Category: News & Entertainment

Justin Farmer to leave WFAA

Uncle Barkey reports that half of WFAA’s (Channel 8 ) newly joined morning anchor team will be heading back home to Atlanta.

“Hometown girl” Cynthia Izaguirre returns to the city that raised her on the same day Justin Farmer decides to go home home again, too.

Except that Belo8 wasn’t planning on his surprise departure from the station’s increasingly important early morning Daybreak. The announcement came just a few hours after Farmer and Izaguirre had teamed for the first time on Friday’s program. They were supposed to be teammates for years to come.

“This isn’t about leaving WFAA,” Farmer said in an email sent early Monday morning. “This has been a great ride on many fronts. This is about going home to WSB in Atlanta. I learned to shoot and edit in that place. I was born and raised in Atlanta. My family and I thought long and hard about this decision and make it with conviction. With that said, I am glad to have a number of months left at WFAA. This place is all class and Cynthia and I have a lot of work to do.”

Falling at Your Feet

I’ve heard this song over and over again but never heard it as a Gospel song till this morning – suddenly (after Sunday’s service) it painted such a great picture of Luke 7:36-50.

Falling at Your Feet – U2

Every chip from every cup
Every promise given up
Every reason that’s not enough
Is falling, falling at your feet

Every band elastic limit
Every race when there’s nothing in it
Every winner that has lost their ticket
Is falling, falling at your feet
I’ve come crawling, falling at your feet

Everyone who needs a friend
Every life that has no end
Every knee not ready to bend
Is falling, falling at your feet
I’ve come crawling, now I’m falling at your feet

All fall down
All the manic days
The faces that you pull
All the x-rays not under your control
The graffiti rolling down off of your tongue
And the compromise you make for someone

Every teenage with acne
Every face that’s spoiled by beauty
Every adult tamed by duty
Are all falling at your feet

Every foot in every face
Every cop stop that finds the grace
Every prisoner in the Maze
Every hand that needs an ace
Is falling, falling at your feet
I’ve come crawling, now I’m falling at your feet

All fall down
All the books you never read
Just started
All the meals you rushed
And never tasted

Every eye closed by a bruise
Every player who just can’t lose
Every pop star hurling abuse
Every drunk back on the booze
All falling at your feet, all falling at your feet

All fall down
All the information
All the big ideas
All the radio waves
On electronic seas
How to navigate
How to simply be
Don’t know when to wait
Explain simplicity
In whom shall I trust?
How might I be still?
Teach me to surrender
Not my will, THY will

Glen Rose too?

D Mag editor Wick Allison is reporting that Jeremy Halbreich and American Consolidated Media (owner of the Waxahachie Daily Light) are buying another small town paper – the Glen Rose News.

People were suggesting early on that Macquaire Media Group, Australian company and parent company of Halbreich’s American Consolidated Media were going to buy up every weekly paper they could along the proposed Trans-Texas/American Corridor. Many of the loudest voices against the Trans Texas Corridor have been seen in the editorial pages of the small town weekly papers along the proposed route. GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul has voiced major opposition to the project, calling it the “NAFTA Superhighway” and saying the road would lead towards a North American Union.

Now here’s where that gets interesting – Macquaire Media Group is owned by Macquaire Bank, which also owns Macquarie Infrastructure Group.

Macquarie Infrastructure Group is aggressively pursuing infrastructure investments in the Texas. Together with their Spanish partner Cintra, Macquarie has already engaged in large projects including the Indiana Toll Road, Chicago Skyway, and 407 ETR.

Wait – Cintra? Haven’t we heard that name before? Cintra is planned to have the lead role with Texas on TTC-35 (Trans Texas Corridor). So, many would suggest, it is certainly plausible that Macquarie is a potential financial partner as individual facility development agreements are negotiated.

Here’s just a few of the other areas Macquarie has a hand in – just in the U.S.:

  • Commodity and energy markets
  • Debt markets
  • Electricity trading
  • Emerging markets
  • Energy capital
  • Equipment leasing
  • Institutional stockbroking and research
  • Macquarie Capital Advisors
  • Macquarie Capital Funds
  • Natural gas trading
  • Private equity funds management
  • Real estate capital
  • Real estate structured finance
  • Residential community development
  • Residential mortgages

Hmmm… guess they don’t have much to gain after all if the TTC is built.

ACM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Macquarie Media Group (“MMG”), a publicly-traded investment vehicle listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. MMG is based in Sydney, Australia and holds a portfolio of media businesses globally including 100% interest in Macquarie Regional Radioworks, owner and operator of 87 rural and regional radio stations located throughout Australia; 60% interest in Taiwan Broadband Communications, one of three leading cable television broadcasters in Taiwan; and, 13.8% interest in Southern Cross Broadcasting, a publicly-traded company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting located in the larger cities of Australia.

