mary
May 31, 2006 / 20:34

It seems to me that these atrocities occur all over the world with pain and suffering insurmountable for us to understand. Why is it that all we hear about is this one horrific episode that although very sad has happened again and again since this occurence to innocent people.

Sophie
June 1, 2006 / 04:10

(Hi. This may be a strange comment to introduce myself with, but I discovered your blog through that big Hallelujah post on that other blog where you were talking about that Hallelujah version by Gord Downie in a way that had me ordering the movie so I could at least listen to it. I am also now keeping my eye out for it. So yeah, hi. Not to the subject of your post.)

I agree with what you're saying, and also, I found all of what he said almost dangerously trivializing. I'm German myself, and in my opinion *especially* a German Pope should have found better words, less superficial words. I remember reading that he also said that the German people were led to do this by a bunch of criminals, thereby absolving the Germans (and himself) of all blame, which I find very dubious. And even if he sees himself just as a representative of the church, and not as a German, like he said before his trip to Poland, the point you are making illustrates quite nicely that even in that case, his speech fails to deliver.

Mike Boon
June 1, 2006 / 08:04

Ok Sophie, I have a job for you. I need you to rent Saint Ralph and capture the audio of Gord Downie to MP3 and email me that MP3.

I should be up front with my inherent biases. Firstly, I'm Canadian, and Saint Ralph is a Canadian movie and Gord Downie is a Canadian singer. Secondly, I'll be seeing The Tragically Hip for the ninth time later this month and Gord Downie is the heart, soul and lead singer of that band. Finally, Hallelujah is one of my favourite songs. So, you can probably connect the dots and understand why I dug it so.

Sophie
June 1, 2006 / 09:04

Actually, that was kinda my plan *grins* I have to wait until, what, June 15 until "Saint Ralph" comes out here, but yeah. I can't wait.

As for your bias - um, same here, except for the being Canadian and having seen the Tragically Hip eight times already. I've only discovered them (and my, um, *thing* for Canadian movies and such) recently, but I fell head over heels in love with their music. And Hallelujah is also among my top five songs. Which is why I am quite optimistic I'll dig the song as well.

Mostly, I just got the feeling that you were really passionate about the song, and so far that has always served as a good compass when I'm trying to discover new stuff.