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"Pipe Dreams" by Peter G. Epps

2009-09-22T01:37:00.001-05:00

Proof that poets should not be recorded performing their own works.

Curriculum Vitae for Peter G. Epps

2008-08-05T23:36:00.001-05:00

Curriculum Vitae for Peter G. Epps

Curriculum Vitae for Peter G. Epps - Upload a Document to Scribd

Grab and go for video (DimP demo on TechCrunch)

2008-05-27T00:44:00.001-05:00

DimP - A Direct Manipulation Video Player

OK, so this I downloaded right away. Too fun to pass up. :-)

DimP, a direct manipulation video player, lets users drag items on the video screen to move forward and back instead of just via a scroll bar on the bottom of the video. This is not only more fun, but it also allows users to scroll through video to where they want to be “at least two times faster,”

Take a look at the demo video (more on TechCrunch).

Technorati Tags: DimP, techcrunch, video, manipulation, tech, avi

YouTube - Johnny Cash Hurt

2008-05-13T00:35:00.002-05:00

YouTube - Johnny Cash Hurt: Odd though it may seem when you just listen to the words, Johnny Cash has really done something with both the articulation and the video production of "Hurt".

Compare it (but don't play the video for your kids) to the Nine Inch Nails original "Hurt."

I can't believe I'm doing this, and you should note carefully that this is not a cover of the same song, but you should consider the possibility that Christina Aguilera's "Hurt" is actually on point with the same themes, only in a more simplified, obvious, and prosy way (like so much contemporary pop, it trades on a dressed-up artificial artlessness). But there's really something in this, albet not so much as in Cash's version of the Nine Inch Nails song.

If that's all wearing you out, I'm here for you! Check out this classic performance of "Ring of Fire" from 1968. A lot of what is already in this song, for Cash, is going to be in "Hurt" eventually....

OK, time for some poetry blogging

2008-04-04T21:54:00.004-05:00

Well, when I launched this blog back in 2004, aside from the need to vent on things happenning in the US while I was in Japan, its major purpose was to serve as a vehicle for my poetry.

Well, then, off we go.

I'm prompted to this by a great discussion with Jon Trainer over at ~~personal trainer~~ EX villis CATHEDRA, who has brushed off his quill and, following no less illustrious example than Edward Taylor (though directly inspired by D. A. Carson), has been writing sonnets as reflections on his sermon subjects since Passion week:

a holy week sonnet
dark road
deep, deep

Champ Thornton, Jon's fellow at New Hope Church and coblogger, posted several of Carson's sonnets on Passion week: catch them here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

women in art -- a morphing video

2008-02-28T16:27:00.003-06:00

Someone has done a pretty good job of pointing up the abstraction of face shape in visual art by morphing together fitting examples from roughly 500 years of painting since the Renaissance. The interest the abstract painters near the end show in the lines, shapes, color patches, and spacings that say "a beautiful woman" to a viewer from a certain place and time in history--or perhaps, in some measure, from any place and time?--is easier to understand after seeing how these many different faces seem, so often, to share the "same" features. Still, as jon trainer notes (hat tip, and he doesn't express it thus), the ones you'd rather wink at date back a few years. . . .

for what it's worth

2008-02-06T14:06:00.001-06:00

Over at my other, newer blog (dedicated to shorter clips, quotes, gnomic utterances, and poetry) I have a series of brief statements of what I believe modeled on the creeds I've been posting, here:

credo iii
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

I believe Jesus Christ is God being a man, and was already God when the Father sent the Son, and the Spirit fertilized an egg of Mary’s, so that the Son has an actual human body both created in the image of God (as are we all) and genetically linked to his mother; to David; to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to Noah; and to Adam.

credo ii
Friday, February 1st, 2008

I believe Jesus Christ, the Lord of all believers (we entrust ourselves to Him, agree to cooperate with Him, and know He will transform us), is the same Creator God as the Father and Spirit; yet He is the Son to the Father, Who sends Him to be the Lord of all Creation.

credo i
Thursday, January 31st, 2008

I believe in God the Father, Almighty Creator of all things visible and invisible, near and far, close to Him and close to me.

