Leaving Oxford on Friday was easier than I expected. Although the city is absolutely gorgeous and I loved my time there (and wished I'd had the chance to study in some of those hallowed halls), this particular summer in Britain has been unusually hot. Our rooms at the hostel were very stuffy and I wasn't sleeping particularly well. Plus, Tam & I had a room on the same side as the train station, and hearing the announcements of the trains starting early in the morning wasn't helping my sleeping situation either!

Friday was a big travel day -- we had to pack up from Oxford, hop on a train to Didcot Parkway, transfer to a train headed to Bristol, leave David behind to go rent a minibus (17 passenger van), and then head on to Nailsea where we met up with some folks from the church there to hang out at a local park until David returned with the minibus. Joyce (the mom of the family I stayed with) and Steve showed up with ice cream bars, a frisbee, and sunny smiles to greet us at the station. We sat in the shade near a small lake and tormented the Queen's swans for a while, waiting for David's return. (Saw the biggest swan I have ever seen on Planet Earth. Not exaggerating. It was a beast!)

Our "minibus" barely fits all 16 of us and our luggage. The giant pile of luggage covered two back seats in a tower of luggage doom, with more suitcases shoved into aisles and anywhere we could find a nook or cranny. I'm surprised the tires didn't just give out on us. But we were on our way by 1pm to find lunch and then drive 4 hours into Cornwall.

Before Coart went on this trip last year, I didn't even really know (or care) that Cornwall existed as a distinct region in England.  In brief: The English (Anglo-Saxons) managed to oppress the surrounding Celts over the millennium that we call the Middle Ages. Despite experiencing their own hard times during the Viking and Norman invasions, the English happily shoved the other tribes into the corners of the island, forming the nations we now call Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the region of Cornwall. Unlike the first three, Cornwall has no autonomy in its government. The Cornish language "died" in 1733 (I learned that from Jack) -- meaning that in 1733 the last Cornish-only speaker died. But plenty of people still speak Cornish (which is a Gaelic language) and the region boasts its own feisty independence movement.

As a geographical region, Cornwall refers to the western tip of the English island, that part which juts out across Western France and sits below Ireland proper. It's rocky, windswept, full of coves and coastal nooks, and gorgeous. Cornish dairy products are world famous. The land has lost pretty much all of its trees and depleted all of the tin deposits which drew the first people to that region (including ancient Romans). Now it's grazing land for sheep and cattle and a huge tourist attraction for Europeans wanting some beautiful coastline to enjoy.

We drove down the M5 motorway (insterstate) for a couple hours, then various dual-carriageways (like a 4 lane highway), and finally narrowed into country rural roads as David picked his way through multitudes of roundabouts to take us to the peninsula known as The Lizard. Forming the southernmost tip of land in all of Great Britain, The Lizard is a thumb of land jutting into the English channel above France. Treacherous rocks and currents have led to numerous shipwrecks on these shores -- beautiful but dangerous.  The water is deep blue and the sea gobbles down the entire horizon before your eyes.

Returning to the topic of roads -- Cornwall's roads made us blanch at times. For example: We were riding down the road near the hostel on Saturday morning, headed out for a day's adventures, when suddenly Andy shrieked from the front passenger seat, "Ohmygosh there's a giant truck in our lane!!"  Actually, there aren't really TWO lanes.  It's a narrow road that some Roman probably cut with his chariot 2,000 years ago, and lately someone paved the thing. If you meet another vehicle, you can either wreck or find some way to back up to a slightly wider spot to let the other person pass by.  Houses in the villages are built of granite and sit right on the "yellow line" of the road with no more than inches of room.  Happily, we didn't really have any close calls this year, but Coart came home last year with a basketfull of them.

We stayed in the beautiful seaside town of Coverack, consisting of the stone village church and a pub and a quay and a couple guest cottages, a school, and the hostel. Our views were breathtaking. The first night, many of us walked out to the point (not the end of The Lizard, just a point of the coastline) to hear David play his pennywhistle and enjoy the sunset's golden light on the sea.  The hostel actually faces east, so our view of the full moon's rise was stunning.  It's a peaceful, restful part of the world.

