In the summer of 2005, Cheryl Strayed set out on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) — a 2,663 mile trail running through California, Oregon, and Washington, stretching from the Mexican to Canadian border. Strayed was 26 at the time and reeling both from the death of her mother four years […]
Culture
Catching Fire: driven to distraction
The first thing you notice watching Catching Fire is the change of colour. Gone are the lush greens of the forest. Now our eyes are filled with greys and browns: the muted colours of the dead of winter. We meet our hero, the steely Katniss Everdeen, in the woods, but […]
An interview with Creed’s frontman
The Father Nothing has the power to throw you back to 1999 like listening to Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open.” (Let’s be honest though, Brittany’s “Baby One More Time” is a close second.) Scott Stapp wrote that Grammy-winning song when his son, Jagger, was born. And now Jagger is already […]
Phil Keaggy: former power-rocker
Sitting in the car with Dad, listening to the good old classics of the ’70s, like Alice Cooper’s “School’s out,” or The Kinks’ “Lola.” Good times. Phil Keaggy was on his way to becoming one of these rock legends; in fact, his band Glass Harp opened for many of the […]
Return of the nerd
At 23 I am technically a real adult and should, by virtue of that fact, have grown out of the adolescent tendency to need to belong to a clique or group. However, at 23, I also find myself undeniably tethered to a strange identity that has been twisted into a […]
Arcade Fire’s spiritual heritage
“There’s something wrong in the heart of man,” sang lead singer Win Butler on 2004’s Funeral, and Christian fans of Arcade Fire have been nodding along ever since. For the attuned ear, it can be easy to spot the Biblical references and themes throughout the band’s catalogue. There are so […]