I believe the Son and the Spirit are this same Creator God.

another helpful summary -- Chalcedon

2008-02-06T13:50:00.000-06:00

Symbol of Chalcedon
Following, then, the holy fathers, we unite in teaching all men to confess the one and only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This selfsame one is perfect both in deity and in humanness; this selfsame one is also actually God and actually man, with a rational soul and a body. He is of the same reality as God as far as his deity is concerned and of the same reality as we ourselves as far as his humanness is concerned; thus like us in all respects, sin only excepted. Before time began he was begotten of the Father, in respect of his deity, and now in these "last days," for us and behalf of our salvation, this selfsame one was born of Mary the virgin, who is God-bearer in respect of his humanness.

We also teach that we apprehend this one and only Christ-Son, Lord, only-begotten - in two natures; and we do this without confusing the two natures, without transmuting one nature into the other, without dividing them into two separate categories, without contrasting them according to area or function. The distinctiveness of each nature is not nullified by the union. Instead, the "properties" of each nature are conserved and both natures concur in one "person" and in one reality. They are not divided or cut into two persons, but are together the one and only and only-begotten Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus have the prophets of old testified; thus the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us; thus the Creed of the Fathers* has handed down to us.

To tell the truth, this one is very nit-pick-able because the language of "natures" is so imbricated in a particular metaphysics of substance, and the incoherence of "before time began" remains inadequately considered to this day. None of which detracts, finally, from the important respects in which this symbol helps to limit the possibilities for understanding Jesus. If you care to try, sorting out which of these clauses is precisely backed by Scripture, and which are less authoritative because more original to this creed, would be a valuable exercise.

apropos of nothing.....

2008-02-06T04:54:00.000-06:00

Me, Simpsonized, I guess. :-)

Big White Hat » Autism

2008-02-05T01:17:00.000-06:00

Big White Hat » Autism:

Quite a lot of good commentary from this blogger, whose son is autistic. After one unsettling episode, he writes;

I have never been more frightened. My boy went to extreme measures to leave the safety of our home for an enticement he spotted out of the car window. I was helpless. That is one sick feeling.

I have also learned a lot from the well intentioned and imperfect heroes that helped us that day. First, that police officer bled for us. Second, it is human nature to assume parents are negligent. Third, the thank you moments of our lives are awkward. Most folks don’t know how to act. I think the lone ranger and Tonto had the right idea by avoiding the whole situation. I owe those folks a debt of gratitude. But they will never celebrate the fact that my family was reunited.

Lord, I know you must feel sick about the 6 billion children that left your presence to chase after enticements. Bless all of Your rescue workers. Comfort us when we bleed. May we keep our joy fresh and celebrate with You when Your children are reconciled.

Amen.

HEMA - online winkelen

2008-02-04T00:33:00.000-06:00

HEMA - online winkelen

This is . . . just brilliant (HT: evangelical outpost).

those crazy Dutch. :-) you gotta love 'em

...some Auden for y'all.

2008-02-02T18:29:00.000-06:00

Whose world does this sound like?

The Unknown Citizen
To JS/07/M/378
This Marble Monument is Erected by the State

He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasn't a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Installment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A gramophone, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation,
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
(W. H. Auden -- March 1939)

Power Line: Long time gone

2008-02-01T19:56:00.000-06:00

Power Line: Long time gone

Scott at Power Line comes through with another musical gem for us:

ah, makes me long for karaoke. Cheers, Rod.

YouTube - Thelonious Monk - Lulu's Back in Town Part 1

2008-02-01T18:52:00.000-06:00

YouTube - Thelonious Monk - Lulu's Back in Town Part 1

Just a bit more of the good stuff for ya:

continued here -- 'cuz life is like that.

a great way to summarize

2008-01-31T15:27:00.000-06:00

The words are old, and in some cases I think we might be able to say it more clearly in our own language than in the translation of this--but these abiding and widespread agreements ("ecumenical creeds") about what "Christian" means are well worth keeping in mind.

