Waves: Spiritual Journeys, Vol. 5: Inspiring Moments

While I would almost rather watch an Eric Rohmer film than any video wallpaper effort--regardless of whether the visually static ephemeral images were of goldfish, burning logs, or presidential candidates--Greg Voevodsky's shots of waves and wildlife on California and Hawaii beaches and headlands, taken with a Sony VX-1000 digital video camcorder, were--as advertised--full of inspiring moments. Comprised of six 11-minute segments (faith, courage, hope, commitment, peace, and love, distinguishable not by the quality of the water in each segment, but rather by the secular and spiritual quotes from classic texts and authors, ranging from the Bible to Einstein), the 5th volume in the Waves series offers pristine shots of crashing waves, swaying palm fronds, and glorious russet sunsets. While I prefer to relax Camille Paglia style (i.e., give me complex sensory input), the crisply recorded natural sounds and super sharp soothing images presented here should have wide appeal (especially to those in landlocked middle America), while the capabilities of the Sony VX-1000 (which I saw listed for as low as $3,249 online) on display here will (I hope) inspire budding videomakers to put their Hi-8's out to pasture. Other titles in the series include: Hawaiian Dreams, Hawaiian Zen, Californian Dreams and Californian Zen. Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)