We spent our 3 days in Coverack exploring mostly Tolkien-related sites. He spent much of his boyhood vacations in this region. Saturday we hit Tintagel, one of the candidates for King Arthur's fortress.  If Arthur was a leader of the Celts who were trying to beat back the Saxon invasions in the late 400s, Tintagel makes geographic sense as a useful fortification. Regardless of the legends, the site includes both ancient Celtic and Roman ruins alongside 13th century medieval castle walls. Cool stuff.

Sunday was probably my favorite -- we spend a large portion of the day at Kynance Cove. One of the most gorgeous flat sand beaches in England, it boasts a sheltered inlet where waves crash, surfers skim along the waves, and sunbathers lie next to enormous rock formations scattered around the beach. We all found it hard to leave the place. A few went "cliff walking" along the high coastline into the town of Lizard 4 miles away. It really was incredible. The only mar in the day:  Germany trounced England in the World Cup match that afternoon. A few of us were crowded into the only pub in Coverack to see the game on TV, and it was pretty ugly. (The game, not the locals.)

Exhaustion had set in with full force by this point, so Monday (our last day) found us walking slowly across the ancient causeway into Saint Michael's Mount (in another part of Cornwall). This medieval monastery and castle offered us gorgeous views of gardens and surrounding coastline. Really cool. I'm glad it was our last day's visit, for it didn't require enormous climbing efforts or gargantuan walks.

I must say, this has been a fantastic trip. We wrapped up our Inklings talks on Monday night with a quick trip through Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories" to discuss the elements of Recovery, Escape, and Consolation -- aspects of good story-writing which point us to the Gospel. David is writing all of this stuff into a book -- one that I highly anticipate owning. I hear that all the Inklings travelers will get a mention in the credits.

Since this is probably the last chance I'll have to hop on the internet until i get home (I'm not expecting the land of Cornwall to offer much by way of modern amenities like broadband), I figured I'd hop on for one last quick update before we head out of this hostel in the morning.

I think we're all approaching that level of tiredness that makes you glaze over. But it's been so worth it! We toured two significant Oxford colleges today: Christ Church and Magdalen.

Christ Church has an illustrious history dating back well over 600 years, and was re-founded as a formal college when Henry VIII gave the Pope a boot in the 1530s, thus founding the Anglican church. He wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy toward non-Catholics or people who resisted the king; his Cardinal Wolsey told the abbott to destroy the controversial Thomas a Becket window showing the famous murder of the archbiship. Happily, the college staff disobeyed and we saw the window today. Christ Church grounds hosted the Harry Potter film crew, and I recognized those golden stone corridors as soon as I saw them.  The college, like all of them, follows the traditional architectural plan: a church (in this case, a cathedral), a cloister, and a quad (sporting the most vibrant green grass you'll ever see!). This is graduation and examination week in Oxford, so you see robed students and colorful faculty tromping around everywhere.

Magdalen College (pronounced "Maud-lin") hosted CSLewis as a teaching tutor until he moved to Cambridge (long story). Unlike the golden stone of Christ Church, Magdalen College is verdant and integrated with the surrounding landscape. Resting outside the old wall of Oxford, the college snapped up a huge tract of land -- now you can saunter down a lovely wooded path between a meadow and a boatable river and deer park opposite. It was a quiet, lovely college. I saw the BIGGEST hostas in their gardens that I've ever seen. Monstrous! lol

I'm getting a cold (boo!) so I took it pretty easy today. Between college tours we had free time to eat and shop. I made a beeline for Blackwells, the largest bookstore I've ever seen. It spans 2 storefronts and 4 storeys, with a tiny pub smashed in between (one of the Inklings' favorites). Across the street are music and poster/art stores as well.  I could have LIVED in that bookstore; instead I bought a few things and headed down to another Inklings-related pub, The Kings Arms, for lunch. There my substantial order of fish and chips kept me busy as I caught up on my journaling and enjoyed watching the mix of people there for lunch.  For supper, we strolled down to the most famous Inklings pub of all: The Eagle and Child (known to the Inklings as "The Bird and Baby"). It's impossible to find bad food here, I've decided, after visiting a number of fine establishments over the past week. I can see why Lewis, Tolkien, et al spent their evenings bashing out story ideas and philosophical quandries over a pint in such cozy quarters.

