I thought we’d be driving to catch the train to London. From there, the plan was to take the EuroStar to Paris. But Annabelle had plans of her own. The night before, she told me we wouldn’t be going to France. I was miffed, to say the least. Most annoying was that she wouldn’t tell me why. “Trust me, okay?” she said.

The light clicked on in the early morning. Annabelle set a cup of tea on the bedside table. Before long we were on the road to the train station, I guessed, to visit her brother in Manchester. She told me to find the paper bag in her backpack. Inside was a city map to Dublin. She was taking me to Ireland. On the sly, with my birthday within a half-month’s view, she had bought plane tickets and booked a couple beds in a downtown Dublin hostel. I forgot about Paris.

I loved the city, the people, the beer. I loved Annabelle for surprising me with a visit to the country top on my list—for running all over town with me, seeing the sights, learning Celtic history, shopping, praying during Evensong at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, collapsing in exhaustion under ancient trees at Trinity College. And I love her for taking me to see “Once,” a new film by John Carney, last night. Set in Dublin, it was a charming and artful reminder of that trip we shared, and the special place the city holds in our own story.

The film stars Glen Hansard (lead singer of The Frames) and Markéta Irglová—both are untrained actors but still manage to deliver performances more honest than I’ve seen in any blockbuster release in recent memory.

“Once” is a musical in the best sense—free of silly, non-sequitur dance routines, sung dialogue and stage-like dramatics. It’s a singer-songwriter’s musical, the songs performed as they would be in a café or bar, telling stories like only good songs can, and paired with dialogue both winsome and true. Everything ends up in its right place by the finish without feeling contrived. The whole thing had me ready to fly to Ireland, or sit down and write songs through the morning, or both.

But I’m biased, of course. I’ve been listening to the music Hansard, on a break from his band, and Irglová make off-screen. They released a record together last year under the name “The Swell Season.” I found it early in January and loved it at once. And Carney did a wonderful job weaving the songs into the story.

Rather than try to recapitulate here what I perceive to be the ineffable, transcendent quality of notes and lyrics woven together, have a listen for yourself. You can hear The Swell Season perform live at NPR.com, or hear a few tracks from the album here.

I recently discovered GodTube—yes, your pastor-approved alternative to the filth and debauchery that is YouTube. Among the most popular videos is one church’s version of the Mac vs. PC adverts. The video touches on the oh-so-sensitive issue of whether or not you should burn your non-Christian music collection—you know, so no one else can be corrupted by it (watch here). Stick around for the U2 name-drop at the end for an extra dose of cringe. One commenter followed the video with the GodTube-equivalent of the YouTube angst we know so well, a sound argument indeed:

“OK, I understand where this is coming from and both points of view. So, let’s look at it this way: I make a cupcake for you. I give it to you. I tell you before you eat it that the cat accidentally pooped in the cake mix when I left to check on my kids. When I came back, I took out the poop, and cooked it anyways. WOULD YOU EAT THE CUPCAKE? No, of course not. It’s just gross. A little poop in the cupcake HAS THE POTENTIAL to ruin the whole batch. A little bit of the World HAS THE POTENTIAL of harming your Spiritman - really, it does! U2 may be good, clean music & bono could be a Christian, but does it Glorify God? Is it meant to Glorify Him? Most likely no. Do things moderately. I, myself have MAYBE 20 songs out of 1,954 songs of my iTunes Music non-christian. the 1,954 others are either Pastor’s teachings, DC Talk music videos and other Christian music videos, and the Bible (so that when I go on a walk, I can fill myself with the Word of God).”

A little yeast leavens the whole lump. Better lose those 20 songs before they corrupt his entire jPod.

Cupcake, anyone?

For those of you who inquired about the story I wrote on Rosie Thomas, it’s now out in the Spring edition of Radiant Magazine — what I affectionately call “Relevant for Chicks.”

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