hammer may have lost a lot of hair since then but at this show, his fleeting finger work is still top-notch. In fact, he shows as much virtuosity on the keys during “Freeway Jam” as Beck does on guitar.

The Billy Cobham-ish and Hammer-penned “You Never Know,” from 1980 album There & Back, is one of the more underrated Beck classics from his fusion days. On this live edition, though shorter than the studio original, it still has some seriously furious riffage alongside some funky bass (by Smith).

Intimate blue lighting sets the scene for showstopper “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers.” Beck’s lyrical licks on this have always made it one of his most iconic songs – technically a cover song since it was given to him by Stevie Wonder in the mid-’70s. All these years later, Beck still bears his soul into this instrumental masterpiece and still manages to sneak in some wild finishes to his solos for good measure.

The synth-aided “Star Cycle” (from There & Back) also gets the live treatment here, with Beck and Hammer showing off their firepower with dueling solos. “Blue Wind,” from Wired (1976), is crunchier in concert (and a bit more metal by Beck standards, via his palm-muted riffing). Then comes “Big Block,” from the 1989 Grammy-winning release, Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop.

One of the true treats on this release is Beck’s cover of ZZ Top’s “Rough Boy.” From 1985 album Afterburner, it’s a midtempo ballad by ZZ Top standards, and Billy F. Gibbons comes out to sing and play it in front of a rapturous audience. Much like with Beck and Guy, the director of this release, Jim Yukich, does an appreciable job of showing just how well Beck and Gibbons play off and to each other.

Steven Tyler sprints out to the stage for the performance of “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” and he immediately gets the audience to sing the chorus on command. This is followed by Yardbirds classic “Shapes of Things,” which gets a little more hard rocked up (read: more Zeppelin-esque). For my money, Tyler has always had the strongest falsetto in the bizness (well, next to Rob Halford), and despite the wear and tear on his vocal cords over the decades, he’s still got it. All Beck could do was smile when he did one of his trademarked yelps between verses.

The greats often end a thrilling, exhaustive show with one long, epic song to send fans off into the night. For this 50th anniversary show, you get two: “A Day in the Life,” and “Purple Rain.” The former is what Beck usually saves as his last big highlight of his concerts (in recent years). And as awe-inspiring as this Beatles cover always is, it’s Beck’s all-star band tribute to Prince that will and should be the talk of this release. Hart comes back out one last time to belt out her soulful vocals, while Hall, Rosie Bones, and Tyler group together to sing backup, and Hammer comes back to the keys.

And then you see Prince’s former bass player Rhonda Smith taking it all in and being a total pro during what was surely an emotional performance given the death of Prince just months earlier. For Beck’s part, he stays cool while the singers do their part, then lets loose with tasteful soloing that stays mostly true to the Purple One’s vision. Who knows how Beck plans on topping this moment at the end of future shows but for now, this ranks as the finale of all finales.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Little quibbles include no special features/behind-the-scenes extras. And in the liner notes, Todd O’Keefe appears in the “thank you” section but doesn’t get mentioned as a backup singer, even though Hall does introduce him to the audience after the Yardbirds classics they sang.

With 21 songs performed, there’s not much of a reason to nitpick on track selection. But for a 50-year celebration, it seems a bit odd to leave a whole decade or so out (no originals from the 1990s or the 2000s, though he didn’t record all that much then). Instead of three songs from his 2016 album Loud Hailer, it would’ve been more of a complete retrospective to do just one (preferably the powerful, political-minded “Scared for the Children”) and instead perform songs like the more electronic-powered “What Mama Said” from 1999 LP Who Else! and the Grammy-winning “Plan B” from 2003 LP, Jeff. But that’s just quibbling.

Audio (2CD) Set

The 2CD set is (thankfully) the exact same 21-song concert shown on the Blu-ray, and the sound is pristine. You get 12 tunes on the first disc, and nine on the second. As you might expect, CD 1 has the bulk of his best-known heavy hitters. But in terms of guests, it acts as a warmup for CD 2, with the majority of the special guests (Tyler, Gibbons, Guy, and Hart, etc.) on the latter. With either disc, you’ll get your money’s worth via the numerous aforementioned highlights on both.

Bottom Line

Jeff Beck’s Live at the Hollywood Bowl is an essential collector’s item for longtime fans. Period. Not only is it rare to get all these songs performed in one night, it’s also a rare group of performers he assembled to shine with him on one stage as well. And the guests do so without overshadowing the man of the hour. The release not only comes as a comprehensive Blu-ray/2CD set but a DVD/2CD package, a stand-alone Blu-ray, and digital/MP3 version, as well as a DVD/3LP set, which is available to purchase via PledgeMusic and Amazon.com.

Tracklist (CD 1: 1-12; CD 2: 13-21)

1) “The Revolution Will Be Televised”
2) “Over Under Sideways Down”
3) “Heart Full of Soul”
4) “For Your Love”
5) “Beck’s Bolero”
6) “Rice Pudding”/”Morning Dew”
7) “Freeway Jam”
8) “You Never Know”
9) “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers”
10) “Star Cycle”
11) “Blue Wind”
12) “Big Block”
13) “I’d Rather Go Blind”
14) “Let Me Love You”
15) “Live in the Dark”
16) “Scared for the Children”
17) “Rough Boy”
18) “Train Kept A-Rollin”
19) “Shapes of Things”
20) “A Day in the Life”
21) “Purple Rain”

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Music DVD Review: ‘Sting: Live at the Olympia Paris’

It’s a family affair on the new music concert, Sting: Live at the Olympia Paris, as seasoned musician Sting and his musicians made a sold-out stop on their 57th & 9th World Tour at the historic Olympia music hall (a.k.a. L’Olympia) in Paris, France.

The Olympia, co-founded by Joseph Oller and Charles Zidler, who co-created the Moulin Rouge, makes for a perfect venue, as Sting showcases his impressive song catalog from his solo career and the Police for the sold-out crowd.