Tomorrow, Cornwall.  We have a number of Tolkien talks to enjoy (today, we read Tolkien's poem written in response to Lewis's conversion as we stood on the grounds of Magdalen College right on the pathway where Tolkien & another friend discussed his objections to the Gospel) and some Arthur landmarks to discover.  Cornwall is its own distinct region of England, and I look forward to experiencing a new flavor of culture.

We might even get to see our Nailsea friends (a few of them) for a brief visit tomorrow at the train station while David rents the minibus. I miss them all so much.  And you guys too.

Home on Tuesday!

Gotta type fast. Internet minutes aren't cheap and they run through your fingers like proverbial sand.

How can I describe London, that great city of history and cultural significance, in just a few lines? I can't. And we didn't see much of it, compared to its bulk. We kicked it all off with a boat ride down the river Thames to check out the city from the waterfront. The day was gorgeously sunny but a little hot. "Mind the gap!" we saw this warning 1000x on the subway and railway lines. I love the Londond Underground. Finally found a t-shirt with the iconic symbol.

We next went through the Tower of London, catching a Beefeater tour -- AWESOME. Those guys tell the BEST stories! Look them up online. These special tour guides are retired British special forces officers or military non-coms who served a ful career and then met the challenging criteria to become a Beefeater: a tower guard. Their uniforms are colorful; their stories are gory and hilarious at the same time.  We also spent about `10 minutes running past the Crown Jewels. Gorgeous. But the American in me gets rubbed the wrong way to see so much wealth and prestige locked into a monarchy system. haha

Monday also brought to fulfillment one of my lifetime dreams: to see the British Museum. It was jaw-dropping. I almost cried. Incredible. 66% of everything I've ever wanted to see is in that collection, and it is incredible. The Rosetta Stone. Assyrian lions. Nineveh artifacts. The Shalmanezer stela (important to OT history). The Cyrus Cylinder (ditto). The Gilgamesh tablets. Rameses' giant heat.  Statue after statue after statue. The Elgin Marbles that decorated Athene's Parthenon. .... I can't even list it all. We booked it through, and then I just bought a book since I couldn't get it all in. Get on a plane and go.  Or go with Dave next year.  

We're currently based in Oxford, so our London excursions were day trips. Otherwise we're doing tons of Lewis & Tolkien lectures in the grand old town of Oxford, land of walled colleges and gorgeous spires. Yeah, I wish my degree were from here. The history is rich. Also enjoying Dave's incredible lectures about the Christian imagination and reclaiming all things for God's glory.  Dig in ... you should come next year!  Saw Lewis's wonderful estate, The Kilns, yesterday. So marvelous.  Interesting. Staffed by young people studying Lewis's life and work. Just a great place.  Lewis's love story/romance with his life-changing wife Joy warms my heart.  I had no idea Lewis had such a rough childhood.  Raises my respect for his ability to see the beautiful in this shadowland.

Last night (Tuesday) we went into London again for dinner (yum!) and to see Macbeth at the new Globe Theater.  ohmyword.  AMAZING.  Every line was clear; the staging was fascinating; the play was super; all the kiddos loved it; JUST GREAT!  And to get to sit next to Natalie and listen to her enjoy this play for the very first time was a delightful experience. She gasped at points when the plot became clear through the lines. Don't tell me kids can't understand and love something as beautiful as Shakespeare.  I took a few ilicit photos -- I'll post them eventually.

