Sunday, April 30, 2017
Historically, That's How It Happens
Will Fascism Come to America through Its Colleges and Universities?
For some history, consider the highly readable At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell, or simply read an online biography of philosopher Martin Heidegger.
For some history, consider the highly readable At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell, or simply read an online biography of philosopher Martin Heidegger.
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Archaeological News [Photo at the Link]
Archaeologists find what may be the oldest depiction of the Virgin Mary
The Dura-Europos excavation site in Syria is still threatened by war, but the wall painting is safe in a museum at Yale.
I've Returned to Real Books Myself as They Don't Require Generated Power to Operate
'Screen fatigue' sees ebook sales plunge 17% as readers return to print
“There is generally a sense that people are now getting screen tiredness, or fatigue, from so many devices being used, watched or looked at in their week. [Printed] books provide an opportunity to step away from that.”
Archaeological News
But the dig site turned out to be even more revelatory—and now, with a paper in the journal Nature—controversial. See, this site wasn’t just catnip for the paleontologists, the diggers who study all fossils. It soon had archaeologists swooping in to study a number of stone tools scattered around the bones, evidence of human activity. After years of debate over the dating technology used on the mastodon, a group of researchers now believes that they can date it and the human tools to 130,000 years ago—more than 100,000 years earlier than the earliest humans are supposed to have made it to North America.This is controversial not just because of the dating techniques, but because many academic positions, grants, and reputations are based on the current notion of when humans arrived on the continent. There is also a pinch of what is sometimes called "political correctness" to the current theory, so don't expect contrary evidence to be warmly embraced.
More here from the Washington Post.
Friday, April 28, 2017
My Parents Were Staunch Democrats
My grandfather was a union shop steward who was devoted to FDR, my Dad the treasurer of the county's Democratic Party, my mother the Democratic representative to the local school board. Sometimes, the proverbial "smoke-filled room" was my parents' living room. But, as they were Mid-Westerners, they would neither recognize nor be welcomed by the current party. November's election did not surprise me. It should not have surprised the party, either.
And what I am here to say is that the midwest is not an exotic place. It isn’t a benighted region of unknowable people and mysterious urges. It isn’t backward or hopelessly superstitious or hostile to learning. It is solid, familiar, ordinary America, and Democrats can have no excuse for not seeing the wave of heartland rage that swamped them last November.Please consider reading the whole thing.
Yes, But First They Must Be Destroyed
Can the Liberal Arts Be Saved?
Actually, they've already been all-but-destroyed after the gradual take-over of the disciplines by neo-Marxists who think that everything is political and that the chief feature of the humanities is to identify victims of...well...whomever is this week's Emmanuel Goldstein.
Once the current iteration of the liberal arts is gone, those of us who remember the power, efficacy, and liminal beauty of the humanities may still be around to help with the restoration. If not us, then our students. Either way, they'll be back and stronger than ever.
Another view here: As the classical university unravels, students seek knowledge and know-how elsewhere.
Another view here: As the classical university unravels, students seek knowledge and know-how elsewhere.
Yep
It is a searing indictment of our educational systems that people think "freedom of speech" is synonymous with "freedom from criticism".— James Morrow (@pwafork) April 27, 2017
It Would Be Even More "Awesome" If People Wouldn't Overuse the Term "Awesome"
Actually, Life Is Pretty Awesome
Even Andrew Carnegie, one of the richest men of his time, could not prevent his mother-in-law from dying of tuberculosis. Today, people don't even get tuberculosis.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
A Way With Words, Certainly
"I got a jump ball, a be ball, a whipsy-dipsy-do, and a hurry-up ball. My be ball is a be ball 'cause it 'be' right were I want it."#Satchel pic.twitter.com/dmHo5VAMnh— Kyle McNary (@KyleMcNary) April 27, 2017
I Would Laugh, But There Have Been People Who Have Actually Asked Me About This
At publishing time, Atkinson had moved on and was performing a Google search on her smartphone to find out what chapter of Luke contained the account of the little drummer boy playing his drum for Jesus.
Unpopular Thoughts
The music group Yes was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in my hometown. No. I've never found any of their songs to be listenable. Not one. Horrible stuff, really.
___
I think if I were going to the trouble and expense of having my gender surgically "re-assigned", or even if I were simply going to dress from now on as a woman, that I would choose a forename that didn't sound like one chosen by a twelve-year-old girl.
___
Robert Pirsig, the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, died recently. A beloved cousin, an old friend with whom I was a first year teacher, and various pedagogical colleagues over the years have all loved, LOVED, that book.
