(Jean-Pierre Marielle as Jacques Saunière in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
The movie begins with the pursuit if Louvre Museum curator Jacques Saunière, as portrayed by Jean-Pierre Marielle, in the world famous Paris, France art museum by Roman Catholic, albino monk named Silas; Silas was portrayed by Paul Bettany. Saunière, while coming out of the exchange dead, leaves clues amongst the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci, the namesake for the movie, the book, and the clues embedded in the art around the museum that lead the police to summon renowned Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon to the case.
(From left, Paul Bettany as Silas and Alfred Molina as Bishop Aringarosa in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
Robert Langdon, as portrayed by Tom Hanks, initially is suspected of the murder of Jacques Saunière, by police captain Bezu Fache, as portrayed by Jean Reno. Police cryptologist Sophie Neveu, as portrayed by Audrey Tautou, disagrees that that Langdon should be suspected of her grandfather’s, that is Saunière’s, murder; Neveu and Langdon shake Fache’s pursuit and deduce that Saunière was a grand master of the French founded Priory of Sion.
(From left, Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu and Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon near the Louvre Museum in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
Silas, meanwhile, works for an anonymous to him person he calls The Teacher, which has links to the Bishop Aringarosa led Opus Dei. Aringarosa, as portrayed by Alfred Molina. Circumstances send Langdon and Neveu to Sir Leigh Teabing, as portrayed by Ian McKellan.
(Jean Reno as Police Captain Bezu Fache in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
It was Teabing, a purported expert on the Holy Grail, who introduces a theory contrary to accepted religious canon about a relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus, which motivated much of the subtextual mystery functioning in the movie. Charlotte Graham portrayed Mary Magdalene in The Da Vinci Code.
(Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
The thriller aspects of the movie, along with the intrigue underpinning the mysteries animating the story for the movie, largely worked. That the resolution went in the direction it did was a bit provocative for my taste, though that does not mean the fiction did not work. I give The Da Vinci Code as directed by Ron Howard 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
(Kyle Mills, shown here, wrote Total Power as his sixth book in the Mitch Rapp series created by Vince Flynn).
The first movements of the story within Total Power introduce the political intrigue associated with the cost of infrastructure updates to the power grid in the United States, along with the vulnerability of the network if a knowledgeable actor with evil intent along with the proper knowledge planned to exploit what weaknesses exist in the system. The underlying issue of coordinated attacks of strategic execution could plunge the United States in darkness for well beyond days, weeks or months before an effective government or free market response could be forthcoming.
(Alternative covers for Total Power as written by Kyle Mills. Total Power is the 19th book in the Mitch Rapp series as created by Vince Flynn).
The second movements of the story bring Mitch Rapp, the force of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a US president nearing the end of his presidential leadership to bear on an imminent attack staged at the moment the issue is under attack. The attack, though led by ISIS, actually has a bite beyond the jihadist skill to deploy the attack. Despite an explicit effort led by Rapp and a capable team of counter-terrorists, the attempt to thwart the attack is detected ahead of the CIA trap that had been laid. The attack that both infiltrated ISIS and the United States power grid, plunged the mainland into darkness that would last for weeks or months. Effectively, the United States had been crippled with no effective ability to recover.
(Vince Flynn, shown here, created the Mitch Rapp series of books. Flynn wrote the first thirteen books in the series).
With the skills of Mitch Rapp and his team now tactically eliminated, the investigate, infiltrate and get to the knowledgeable few became the third movement of Total Power. The world of malfunctioning infrastructure, computers and communication systems down, and starvation, death and inevitable rioting with little capacity for countering the chaos became the name of the response. The means for getting to a legitimate solution that addressed the infrastructure, and those who damaged it were the odds that needed to be addressed. Would those odds be overcome? You know it would be.
That the narrative telling of Mitch Rapp moved almost strictly into ways to address a power grid attack where powerlessness to respond was at stake was unique and appreciated. This change worked for me more at a high level, though the bigger issue that I found was that there really was only one plausible way that the solution to the problem of that powerlessness was going to be resolved. That I was in tune with how things worked out earlier in the book than I wanted to know proved disappointing. As for Total Power written by Kyle Mills, I give the book 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(From left, Cara Bossom as Teresa and Clive Owen as Sam Spade in the AMCtelevision series Monsieur Spade).