Today after some Oxford touring we took time to sit in an English pub (The Duke's Cut) and watch the England World Cup match with the locals.  About 40 people packed into a room the size of my living room (including a couple couches, tables, etc) to watch the match on TV and scream at the refs. haha. Just like America! The people crowded next to us were uber-friendly, congratulating us upon the USA victory at the last minute. One lady did walk up to me to say, "Even on your best day, we're still better." LOL  I'll drink to that. haha  We'll try to catch the next round of games this weekend in Cornwall. I think.

Tomorrow we'll do some more Lewis & Tolkien tours, including Christ Church (college) and Magdalen College ... plus plenty more lectures and discussions. And shopping. B L A C K W E L L S !   Four stories of books! A shop full of art & posters! A music store!! Oh my. I won't fit it all into my suitcase!!

This has been a fabulous experience, you guys. And incredibly economical.  You need to go next year.  Yes. YOU.

Taken me a while to get back to this... but here's a bit of thinking to keep everyone busy till I get back from England

I was stunned by the volume, clarity, and quality of comments my "preamble" post generated on the Facebook version of this conversation. I recommend checking them out before you keep reading.... because there's some amazing stuff there!

Before the conversation gets too far derailed by specific dress code issues, I'd like to park on the theological corner of "modesty" for a few posts.

BACKGROUND: "On These Hang All the Law & the Prophets"
At NCS, we joke that we have three basic rules: 1) Love God. 2) Love your neighbor. 3) Don't hurt the building (which is merely a restatement of rule #2 for the benefit of our building manager). 

Amazingly, those 3 "commandments" really *do* cover the heart and soul of interactions within a school community.

Name me a problem that arises during the school day, and unless it's a procedural issue regulated by the state of South Carolina, our "rule" most likely grows organically from an application of the Great Commandments.  I used to type up a giant list of classroom rules/policies and hand it out at the beginning of every year. Now I hold a running conversation with each of my classes as needed, usually commencing the first week, to discuss the specifics of loving God and neighbor during the 45 minutes I call "English class."  Every problem, every conflict will emerge out of one or more people (including me) ignoring God's basic framework for Life In The Kingdom.

I will fight for this view of a school rulebook. I hope ours remains thin.  We should cap it at 50 rules, and as soon as someone insists on a new one, we can't implement it until we throw out one of the old ones.

I'm not saying that schools can't (or shouldn't) have more specific guidelines suggesting particular consequences for certain behaviors. Sometimes we are bound by law to react in certain ways to a student's threat against his classmates, or someone's cry for help. Sometimes it's wise to at least set up a framework for how the school expects to handle typical classroom problems.

I am saying that, as sinners, our sinful hearts LOVE RULES.  We loooooooooooooooooooove them.

We clutch at the chance to define righteousness by marking a line in the sand: "Here, and no further" or "As long as you don't --------------" or "I'm righteous as long as I'm doing ______."  We will straight out gnats with tedious precision just to avoid mentioning the giant camel (or elephant, in the modern proverb) standing over in the corner.

We misunderstand the very heart of goodness. I hope each NCS graduate will always be able to recite Coart's maxim, "A 'good kid' is not the kid who stays out of trouble. A 'good kid' is one who does good [deeds]."  In  Scripture, goodness is active. Righteousness results in right actions.  Salvation produces a heart that loves and keeps God's commandments.  Yes, we might "stay out of trouble" a little more, but that's not the definition of our goodness.

I'm not righteous because I avoid certain people, places, music, books, words, movies, or actions.

My righteousness comes from my Savior and Redeemer, Christ, who obeyed perfectly and died willingly. He gives me everything I need for this life of godliness. I can't add anything to the pile.  Paul says in Colossians 2 that no human law has any power to restrain the sin that's within my heart.  Only Grace.

*Only* Grace.

So why bring this up in a discussion of modesty?
... Next time....

So I was pretty tired yesterday and a bit distracted while writing my update, and I know I left out a ton of details. I'll try to quickly fill in some gaps while I have a couple spare minutes.

Ireland, Day One:   I have never seen so many sheep.  I'm not kidding. We saw THOUSANDS of sheep. The quintessential white sheep with black ears and black faces, like you see in the cartoons.  And cows.  Probably 10 different breeds of cattle. All the fields are super-green and divided notsomuch by fences as by actual hedges.