Not only do I find it ponderous and dull, but I think it the best example of how to take a delicate metaphor, that life is like a motorcycle journey that requires occasional tune-ups, repairs, and maintenance, and beat it to death. Really, I mean kill it with fire.
It would be one thing if the book were simply witless and overlong, but its regard for Zen was such that I lost all interest in that particular school of Buddhism simply by reading it.
___
Speaking of music, how come Pete Seeger could never have a hammer? They're cheap and ubiquitous. You can buy a serviceable one for less than ten bucks. I'm guessing it was because he was a Communist. He was probably waiting for someone else to buy it for him.
___
Now, excuse me, as I have to go yell at some kids who are on my lawn.
___
I think if I were going to the trouble and expense of having my gender surgically "re-assigned", or even if I were simply going to dress from now on as a woman, that I would choose a forename that didn't sound like one chosen by a twelve-year-old girl.
___
Robert Pirsig, the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, died recently. A beloved cousin, an old friend with whom I was a first year teacher, and various pedagogical colleagues over the years have all loved, LOVED, that book.
Not only do I find it ponderous and dull, but I think it the best example of how to take a delicate metaphor, that life is like a motorcycle journey that requires occasional tune-ups, repairs, and maintenance, and beat it to death. Really, I mean kill it with fire.
It would be one thing if the book were simply witless and overlong, but its regard for Zen was such that I lost all interest in that particular school of Buddhism simply by reading it.
___
Speaking of music, how come Pete Seeger could never have a hammer? They're cheap and ubiquitous. You can buy a serviceable one for less than ten bucks. I'm guessing it was because he was a Communist. He was probably waiting for someone else to buy it for him.
___
Now, excuse me, as I have to go yell at some kids who are on my lawn.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
The Future, Ladies and Gentlemen
I'm hoping the attacker's name is Magnus, for reasons that would be understood by comic book fans.
Archaeological News
Mexico's ancient city guards its secrets but excavation reveals new mysteries
It's not Biblical, of course, but it's an old site I worked decades ago. Like most large sites, there is still much to be discovered.
It's not Biblical, of course, but it's an old site I worked decades ago. Like most large sites, there is still much to be discovered.
The Decline of the West Captured in Seven Syllables
HOW INTERSECTIONALITY MAKES YOU STUPID
In the loftier precincts of progressive journalism, higher education, and the non-profit world, those hecklers tend to be proponents of “intersectionality,” a voguish theory purporting that power is inextricably linked to aspects of identity like race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation, and that an individual’s “marginalization” is thus determined by their accumulation of various traits. Across the country, pseudo-intellectual totalitarians posing as outcasts regularly intimidate earnest but spineless liberals into capitulation. From the Oscar red carpet to Yale University quads, whoever shouts the loudest and claims victimization on account of more facets of their identity can expect to get what they demand, regardless of the quality or even logic of what they have to say.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
You Mean Humans Write Those Execrable Scripts?
Writers Guild Members Vote for Strike Authorization With 96% Support
Writers in Hollywood have been mistreated since F. Scott Fitzgerald's day. Still, it's preferable to and more lucrative than digging a ditch. Since screenplays are largely dull-witted, plodding, unoriginal, and derivative, I'm not sure how to put a fair price on them.
Writers in Hollywood have been mistreated since F. Scott Fitzgerald's day. Still, it's preferable to and more lucrative than digging a ditch. Since screenplays are largely dull-witted, plodding, unoriginal, and derivative, I'm not sure how to put a fair price on them.
Biological Truth: Men Are Wired to Protect
Husband hailed 'hero' after fighting off 'eight-foot' shark that mauled his wife
Pro tip: Shark snouts are made a sturdy cartilage. It's best to use some form of blunt object, if possible, rather than a bare fist. When necessary, though, if you go Mick Fanning, do so with fists of fury.
Pro tip: Shark snouts are made a sturdy cartilage. It's best to use some form of blunt object, if possible, rather than a bare fist. When necessary, though, if you go Mick Fanning, do so with fists of fury.
One Could Substitute "Art" With "Literature" or "Religion" and the Article Could Still Be Accurate
The Death of University Art Programs
Warning: As this deals with contemporary academics, like naughty children, they engage in occasional vulgarities.
Warning: As this deals with contemporary academics, like naughty children, they engage in occasional vulgarities.