The series establishes itself as both as a period piece (ostensibly 1963) coupled with a multiple-episode introduction to the people forming the circle and local color that will lead to the mystery that makes this a Sam Spade, film noir event. Beyond establishing Clive Owen as the center piece star of the series, introducing local vineyard owner and Spade‘s romantic love interest Gabrielle, as portrayed by Chiara Mastroianni, humanizes the former detective presented as intelligent, selectively engaging and what I take for introverted.
(From left, Denis Ménochet as Chief of Police Patrice Michaud and Frank Williams as Maurice Michaud in the television series Monsieur Spade from AMC).
The opening episode lays significant ground for the mystery by placing Spade at a local convent, making payments to the sisters in support of child resident Teresa. Teresa, portrayed by Ella Feraud as a young child and Cara Bossom as a teenager, plays a crucial role from that convent to circumstances for Spade, Philippe Saint Andre as portrayed by Jonathan Zaccaï, and drama that rises in relevance as the character of the community of Bozouls reveals itself. The shocking circumstances that end the opening episode of Monsieur Spade take at least three episodes to be placed against differing threads before explanations begin to reveal themselves.
(From left, Jonathan Zaccaï as Philippe Saint Andre and Chiara Mastroianni as Gabrielle in Monsieur Spade, the AMCtelevision series).
Threads introduced to offer depth to the mystery of the season include the ongoing investigation of the police, including brothers Patrice Michaud and Maurice Michaud, as portrayed by Denis Ménochet and Frank Williams. There is the complicated relationship of Jean-Pierre Devereaux and Marguerite (Peggy) Devereaux, who deal in the Algerian War effort. Stanley Weber and Louise Bourgoin portrayed Jean-Pierre and Marguerite, respectively.
(From left, Louise Bourgoin as Marguerite (Peggy) Devereaux and Stanley Weber as Jean-Pierre Devereaux in the AMC series Monsieur Spade).
Cynthia Fitzsimmons and George Fitzsimmons, as portrayed by Rebecca Root and Matthew Beard, offer a sense of comic relief to ultimately serious roles as what outward appearances suggest are mother and son. The pair serve as neighbors sticking close to the Sam Spade residence in the current day, inserting themselves as nosy mischief-makers into the comings and goings on their neighbors’ property.
(From left, Rebecca Root as Cynthia Fitzsimmons and Matthew Beard as George Fitzsimmons in the television series Monsieur Spade).
The revelation and action of the final pair of episodes for the season gives legitimate meaning and substance to these threads, including those of Gazala/Nun Angélique as portrayed by Inès Melab, Henri Thibaut as portrayed by Oscar Lesage, Zayd as portrayed by Ismaël Berqouch and Samir as portrayed by Hazem Hammad. The acting throughout this series was strong, especially the opening episode and the concluding two episodes. Writing for the series rests with Tom Fontana and Scott Frank, based on characters written by Dashiell Hammett.
(From left, Hazem Hammad as Samir and Ismaël Berqouch as Zayd in Monsieur Spade, a television series by AMC).
This six-episode season works thematically, episodically and from a subject matter perspective as a cable and/or streaming television program. The resolution to certain characters, the setting as a period show, and the nudity across multiple episodes make this something that would not work on network television. The setting of background through the second, third and fourth episode, while important in the setting of character, might have worked better with two fewer characters along with at least one fewer episode for the season. Given the quality of the acting, though, I grant season one of Monsieur Spade 4.0-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Looking into the near future upon the book’s release in October of 2020, the Don DeLillo book The Silence: A Novel was offered at a time that feels useful to an audience in the midst of a pandemic. Said to have been to completion just weeks before the pandemic commenced, this book is a work of fiction prescient in its subject matter and the human responses, confounding as some may be, that came in the immediate onset of a separate view of calamity in our lives.
(Don DeLillo, pictured here, wrote The Silence: A Novel).
Set on Super Bowl Sunday in the year 2022, what feels more like a novella than novel in length occurs in two major acts. The originating action is following the beginning of the Super Bowl party from a Manhattan apartment in New York City, New York. One couple (Jim Kripps and Tessa Berens) is flying into the city from Paris, France in an effort to attend the gathering, whereas the host couple (a husband (Max Stenner) and his retired physics professor wife (Diane Lucas)) and a former student of hers (Martin Dekker) await the game of the rest of their attendees. The random chatter of each individual circumstance opens the action, with the dialogue of filling space well on display. The home of Kripps and Berens is in Newark, New Jersey.