The performers include longtime Sting guitarist Dominic Miller, guitarist Rufus Miller (Dominic’s son), accordionist Percy Cardona, drummer Josh Freese, and backup vocalist Joe Sumner (Sting’s son). This family duo gets a great showcase on the heartfelt “Shape of My Heart,” and Sting introduces everyone in French to the crowd.

Members of the Texas-based band The Last Bandoleros (Jerry Fuentes and Diego Navaira (the son of Tejano superstar Emilio Navaira)) also join the mix on backing vocals/percussion and backing vocals, respectively, with guitarist Derek James and drummer/vocalist Emilio Navaira joining The Last Bandoleros for their bonus set. All these musicians create a perfect performance with impressive musicianship.

Sting’s artistic craftsmanship provides an outstanding anchor to showcase these talented musicians. The sound on this DVD does the music justice in LPCM 2.0 stereo and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround.

Viewers see several fan reactions, which enhances the experience. The great editing is smooth but maybe a bit short at times, with no more than a five-second cut. The 1.78:1 aspect ratio wraps the fans right into the experience, especially in the shots from the back of the band facing towards the audience.

Eagle Vision’s Sting: Live at the Olympia Paris was filmed on April 13, 2017. Sting and his talented musicians played several songs from his recent 57th & 9th album, including “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You” after a fast-paced, energetic beginning with “Synchronicity II,” “Spirits in the Material World” (from 1981’s Ghost in the Machine) and “Englishman in New York” in a 23-song set.

Following “I Can’t Stop…” is another 57th & 9th song, “One Fine Day,” then the upbeat “She’s Too Good for Me” from 1993 Ten Summoner’s Tales and the country-flavored “I Hung My Head” (later covered by Johnny Cash). Classics like “Fields of Gold,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Desert Rose,” “Walking on the Moon,” and “Message in a Bottle” strengthen the set and are well-placed to sustain the energy.

Next is a great set from 57th & 9th: “Petrol Head,” “Down, Down, Down,” “Pretty Young Soldier,” and the great anthem “50,000.” “Ashes to Ashes” gives homage to David Bowie and is followed by the reggae-infused Police classic, “So Lonely.” The band then combines The Police’s breakout 1978 single “Roxanne” with “Ain’t No Sunshine,” originally sung by Bill Withers in 1971. The Police staple “Next to You” follows, while the set-ending “Fragile” impresses as an iconic song on its own, but it’s amazing that Sting still creates such a strong vocal performance at the end of a 23-song set.

The bonus content includes nine extra “opening act” performances – one from Sting with his son Joe plus three from Joe and five from The Last Bandoleros. Subtitles are available in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Dutch, French, and German.

Sting: Live at the Olympia Paris is an outstanding 102-minute main performance with bonuses totaling 137 minutes, making it a premiere music concert experience! It’s also available on Blu-ray and digital download.

TRACKLIST (Main):
“Synchronicity II”
“Spirits in the Material World”
“Englishman in New York”
“I Can’t Stop Thinking About You”
“One Fine Day”
“She’s Too Good for Me”
“I Hung My Head”
“Fields of Gold”
“Petrol Head”
“Down, Down, Down”
“Shape of My Heart”
“Pretty Young Soldier”
“Message in a Bottle”
“Ashes to Ashes”
“50,000”
“Walking on the Moon”
“So Lonely”
“Desert Rose”
“Roxanne”/”Ain’t No Sunshine”
“Next to You”
“Every Breath You Take”
“Fragile”

BONUS TRACKS
“Heading South on the Great North Road” – Sting & Joe Sumner
“Looking for Me, Looking for You” – Joe Sumner
“Don’t Change the Love” – Joe Sumner
“Jellybean” – Joe Sumner
“Maria” – The Last Bandoleros
“River Man” – The Last Bandoleros
“Take Me to It” – The Last Bandoleros
“I Don’t Want to Know” – The Last Bandoleros
“Where Do You Go?” – The Last Bandoleros

 

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The Acorn Media Holiday Gift Guide, 2017

This holiday season, there are only two types of people in this world: those who love a good British television mystery, and those of you who will be receiving socks again this year. For the former type of individual, Acorn Media has a variety of recent and (more or less) classic TV series alike to choose from as part of their 2017 Holiday Gift Guide.

Following its debut back in those now seemingly far-off days of 2007, the highly-rated BBC mystery Inspector George Gently recently took its final bow in 2017. Now, all eight series of the acclaimed detective drama starring Martin Shaw are yours to own in Acorn’s George Gently: The Complete Collection, available as a 13-Disc Blu-ray set or a 25-Disc DVD package. Based on the novels of author Alan Hunter and set (for the most part) in the changing world of the 1960s (and, later, as the series progresses, the fabulous ’70s), Gently focuses on the cases of Shaw’s eponymous character ‒ an old-fashioned (and very devoted) detective who moves from busy London to the rural Northeast, only to find people are still just as capable of committing heinous crimes there as they are in the big city. Lee Ingleby also stars throughout this captivating drama as Gently’s less-refined younger apprentice. In addition to all 25 feature-length episodes, Acorn’s Complete Collection also includes behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast/crew interviews, and more.

Another acclaimed series from Acorn making its “complete” debut this season is England/Northern Ireland’s unconventional serial killer thriller, The Fall: The Complete Collection. Starring The X-Files‘ Gillian Anderson and a pre-Fifty Shades of Grey Jamie Dornan, this exciting program from RTÉ and BBC arrives on Blu-ray and DVD in six-disc sets. Spanning the distance of three series and 17 episodes, Allan Cubitt’s The Fall centers on more than just a detective on the hunt for a vicious murderer, adding an intriguing character study in the midst of its oft-gritty environment as the elusive and enigmatic Paul Spector (Dornan) leaves a trail of victims in his murderous wake. But the story behind The Fall‘s antagonist isn’t the only mystery for viewers to solve here, as Gillian Anderson’s Stella Gibson proves to be an equally perplexing puzzle to piece together. Acorn Media’s The Fall: The Complete Collection also includes several behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and more.