Monday, April 24, 2017
An Obituary of Note
The Right Reverend David S. Ball
The last of the "old school" bishops. He took the metaphor of shepherd to heart as the whole diocese and all of its people were under his spiritual protection. Together, David and I educated and conferred the sacrament of Confirmation upon 42 teenagers from non-theistic, broken, or absent families.
The last of the "old school" bishops. He took the metaphor of shepherd to heart as the whole diocese and all of its people were under his spiritual protection. Together, David and I educated and conferred the sacrament of Confirmation upon 42 teenagers from non-theistic, broken, or absent families.
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Easter Saturday Wave
We thank you, heavenly Father, that you have delivered us from the dominion of sin and death and brought us into the kingdom of your Son; and we pray that, as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his love he may raise us to eternal joys; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
That's it for the waves. Our regular broadcasting schedule will return after we take a break. It's been a brutal quarter with returning from overseas, leaving a long-time job, moving, starting anew, meeting the new parish and my staff, Lent, hosting the bishop, and Holy Week, and all packed into twelve weeks. Also, surf's up!
Friday, April 21, 2017
Easter Friday Wave
Almighty Father, who gave your only Son to die for our sins and to rise for our justification: Give us grace so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
I Used to Play the Harmonica Driving to Gigs
SAXOPHONE-PLAYING DRIVER ARRESTED FOR REHEARSING ON THE HIGHWAY
Granted, the harp is less cumbersome, but it takes two hands to play properly.
Granted, the harp is less cumbersome, but it takes two hands to play properly.
Thursday, April 20, 2017
How Many Days Has It Been Since I Exploded Some Episcopal Heads?
Well, this ought to do it:
Feminism is over, the battle is won. Time to move on
Feminism is over, the battle is won. Time to move on
It should be celebrating its triumphs. Instead it has descended into pointless attention-seeking
Easter Thursday Wave
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Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Easter Wednesday Wave
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
More Archaeological News
A long lost 16th century civilization has been unearthed in rural Kansas — all thanks to a plucky teen who helped archaeologists confirm the incredible discovery.
Good for this kid. I became interested in archaeology when, as a child, I discovered a mess of arrow heads in our backyard. They reside still, as far as I know, in the storage rooms of the Natural History Museum in Cleveland.
Good for this kid. I became interested in archaeology when, as a child, I discovered a mess of arrow heads in our backyard. They reside still, as far as I know, in the storage rooms of the Natural History Museum in Cleveland.
It Used to be Called "Muscular" Christianity
Early feminist theology misinterpreted "muscular" as meaning male, rather than physical, engaged, and active, so the term was sent down the memory hole in an effort to be "inclusive". [When one starts using quotation marks around terms, we know we've moved into dangerous linguistic territory.]
It is being resurrected through a variety of recent books, meant mostly for conservative Catholics and Protestants, as Dynamic Christianity. This quotation, however, sums up the eternal truth about how we are to be in the world, but not of the world.
In reality, being an engaged Christian is more complicated than being a Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian.
It is being resurrected through a variety of recent books, meant mostly for conservative Catholics and Protestants, as Dynamic Christianity. This quotation, however, sums up the eternal truth about how we are to be in the world, but not of the world.
We need to remember that Christianity is a dynamic faith, not meant to be lived in a defensive crouch. The political and social challenges of our present moment are formidable indeed, which is precisely why Christians as a group must not withdraw. The society they live in still needs them. We need to bring to the table the vast wisdom and resources of our faith, charting a path forward for all our compatriots and not just the chosen few.Unfortunately, far too many of my ordained colleagues think that being engaged in contemporary life as a Christian means repeating Democratic Party talking points. In recent decades, that has simply left those who do not see life through the synoptic lens of a political party feeling dis-invited from the Episcopal Church. [I brought this up once at a clergy meeting and was met with the reply, "So? We don't need those people." Yeah, that may be the problem in a diocese that is 1/3 the size it was twenty years ago.]
In reality, being an engaged Christian is more complicated than being a Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian.
Easter Tuesday Wave
O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.
Monday, April 17, 2017
An Interesting Op-Ed from Today's NYT
OUR intervention in Syria required me to be fully serious last Sunday, but now it’s time to return to this column’s ongoing series of implausible proposals, Easter Sunday edition. Which means I’ll be proposing — yes, I’m that predictable — that many of this newspaper’s secular liberal readers should head en masse to church...