(Don DeLillo‘s book The Silence: A Novel was published in October 2020).
The introduction of a dramatic change in circumstance for both groups follows, with a disruption of the means to communicate and consume content or information digitally, whether that be smart phones, televisions, or other devices of convenience. It is in the aftermath of this loss, wherein the need to return the means of communication to a decidedly older means of interaction, becomes the point. The conversations without American football, without the immediacy of information at your fingertips, changes and reveals the means of human interaction. What follows, I believe, is the point that DeLillo as author is making to us.
(Don DeLillo was born in New York City in 1936).
The biggest success of DeLillo’s novella is his conveying confusion and longing for the familiar in the aftermath of significant change. The sharing of theories for how and why the change came to pass feels particularly real, as is the retreating of individual characters into what is familiar to them. My impression of the work is affected by my perception that I didn’t walk away with any particular new insight into the human condition. Perhaps if I had read this three years ago, I would feel differently. This, I present The Silence: A Novel by Don DeLillo 3.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Released January 13, 1969, the album Yellow Submarine by The Beatles turns 55-years-young this very day. We remember and celebrate Yellow Submarine with this look at the music created by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, with a tip of the hat to George Martin for contributing to the scores that accompany that movie that accompanied this album.
(The album cover for the Yellow Submarine album by The Beatles).
Paul McCartney wrote the majority of the song Yellow Submarine, which opens the Yellow Submarine album. McCartney is quoted here as saying in 1966 that a yellow submarine is meant as a place where “all the kids went to have fun.”
(Album cover for the double A-side single Yellow Submarine, which was released in support of the album Revolver by The Beatles).
George Harrison called his composition Only a Northern Song “A joke relating to Liverpool, the Holy City in the North of England,” as quoted here. The city Liverpool is located in the northwest of England.
All Together Now is described here as a “simple sing-along song that took only five hours of studio time to complete.” Paul McCartney with John Lennon get writing credits for this largely upbeat song.
(All Together Now was released as a single in 1972 in European countries such as France and Germany, backed by Hey Bulldog).
Hey Bulldog started with a different title, though as quoted here “Paul [McCartney] barked at the end and made John Lennon laugh. They kept in the barking and changed the title, even though there is no mention of a bulldog in the verses or chorus.” John Lennon with Paul McCartney get writing credits for this tune.
(From the year preceding the Yellow Submarine album release in 1969, pictured from left are George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr).
It’s All Too Much was written by George Harrison. As quoted here, the song “was inspired by his wife, Pattie [Boyd].” This song is about the strong feelings of love that overwhelm him.
As quoted here, All You Need is Love was played by The Beatles “for the first time on the “Our World” project, the first worldwide TV special.” The song has an “easy to understand message of love and peace. The song was easy to play, the words easy to remember and it encompassed the feeling of the world’s youth.” The message made it worth adding to the Yellow Submarine (1968) movie as well as this album.
(All You Need is Love was released as a single in 1967, prior to the release of the Yellow Submarine album).
Written by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus, the comedy movie Home Alone (1990) captures our attention today. The story shared is that of an eight-year-old troublemaker who defends his home from a pair of burglars robbing affluent homes in suburban Chicago, Illinois, United States the evening before Christmas as the child’s family left him behind as they travel for pleasure to Paris, France in Europe.
(From left, Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, Jedidiah Cohen as cousin Rod and Devin Ratray as Buzz McCallister in the Chris Columbus movie Home Alone).
The evening before the eight-year-old would be isolated from his family, Kevin McCallister as portrayed by Macaulay Culkin finds himself getting picked on by his siblings, cousins and even fully grown Uncle Frank McCallister. The words from the likes of Uncle Frank and older brother Buzz, as portrayed by Gerry Bamman and Devin Ratray, respectively, sting Kevin more than the teasing from the others; a dispute over the pizza brought into the house for dinner before the flight that strands Kevin at home alone would lead to a large disagreement between Kevin and his parents.
(Gerry Bamman as Uncle Frank McCallister in the Chris Columbus movie Home Alone).