The last point of interest from Acorn Media’s grove of international delights for this article is also the most recent mystery of all. A joint production betwixt Ireland and Canada, 2017’s Acceptable Risk finds Elaine Cassidy as Sarah Manning: a remarried mother of two who also happens to have two dead husbands (talk about terrible twos!). After her new hubby is murdered execution style whilst in Montreal on business, Sarah is left with a feeling of emptiness that is quickly overfilled with unanswered questions. As Sarah and detectives from Canada and Ireland alike attempt to unravel just who our heroine’s prominent pharmaceutical executive husband really was, Sarah herself begins has to wonder if there is any connection to the accidental death of her first married partner ‒ who just happened to work for the exact same big pharma outfit! Morten Suurballe, Angeline Ball, Lisa Hogg, and Geordie Johnson also star in this RTÉ drama. Acorn Media releases the six-episode series in two-disc sets on Blu-ray or DVD, both of which feature bonus cast interviews and behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Additional titles of interest this season include Midsomer Murders: John Barnaby’s First Cases, a “best-of” collection highlighting the long-running series’ current star, Neil Dudgeon; Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, the 2010 BBC TV production with David Suchet reprising his famous role as Hercule Poirot; and two compilation sets featuring more murder and mayhem from the crowned queen of crime herself, The Best of Agatha Christie. Finally, for those of you who are more of the sit-and-binge types, Acorn Media offers gift subscriptions to Acorn TV.

All in all, there’s plenty to get wrapped up in this year from Acorn Media. Happy holidays.

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We Aren’t Taking the Opioid Epidemic Seriously Enough

The opioid epidemic is in full swing, and we aren’t doing enough to curtail its effects. According to projections by STAT, within the next decade, we could lose 650,000 people to opioid overdoses—a population equivalent to the entire city of Baltimore, and then some.

Last year alone, more than 64,000 people died from drug overdoses, making it one of the deadliest years on record, with a death toll higher than those from guns, car accidents, or HIV/AIDS, and higher than the Vietnam and Iraq Wars’ casualties combined.

Yet we aren’t doing enough to reduce the threat.

The State of Emergency

Back in October, President Trump seemed to take a step in the right direction when he formally declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, bringing increased national attention to the problem and recognizing its destructive potential.

He pledged to reduce rates of drug addiction and abuse throughout the country, but didn’t allocate any additional funds to resources that could help manage the crisis. Despite public health officials’ insistence that the best way to address the problem is the rapid expansion of medical treatment, the current administration is focusing efforts on an advertising campaign similar to the Reagan administration’s “just say no” anti-drug campaigns in the 1980s.

Treatment Availability

Recovering from addiction is a long and painful process, and by the time treatment becomes necessary, most addicts are too lost to the drug to make logical decisions for themselves. Few users are coherent enough to actively seek out the treatment they need, even when persuaded that they should do so by advertising or awareness campaigns.

On top of that, drug rehab facilities are expensive and sometimes difficult to find. A quick online search can introduce you to dozens of rehab centers nearby, and thousands across the country, but without the resources and the will to pursue those avenues, existing addicts will be unable to get help.

Prescription

One of the most serious root causes of the epidemic is excessive prescribing of opioid painkillers to relieve pain. The burden here rests on multiple shoulders:

• Doctors continue prescribing opioid painkillers, sometimes at egregious rates, because it’s convenient, or because they don’t recognize the impact that this over-prescribing can have on our society.
• Insurance companies readily reimburse for opioid painkillers, allowing a continuous cycle of economic gain that makes it nearly impossible to cut back on the drugs’ use or prescriptions.
• Effective pain management is rare and difficult to integrate. While there are some novel methods of pain management emerging as alternatives to opioid painkillers, they’re difficult to invent and even more difficult to get approved and integrated into our existing healthcare system. This makes opioids, by default, an easier solution for pain.

Training and Access

We also need to be focused on training more personnel to be equipped to handle the opioid epidemic. With addicted patients being both unreliable and difficult to work with, it’s hard to find volunteers or professionals who are willing to go out of their way to continue providing treatment. Professionals need to be prepared for the realities of addiction treatment, and equipped with the resources necessary to be successful. In most cases, that also means providing consistent and easier access to medications designed to decrease or mitigate the effects of opiate dependence.

Right now, the death toll of opioid abuse is as high as it’s ever been, and despite some steps in the right direction, we’re still not doing enough to limit its development. If we’re going to move past this as a society, we need to invest more time and resources into painkiller alternatives, we need to demand more from our doctors and insurance companies, we need to provide more easily accessible treatment to those suffering from addictions, and above all, we need to recognize the scale and severity of this threat. Unless we fundamentally change how we think about and fight back against the opioid epidemic, it’s only going to get worse.

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Book review: ‘Conquering Your Adversities’ by Dr. Kenneth Polke

Move over Rudy, Dr. Kenneth Polke is here to tell his own inspiring story of overcoming obstacles to play in the NFL in his new book Conquering Your Adversities: From the Mafia-Controlled Streets to the NFL to Ultimately Becoming a Successful Doctor. In this hybrid of a memoir and a self-help book, Dr. Polke shares his inspiring journey.

From growing up on the Mafia-ridden streets of Cleveland in the 1950s and going to a Catholic boys school to watching the nation erupt in violence during the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, seeing his neighborhood of Collinwood become known as Bomb City, USA. All the while, managing to stay focused on walking the straight and narrow path that would lead him to his dream of playing in the NFL.