Apostle's Creed Nicene Creed
1. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, 1. We believe in one God the Father, the Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and of all that is, seen and unseen.
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, 2. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being [substance] with the Father. Through him all things were made.
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, 3. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made truly human.
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell. 4. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
5. The third day he rose again from the dead; 5. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. 6. he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
7. From there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 7. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit, 8. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
9. I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, 9. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
10. The forgiveness of sins, 10. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
11. The resurrection of the body, 11. We look for the resurrection of the dead,
12. And the life everlasting. Amen. 12. and the life of the world to come. Amen.

YouTube - Jerry White's Select Songs / Ragtime Stride Piano Jazz

2008-01-26T21:55:00.000-06:00

This is cool for a couple reasons. It's some pretty sweet stride piano, and it has a whole monologue in Thai, too. Not that I know Thai, but I have friends who might. And I like the music, and the oddness of the setting makes it grand. Apparently this was made for Thai soldiers needing orientation to US culture while training here.

YouTube - Vic Fontaine/Benjamin Sisko - The Best Is Yet To Come

2008-01-26T20:57:00.000-06:00

YouTube - Vic Fontaine/Benjamin Sisko - The Best Is Yet To Come

Well, I was looking for Sinatra singing it, but hey. . . . look what I found!

(Trek fans: I'm sure you'll agree this was a very good moment in an anticlimactic wrap-up.)

Oh, did you want someone else? Well, here's Tony Bennett singing it.

YouTube - Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son" 1976 Video

2008-01-26T20:40:00.000-06:00

YouTube - Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son" 1976 Video

OK, well, this breaks the piano-jazz and tech-geek music & video run, but . . . OK, really.

First of all, it is a great song. Also, get a load of the hair....or don't.

Enjoy.

Power Line: Who says Freddy's dead?

2008-01-24T23:21:00.000-06:00

Power Line: Who says Freddy's dead?

I do profit by the perspective over at Power Line, but I much more enjoy the musical and cultural bits. The politics and the music meet in this video, but go read the post for a bit of provocation (in one of the better senses):

Cool.

Fwd: re WSJ article on "church discipline"

2008-01-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

(This post is a letter sent to the author of the article "Banned from Church" that appeared recently in the Wall Street Journal.)

Dear Ms. Alter,

While I am sure you have received mountains of mail about your article "Banned from Church," I do hope this one has a chance to meet your eyes. I am not here to shout you down, nor to rail at any party to any of the disputes you mention. I am a lifelong church member from a very conservative background, a Religion & Literature scholar, and a PK (preacher's kid), and as such I want to take a moment to clarify some matters of concern which your article made muddier, rather than clearer.

First, I wish I could say that what you wrote is wrongheaded and completely non-representative. It is not. In a moment I'll explain how I believe you have misunderstood church discipline, but that would be meaningless if I did not first deal with the larger, sadder, more important issue: churches at large, and the churches you mention particularly, do not seem to have much more understanding of church discipline than you do. I do not ask where you stand religiously: your stance in the article is that of an outsider to evangelicalism, reporting to a secular society the goings-on among an "other" culture of peculiar believers. Churches which claim to stand for the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, ought to be very obvious refutations of the negative descriptions in your article. Their members ought to be able to explain what "church discipline" really is, and to tell you why the examples you show in the article are examples of undisciplined churches, of "churches gone wild" in the worst way. I saw no example in your article in which either the leaders among the church, or the rest of the members of the church, were actually practicing "church discipline."

"Church discipline" is often misused by many, including church members and (in this article) you, as including all sorts of meanings. Four, in particular, occur in your article and need to be separated. There is the "excommunication" of an impenitent person, whose impenitence is another word for unbelief (infidelity, apostasy). There is "the ban," a medieval pronouncement whereby anyone (prominently a king or two) could be rendered a non-party to all earthly legal matters by a pronouncement from [the pope] an ecclesiastical authority. There is "shunning," a practice commonly called such only among certain closed communities (Amish or Mennonite "plain folk" are best known, though others exist), in which someone excluded from the community is treated as a non-person entirely--no hearing, speech, eye contact, etc. Last, there is "separation" of a sort practiced by American Fundamentalists, in which a public person or (more commonly) group is marked "off limits" to anyone who cares about the pronouncements of the pastor, leader, spokesman, or school president who makes such a decree. Those who associate in an endorsing or ecclesiastically significant (say, having such a one as a guest speaker) manner with someone the group has "separated from" is liable to find the group "separating from" them, as well.