After being provoked by sibling rivalry and his rude uncle, Kevin has harsh words with his mother, Kate McCallister as portrayed by Catherine O’Hara. Kate banished Kevin for the night to the third story bedroom. Kevin sleeps through the rush of the next morning when the family realizes they overslept and need to rush to the airport to capture a flight to Europe. It is during the haste to depart for the airport that a neighbor kid inserts himself into the party’s headcount. It isn’t until Kevin’s parents Peter and Kate discover, in first class on the airplane, that Kevin would still be in suburban Chicago. John Heard portrayed Peter McCallister.
(From left, Catherine O’Hara as Kate McCallister and John Heard as Peter McCallister in the Chris Columbus movie Home Alone).
After waking in the morning to see the family vehicles still at the family home, Kevin realizes he is alone but not that his extended family had traveled to the airport in rented vans. It’s the day before Christmas, by himself for Kevin at this point, with the fear of neighbor “Old Man” Marley planted by Buzz and the extended family the night before. The decorated Christmas tree is left behind for the appearance the family would be home for the holiday. The exploration of his new found freedom offers comedic fodder for the audience at this point, as is the family’s discovery that plans to get back to Kevin are the priority. Roberts Blossom portrayed “Old Man”Marley.
(From left, Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, Daniel Stern as Marv Murchins and Joe Pesci as Harry Lyme in the Chris Columbus movie Home Alone).
Kevin’s efforts to defend the family house against burglers Harry Lyme and Marv Murchins, portrayed by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, respectively, offers much comedic fodder to the remainder of the movie. The troublemaker kid against the troublemaker adults made for laughs in the live action gags planned to keep the McCallister home safe. The framing of the movie’s outcome to show Kevin’s responses to when and if his family gets back to suburban Chicago to share Christmas day with him offer a payoff the movie needs to answer the drama that began the overarching story.
(From left, Roberts Blossom as “Old Man” Marley and Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister in the Chris Columbus movie Home Alone).
The comedy delivered with Chris Columbus‘ Home Alone delivers laughs with a touch of heartwarming delivery to tie a bow around the effort of watching. The movie delivers content for adults that works as well as it might for 12-year-olds might find laughs in the antics of after school cartoons for the youths of people of a certain age. I grant Home Alone as directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes 4.0-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(The Annie Lennox album A Christmas Cornucopia was released in November of 2010).
Angels from the Realms of Glory opens A Christmas Cornucopia as a carol reminiscent of many worship services I’ve attended over the years. Upliftingly presented with backing orchestration and chorus, the music for the song was published as written by hymnwriter and poet James Montgomery of Scotland in 1816.
(Scottish born hymnwriter, poet and editor James Montgomery wrote the hymn Angels from the Realms of Glory. The song is the first on the Annie Lennox album A Christmas Cornucopia).
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen follows the album opener with tidings of comfort and joy upon the birth of the historical Jesus. The charm for me is the focus on the singing featuring Lennox throughout, the subtle vocal accompaniment for the first stanza, and the orchestration through the full performance. The accentuating drums add a full-bodied beauty for me that combines with subtlety for what I take as flute through the last quarter of the song, ending as flute in isolation.
See Amid the Winter’s Snow manifests more beautiful orchestration as led by Dave Robbins throughout this album. First published in 1858 for English hymn writer Edward Caswall, English organist and composer John Goss composed a hymn for the original piece in 1871. The presentations then and now express joy in the birth of Jesus Christ at the commemoration of his original arrival.
Il est né le divin Enfant is French for He is born, the divine Child. Lennox sings the FrenchChristmas carol in the original language in narrating the story of the 4,000 year wait for the humble birth of Jesus in a manger.
(A Christmas Cornucopia album by Annie Lennox was released in November of 2010).
The First Noel as a piece of music is “a traditional Englishcarol most likely from the 16th or 17th century, but possibly dating from as early as the 13th century”, as quoted here. The chorus vocals in a brief dreamy spell between verses at a pair of points elevates the piano and strings that accompany the Annie Lennox singing for this song. The trumpeting of the joyous event of Jesus‘ birth to close the song presented an unexpectedly uplifting conclusion to this piece.
The Holly and the Ivy is a traditional folk Christmas carol of British origin. The song harkens back to the association between Christmas and holly, which has origins in the Middle Ages (or Medieval times). The cadence performs a bit quicker than my senses and heart wanted to experience this song.