I’m not a football fan, but I always love a good rags-to-riches or dream-come-true story and every page of this book is full of both. One thing I really enjoyed about Conquering Your Adversities is that Dr. Polke contrasted his personal stories with keeping a pulse on what was happening outside his private sphere — in his city and in the nation. As a result, the book was filled with nostalgia about America’s best days in the decades following World War II, as well as some of its most turbulent times.

At the heart of the story is the Polke family. Dr. Polke describes growing up in a small house in Collinwood with his brother and little sister and later a baby sister. His father read to them and educated them on everything from sports to the Mafia. When his mother was not busy caring for the family, she was working her hands raw at the Jergens factory to make sure they had everything they needed. Dr. Polke’s parents were hardworking middle class people who upheld the Ozzie and Harriet values of the 1950s and instilled them in their children, providing them with strength and a moral code to follow when temptation came their way.

And temptation was all around Dr. Polke as a child. His parents sent him to Catholic school to keep him out of the troublesome public schools. However, even when surrounded by nuns, he couldn’t help getting himself into trouble—stealing communion wine from the church. But far worse, the streets of his neighborhood were controlled by the Mafia. While Dr. Polke never had direct dealings with them, he was always conscious of them being in his neighborhood. He often had to take cues from his father about how to react to different situations, whom to be friendly with, and whom to avoid.

Foremost among the Mafia figures in the neighborhood was Danny Greene, who would later be the subject of the film Kill the Irishman. Dr. Polke had one memorable run-in with Greene when he was a child—a positive one, fortunately, that allowed him to understand why Greene was venerated as a type of Robin Hood in his community, although he also knew Greene’s choices were ultimately a mistake.

When things got rough, Dr. Polke always managed to persevere, but the temptation was ever there to take the easy way to success. When he did not have a lot of money or when his dreams didn’t seem like they were going to come true, Dr. Polke occasionally would see rich guys drive by in fancy cars with beautiful babes. Then he would realize that he could be enjoying that lifestyle if he wanted to join organized crime. Instead, he chose sports—specifically football—as his way out.

Dr. Polke’s football career is impressive. He may not be a household name today, but he went a lot farther than most who dream of playing professionally. He tells us stories of great moments on the football field in high school. We feel butterflies in our stomachs along with him when he meets with recruiters from different colleges, and ultimately, we feel like falling off our chairs in shock when he finally gets that magical call. I don’t want to ruin all the suspense, but I will say that Polke ended up playing for two different NFL teams.

And then, in the end, he walked away from football for something better….

You’ll have to read the rest of Dr. Polke’s story for yourself, not just to know what happened to him—but to discover what can happen to you. Each chapter of Conquering Your Adversities ends with a series of challenging questions to make readers reflect upon Dr. Polke’s story, think about similar challenges they’ve faced, and figure out how to overcome them. In the end, this book becomes a blueprint for readers to follow their own dreams and achieve success despite any obstacles that stand in their way.

If you want to be inspired, if you love history, if you’re from Cleveland, if you love football—heck, if you’re a human being, you’ll love this book because you’ll relate to it and it will help you to conquer your own adversities. There are plenty of self-help books out there, but few can help as much as exploring how someone else overcame difficulties and taking inspiration from his personal story—and Dr. Polke delivers all the way.

For more information about Dr. Kenneth Polke and Conquering Your Adversities, visit the author’s website.

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Blu-ray Review: ‘The Man From Earth: Special Edition’

Ten years ago, The Man From Earth was released to the world. Not in theatres; the low-budget, indie film went straight to DVD. But with an excellent cast and cred for the writer, the movie went on to critical acclaim. It scored nominations, awards, and topped the list of Best Films in its genre. It was also, unfortunately, heavily pirated. Now, with an impending sequel, the original gets a remastered Special Edition release.

The Story

The story is a great thought experiment. Professor John Oldman (David Lee Smith, CSI: Miami) is packing up to leave town unexpectedly. A group of his colleagues insist on having a going-away party. When he slips out, they follow him and demand an explanation for his attempted disappearance. John tells them he’s actually a 14,000-year-old caveman who moves along every ten years before people notice that he doesn’t age. Of course, no one believes him. But the more they try to poke holes in his story, while he can’t prove what he’s saying is true, they fail to disprove it, either.

The Man From Earth plays very much like a play. Almost all the action is on one set, taking place in a single day. The ensemble by and large all stay on camera for the duration, making it a dialogue-heavy conversation piece. There isn’t any action, per se, just an intense examination of the claim and the ramifications of such a thing, exploring both the practical and the historical. Given that the characters are college professors, the conversation is high-brow and intelligent, covering a wide variety of angles.

Sci-Fi Cred

This is about what one might expect from writer Jerome Bixby, who literally finished this story on his death bed. Jerome is best known for “It’s a Good Life,” a short story that was turned into a seminal episode of The Twilight Zone, and for writing multiple episodes of the original 1960s Star Trek series, most notably “Mirror, Mirror.” (Another Star Trek episode he wrote, “Requiem for Methuselah,” has parallels to this tale.)

The ensemble cast also has plenty of Star Trek cred in it. Among them are John Billingsley (a lead in Star Trek: Enterprise), Tony Todd (guest star in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, and Star Trek: Voyager), and Richard Riehle (guest star in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise). Rounding out the cast are Ellen Crawford (ER), Annika Peterson (Tanner Hall), Alexis Thorpe (Days of Our Lives), and William Katt (Carrie). While not a highly recognizable troupe, these are all working actors who do a good job.

Ten Years Later

The Man From Earth holds up very well as a story. The plot is engrossing, the actors are natural, and there are enough surprises to make it worth it to pay attention. While it doesn’t answer every question that could be posed, it covers a lot of ground, and Bixby did a great job trying to anticipate what viewers would ask. I’m glad it’s getting a re-release to bring more attention to it.