Christmas Eve Sarajevo

love this live introduction to TSO’s Christmas Eve Sarajevo, it reminds me of Wim Winders Wings of Desire and U2’s Stay (Faraway So Close).

…when he flew over sarajevo
there were scars upon the land
there were scars upon the people
it was hard to understand
and the deepest scars of all
which to humans are unseen
the angel could see clearly
were the scars of all the dreams
by bellfast, rowanda, palestine
the only decorations here had been awards for their crimes
and in the gardens where the children played
now soldiers only trod
and stranger still
he heard some say that they were killing for their god
now the angel had heard God speak many times
and he had always paid attention
but this killing of one’s neighbor
was something the Lord had never mentioned
as he neared the earth of a recent battle ground
from among the ruins
he once more heard the sound
it was a simple chello
playing a forgotten christmas song
and even on that battlefield
that song somehow belonged
and as he flew away
the angel did take note
and where he found this music played
one always could find hope

re: 18 Hours of Christmas Music

If you just need a quick Christmas music fix, head over to NPR for the 18th annual A Jazz Piano Christmas. An hour of amazing live jazz Christmas music.

Which speaking of Christmas jazz, I forgot to mention the Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack as one of my favorites.

The 18th annual A Jazz Piano Christmas, recorded live at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., features three great pianists who have each been shaping the sound of jazz for more than half a century. Dr. Billy Taylor, Hank Jones and Barry Harris spin their original solo takes on the holiday songbook.

Here’s the lineup:

* “The Little Drummer Boy” — Andrew Hill (from A Jazz Piano Christmas XIII)
* “Merry Christmas” — Billy Taylor
* “The Christmas Song” — Billy Taylor
* “Winter Wonderland” — Joey DeFrancesco
* “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” — Joey DeFrancesco
* “White Christmas” — Barry Harris
* “We Three Kings” — Hank Jones
* “Good King Wenceslas” – Hank Jones
* “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” — Hank Jones & Roberta Gambarini
* “Silent Night” — Hank Jones & Roberta Gambarini
* “Jingle Bells” — All Artists (Taylor, DeFrancesco, Harris, Jones, Gambarini)

Enjoy!

18 hours of Christmas music

What does an NPR music critic do when he’s flooded with Christmas music every year? He traps his family in the car and plays each of the 21 CDs – 18 hours worth.

I’ve always enjoyed hearing new Christmas music, but there’s just so much of it. Every fall, I receive dozens of new holiday CDs — countless hours of music to sift through in the long, agonizing buildup to Christmas.
This year, shortly before Thanksgiving, I decided to save them all for one epic binge during a 1,000-mile road trip to see family — to be captivated by the holiday spirit while held literally captive.
Pulling out of the driveway, I started — as one does — with A Swingin’ Christmas, by Michael Bolton. And thus began 18 of the longest hours of my life. Bolton’s “swingin’ Christmas” was my “ploddin’ Christmas,” a tensely endured soundtrack for a holiday hellride through D.C. traffic.

Stephen Thompson reviews all 21 albums for your enjoyment online.

Or if you’re interested here are some of my Christmas favs…

  1. Kenny G: Miracles: The Holiday Album – I might get punched in the face for this one, but nothing says Christmas like Kenny G! The first Christmas wishes/bumpers I ever recorded for radio used this album for my music bed. “Merry Christmas KEOM listeners. I’m Jonathan Blundell, taking this moment to wish you and your’s a very Merry Christmas. One of my favorite memories of Christmas….”
  2. Arbuckle Indians: It’s an Arbuckle Indian Christmas – not a well known group or album, although they did have a run up the Christmas charts at Mp3.com a few years back. You might be able to track down a CD copy of the album if you know the right folks.
  3. Various: Happy Christmas – Tooth and Nail artists share their own rendition of new and old Christmas songs. The entire collection is great and only one step behind A Very Special Christmas
  4. Various: A Very Special Christmas – it’s Christmas time in Hollis Queens. Doesn’t get much better than that other than U2 singing a cover of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).
  5. Bebo Norman, Allen Levi, Ed Cash: Joy – I can’t tell you where my original copy of this CD is, but the tracks I still have as Mp3 are worth a listen year round.
  6. Trans Siberian Orchestra: Christmas Eve and Other Stories – one of my favorites since it’s release in 1996. It doesn’t get much better than Christmas Eve Sarajevo. And who would have thought Laurie would have already started an annual tradition of seeing the band live every Christmas when they come to Dallas. Awesome.

What’s on your top list?