Only one of these is any part of "church discipline," and that is excommunication. The others are either tools used to erect and protect worldly power structures within what ought to be the Body of Christ, abuses of teachings which have been separated from their purposes, or both. (caveat: many people who are accustomed to the terminology of one group or another within Christendom do practice better than their rhetoric might suggest; many who speak of "separation" intend something much more like "church discipline" than "separation" in the sense above.)

The Scriptures are clear, and there are churches which try to practice "church discipline" correctly--though, sadly, very unevenly and imperfectly, still. "Church discipline" begins with the idea that the church is a group of "disciples"--committed followers, as baptism signifies--of Christ Himself. Pastors are recognized teachers, not chiefs in a power structure. The pastors teach and guide the members as they (including the pastor) learn together what Christ is teaching us. "Discipleship" is the process of learning and transmitting the data, social context, wisdom, and spiritual insight of our lives together as disciples of Christ. The church is the body of such disciples. "Church discipline" is the maintenance of that reality.

With regard to inevitable errors and conflict resolution, then, "church discipline" as taught by Christ and His Apostles proceeds like this: any member who knows there is a problem (whether they wronged someone, were wronged, or just know of a struggle or failure) is responsible, for the good of the other and the church, to go to that person and try to resolve the problem, and ensure there is reconciliation of the parties, and learning of the right way to deal with such problems in the future. The term to emphasize is "seeking reconciliation." Disputes must not fester.

If someone refuses to acknowledge that effort, the concerned believer should meet with the other party in the company of two or three other believers; this is to check the perceptions of both parties and to ensure the greatest chance of reconciliation. Again, no one should "win" this sort of thing; "victory" is restoring harmonious fellowship based on mutual commitment to following Christ--church disciple-ing, or discipline.

Finally, someone who continues to refuse to deal with the problem--someone who is "impenitent" (not willing to change for the good of self, other, and church)--becomes a problem for the whole church. The entire body must deal with the conflict--bearing in mind that, of course, it is still possible there are misunderstandings, or wrongs, on both sides. Under the teaching and with the counsel (and warnings!) of their leaders, the church as a whole will have to decide whether this is, indeed, a case of impenitent sin (an impossibility for a believer); or whether this is a misunderstanding that should be set aside (the concerned party may have overreacted, and may need to ask for more guidance, for example).

In that final, extreme case--one most churches are utterly unwilling to consider--the church has a heavy heart and a heavier responsibility: to tell the one who says "I am a follower of Christ" but refuses to participate in or listen to the disciple-ing (discipline) efforts of the body of Christ--the group of followers of Christ--that his claim is untenable. That it is like saying, "I am a student but will not study" or "I am a soldier but will not march" or "I am a committed Democrat who always votes Green and donates Libertarian." The church does not agree that "impenitent Christian" is a real category, and accordingly will not agree to treat this person as a Christian. They are instructed not to participate in communion (the sharing of the body/Body of Christ), and should be treated (for purposes of business partnership, marriage, joint ventures, teaching, etc.) as an unbeliever.

But what do Christians seek to do to unbelievers? To JAIL them for attending services? Or to BEG them to attend services? To drive them away? Or to INVITE them in?

Sadly, as your article shows, many churches in this nation have no understanding of this matter, and no clarity on their final mission. The question of a suit in the nation's courts ought never arise among believers; church discipline ought to involve entirely internal conflict resolution. That lawsuits entered into several of your stories--that police were called--indicates, to this believer, that these churches (and I wish I could say they are nonrepresentative, but they are not so, not nearly enough so) had already had a complete breakdown in church discipline.

Your article reflects your lack of knowledge of church discipline, and seems to evince a concern that churches are beginning to practice "church discipline." Sadly, this is not the case. Churches are, instead, beginning to experience their utter dissolution because they have long since failed to practice church discipline at all.