Speaking of hedges: Things grow here. Like crazy. Want to see roses? They're everywhere.  Hedges? Yup.  Wildflowers, grass, dandelions, trees, shrubbery? Got it.  This is the greenest place I've ever been.

Also the most polite. I've never had so many signs apologize to me as I've seen here. "We apologize if this broken till [cash register] has caused you any inconvenience." Wow.  I felt honored. lol

England makes tons of cider, and apparently Bristol is one of the main cider places. Since Nailsea is close by, our host family has procured us some legit cider for tonight's sit around the fire pit.  We just did a walking tour of the Bristol suspension bridge --the first in the world -- and River Avon.  County Somerset is incredibly beautiful.  And getting to know it via a real family has been a treasure immeasurable.

Today we went into Bath.... Roman baths are incredible; town is absolutely lovely.  As I passed the bread & breakfasts on the way in, I couldn't help but remmeber Roald Dahl's "The Landlady." |*grins*

Well, everyone is outside, so I gotta run. Tomorrow is church with this lovely group of people and then off to Oxford where I will be tempted to spend more money.  Umph. lol

Love to all! Feel free to leave me comments -- I'll see them eventually!

hey all!
This English keyboard is werid so excuse the typos. All the symbols are in the wrong places.   I'd write something on FB too but my account is locked -- apparently trying to log in from Belfast triggered their security filters and they think I'm a terrorist. lol  Anyway....

We have had an amazing time so far! Let me give a quick recap

We landed in Belfast on Tuesday morning, bleary-eyed and sleepy. Annie Kate's suitcase was missing (grrr) and we lost an hour in the Belfast bag claim waiting for the young man behind the desk to stop flirting and listen to the Shulers explain that AK's bag hadn't arrived. With paperwork in hand we pressed on to meet our bus for the day (English: "coach") and the very awesome Irish driver Martin. He drove us up to the northern coast to see the Giant's Causeway -- amazing -- and to hike across the rope bridge of Carrick-a-rede.  The rope bridge is crazy high and very shaky ... and therefore AWESOME. Better -- the views were amazing!!!  We saw gorgeous blue skies and beautiful sunshine, "unusual" weather for Ireland they tell me.  

Martin drove us through Belfast on the way down to our hostel. We were pretty zoned out, but I did manage to see the neighborhoods of the former Troubles and the new construction that's bringing life to the downtown areas formerly destroyed by the bombings. 

The last several days we've spent in the lovely seaside town of Newcastle, Ireland, where the Mourne Mountains meet the sea. C S Lewis spent his childhood holidays here. We rested and played soccer and explored the fine little town and found a tiny Starbucks and hiked the mountain (I didn't, actually) and generally found it to be an amazing place. I have more to say but must hurry.....

Today's travel from Newcastle to the airport to fly to Bristol was QUITE the day.  For one thing, our fine bus driver Martin wasn't able to come today so we got a very nice, older Northern Irish man who seemed to drive aimlessly around Belfast randomly showing us stuff that I didn't really care about in the name of showing us stuff that sounded like it would be cool.  *sighs* The airport was difficult too -- security issues, bags overweight on this budget airline, general frustrations.  RyanAir is a pain.  End of that. 

happily, we are now happily stowed away in a fine house with a wonderful family in Nailsea. Wonderful dinner, delightful conversation.

Might be able to write again later. If not, next up is .... Bath, Oxford, London, Cornwall.  It's gonna be amazing.

All is well. Kids are getting along well.

Topic: Dress codes at Christian schools
Standard disclaimers apply.

The dress code question seems to be a Lose-Lose situation for nearly everyone involved:

Students, nearly by definition, balk at restrictions of any kind on their free exercise of choice. Mix in a little adolescence and you've got a battle royale all ready to burst forth into an otherwise contented student community.  Well-trained students -- the ones who have learned to ask questions and critique ideas instead of just swallowing them -- usually pose the greatest trouble for dress code enforcement. It's hard to give a convincing answer to questions like "Why must I wear my shirt tucked in?"