But this equilibrium may not last, and it may not deserve to. The campus experience of late suggests that liberal Protestantism without the Protestantism tends to gradually shed the liberalism as well, transforming into an illiberal cult of victimologies that burns heretics with vigor. The wider experience of American politics suggests that as liberalism de-churches it struggles to find a nontransactional organizing principle, a persuasive language of the common good. And the experience of American society suggests that religious impulses without institutions aren’t enough to bind communities and families, to hold atomization and despair at bay...
You say you’re spiritual but not religious because you associate “religion” with hierarchies and dogmas and strict rules about sex. But the Protestant mainline has gone well out of its way to accommodate you on all these points...
Finally, a brief word to the really hardened atheists: Oh, come on. Sure, all that beauty and ecstasy and astonishing mathematical order is because we’re part of a multiverse or a simulation or something; that’s the ticket. Sure, consciousness and free will are illusions, but human rights and gender identities are totally real. Sure, your flying spaghetti monster joke makes you a lot smarter than Aquinas, Karl Barth, Martin Luther King. Sure....
But this equilibrium may not last, and it may not deserve to. The campus experience of late suggests that liberal Protestantism without the Protestantism tends to gradually shed the liberalism as well, transforming into an illiberal cult of victimologies that burns heretics with vigor. The wider experience of American politics suggests that as liberalism de-churches it struggles to find a nontransactional organizing principle, a persuasive language of the common good. And the experience of American society suggests that religious impulses without institutions aren’t enough to bind communities and families, to hold atomization and despair at bay...
You say you’re spiritual but not religious because you associate “religion” with hierarchies and dogmas and strict rules about sex. But the Protestant mainline has gone well out of its way to accommodate you on all these points...
Finally, a brief word to the really hardened atheists: Oh, come on. Sure, all that beauty and ecstasy and astonishing mathematical order is because we’re part of a multiverse or a simulation or something; that’s the ticket. Sure, consciousness and free will are illusions, but human rights and gender identities are totally real. Sure, your flying spaghetti monster joke makes you a lot smarter than Aquinas, Karl Barth, Martin Luther King. Sure....
Dear Ordained Colleagues,
Since open debate about social issues is frowned upon in my professional circle, let me offer these just to be contrary. Both are valid perspectives worthy of consideration.
No institution or agency has done more to help the poor than Walmart.
No institution or agency has done more to help the poor than Walmart.
and
They mean well, but most of my ordained colleagues are East Coast whites; many with inherited money. They tend to live in a cultural bubble that permits them the ability to see the world as does a college sophomore. In their bubble, Wal-Mart is always evil, socialism is always good.
[A reminder of The Coracle's purpose: "Just about every parish weblog at the time presented parish information and links to official statements made by the local diocese and the national church offices. They tended to the prosaic. So, I thought it would be lively to present counter-arguments or perspectives not usually reflected in parochial weblogs, especially as most Episcopal Church thinking in those days [and these] was/is simply a re-statement of whatever was/is read in the New York Times or heard on National Public Radio.
It turns out that a lot of people who were blogging and engaged in Internet commentary had the same idea and online discussions, debates, and arguments became the contemporary equivalent of the Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park or the Oxford Student Union; a place of free thinking and freely exchanged opinion. It was refreshing, especially since both churches and universities were becoming more and more monolithic in their ideology and more and more intolerant of any deviation from a preferred narrative. Suddenly, my readership, which was around 6-20 people a week, reached over 300+ a day, and increasingly from international sources....
As The Coracle has been in its current form since 2008, it has developed as an eccentric forum for religious and Christian news not often found in the mainstream, for archaeological developments, circumstances of a gently humorous nature, of inspirational people in danger of being lost to history, of uncommon sources of music, and of occasional commentary, especially when such commentary may be contrary.
Oh, and surfing."
More here.
Stray Thoughts from Holy Week
Even people who are shy about singing in church can really belt out
"He is Risen" when it's the processional hymn on Easter morning.
It's remarkable how many people introduce themselves to me on Easter Sunday as members of the parish. I've been here three months and have never seen them before. The word "member" has broad meaning, apparently.
Note that if you speak to me after the liturgy that I'm only staying awake at this point out of propriety and politeness. My fatigue shut off my brain after the sermon.
On Good Friday, in the quiet of the meditative liturgy, I often notice for the first time a subtle and beautiful architectural feature in the church.
I run on so much adrenaline during Holy Week that the day after Easter Sunday [which is called Easter Monday] I feel as if I have a hangover. I'm told that's consistent with adrenaline poisoning, but that diagnosis wasn't from a physician. It was from a guy I was sitting next to on the subway.