Peace,
Peter G. Epps

[Updated with links to the ESV Bible for background on these statements]
[Bumped to appear at the top on Monday]

YouTube - He Looked Beyond My Fault - Gospel

2008-01-19T23:15:00.000-06:00

YouTube - He Looked Beyond My Fault - Gospel

[Bumped up: I think we all need this]

You'll easily guess how I got there . . . this YouTube user has covered Round Midnight, as well.

Jazz Piano. . . . oh, yeah.

And take a look at the lyrics to "He Looked Beyond My Fault (and saw my need)" by Dottie Rambo, to what is of course "Londonderry Air" (no "London Derriere" jokes, please), and at least equally famously "Danny Boy." Incidentally, though of course I grew up with the Gospel song, I found myself frequently asked to sing "Danny Boy" at Japanese social functions, which invariably turn to karaoke 'ere the end. The Gospel still rings truer, though. There's good stuff, here.

Too Many Innocents Abroad - New York Times

2008-01-15T11:32:00.000-06:00

Too Many Innocents Abroad - New York Times:

Sadly, the "Ugly Americans" aren't ugly enough anymore. They're young and pretty, fresh out of the frats and sororities, and not a lot of use to anyone:

In Cameroon, we had many volunteers sent to serve in the agriculture program whose only experience was puttering around in their mom and dad’s backyard during high school. I wrote to our headquarters in Washington to ask if anyone had considered how an American farmer would feel if a fresh-out-of-college Cameroonian with a liberal arts degree who had occasionally visited Grandma’s cassava plot were sent to Iowa to consult on pig-raising techniques learned in a three-month crash course. I’m pretty sure the American farmer would see it as a publicity stunt and a bunch of hooey, but I never heard back from headquarters.

This is the end.

2008-01-12T17:41:00.000-06:00

www.shibumi.org/EotI

ThinkGeek :: SnūzNLūz - Wifi Donation Alarm Clock

2008-01-07T14:32:00.000-06:00

ThinkGeek :: SnūzNLūz - Wifi Donation Alarm Clock:

This is GENIUS (hat tip to American Spectator blog):

Glad you asked....it's quite simple actually. The SnūzNLūz uses the very complex psychological phenomemon known as 'HATRED'. Basically it's human nature to wish harm upon your enemies. Similarly, it's human nature not to give your enemies gobs of cash so that they can grow big and dominate the world with their totally wrong, stupid and invalid point of view. ThinkGeek realized that. That's why everytime you hit the snooze button, the SnūzNLūz will donate a specified amount of your real money to a non-profit you hate. The problem of sleeping in is solved.

Next Christmas, folks. Next Christmas. I want four of these. I'll hedge, two and two.

And don't forget the oldies but goodies in an election year!

Unadulterated Text: Literary Criticism Archives

2007-12-28T05:02:00.000-06:00

Unadulterated Text: Literary Criticism Archives:

It is both flattering and unsettling for a literary critic to find a work he penned seen as an object of criticism. It gives one pause about writing criticism. . . .

This piece is not new, but I had forgotten it. As it links to a journal which I like, and which has published me again recently, I'll bring it up again. The following passage seems to me to be where the reader coincides most with any intentions I may have had in writing the poem:

The octet ends with an apparent death, a “clotted brain.” The broken vessel of the opening line of the sextet, is then initially read as a blood vessel, and thus is tied inextricably to the woman. This sets up a concrete metaphoric relationship between the woman herself and the vessel which has just dropped from her lifeless hands.

What I've been working on

2007-12-28T04:49:00.001-06:00

It's not the very end of the project, but the site for Builder Discount is a production site as of last Friday. There are some text descriptions to be added, and some issues with the print CSS, but the data is up and there appear to be few significant issues.

The site is focussed on the kitchen cabinet business, which is where owner Ron Faber aims to concentrate his efforts in the future. We also have a page for carpet rolls & remnants, one for news, updates, and featured items, and a contact page that includes google maps and directions from various Northern Illinois cities.