But despite the expense spent on upgrading the film to HD (which it was not filmed in), I’m not sure the job was good enough to justify it. Sure, the original quality is soft and a bit blurry, but the new version is harsh and grainy. Watching the side-by-side comparison in the Blu-ray special features, I personally appreciated the original better. I’m not saying The Man From Earth couldn’t be made to look higher-quality, but I don’t think this release does it.

Extras

There are a wealth of bonus features on the Blu-ray. We get trailers for both the original movie and the upcoming sequel. There are two audio commentaries to choose from. There’s a very entertaining, very short film called “Contagion.” A few featurettes are interesting.

I am loathe to complain about a behind-the-scenes feature, as most are too short for my taste, but the one here is actually too long. Perhaps it would be better split into chunks, as it runs roughly the same length as the film. But I’m not sure that would help much, as there are a lot of unnecessary conversation in it. It’s cool to hear most of the cast, Bixby’s son, a producer, and director Richard Schenkman talk about the unique filming process and the piracy issues. However, there’s repetition and tangents that make it drag on. So for once, I have to say this one could use some editing down.

Conclusion

This is a great film, and I’m very glad to get to see it. It feels indie and low-budget, but that might be a plus for this particular story. The extras, despite my minor complaint that the main one could use some editing down, are plenty and mostly enjoyable. I recommend Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth, available now.

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MIGS 2017: Exclusive Interview with Videogame Composer Inon Zur

As mentioned in my previous article on MIGS, the gaming summit is as much about learning and connecting with industry professionals as it is about the games on display. I had the extreme pleasure to sit down with legendary composer Inon Zur at MIGS 2017 and discuss his work and process. Zur has been making music his entire career and composing for games for the last 20 years. His career is as diverse as it is prolific with huge successes in major franchises like the Dragon Age and Fallout series.

In speaking to Zur I was struck by how passionate he was about his career and the music he has created across his entire portfolio. He was not always a professional composer. Having grown up in Israel, he was in the military for four years and had a role as tank commander. After his military service he decided to return to his earlier musical passions and headed to the United States to study music and enter the industry.

He landed a role at the FOX Family channel as a staff composer and worked on hundreds of episodes for television series such as Power Rangers, Beetleborgs and Escaflowne. After working in television for years he eventually got an opportunity to be the composer for an Interplay game, Star Trek Klingon Academy. He told me that as he began his career making music for video games with that project, he was given the creative freedom to explore his vision for the score. One of the key pieces even had a full choir singing in authentic Klingon.

In recent years he has worked very closely with Bethesda and BioWare on a number of their titles, most notably the Fallout series, Dragon’s Age: Origins and Dragon’s Age 2. These collaborations have brought his music to the forefront of the industry, leading to physical releases of his soundtracks, the most recent being Fallout 4: Music From Far Harbor & Nuka World.

After that successful start Zur created music for many Interplay games such as Fallout Tactics, Icewind Dale II and Run Like Hell. His music was incredibly well received and within the developer community he gained a reputation as a talented composer who can add nuance and atmosphere to a game with his music.

Inon Zur has now been making music for games for over 20 years. He talked about how the evolution of technology has greatly helped him to create more immersive experiences. In the early days he was able to make only one track, and the only option was to loop it or chop and cycle through sections. Now he is able to layer multiple tracks and take advantage of much deeper levels of sound, giving him options that were just not possible when he started. One of his recent projects is a mobile game from Nexxon called Durango. He is thrilled with the music he is developing for this sandbox dinosaur game and has conducted several orchestral sessions for it already.

He said he works very closely with a game’s directors and artists to understand the look and feel. Having gotten a good feeling for the game, its world and motivations, he begins to compose. He collaborates closely with the studio and works over the duration of the production, on and off over the entire cycle, and develops a true vision for the project. As you see the images on the screen he really wants you to fall deeper into the world and emotions being conveyed through hearing the music. For Eagle Flight he worked closely with the audio directors to create a score they could use to make the game as atmospheric and dynamic as possible.

As the interview came to a close I asked what he likes to listen to in order to relax and unwind. Classical music from the masters was on the list, as was anything from John Williams, and jazz is another passion. In fact jazz is so close to his heart that when asked what would be a passion project for him, he suggested a game about or centered on jazz music would be ideal. So if any developers out there have a jazz-based gaming project, reach out to Inon Zur, he may just be interested!

It was a true pleasure to spend time with Inon Zur learning about his history, projects and recording process. What I truly enjoyed was the passion he expresses in body and spirit about the music he creates and the gaming industry as a whole. He is thrilled to be making music. In fact he commented that his real satisfaction is getting feedback that the music worked and had a personal effect on someone.

Please listen to and enjoy the entire interview with Inon Zur as he talks about his history, what he is working on right now and what it is like to record in the famous Abbey Road Studios.

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Theater Review (NYC Broadway): ‘Farinelli and the King’ with Mark Rylance

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Book Review: ‘Adoring God: A Christian Guide to Beholding God’s Glory’ Keith Knell

In Adoring God by Keith Knell we get a look at the true attributes of God. We all have a concept of who God is, whether it’s an old man in a white robe on a cloud, or a loving father, or the judge of sinners. Keith Knell, however, asks us to reassess who we think God is. Relying heavily on Scripture — the most reliable source for information about God — he walks readers through God’s many attributes, separating the myths and misconceptions from what the Bible says. He reminds us not to make the error of seeing God as having human attributes because we are made in His image and not the other way around.

As Keith states early in the book, “Ultimately, my goal in this book is not to teach you how to read and understand the Bible better, but for you to get to know God better, to understand Him more fully and love Him more deeply.” Keith wants us to reread the Bible, asking ourselves in the process, “What does this passage reveal about God?” After all, Keith points out, “The Bible is primarily about God unveiling and revealing parts of who He is!”

