As It Is In Heaven

"Whatever satisfies the soul
is truth."

- Walt Whitman

The title of this post is the name of a extraordinary Swedish movie I just saw a couple of days ago, and have been thinking about ever since.


It is the story of a passionate and world famous conductor, who according to his doctors, has a heart that is simply "worn out". He returns to his childhood village for what he is not sure, and soon becomes involved in the local church choir. His life dream was always to create music that "opened people's hearts", and the willing group of singers under his guidance, come to realise what he is saying is much more than how to sing. His life is changed as his dream unfolds, and so is theirs. Well worth the time to see and hear this story.

Meanwhile, my favourite bike race has been plagued with more doping issues, and it is sad to cheer someone on for a month as they persevere through the Alps and Pyranees and all the lovely French countryside, only to find out they were hurting themselves more than they know for the spoild of victory. There is so much at stake from a financial perspective, that all these top athletes are constantly tempted with the "added edge". Too bad. A writer and amateur cyclist took one of the most gruelling climbs of "Le Tour", and tried it out just to see what it was really like, and the article in Slate is a good insight into what we mere mortals would endure on a race like this.

I am so over the Middle East and their endless wars. Israel doesn't seem to be able to play nicely with any of its neighbours, and the neighbours do not seem to want to play with them. If there weren't 2000 years of this hatred in all of their blood, I would suggest maybe setting up their country somewhere else. Oops, I suppose that could be anti-semitism. People need a home sure, but countries are overrated. Sorry, I don't think the Promised Land really exists. There is no ideal place. But what about South America somewhere? Just a thought.

Anyway, what ever these young guys think up next on the net always fascinates me, and these guys on WeFeelFine.Com have a site that data mines all the blogs, and categorises all the feelings that are shared by people, who, evidently do that sort of thing online... Then it is turn it into art, which I think is pretty cool. They are no doubt looking right now if I express any "feelings", so they can add to their database. Go for it.

But then there are the gems of multimedia, such as this collaboration of Franz Lanting and Philip Glass, called A Journey Through Time, which is some extraordinary nature photography accompanied by music. Worth a look. The NPR podcasts are really a goldmine, and I enjoy their programmes immensely.

I don't really care what Mel Gibson does or does not do, and who he slanders, for he will have to deal with it eventually. I don't really even like his movies. But apparently alot of people do, judging by the amount of press his arrest got. Which incidentally was all about his alledged anti-semetic remarks rather than his driving under the influence of alcohol. What is more important? Anyway, the blogosphere lights up with these sort of things, and this YouTube video really sums up a bit of nonsense. Pretty funny. In a sad sort of way.

And the final little tidbit of rather useless, but interesting information gleened from my limitless curiosity, is this NYTimes article on the alchemists of old, and their somewhat dubious legacy that is now being re evalued by modern chemists and scientists. An open mind would probably solve the majority of our challenges in the world today, so well done.