Conversation stopper:
"Now that Easter's over [it's not over for fifty days, but whatevs], are you taking some time off?"
"Sort of. I have a colonoscopy on Wednesday."
It's remarkable how many people introduce themselves to me on Easter Sunday as members of the parish. I've been here three months and have never seen them before. The word "member" has broad meaning, apparently.
Note that if you speak to me after the liturgy that I'm only staying awake at this point out of propriety and politeness. My fatigue shut off my brain after the sermon.
On Good Friday, in the quiet of the meditative liturgy, I often notice for the first time a subtle and beautiful architectural feature in the church.
I run on so much adrenaline during Holy Week that the day after Easter Sunday [which is called Easter Monday] I feel as if I have a hangover. I'm told that's consistent with adrenaline poisoning, but that diagnosis wasn't from a physician. It was from a guy I was sitting next to on the subway.
Conversation stopper:
"Now that Easter's over [it's not over for fifty days, but whatevs], are you taking some time off?"
"Sort of. I have a colonoscopy on Wednesday."
Two Blocks from My Sister's House, a Block from Where I Used to Ride my Bike on Saturday Mornings to Compete in the Junior High Bowling League
Son finds his parents shot at their Cleveland auto dealership, couple pronounced dead at the scene
Come to think of it, when this was a Chevy dealership, I bought my 1972 Impala there.
Come to think of it, when this was a Chevy dealership, I bought my 1972 Impala there.
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
British Surfers Share the Waves with History's Oldest Surfers
Dolphins ride waves and leap in the air astounding surfers off Sennen Cove in Cornwall
Those of us who have surfed the two coasts of the USA know these guys well.
Those of us who have surfed the two coasts of the USA know these guys well.
Well, That's Radical
You can't be Christian if you don't believe in the resurrection, says former Queen's chaplain
About half of the people with whom I've worked don't believe in the Resurrection, and they are regular attendees at worship. Weird, isn't it? It's as if believing in such would make others think them superstitious dolts.
I have two bachelor's, three master's, and two doctoral degrees, in a mixture of disciplines both sacred and secular, and have no difficulty in understanding the meaning and power of resurrection; or of admitting it. Or of bragging, apparently.
About half of the people with whom I've worked don't believe in the Resurrection, and they are regular attendees at worship. Weird, isn't it? It's as if believing in such would make others think them superstitious dolts.
I have two bachelor's, three master's, and two doctoral degrees, in a mixture of disciplines both sacred and secular, and have no difficulty in understanding the meaning and power of resurrection; or of admitting it. Or of bragging, apparently.
Holy Wednesday Wave
“If I am mistaken, that means that I exist.” —
Good Friday at 7pm
Easter Sunday at 8:30am and 10:30am
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
If We've Reached the Point Where Christians are Being Beaten on the Sydney [Sydney!] Commuter Trains, It's Not Just in the Middle East
There is a war on Christianity. The West must stop being scared to say so
I should say, it's not just in the Middle East and among the faculties of American universities.
I should say, it's not just in the Middle East and among the faculties of American universities.
This is Not New
Attacks Shows ISIS’ New Plan: Divide Egypt by Killing Christians
A line of wooden coffins borne by Boy Scouts, and marked with the word “martyr,” filed through the doors of an ancient monastery on the outskirts of Alexandria on Monday. A mournful drumbeat accompanied the procession. The coffins held the remains of some of the 17 people killed on Sunday in a blast at the gates of St. Mark’s Cathedral, the historic seat of Christendom in Egypt. It was perhaps the most ambitious of the two attacks because the Coptic patriarch, Tawadros II, had been inside the church at the time.
Holy Tuesday Wave
“Faith is to trust yourself in the water. When you swim you don’t grab hold of the
water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax and float.” – Alan Watts
O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Monday, April 10, 2017
They Ruin Church Services, Too
Huntington Beach, CA: Perfectly Good Bonfire Ruined By Worship Leader Who Just Happened To Have His Guitar
I'm glad I've never been the guitar guy.
I'm glad I've never been the guitar guy.