(This portrait of Christina Rossetti was made by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, her brother. Christina Rossetti‘s poem In the Bleak Midwinter was published under the title A Christmas Carol).
Written as a poem by Christina Rossetti, In the Bleak Midwinter is frequently performed as a Christmas carol as done by Annie Lennox on A Christmas Cornucopia. The song postulates a series of cJoseph (Earthly Father of Jesus Christ)omparisons of religious importance foe how Jesus came to exist, the prophesied two comings of Jesus, Jesus‘ birth and surroundings, and the affection types offered Jesus by angels and Mary, his birth mother.
As Joseph was a Walking (The Cherry Tree Carol) surprised me as both a Christmas carol and a children’s ballad. The lyrical version presented by Lennox includes an angel previewing the birth of Jesus for Joseph, Jesus‘ father on Earth.
O Little Town of Bethlehem plays to different music than I’ve heard it presented previously. The song is presented solemnly and traditionally with an almost understated piano accompaniment. The chorus that joins Lennox at periodic points makes for a beautiful rendition of this song.
Silent Night with lyrics by Joseph Mohr and composition by Franz Xaver Gruber presents the second to last song on A Christmas Cornucopia. Presented with a traditional piano approach that grows to include a children’s choir and strings, the musical arrangement does as much for the song as does the Annie Lennox singing.
(Universal Child is a single released in 2010 to support the Annie Lennox album A Christmas Cornucopia).
Universal Child is the original Annie Lennox composition on A Christmas Cornucopia. As quoted here, the song is an advocacy for all kids to experience “Safety, security, access to medical care, to love, protection, education, a future, a decent place to live – a child must have all these things.”
(From left, Verna Felton as the Fairy Godmother and Ilene Woods as Cinderella in the animated Disney movie Cinderella).
The story of Cinderella as offered by the movie begins with narration as performed by Betty Lou Gerson. We are provided context sufficient to learn that Cinderella’s father had remarried once widowed to widower and mother of two, Lady Tremaine. Lady Tremaine, as voiced by Eleanor Audley, would become widowed a second time herself. Looking to favor her daughters Drizella and Anastasia, as voiced by Rhoda Williams and Lucille Bliss, Lady Tremaine would make Cinderella a domestic servant in the family house following her final husband’s death. Ilene Woods would voice Cinderella; Helene Stanley served as a live model for Cinderella.
(From left, Rhoda Williams as Drizella Tremaine, Eleanor Audley as Lady Tremaine and Lucille Bliss as Anastasia Tremaine in the animated Disney movie Cinderella).
Drizella and Anastasia would take advantage of their stepsister’s position for their own advantage socially and through additional work. Additionally, we are introduced to the support Cinderella receives from her main source of friendship. Jaq and Gus, a pair of mice voiced by James MacDonald, are the most clearly defined friends that Cinderella earns through the course of the presented story. The natural enemy to Jaq and Gus is the cat Lucifer, the pet of Lady Tremaine. Lucifer retaliates against Cinderella for Cinderella’s protection of the mice, who the cat would like to catch and eat. June Foray voiced Lucifer.
(Clockwise from top left, James MacDonald as Jaq and Gus, Earl Keen as Bruno and June Foray as Lucifer in the animated Disney movie Cinderella).
The story we get to see in Cinderella appears to occur over a period of two days. The king of the land where the Tremaine family lives desperately wants to be a grandfather. This pronounced desire leads the King to create a ball for the kingdom with the intent of encouraging his son to find a single lady to marry her son and mother the son’s children. The King orders the Grand Duke, both characters as voiced by Luis van Rooten, to bring all the single ladies of the kingdom to the castle to meet the king.
(Luis van Rooten as, from left, the King and the Grand Duke in the animated Disney movie Cinderella).
Conniving to the advantage of the Tremaine daughters is put in motion by Lady Tremaine, who would prefer to see one of her two biological daughters become the enchanted one of the King’s son, Prince Charming. The stable of animals around the Tremaine home, save Lucifer, aim to assist Cinderella against this plot. The aid of a Fairy Godmother comes to assist Cinderella with her supportive animals. The transformations to the song Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo offers a charm eclipsed only by the love connection eventually made and requited thanks to a glass slipper fitting for Cinderella the next day. Al Hoffman, Mack David and Jerry Livingston wrote the transformation song. Prince Charming was voiced by William Phipps (talking) and Mike Douglas (singing) while Verna Felton voiced the Fairy Godmother; Claire Du Brey served as a live model for the Fairy Godmother.