Keith then walks us through the attributes of God, devoting chapters to such topics as God’s holiness, His truth, how He is unchanging, and how He is merciful. But Keith also makes us realize that the Bible is not always presenting us with a loving God who will forgive us and only let people like Hitler burn in Hell. For me, the most rewarding and challenging parts of Adoring God were these chapters where Keith looks at some of the seemingly harsher aspects of God’s character, including His jealousy and His wrath. Relying heavily upon Scripture, Keith shows how these aspects of God’s character are not contradictory but righteous and part of God’s overall perfection.

The result is a very eye-opening portrait of God that can result not only in increased love and devotion toward God but also facing some hard truths for the reader—truths that even Keith has struggled with, as clear from the Contemplations sections that end each chapter. In these sections, the reader can pray to God and ask for insight and better understanding. One such Contemplation reads:

Wow. It boggles my mind to think that You don’t consider what we would think of as ‘the right thing to do.’ You considered what You wanted, and did it. And that made it right. Now that’s supremacy. You are what is ‘right.’ I don’t have to spend time arguing with myself over whether something You chose to do was right or not. It is a given. It was right because You decreed it. How unsearchable are Your judgments and unfathomable Your ways!

Another point Keith makes that many Christians today may try to ignore is that God is wrathful:

Many people don’t believe God is wrathful at all…. And some who agree with the truth that God is wrathful, nevertheless make excuses for Him or feel the need to apologize for this part of who He is. Some think that if He was wrathful, then that was the ‘Old God,’ long ago from the Old Testament past, and that He has changed, matured.

Keith goes on to explain that God is wrathful, but He is just and righteous in being so. Furthermore, Keith denies the modern notion that God can mature or evolve. He quotes the Puritan writer Stephen Charnock to support this point. Charnock says, “What comfort would it be to pray to a god that, like the chameleon, changed color every moment? Who would put up a petition to an earthly prince that was so mutable as to grant a petition one day, and deny it another?”

In other words, God is not like you and me. Once we move past that faulty view, we can discover who He truly is, as reflected in Scripture, and as highlighted in this book.

In addition to the main text, Keith quotes many theological giants to support his points. Those writers include A.W. Pink, Thomas Watson, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards, to name just a few.

Perhaps most impressively, the book is a superior example of Bible scholarship. There are over 500 footnotes, most listing multiple Bible verses, not only to back up Keith’s statements, but more importantly, to be further reading for the person who truly wants to explore and understand the various attributes of God. Keith asks that people not just read the book, but that they spend a week on each chapter, praying over its message and meditating on the many verses cited. I believe this process would be very beneficial and turn a reading experience into a deeply spiritual one.

In the end, Keith hopes that the result of reading this book will verify the Scripture statement, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:8). Whether you are currently a nonbeliever, an active Christian, or somewhere in the middle, Adoring God will give you much food for thought and, ultimately, I believe it will deepen your understanding and relationship with God in surprising and gratifying ways.

For more information about Keith Knell and Adoring God, visit Amazon.

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Movie Review: ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ – The Force Is Strong With This One

Director Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the eighth installment of the film series, is visually stunning, with an array of dazzling colors, frighteningly gorgeous explosions, and magnificent vistas of land and water. There are also the grand and silent expanses of space, so silent and peaceful until filled with enemy combatants, reminding us that wars (star ones and otherwise) wreak havoc no matter where they occur.

But beyond the sheer visual majesty of the film, there is the human element that is simple yet profound. As always at the heart of any Star Wars film is the eternal struggle of good and evil, with evidence of the gray area in between that either side can visit and exploit. If Star Wars: The Force Awakens can be considered a invigoration of this film series, The Last Jedi makes a case for being one of the best of the bunch by bringing things back to basics – especially revisiting the Skywalker family that has been at the heart of all eight films.

In The Force Awakens it was a chance for Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to take center stage, and this time it falls to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to step forward. If you are expecting to see Luke be something like the starry-eyed farm boy who wanted to rush off to Toshi Station to get some power converters, you will be very disappointed. This incarnation of Luke is grizzled and gritty, with shades of Obi-wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) from A New Hope but a more cantankerous and dark version. Purposefully making himself an outcast on a remote island near the ruins of the first Jedi temple, Luke’s not looking after anyone as Obi-wan did with him on Tatooine; rather, he has gone to this isolated place to live out his years in isolation and die.

The arrival of Rey (Daisy Ridley) holding Luke’s father’s lightsaber in hand (you know, good old Darth Vader) is at first an annoyance for Luke, but as their tempestuous relationship evolves it becomes one of teacher and student, albeit one far different than Obi-wan and the young Skywalker. As Luke sees Rey’s inherent power, it frightens him to think about what could happen because, as Yoda saw in his father, there is a darkness in Rey that may blossom if left unchecked.

There is, of course, the by now familiar story line of the Resistance led be General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) trying to outrun the First Order led by her son Ben Solo/Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). It is both comforting and unsettling to watch Fisher’s scenes knowing that she is no longer with us, but her gutsy performance is the essence of what her character has always been. Force sensitive without having Luke’s raw power, Leia is perhaps the most important Skywalker in that she has been able to harness the Force to lead others in the fight against evil; however, her rag-tag rebels are fleeing because they have been decimated by the First Order and seem to be on the brink of extinction, so things are not looking good for her or her followers.

Poe Dameron (Oscar Issac) and Finn (John Boyega) are back along with adorable robot BB-8. Add new character Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) to the mix, and this trio attempts to engage in a dangerous mission behind Leia’s back to disable the enemy’s tracking device in order for the rebel forces to escape. Of course, this involves Finn heading back to his old stomping grounds on an enemy vessel and puts him on a collision course for a showdown with his former tormentor, the chrome-armored Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie).