The Volokh Conspiracy - Mel Torme Sings "We've Got A World That Swings":

2007-12-28T00:48:00.000-06:00

The Volokh Conspiracy - Mel Torme Sings "We've Got A World That Swings":

Here's a good steer I'd never have expected... Orin Kerr sends us out after the good stuff, here:

YouTube - TMC24 Ep. 1 (The Prelude)

2007-12-27T20:53:00.000-06:00

YouTube - TMC24 Ep. 1 (The Prelude)

Ha! You find the oddest stuff when you start running searches on your old schools, etc. (a variant of vanity searching)

First, a bit of holiday cheer which also made me think of my awesome handbell-playing students in Japan:

And then (the title bit of this humble post), some high-stakes drama about homework:

Uh, yeah, there are several episodes of this original drama which provided the source (in your dreams, flyfennix) for the famous Jack Bauer drama I've never managed to sit through one disorientingly ADHD episode of. . . .

and apropos of little else

2007-12-26T09:37:00.001-06:00

88% Geek

with no particular comment

2007-12-26T09:12:00.000-06:00

Digg, The Song

2007-12-24T02:06:00.000-06:00

Digg, The Song:

OK, so . . . it's a song about a website. And it goes like this . . . the performer is trying to win a contest (see www.twoweeksforkina.com) that will be decided by online voting. She's cute, playful, has a couple cute and amusing friends doing backup, and . . . nothing not to like, here. She'll get some clicks.

But there's a better reason than cupidity for watching this. Get a laugh out of the commentary enacted near the middle, when the lyrics get political and the backup singers really get into the act:

I always dig up Apple, and I bury Microsoft
But when I said I was a girl, all the diggers scoffed
And when I see those stories about Senator Ron Paul
I don’t even RTFA; I just digg them all!

Like I said, nothing not to like.

Misunderstanding Copyright Law And Ruining Everyone’s Fun

2007-12-17T01:29:00.000-06:00

Misunderstanding Copyright Law And Ruining Everyone’s Fun

IP law is more than a little bit of a pain, to begin with; this is a great example of aggressive ignorance combining with litigiousness-inspired paranoia conspiring to quash what, in (flawed) theory, copyright law was designed to reward:

Here_Comes_Another_Bubble_-_The_Richter_Scales
Uploaded by kingofdoper

So, there. Protest or no protest, this is just a darn funny video skewering of the Web 2.0 phenom. Cheers!

Power Line: The One for My Baby Variations

2007-12-12T23:28:00.000-06:00

Power Line: The One for My Baby Variations:

Interesting bit of commentary comes up in the course of some music and memory:

Sinatra’s introductions would not be valuable to the researcher because of the uniqueness of the attitudes they express but rather because of their representativeness. Cultural studies is interested in what can be classified, not in what is beyond categorization. The attitudes expressed in Sinatra’s introductions of “One for My Baby” provide data for the sociologist; what his singing expresses can be grasped only if one responds to his performances as art rather than as research material.

This is, of course, one of the ongoing problems of art, criticism, and science: their incommensurable claims on human evaluative faculties.

personal trainer: kindling

2007-12-11T01:30:00.000-06:00

personal trainer: kindling

Over at personal trainer, Jon does us the favor of inviting us to reflect on the Kindle, the new e-book reader from Amazon. He suggests the following article: IVP - Addenda & Errata - The Historical Thickness of Books

Now, I'm not entirely sure that I agree with the structuralist analysis the IVP author poses. Beyond doubt (and so obviously as to be admittedly), there is every reason that someone in the print publication business would think so.

And yet I do think there are trade-offs between the technology of the printed codex and the world of codecs, between books which may be burned and Amazon's unfortunate attempt to Kindle our enthusiasm (see also this interview and this review with photos). Trade-offs, but reflecting on what is lost when one reads fewer books is at least as important as anticipating the gains.

It is, after all, far harder to quickly locate a favorite passage in a book than to search through an etext; and for one reason or another, none of us uses a scroll so often as a scrollbar; and while I have a stylus for my PDA, I have never had to jot down a business receipt on wax or clay.

See, the current-traditional is always already the technological, too.