(William Edward Phipps as Prince Charming (spoken) and Mike Douglas as Prince Charming (singing) in the animated Disney movie Cinderella).
Part of what drew me to review Cinderella now is that Daycare Friend will be performing in a local stage production of the story next week. The story itself offers endearing statements in support of friendship, love, believing in dreams and facing adversity even when confronted with cruelty. Your choice of response also comes through as a redeeming message of the film. I give the movie Cinderella as directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
As the All Music website helps clarify here, “Trans-Siberian Orchestra is…not a permanent musical organization. Rather, it is the trade name for the session orchestras assembled for a number of symphonic rock cross-over albums produced by Paul O’Neill.” O’Neill was from Queens, New York City, New York, offering a series of rock cross-over albums that we begin looking at today. The Christmas Eve and Other Stories album was released on October 15, 1996.
(Presented is the album cover for Christmas Eve and Other Stories. This Trans-Siberian Orchestra album was released on October 15, 1996).
O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night follows the album opener with a more pronounced piano with guitar introduction to two songs eventually fused with drums into a clear harder hitting rock sound than typically heard from either song. This song is presented in strictly instrumental form.
(Adolphe Adam of Paris, France set O Holy Night to music with the song’s original composition in 1847).
A Star to Follow begins with pronounced adult male singing and supporting instrumentation at first to God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. The presented composition moves into pre-teen children singing to the expected joy of the Christmas celebration. A third movement returns a chorus of the men singing the words Merry Christmas with the kids singing harmony. An appealing effect follows with an adult choir adding lyrics for the Ukranian folk chant Carol of the Bells. The song ends with the children singing their willingness to follow into the magical joy the holiday promises.
An acoustic guitar introduces First Snow for a few seconds before giving way to a clear electric guitar melody with accompanying drums. Following A Star to Follow, I felt the evocation of satisfied revelry for adults and children. Hinting at a notion of Christmas with snow does not hurt, either. The song plays as a full instrumental without lyrics.
The Silent Nutcracker plays to a more fully throated acoustical instrumental performance. Hints of Silent Night are again made in strictly instrumental form for a more extended playing in what proves to be another song presented without lyrics.
A Mad Russian’s Christmas opens with piano playing in solitude an authoritative electric guitar riffs accompanying. A series of explicit rock melodies follow in instrumental succession, invoking classic orchestral rises and falls of mood to tunes sure to be recognized by most. Of all the songs on Christmas Even and Other Songs, A Mad Russian’s Christmas perhaps best exemplifies why the word orchestra belongs in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
With The Prince of Peace, the reintroduction of singing proves welcome and as emotionally uplifting as the reason for the season sung about. An adult female sings of Jesus Christ‘s birth, explicitly invoking Hark! The Herald Angels Sing just beyond minute and a half into the presentation.
Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 begins with a few seconds worth of traditional instrumentation introducing God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. A fully instrumental presentation continues from here with a different rocking sound, evoking anticipation, discovery and magic coming with the next day. The birth of Jesus with the celebration indicated with A Star to Follow earlier in the album come to bear again. The band Savatage, who played a significant role in bringing this song to life, were formed in Tampa, Florida in 1983.
(Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 was released as a single by Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Trans-Siberian Orchestra a side project of several members of Savatage).
Good King Joy raises the octave level on every song that preceded it on Christmas Eve and Other Stories by announcing the birth of Jesus with a bright introductory verse of Joy to the World. Heavy piano and guitar follow in furtherance of the Jesus‘ birth. Switching to a rhythm and blues theme three minutes into a song that plays more than six minutes with lyrics invoking the nativity story with the Magi in Bethlehem works magic.
Ornament brings us back to a raspy blues singer view of a young lady separated from her family leading up to Christmas. We find that the viewpoint is that of a father desperate to have his daughter call a truce to whatever ails the relationship. A specific ornament between the two stands in as the token of hope, memory and joy to bring the two together again on this pending Christmas day.
The First Noel is presented in an acoustic and quick interlude of instrumentation. The song itself reminds of the birth of Jesus and the first nativity in less than a minute of song.