On the enemy side we see the bickering between General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and Kylo as they each seek to win favor with Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). This time around they are all aboard Snoke’s ship, and we get to see Snoke in person. In contrast to the way Luke and Rey are interacting, Snoke admonishes Kylo and pronounces him as unready to be what Kylo always wanted to be – the next Darth Vader – and belittles him for wearing a mask, calling it “that ridiculous thing.” It becomes clear that Snoke is trying to push Kylo over the edge, and a subsequent scene when Kylo destroys his mask in an elevator captures the frustration of the student of an unappreciative master.

Another story line has Kylo and Rey connecting over time and space through the Force, with each being able to “see” the other despite great distances. Their connection is enticing as it is frustrating – Kylo knows that she is with Luke and we wonder about his ulterior motives – but there also seems to be an emotional and dare I say a possibly romantic connection evolving. A scene with the bare-chested Kylo causing a reaction in Rey is both hilarious and disturbing.

Relationships are key in this film and the one between Luke and Rey carries the most weight. As secrets are revealed and dark memories revisited, the element at the center of all the movies in the series gets clarified and in some ways redefined – the Force is much more than we ever imagined and not merely a Jedi religion. The Force cannot end if the Jedi and Sith perish – the Force is forever. It is dark and light and everything in between and holds the universe together, but the dark side is insidiously alluring. Luke tries to clarify this for Rey before it is too late, knowing that Kylo is trying to pull her away from the light.

Prepare to get emotional throughout the movie, especially during key moments between Luke and R2-D2, Leia and Rey, and Luke and Leia. When Luke tries to tell R2 off about going back and helping his sister and the Resistance, the plucky little droid shows him the holographic message from A New Hope when Leia put the Death Star plans into R2 and told Obi-wan that he was her only hope. Leia and Rey have a connection that no doubt is entwined with the Force, and it seems as if Leia can be the maternal figure Rey has always wanted and needed. One of the most touching scenes will bring tears to the eyes as Luke and Leia reunite and find some closure after so many years.

One of the most enduring elements of the Star Wars films has been its music, and John Williams is back to once again enrich the film with his luxurious score. There are many scenes that are intensified with appropriate music at just the right moment, and I seriously doubt that anyone will be without a lump in his or her throat as Luke stares at a sunset and the music wells similarly as to when he looked at the sunset on Tatooine so many years ago in A New Hope. The stark visual beauty of that scene and so many others in the film is astounding, with cinematographer Steve Yedlin being partners in crime with Williams to truly enhance the viewing experience.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is not only a better film than its predecessor, but stands with The Empire Strikes Back as the best in the series. It is also a tribute to the imagination of George Lucas, whose original characters and story of the Skywalker family continues to resonate 40 years after it all began. We still care about Luke, Leia, R2, and C-3P0, and the same can now be said of this new generation of characters – Rey, Poe, Finn, and BB-8.

The Force Awakens left us with more questions than answers. The Last Jedi brings us to a definitive ending and answers some questions but sometimes not in ways we had hoped, and new ones arise to leave us scratching our heads and wanting to know more. One that stands out concerns the Force-sensitive kid that Finn and Rose meet on the planet Canto Bight. Is this the face of a new Jedi in the making and the future hope of the rebels? Perhaps the trilogy Rian Johnson is bringing to us after Episode IX will provide the answers.

The Last Jedi is a beautiful, gruesome, sometimes comical film, with space and land battles, strange new creatures like the Porgs – Chewbacca’s new best friends – and the emotional heft to keep us watching (and not looking at our watches) for two and a half hours – I was amazed how quickly it went.

In the end, after you assess all that you have experienced, you will be enthralled and overwhelmed. More importantly, like a most thrilling theme park ride, you will want to jump on board and experience it again.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is highly recommended, but be aware if you are considering taking younger children to see the film that it earns its PG-13 rating for violence and some scenes that may be emotionally upsetting.

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Blu-ray Review: ‘George Gently: The Complete Collection’

All good things come to an end. But if you’re really lucky you can relive them through a box set of the entire series. Such is the case with George Gently: The Complete Collection from Acorn Media. It gathers together the entirety of the “Inspector George Gently” series, all eight seasons, onto three Blu-ray discs so you can watch what is arguably one of the best police procedural dramas to have ever hit television.

Set in Northern England, Durham, from the early 1960s to the early 1970s, the series did a marvellous job of capturing the rapid changes England experienced during the time period. This meant it dealt with social issues ranging from civil rights, the anti-war movement, gay-rights, and the women’s movement in ways reflective of the times.

The show managed to address these issues without imposing any of our modern sensibilities on characters’ reactions to circumstances or situations. Even more impressive is how they worked an issue into the plot lines seamlessly, without ever once being preachy or interfering with the story.

Of course a series is only as good as the actors playing the leads. In this instance for the first five seasons the show was gifted with two men perfectly suited to their roles; Martin Shaw in the title role of Chief Inspector George Gently and Lee Ingleby as Sergeant/Inspector John Bacchus. Ingleby as the young, cocky, subordinate was the perfect foil for Shaw’s experienced and somewhat cynical Gently.

While there was a kind of father and son thing happening between the two, as Gently would try to smooth away Bacchus’ rough edges and broaden his view of the world somewhat, they also exhibited the camaraderie one would expect from their circumstances. Interestingly enough, of the two men, the character of Gently was more open minded and liberal than Bacchus. This led to some interesting confrontations between the two men when dealing with issues like birth control, homosexuality and women’s rights.

Speaking of women, the show added a third lead character for the last three seasons, Woman’s Police Constable (WPC)/Sergeant Rachel Coles played by Lisa McGrillis. While she was obviously brought in so the show could address the burgeoning women’s rights movement of the early 1970s, she was far more than just a token. Over the course of the three seasons she was involved with the show McGrillis did a wonderful job of developing the character of Coles.

Her working relationship with Bacchus was always going to be a little strained, especially when Gently started to give her more responsibility, but the two did manage to find a way to work together and, eventually, even respect each other’s abilities. While there was definitely a paternalistic aspect to Gently’s relationship with Coles, he was first and foremost her boss. He treated her like he would any other detective working for him – praise when she did well and criticism when she screwed up.

