Author: James McNally

Who Was Lonnie Frisbee?

Lonnie Frisbee

I’m not really old enough to remember it, but the “Jesus People” movement was a full-blown phenomenon in the late 1960s and into the early 1970s. Centred mostly in northern California, hippies began getting into Jesus and these “Jesus Freaks” turned the established church on its ear. One of the most influential figures in this period was a young man with the unlikely name of Lonnie Frisbee. Lonnie’s ministry was influential in the foundation of two of evangelicalism’s biggest denominations. And yet, his name has disappeared from most accounts of the movement. Why? Because Lonnie was gay.

David di Sabatino has made a documentary film about Lonnie and it will be shown here in Toronto later this month as part of the Reel Heart Film Festival. I’m very interested in seeing it, but I do find one thing interesting. The director, who is an evangelical, talks about Lonnie’s homosexuality as a “struggle with sexual sin” and points to Lonnie as an example of a flawed prophet. Sadly, Lonnie died from AIDS in 1993, but I wonder what would have been the outcome if Lonnie had been able to embrace his sexuality and be accepted in the evangelical movement for what he was, without feeling like he had to live two separate lives.

Film critic Peter Chattaway conducted a lengthy interview with director di Sabatino back in April and the director says that Lonnie was raped as an eight-year-old child and that this might explain his fragmented identity, but I always find it funny that Christian people always need some “explanation” for someone’s sexuality. It’s more likely his fragmented identity was a result of not being able to tell people close to him about his homosexuality for fear of being denounced.

That being said, the film sounds like it genuinely tries to understand a complex individual, and I hope I’ll get to see it. It doesn’t hurt a bit that there are lots of Larry Norman songs in the soundtrack.

Note: Music was a huge factor in the Jesus People movement. Here’s a great site with lots of history on “Jesus Music”.

Curses! Tagged Again!

I’ve been watching the latest “tag” meme float around and I’ve been desperately hoping to avoid it, but Johnny has tagged me. So here goes:

Number of Books I Own:

This is why I was hoping to avoid this one. You see, nobody knows exactly how many books I own. They’re spread all over the known universe. In my current living space, I’d estimate around 1,000. But between books stored in our storage locker, at my old apartment (thanks Brent!), my dad’s, and a friend’s parents’ place, it’s closer to 2,000 and might very well exceed that. You see, I used to have a bit of a problem. I loved books. I still love them. But I’m getting used to the idea that I don’t need to own every book ever printed. There are things like libraries. And now, when I finish a book, I try very hard to give it away or sell it. It’s tough, though. Don’t even get me started about my wife. She loves books, too. She buys them. She just doesn’t read them. So, we have a lot of books. (Whew!)

Last Book I Bought:

It just happens to be the book I’m reading right now. It’s called What Just Happened? and it’s by film producer Art Linson. It’s a short sharp account of some of his Hollywood adventures. It looked funny and it was on sale. I bought it along with a whole bunch of books on learning Italian.

Last Book I Read:

I just finished Craig Unger’s book House of Bush, House of Saud which is a pretty damning indictment of America’s (and in particular, the Bush family’s) relationship with the undemocratic, authoritarian and fundamentally brutal rulers of Saudi Arabia.

Five Books That Mean A Lot To Me:

(Five is a very tiny number, though…)

Who’s Next?

  • Brent (he has been around books a lot and has great taste, except for his sci-fi/fantasy nerd streak)
  • Paul (because he needs some new content!)
  • Lia (new to blogging!)
  • Lissa (because she’ll say something kooky!)
  • Brad (needs new content and actually works in the book business)

Under Attack


(image copyright Globe and Mail)

This story by Michael Valpy in the Globe and Mail worries me. (Go and read it now, because I think the Globe will make it part of a paid archive in a week. That’s why I posted the above picture). The same-sex marriage issue is coming to a head in Canada and we’re seeing the same sort of opposition from Canada’s admittedly less-aggressive Religious Right. One of the strangest sights I’ve seen recently was a demonstration against same-sex marriage featuring Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all get together to work for something positive instead of just reacting to something that we’re afraid of?