A sympathetic and acoustic, storytelling vibe brings the song Old City Bar. The bluesy father from Ornament continues the story of the disconnected daughter who couldn’t get home on Christmas Eve. The song is a sad tale that turns unexpectedly happy with cab fare to JFK Airport in New York City to get home to her father.
Promises to Keep opens with distinct piano playing that quickly opens to the singing of children in chorus taking upon themselves the seeking and the keeping of the promises of love represented by Christmas. The wishing upon stars give way to keeping the spirit and goodness through the season, the years, the lifetimes. The sweetness is meaning like a music box invoked through the song.
This Christmas Day brings the optimism and feeling of Christmas in stringing together Ornament, Old City Bar and this song with bright strings of lights, ribbons, and the returning home of the daughter to her home, accompanied by the joy of her father. With the promise of desperation giving way to promises delivered now and forever, the feeling resonates through repetitions of the lyrics of “Merry Christmas, merry merry Christmas!”
An Angel Returned frames the album with the opening song of Christmas Eve and Other Stories, An Angel Came Down. In referencing Kyrie (Lord) and at least partially calling upon the “Kyrie, eleison,” or “Lord, have mercy” prayer, this song with new lyrics (An Angel Returned) set to essentially the same music (An Angel Came Down), the Christmas spirit as embodied by faithfulness expressed in song has transformed people through the joy felt in the hope of the savior’s birth on the night of Christmas Eve as told through the songs of this album.
(Pictured here is Paul O’Neill, the founder of Trans-Siberian Orchestra).
O Holy Night was presented as a bonus song beyond the original album, with an instrumental version of the song that varies from the second half of O Come All Ye Faithful/O Holy Night earlier in the album. This presentation feels like it was played on guitar, though a dobro might have been the primary instrument.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen adds an additional bonus of 75-seconds of an exclusively acoustical presentation of the song.
Kyle Mills continues the Mitch Rapp series of books (book sequence here) created by Vince Flynn with the sixteenth (16th) book in the series, the third written by Mills. With Enemy of the State, we see that the central star of this universe of books might have met his match by way of an ongoing engagement in parts of Europe, Africa, Asia the Middle East and America that have made Mitch Rapp the enemy of the state referenced in the title.
(Kyle Mills succeeded Vince Flynn in writing books with Mitch Rapp as a central character. Mills wrote Enemy of the State).
Kyle Mills speaks of Enemy of the State this way on his website: “A theme in many of Vince Flynn’s books was his distaste for Saudi Arabia—a distaste that I wholeheartedly share. Despite America’s close ties, there’s just no getting around the fact that it’s a medieval dictatorship that supplied the majority of the 9-11 attackers, it continues to spread radical Islam throughout the world, and it withholds even the most basic rights from women. While our alliance with them might be expedient, it’s a deal with the devil.”
(Alternative book covers for Enemy of the State as written by Kyle Mills).
The story more or less picks up from a point in time soon after the end of Order to Kill, as reviewed here. A tacit agreement had been taken between the previous presidential regime and Saudi Arabia‘s King Faisal to cover up the Saudi involvement in the September 11th attacks in exchange for sweetheart prices for oil consumed in the United States. Part of the deal involved Faisal bringing the culpable elements in within his society to justice. American President Alexander doubts this commitment.
(Vince Flynn created the Mitch Rapp series of books, writing the first 13 books in the series).
A rogue wing of the royal family, Faisal’s nephew Prince Talal bin Musaid, has begun funding ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq). The prince’s thinking has been to position himself as the likely successor to leadership in Saudi Arabia when the king, of deteriorating health, eventually dies. The means and ends to getting to this result, with Scott Coleman still struggling to regain his former health alongside core themes of distrust for political motivations, lead to the core storytelling of Enemy of the State.
(Enemy of the State is the third book written by Kyle Mills in the Mitch Rapp series of books).
Most of the twists and turns of the story of this book offer the cliffhanger qualities that one should expect. There were a couple of a pleasantly surprising nature that particularly pleased me, including part of the story that dealt with a character who had been in North Dakota. The novel’s conclusion was a bit on the mundane side for my liking, though where the larger outcome landed was as good as it needed to be. I rate Enemy of the State as written by Kyle Mills 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Matt Lynn Digital 