Nothing, but NOTHING, is better than this right now . . . The Corner on NRO

2007-12-10T17:16:00.000-06:00

The Corner on National Review Online

I am joking, of course, but . . . I did just call my brother at work and tell him to stop EVERYTHING and share this with everyone in his office. It is that important.

[wait for it . . . wait for it . . . :-) ]

These gentlement are hereby endorsed as knowing how to have a good time. And *doggone* that took some practice.

ThinkGeek :: The ThinkGeek Chain Mail T-Shirt

2007-11-27T17:52:00.000-06:00

ThinkGeek :: The ThinkGeek Chain Mail T-Shirt: "The ThinkGeek Chain Mail T-Shirt is real chain mail, made from thousands of anodized aluminum rings. This makes the shirt fairly light (for chain mail) at around 20 pounds."

Well, that pretty much does it for *my* Christmas shopping. :-)

YouTube - Thelonious Monk - Round About Midnight

2007-11-23T19:55:00.000-06:00

YouTube - Thelonious Monk - Round About Midnight

Some piano jazz, from a favorite of mine. Thanks, Dr. Pilkey, for the intro!

YouTube - Juke with Screamin'Jay Hawkins - Stand By Me - 1994

2007-11-01T02:38:00.000-05:00

YouTube - Juke with Screamin'Jay Hawkins - Stand By Me - 1994
Nothin' not to love about this. Jazz still holdin' up pretty well in 1994 at a Berlin venue:

Yeah. :-) Good times.

(thanks to Powerline yet again for turning me on to Screamin' Jay Hawkins, tonight)

Japan! -- TheTeller's Xanga Site

2007-10-29T17:33:00.000-05:00

TheTeller's Xanga Site

Wow! Just bumped (via facebook) into a fellow TMC alum who just went with a group to support and encourage Christians in Japan! Here's a video from that trip:

Praise Him, indeed! Nothing moves me, nearly so much, as seeing those who I know to be Christians in Japan, and able to move forward and do things for God, there! Praise God for those He has given time, money, and ability to spread His Word, and who actually do it!

Count The Laterals if You Can - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

2007-10-28T15:10:00.000-05:00

Count The Laterals if You Can - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

You'll almost never see me paying attention to sports. This . . . was an exception.
Never saw football played that way!

Seeing Things to Come: Poems by John Davis Pilkey

2007-10-28T01:23:00.000-05:00

PoemsByJohnPilkey

This is the website a fellow student helped put up, a project authored by Dr. Pilkey, with poems paired with images. These are not adventitious pairings, nor is either illustrating the other, so pay attention! :-)

Power Line: St. Thomas by Sonny Rollins

2007-10-27T22:57:00.000-05:00

Power Line: St. Thomas: "The way the main theme returns just in time, at the end, is great, I think."

The comment above (by John Hinderaker from Power Line) makes me think once again of a great friend and mentor, Dr. John Davis Pilkey. He would understand that--whether the musicians or we see it, or whether we don't--the true significance and beauty of that jazz is just exactly in its enactment of our hope, and our participation in it now, through a thousand variations while we wait for the return of the "main theme" who comes "just in time" every time.

Sonny Rollins, my friends, and a thought of Resurrection in your hearts:

some pictures from Japan -- with Kanbas at Tsunojima (summer 2006)

2007-10-14T14:35:00.000-05:00

tsunojima

Good and good for you -- Paul Simon & Stevie Wonder do "Loves me like a Rock"

2007-10-13T11:25:00.000-05:00

See Power Line for a little intro.

Apostle's Creed	Nicene Creed
1. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,	1. We believe in one God the Father, the Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and of all that is, seen and unseen.
2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord,	2. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being [substance] with the Father. Through him all things were made.
3. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,	3. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made truly human.
4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell.	4. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
5. The third day he rose again from the dead;	5. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.	6. he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
7. From there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.	7. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,	8. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
9. I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,	9. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
10. The forgiveness of sins,	10. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
11. The resurrection of the body,	11. We look for the resurrection of the dead,
12. And the life everlasting. Amen.	12. and the life of the world to come. Amen.