Holy Monday Wave
“It is not what you are nor what you have been that God sees with
all-merciful eyes, but what you desire to be.” – The Cloud of Unknowing
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none
other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Palm Sunday Wave
“You can’t know your direction if you don’t know your origin.” – Alan
Watts
Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Lenten Wave #39
"There is no one so uncivilized, and of such a crude disposition, that, raising his eyes to heaven, he does not understand from the very magnitude of the objects, from their motion, arrangement, constancy, usefulness, beauty, and temperament, that there is some providence — though he does not know by what God’s providence all the visible universe is governed." —Lactantius
Friday, April 7, 2017
Lenten Wave #38
"If you believe what you like in the Gospel and reject what you do not like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself." —
Thursday, April 6, 2017
It is Ever Thus
Pop Hits Are Picking Up the Tempo: A new analysis of top-10 hits finds instrumental introductions have dramatically diminished over the past three decades.
I appreciate that this may be another occasion for lamentation about the younger generations and their attention span, but this has been done time and time again in popular music. The so-called "Vegas style", back when performers in the gambling lounges were paid by the song, was to drop one verse from a song and "up" its tempo in order to squeeze more songs into a 45 minute set. Pop music survived.
I appreciate that this may be another occasion for lamentation about the younger generations and their attention span, but this has been done time and time again in popular music. The so-called "Vegas style", back when performers in the gambling lounges were paid by the song, was to drop one verse from a song and "up" its tempo in order to squeeze more songs into a 45 minute set. Pop music survived.
Lenten Wave #37
...The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. - from Ulysses, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Sparse Posting for a Bit; We're Moving Into a Busy Time of Year
Lenten waves will continue, however. Just like real ones.
Lenten Wave #36
The Windhover
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
To Christ our Lord
I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! and the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: shéer plód makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermillion.
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
I Regret to Note That Despair Over One's 'Social Inferiors' is Rather Common Even in Mainstream Protestantism
IT’S TIME US LEFT‑WINGERS STOOD UP TO PC
The election of Donald Trump should have been a wake-up call for the left. Instead, we have seen a doubling down on the very strategies that guaranteed his victory in the first place. Trump supporters are scorned and derided with increased vehemence, Brexit voters are still smeared as racist, and the working classes are urged to know their place and vote in accordance with the instructions of their technocratic masters. It would also appear that the word ‘Nazi’ has been redefined as ‘anyone with whom the left disagrees’. I’ve never met a Nazi, although I’m assured by many of my liberal friends that you’re never more than six feet away from one.
With Theresa May polling better than ever, and Marine Le Pen gaining ground in the run-up to the French elections, now might be a good time to reflect on where we on the left are going wrong. It seems to me that we have two options. We could return to our traditional objectives and strive to redress social inequality and thereby improve the lives of working-class people. Or we could continue this bourgeois obsession with identity politics and see where that gets us. I know which I’d prefer, but something tells me I’m not going to get my way.
Lenten Wave #35
"Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime." - Martin Luther
Monday, April 3, 2017
No, That's Absurd
NYT: Do Seas Make Us Sick? Surfers May Have the Answer
Although I did contract listeria in Southern California once, but that wasn't the ocean's fault. That was the result of poor municipal care of the sewer systems.
Although I did contract listeria in Southern California once, but that wasn't the ocean's fault. That was the result of poor municipal care of the sewer systems.
Lenten Wave #34
"Not only in faith, but also in works, God has given man freedom of the will." —St. Irenaeus
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Unfortunately, There is a New Term to Describe Our Times: Aliteracy
People who can read and, in the case of at least one, can hector her viewers about the proper ideological perspective, yet choose not to read.
But then things got weird. Not only were the five panelists not bookish types, they weren’t even great readers, at least of novels (which is what they were discussing). Wab Kinew got the ball rolling in the prelims by announcing that while he reads “a lot” it was “mainly nonfiction.” I wonder if he was counting the internet. Then Stephen Lewis offered up his own mea culpa: “I don’t read, it’s the scourge of my life, I don’t read. I read reports from morning to night, I’m a philistine around literature.” Despite this confession of ignorance, however, Lewis still admitted to being in “awe” of Margaret Atwood, whose book, The Year of the Flood, he was promoting. Samantha Bee was next to chime in: “Let me tell you something, I’m a mother of three children and I don’t get to read.” No time, I guess. Moms have it tough. Then Olympic sprinter Donovan Bailey let us know something that we had, by now, probably already guessed: “I don’t read, or I don’t read a lot.”
Lenten Wave #33
"Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region. Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical professor. Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded forever." -Herman Melville
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Sometimes We're the Left Bird, Sometimes the Right
I literally defy anyone to watch this video in full and not be smiling like a big idiot by the end!!! 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/MW54Qr8IIu— Stevosideways (@stevosideways) March 31, 2017
Lenten Wave #32
"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which
God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." – George Washington
Carver