from Paul Hamilton of the Bisonics:
DRINKING WITH JESUS
I’ve been drinking with Jesus
In a bar full of New Cross geezers
He won the jackpot on the one-armed bandit
Scooping the loot he smiled, ‘That’s the way Dad planned it’
I asked him for another miracle
‘O ye of little faith,’ he said, ‘don’t get cynical’
And made his excuses to go and turn wine
Into urine….
giotto. Mourning of Christ. 1305---Giotto was short and homely, and he was a great wit and practical joker. He was married and left six children at his death. Unlike many of his fellow artists, he saved his money and was accounted a rich man. He was on familiar terms with the pope, and King Robert of Naples called him a good friend. In common with other artists of his day, Giotto lacked the technical knowledge of anatomy and perspective that later painters learned. Yet what he possessed was infinitely greater than the technical skill of the artists who followed him. He had a grasp of human emotion and of what was significant in human life. In concentrating on these essentials he created compelling pictures of people under stress, of people caught up in crises and soul-searching decisions. Modern artists often seek inspiration from Giotto. In him they find a direct approach to human experience that remains valid for every age. --- Read More:http://www.arthistory.cc/auth/giotto/index.htm
I’ve been drinking with Jesus
Frayed shirtcuffs, trousers in creases
Told me of his day trip to the coast
Treated deckchair society to sardines on toast
‘It ain’t easy being a famous father’s son
Patricide is tempting but what’s the use of a gun
When your target is invisible, immortal?
Unbelievable!’
I’ve been drinking with Jesus
Crow’s feet, hair like Caesar’s
Looks unlike the man nailed to a crucifix
In churches and round the necks of teenage chicks
Yesterday’s terrorist is tomorrow’s freedom fighter
Like to bring on a friend of us all, Mr Nelson Mandela
He learnt the hard way the average human
Is inhuman.
---By the beginning of the 14th century, Duccio was one of the most respected artists in all of Italy. His most significant artwork, and arguably his greatest, was the picture of the Madonna for the high altar of a large cathedral. This is known as the Maestà. Using the Byzantine style, Duccio managed to give humanity and life to the figures in his paintings with his skill using colour and line. Although he died in 1318 or 1319, his influence on painting lasted well through the 15th century. Less than ten works definitely by Duccio are known to this day. Even so, he remains a great innovator and artist.--- Read More:http://act.hdsb.ca/grassroots2005/grassroots/Art/Julie/images/Page%203.htm
I’ve been drinking with Jesus
Snakebite and blacks, Bicardi Breezers
Looking away he says he feels hopeless shame
For what maniacs commit in his name
Taking a backseat, he lets things take their course
‘Let fundamentalists crash the pearly gates by force;
They’re not gonna like their heavenly reward:
A sword.’
I’ve been drinking with Jesus
We’re simpatico; I cough, he sneezes
He sighed, ‘Although the Vatican’s happy to own me
The sorry truth is the world has outgrown me’
Putting on his coat, he said, ‘There’s no love where there’s doubt’
He turned and waved goodbye on his way out
I looked at the holes in his hands and I saw the light
And cried.
---Thomas, however, was not there and so he refused to believe the stories that Je
was alive (which is why he is called "doubting Thomas"). A week later Jesus again appeared to the disciples--and this time Thomas was there. Jesus told him to put his fingers in His wounds and believe, and a no-longer-doubting Thomas acknowledged Him as Lord and God. Following is The Doubting of Thomas by Caravaggio.--- Read More:http://home.comcast.net/~vanwyhe/appearan.htm
ADDENDUM:
Paul Hamilton: The ‘Play for Today’ CD, as I mentioned afore, has some bonus uncredited songs, including one which – on reflection – is one of the best things we’ve done. It’s called ‘Drinking With Jesus’ and what was particularly pleasing was I had to come up with a last verse at the very last moment. I’m not usually good at that kind of pressure but this one came out really well. (This is a rare example of me not being modest. I hope it doesn’t sicken you.) This is the full lyric here. I like how it develops from lightweight jokes and observations and builds to a satisfying conclusion…I’m sure it’s a bit parochial, isn’t it? A bit too English. Would non-Brits know that New Cross is a tough working-class area of South-East London, or what a geezer is, or what a snakebite and black consists of (it’s a half pint of cider, half pint of lager plus dash of blackcurrant juice)? …
Bellini.---Andrew Graham Dixon:At some point before 1479, when all the work was complete, Zorzi must have changed his mind about the dedication of the altar, instructing Bellini to paint not the Virgin Mary but, instead, Christ rising from the sepulchre. It was an appropriate subject, given the setting. The painting’s message of radiant hope – “Death, where is thy sting?” – would have come across all the more pointedly in a burial chapel. Renaissance painters tackling the theme of the Resurrection had little guidance from scripture, where the moment itself is not described, only its aftermath. For many hundreds of years the Church discouraged the portrayal of the Resurrection altogether, its earliest appearance in Italian art occurring as late as the fourteenth century, in the work of Giotto. Bellini’s treatment of the theme was bold and unusual. Instead of depicting Christ at the moment when he rose from the grave, he showed him hovering in the air above the empty sepulchre, in a hilly landscape strongly evocative of the Veneto . Read More:http://www.andrewgrahamdixon.com/archive/readArticle/54
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