Over the course of the season the guest stars were a virtual who’s who of British television and movies. Richard Armitage (last seen as Thorin in The Hobbit movies) as a motorcycle gang leader, Warren Clarke (of Dalziel & Pascoe) and Kevin Whately (of Morse and Lewis fame) are only three of the many who showed up over the years. However, no matter who appeared in the show their contributions were seamlessly blended into the leads’ performances.

It’s not often a really great police procedural comes around, but George Gently was one of the best. George Gently: The Complete Collection does justice to the series by presenting it in pristine Blu-ray format – great sound and visuals help to capture the era the show is set in. The set also contains a booklet of interviews and pictures and special features on the discs , including two about the making of the show. This is a great set for both fan and newcomer to the series alike.

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An inside look at the 2017 Montreal International Games Summit

This week I had the opportunity to travel to Montreal for the yearly International Games Summit or MIGS for short.  Montreal is one of the largest game development hubs in the world with over 230 companies operating in the video game industry and related fields.  This industry employs over 10,000 staff and accounts for 100’s of millions of dollars in revenue.  Major companies like EA Motive, Bioware Montreal, and Ubisoft Montreal are joined by dozens of other mid and small sized companies.  This makes the province of Quebec and Montreal in particular a hotbed of game development.

MIGS was formed as a way to bring developers, consumers, investors, and aspiring game industry applicants all together in a summit that is as much about recruitment, master classes, and informative sessions as it is showing current and upcoming games.  At this years MIGS 2017 I was able to not only participate in a number of very informative sessions but was also able to meet a number of developers, artists, and composers to get their insight into the industry.

The Expo Hall

Having been to large consumer shows like PAX East, the Expo Hall was refreshingly light in content and easy to navigate.  There was a well defined Indie Zone that had local studios showing their games and prototypes.  There were a great number of titles in this zone but the one that really blew me away was a breakdance battle game called Floor Kids.  Think DJ Hero meets street dancing with original beats by Kid Koala.  The game is amazingly fun to play and has a unique art style I fell in love with.  The only issue is that it is only on the Nintendo Switch right now but the devs (and Kid Koala) promised me it would come out for PC, PS4 and Xbox One as soon as they are able to make it happen.

The rest of the expo floor was made up of larger developers and middleware vendors Ubisoft was right around the corner from Amazon’s Lumberjack game engine as an example.  The main floor also smartly featured a number of popup espresso stands so we could enjoy a free latte while checking out Framestores VR setup or the soon to be released Far Cry 5.  The main show floor had a large number of studios, both large and small, who were also actively recruiting for their organizations.

This mix of game demoing and connection building is something really unique to MIGS, and I took great pleasure talking to members of Beenox, Gameloft, Ludia, Merj and many others.  These chats were about their games, both past and present, but also about their organizations and where they are going.  It was truly refreshing to speak with folks who love their job and are actively looking to add new talent to the growing Montreal development scene.

Business and Mentor Lounges

Another unique twist to MIGS is the Business and Mentor lounges that are provided to the industry participants.  The Business Lounge is designed to host meetings between Media and developers or between developers and partners.  This area was a great spot to pull each other aside and learn more about the future of a company or some new tech in the industry.  There were even structured breakfast, lunch, and coffee break timelines setup where no sessions were scheduled so peers could chat with freedom.

The Mentoring Lounge is another interesting idea where industry Mentors (needing at least 7 years experience) were available to speak to and coach groups of Mentees.  This series of six  20 minute sessions was held on the first night of MIGS and seemed to be a great success.

Master Classes and Sessions

MIGS 2017 as a summit started on Dec 12th, but the day before there was a full day of Master Classes offering deep dives into various aspects of the gaming industry.  This is a gaming version of the Acting and Directing Master Classes we have seen before performed by industry veterans.  Martin Talbot from Square Enix talked about Stability Testing and Play Testing, Mike Acton from Insomniac Games discussed Data-Oriented Design in C+, and Wojciech Michalski from Cd Projekt talked about Clothing for Game Characters as examples.  These Master Classes brought insight and experience from seasoned professionals to anyone who was able to participate.

Much like many other conferences MIGS also has many sessions running on each of the two public days.  The conference had talks in various tracks of study from Game Design and Audio Design to Business & Marketing and Advocacy & Industry.  These sessions were hosted by professionals, educators, government representatives and members of the developer community.  There was no shortage of interesting talks which I will touch on in a later article.

The Social Side of MIGS

MIGS is a conference seemingly dedicated to bringing developers together with partners, the community, and new employees, and they added plenty of social opportunities to bring all sides together.  The event started with a cocktail hosted by Loto Quebec at the Montreal Casino where Kid Koala spinned some tracks and showed his new game Floor Kids.  There was also live music and plenty of food and drinks to keep everyone engaged and chatting together.

During the main show there were numerous popup coffee stands and each day there was a booth crawl where wine and beer was served so attendees could mingle in a more relaxed setting.  At the end of the night there was a Nocturne event hosted by ArtStation with more snacks and drinks to keep participants enjoying themselves and continuing to meet each other.  The relaxed atmosphere is a far cry from  a PAX or GDC event and was refreshing to experience.  I found it much easier to chat with people as the environment was so relaxed and calm throughout the event.

MIGS is far from the bombastic spectacles seen at E3, PAX, GDC, and Gamescon.  It is a much more industry friendly event where there is little pressure to show the next big thing.  Instead it is a well choreographed networking event that brings industry, technology, and consumer groups together in a natural way.  The sessions were all on point and interesting, the show floor, while small, was well equipped to entertain and the people were interesting and great to meet. I was happy to attend the show this year and in future articles will dig into some of the sessions I attended as well as interviews with Inon Zur and Framstore VR.

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