I do a lot of head-shaking and eye-rolling when I read articles like this one, but the truth is that I’m a bit frightened. Every day I feel further and further away from a subculture that once nurtured me. I’m not sure how much I’ve changed, but I know that the evangelical culture has changed a lot in the past 25 years. It seems to me that a sort of rigidity has set in. (I’m tempted to say ‘rigor mortis’). Despite the claims of huge growth among evangelicals, I’m deeply disturbed that it hasn’t made a whit of difference in the world. Poverty, war, oppression. It’s the same old story. A recent book by Ron Sider called The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience explored this area and discovered that evangelicals have the same rates of divorce, the same levels of materialism, the same struggles with racism. It’s more disturbing because we preach so loudly about other people’s “sins”. Jesus said that before we can remove the speck from our brother’s eye, we need to remove the plank from our own eye. That’s always made me smile, but it’s so true.

P.S. I realize the irony that I’m ranting about the “sins” of the Religious Right, so I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not perfect either. But wouldn’t it be great if we could actually talk to each other rationally instead of shouting at each other? For a nice balance to the Globe and Mail story, here’s a story from the Sunday Star about a reporter who went across Canada asking regular people their opinions on same-sex marriage. As always, regular people can surprise you. (Same 7-day archive policy applies, so read it now)

Movies Movies Movies

Ok, everyone knows I love movies. But I just wanted to relate that I just voted on my 500th movie over at IMDB. For the record, the film was House of Sand and Fog (2003) and I gave it an 8.

Acción Mutante

Tonight, we watched one of two films I picked up from Spanish director Álex de la Iglesia. He directed one of our favourite films from last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, called Crimen Ferpecto (Ferpect Crime) (2004), and I was happy to see two more of his films on DVD on one of my occasional visits to Bay Street Video.

Acción Mutante (Mutant Action) (1994) is his first film and it is set in a future society ruled by good-looking people. Acción Mutante are a terrorist group made up of disabled, ugly outcasts. Wacky and dark, but also full of biting satire about the media and the general superficiality of polite society.

We’ll watch the other one I picked up later this week. It’s called Muertos de Risa (Dying of Laughter) (1999) and it promises more skewering of the media and the entertainment business.

Note: I guess I’ve now voted on 501 films…

Barber Blues

I think I can remember the name of every person who has cut my hair more than once. I develop a strong dependence on my barbers. And I’ve had some trouble in the past couple of years keeping good ones.

Two years ago, Vince died. He had cut my hair for about fifteen years in his little two-chair shop next to the bus terminal. His replacement, Valentino, had become a good friend. We talked a lot about wine and his native Romania and most importantly, he actually figured out how to cut my hair. About six weeks ago, I went in to find him missing. Karim, a young Algerian barber, was there. He was replacing another Albanian barber who had opened up his own shop in the west end of Toronto. Karim told me that Valentino had been sick, experiencing vertigo and coughing a lot, and that after consulting lots of doctors here, he and his wife had gone to Costa Rica to consult with “natural” doctors. It didn’t look good and Valentino was considering selling the shop. I guess calling your business the “Terminal Barber Shop” may have been a jinx. Seriously, though, I was upset because Valentino is only in his mid-40s.

Karim tried gamely to cut my hair and I visited him twice but it just wasn’t working. He was a really great guy who had all kinds of stories but I’m not sure I’ll be back.

Today, I tried again. There are two places near me that looked promising. Of course, one was inexplicably closed. The other has been there for a long time, but the name should have warned me. Paul’s Hairstyling for Men and Women. Hmmm…

And even though I had my hair cut by Paul himself, it still isn’t right. I just want a barber who gets in there and cuts the hair. Instead, I felt like I was being pecked by birds. Lots off the sides and back, but they’re all terrified to tackle the top and front.

I’m considering shaving my own head.