Parents paying thousands of dollars in tuition want to see their students looking like students hard at work, not rock concert attendees or couch potatoes or fashion victims. They're also usually weary from fighting the battle over clothing with their teen daughters on an almost-daily basis.

Teachers don't want to have to damage their own personal relationships with students (which are so productive in the educational process) over something as difficult as the question of appropriate clothing. Male teachers are especially endangered -- if a girl is dressed provocatively, my male colleagues might end up spending half the class period fighting against the temptation to lust at what a clueless teen is letting all hang out .... yet that male teacher will probably elicit a sexual harassment lawsuit if he speaks honestly about his predicament.  Female teachers end up becoming the Clothing Police, an unwelcome duty. A firm dress code or uniform is practical and comforting.

As usual, the variety of viewpoints also mask their corresponding weaknesses:
Students, by definition, are young ... and the young do NOT have an accurate view of life.
Their lack of experience in the world of daily employment, for example, robs them of any sense of perspective when it comes to living under restrictions.  Truth is -- every workplace has a dress code, and many are more strict than a school's dress code.  I fight most dress code battles at NCS with the boys. They will do anything to keep their shirts untucked. I don't really give a care what they do with their clothing ... but if my administration is going to impose a total of four rules on the boys (*gasp*), I'm going to try to enforce them.  And when those boys get their first job working at ChikFilA or OutBack or BiLo, their managers will demand a certain level of professionalism.

Parents and teachers can hide behind a dress code instead of grappling with real issues of dress, decorum, appropriateness, maturity, and modesty.  It IS easier to say "You can't wear that!" than to take the incredible investment of time necessary to teach a kid why certain clothes aren't welcome in certain situations. This is especially true of fathers teaching daughters what real modesty means and how men think. Teaching and parenting are Cross-bearing duties. They demand that we sacrifice ourselves (and our time and energy and comfort level) to invest in the next generation in meaningful ways.

Further, adults are just as quick as teens to judge harshly anyone who doesn't dress a particular way. The difference is that teens judge on the basis of "coolness" or currency, while adults form their character assessments on firmly established moral codes and social norms calibrated for an adult's world.  The stereotype of the father who forbids his daughter to date the boy wearing the tight skater jeans and lip ring holds true. Here in the South, the saying is "Don't drink or chew or run with boys who do." It's a horrible theology of sin, but since it rhymes and nicely matches the South's moralistic emphasis on external righteousness as a replacement for true righteousness, it's a credo many adults live by.

Truth is, linking external codes for clothing to theological principles of modesty leads many Christian schools into the dangerous waters of Law-fencing and attempting to label internal heart attitudes on the basis of what a kid is wearing (or not).

And here I need to break in to discuss the whole issue of "modesty" as a concept.   Biblical Christianity is often described as misogynistic (woman-hating).  I disagree with that assessment because I don't think biblical modesty lays the burden on females to be "modest" so the men can "stop lusting" .... but it's easy to see why we bear that accusation .... More soon.....

This is the first post in a series about the idea of dress codes. Figured I'd might as well warn you up-front.

Disclaimers:
I'm writing as a Christian about Christians doing Christian-y things like education. If you aren't in that situation but want to comment anyway, feel free. But I'm not going to dialogue with you about what the world in general should be doing, or whether France has the right to ban the burqa. My scope is narrow: Christian secondary education.

Further, these opinions are mine alone and not necessarily reflective of the school where I teach.  You shouldn't assume that Coart agrees with me either.  I'm a big girl doing my own thinking here. 

Finally, I write to think. I don't write after I think. My views are always in flux and I can't figure them out until I've stated a position that I can consider or reject or alter or whatever. So calm down.  If you disagree with me, your critique could help me formulate a better viewpoint on the subject.

