Hi everybody (mostly Jason, who seems to be the only one with an opinion worth sharing). Mostly I miss watching movies with Jason. It's nice to read about his comments, but I really prefer the times when I drove him home after our date (totally platonic, I swear) and we discussed the movie (at least the parts that I was awake for).
I agree with Jason that "Once" sort of brings out the aspiring musician in all of us. I'm an ok pianist, and a beginning guitarist, so the show obviously spoke to me musically. The brilliance of the film, I thought, was that we knew it was going to be a love story, and yet we were pleasantly surprised that the main characters never actually "hooked up." It would have been easy for the two to go out, even after she admits to being married to a guy she doesn't have a ton of interaction with, and I would have forgiven both of them for their indiscretion. But they don't; they stay very close, but never cross the boundary of propriety. He ends up chasing after his first love, which I thought was a mistake, although what else was he supposed to do. She apparently stays happily married.
But wow, wasn't the music brilliant? Here's my personal anecdote - my ward is putting on a talent show on Friday. I tried, albeit half-heartedly, to learn either "Falling Slowly" or "If You Want Me" (until I learned the lyrics on the latter), even to the point of having a professional show me how to play a couple of the cords (Collin Botts for those who know him) so I could perform at the talent show. It was a bust given some other stuff I have going on, but maybe next year... So yeah, I liked the film. I listened to the dialog on low volume on the tv, but blasted the songs on the theater when they started so my wife could hear.
Posted by Andy
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Andy,
Thanks for what you said. I've been trying to keep the torch lit, and I'm grateful for your posts. (Trust me, these busy people also have good insights ... I just haven't heard them in a while.)
I wish I could be at the talent show. I'd perform one of my two Davy songs. "Falling Slowly" is an ambitious choice, but I bet you could have pulled it off.
"Once" speaks to the inner musician in us all because they make it look so easy. When I lived in Utah, I played piano in Dave Eaton's band. He also made musicianship look easy and appealing. But the truth is, I think it's brutally tough. "Once" shows subtle aspects of the challenge to musicianship (such as his playing guitar on the street in the cold, which stings the fingers like crazy), but it also shows the warm, rich rewards: the musical, round-table gathering. "Once" makes us believe the dream is possible; perhaps that's because the two musicians actually were aspiring musicians and now they've more or less made it.
Anyway, I miss watching films with you, too. Say, weren't you planning to come to Wheeling for your next historical stamp? It awaits you, and we do, too.
Your pal,
Jason
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