All that said --
Every once in a while, the NCS dress code raises hackles among the student body. It's always in those rough times of year when life is uncomfortable for a variety of reasons (it's hot or it's dark and cold or it's really really really really really mind-numbingly busy) that the students dust off their rational faculties of debate and begin challenging. These past few weeks have elicited several questions and comments from students, mostly boys, about particular rules that annoy them -- like the rule that they must keep their shirts tucked in at all times.

Supposedly, a Christian school's dress code rests on the concept of modesty, which is certainly mentioned in Scripture. But theology and practice mash up into a nasty train wreck in this area. We'd like to think our dress code is an outgrowth of good theology, but usually the actual policies seem to have little to do with theology and everything to do with practical life at a school and with preventing phone calls from angry parents.

I'm not sure where all this series of posts will go, but I imagine a definition of biblical modesty is in order, along with some musings on whether the phrases "Grace-based education" and "dress code" can coexist peacefully.

There are local musicians, and there are local musicians. Friday night we were privileged to hear Daniel Machado lead The Restoration in an incredible performance of their new album Constance. The evening was so awesome that it deserves its own report.

The Restoration is a collection of talented musicians who play a variety of instruments. I'm not sure what genre fits them best; perhaps folk-rock? They incorporate older styles and skills into a modern musical landscape, blending the modern with the traditional.

What grabbed my attention about Constance several months ago was its back-history. Daniel was researching the history of his own hometown (Lexington) and was struck by the insidious racism that marked South Carolina's history for a century (or more) after the Civil War. His research led to creative impulse, and this incredible album is the result.

The Columbia newspaper did a series of articles on the band and their historic/social project -- I highly recommend them. The first one includes a lengthy interview with Daniel and the USC American Lit professor who helped him find literary voices from America's racist past:
Restoring the past in hopes of a better future
A breakdown of the 12 songs on the album

Daniel Machado published two interesting articles on Scene SC while they were recording the album:
Part 1: Out of a Nashville Studio and into the Heart of Local Racism
Part 2: Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places, and Angry White Men

And you can watch the band's short film about the use of shape-note singing in Constance
The Making of Constance

The CD release show was a great example of how music and performance and literature and art can all combine to communicate unified story. I felt like I was watching a living "Multi-Genre Project." The release show band included additional musicians -- our friends Steven & Collin; a cellist, a sax player, etc. If you hit The Restoration's MySpace you can hear some of the tracks, but the entire experience of sitting in the Trustus Theater and watching the music unfold live can't really be reproduced in a recording studio. Sometimes the emotions behind the music get lost in the digitization. I still prefer the energy of a live show to a "perfect" CD.

(If you go listen, don't miss "Constance." That song will stick in your mind for days.)

I should mention that two interesting acts prepared us for the performance onslaught of The Restoration. The first were dancers from the Alternacirque dancers in Columbia. I don't know what else to say other than "a displaced tribal belly dancer originally from New Orleans found herself in Columbia and opened a studio." Lol.  It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen ....

Incredibly cool = getting to hear Riley Baugus play his Appalachian tunes in person. Riley is a world-famous banjo player and Appalachian mountain music man. He currently lives 10 minutes from Stevo in Winston-Salem (who promises me they'll get to hang out soon, and I'm quite jealous). Riley gives you the history behind his tunes as he picks up the banjo or guitar or violin to transmit to us a tiny bit of America's musical heritage. The modal melodies of the Appalachian tunes, the thumping rhythms, the lyrics/themes that suck your heart out through the sound of his raspy voice -- that unmistakable blend of African and Irish/Scot/English and Native American -- it takes me back to the PA mountains of my upbringing. I felt like someone had set a musical icon in front of me. 

All this for $6. Ridiculous. I should mention too that the TRUSTUS Theatre is a really cool performance space! Black interior, uber-comfy seats, lots of leg room & places to put your snacks, a clear view of the stage. Thumbs up.

I bought the Constance book that accompanies The Restoration's album, which includes lyrics and photos and the full short story which brings Daniel's vision into focus. Holler if you want to borrow.

And if you want to hear The Restoration for yourself, they're playing with Riley Baugus in Columbia at the end of May. Show dates/info are posted on their MySpace.