Be Kind

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.”
-Philo of Alexandria

For the last few days, I find myself returning again and again to this simple post over at microlesia. I really like the Chagall painting and, synchronistically, I happened across this article from the WSJ online about Chagall and his fascination with Jesus Christ and the iconography of Christianity.

Lately, I've been thinking about worldviews, in particular some aspects of how Christians and non-Christians view the world around them and, especially, some of the specific ways that each views the other. I am interested in some of the misperceptions that each hold about the nature of the other. I know that some people think that Christians are judgmental, hypercritical, and hypocritical all at once. And that can undoubtedly be true, not a misperception at all, really. Some of us aren't very good at being Christian. Some of us have good days and bad days. None of us are anywhere near perfect, and most of us fail much more often than we succeed in living the representative Christian life. But then, our standard is Jesus Christ, the Son of God Himself, the only perfect man. Nobody can do that.

And that is ultimately a point that both Christians and non-Christians should understand about each other and about themselves. All of us are demonstrably unable, on our own, to live in a manner that consistently reflects virtue and goodness. This observable truth should, in fact, give some comfort to non-believers. Christians are truly no better than anyone else, especially those who think and attempt to act like they are. And, for the Christian, that truth should provide ample humility and compassion sufficient to last a lifetime.

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:8-10

New Body-Building Equipment

I bought one of these a couple of days ago. It is a Scotts Classic Reel Mower. I've wanted one for a while because they are retro and cool.

Last week, my tired powered Toro pushmower blew a rod in its initial foray into this year's mowing season. Not surprisingly, the cost of rebuilding or replacing the engine is more than half the cost of a comparable powered mower these days. Frankly, neither option is feasible at the moment as we are experiencing a period of compulsory fiscal conservatism due to our recent annual patriotic contribution to the US Treasury. I wish I had the time to rebuild it myself but, alas, I just really don't have time right now for another project. Besides, the yard needs mowing NOW. Anyway, we are hoping to find a good used riding mower in the weeks to come.

So far, I really do like this thing! And not just because its the only game in town at the moment...which it is. I ordered the mower on line, for about $130, including shipping. It arrived a couple of days later and it took about 15 minutes to assemble. The weather has not been amenable for much outdoor fun lately, but yesterday, and again today, I was able to get out and mow a bit. It works really well, absolutely as advertised. Unfortunately, my yard is a little overgrown right now, so it is not exactly the same as a casual stroll across the lawn. However, I really do think that once I get the yard under control, this guy will be perfect for weekly maintenance.

Our yard is quite large, so this will be a good workout. But at a mere 31lbs, it is really not hard to push. Its very quiet and it definitely cuts well. We'll have to see how it holds up over time, but with no engine and a minimum of moving parts, I think I can probably keep this thing working for a long time.

Treasures, buried and unburied

One of the things that I enjoy the most about living in the country here in eastern Indiana is how distinct the seasons are. Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, each in its time, with its own beauty, and with it's own trials and joys. While there are many, many wonderful things about Texas, from whence we are transplanted, the seasonal progression there runs more like Hot, Hotter, Rainy, and Cold with the occasional milder interludes.

I love Texas, dearly, and for many reasons. But I enjoy and am fascinated by the geography and climate here in the rural Midwest. I am especially impressed with how, after each frozen winter, the rich and fertile farmland, which lies atop an active glacial field, renders surprising treasures. Like pieces of wood, floating up from the bottom of a lake, all manner, size, and type of sedimentary and metamorphic rock are squeezed up through the topsoil to the surface, to glint in the sunshine. There are beautiful, jagged chunks of crystal, in various colors, often laced with gold pyrite. Multi-hued pieces of striated granite ranging in size from that of a dime up to a basketball, strewn on top of the ground. There is sandstone, limestone, shale, and many kinds of rock that I can’t identify. Some are as sharp as a knife, others rounded as smooth as a marble. Three hundred pound boulders, completely submerged and invisible last year now jut up like an iceberg, ready to flay the blade of the farmer’s till or planter.

In the area around our house, I often pick up pieces of old glass, pottery, and brick, as well as bits of chain, old tools, coins, buttons, fence wire, horse tack, and similar things. Once I found a child’s ring under one of the trees in our yard, at least 50 years old and tarnished, but otherwise nearly perfectly preserved. Another time I found an unshaped clump of beautiful green glass. Since we moved here I have collected all of the glass and pottery bits and intend to make or commission something artistic out of them someday.

And there are treasures like the one pictured, which Nancy and I found as we took a walk through the fields this last Sunday evening. This is a great time of year for that. The fields are not yet planted and the weather is beautiful. It is not so uncommon to find arrowheads and other artifacts here on the farm. For at one time, in the mid-to-late 1700’s, this was the wilderness frontier, the unincorporated edge of the American West, inhabited primarily by Native Americans, principally the Shawnee and Miami tribes, as well as the Chippewa, the Wyandot, and the Potawatomi. The name, Indiana, means “Land of the Indians,” and our part of the state, in particular, was well populated and traversed. This region is rich in history, both grim and glorious, for Native Americans as well as the early European settlers.

My family has inhabited this land since the early 1800's, so I do feel connected to all of this history and beauty. And now another Spring has sprung, and we are glad to have it. It is a blessing to live here.

Blessings #2

This past weekend at church I got to sing one of my very favorite songs, "Befriended", by Matt Redman from his Where Angels Fear To Tread CD. Here are the lyrics:

Befriended, befriended by the king above all kings
Surrendered, surrendered to the friend above all friends
Invited, invited deep into this mystery
Delighted, delighted by the wonders I have seen

chorus
This will be my story,
This will be my song,
You will always be my savior,
Jesus, you will always have my heart.

Astounded, astounded that your gospel beckons me
Surrounded, surrounded but I've never been so free
Determined, determined now to live my life for you
You're so worthy, my greatest gift would be the least you're due.

This is such a sweet, intimate song of worship...it has always touched me deeply. I can't speak for anyone else in attendance, but it really blessed me this weekend.

Here is what its composer has to say about it. I wish there was a good way to post the audio directly here, his version, of course, not mine. You can probably hear a bit of it on iTunes, I suppose. I recommend the whole CD highly, though, and the best place to buy it is probably Worshipmusic.com.

Me Worship

This will be an extra special blessing to those of you who serve in your local church. Some updated arrangements of popular worship classics.



This is very, very funny to me.

h/t to my good buddy, Steve Mathews, who just started blogging, for bringing this to my attention.

Kay's Oriental Salad

What you are about to encounter is far and away the premier recipe utilizing that ubiquitous gem of l'haute cuisine, the packaged Ramen noodle.

This wonderful and versatile dish comes by way of my friend, Kay Koger, who is a superb cook and the very embodiment of the spiritual gift of hospitality. The basic recipe below is surely hers, although many of the variations are mine. There are several things that make this recipe great.

First, it is delicious and will please virtually everyone. Secondly, it is outrageously simple. Thirdly, it is an example of one of my favorite types of recipe, one in which there are infinite varieties of expression possible through the manipulation of and additions to it's core components. Cooking to me is like composing music, where one takes a basic idea and then freely experiments with the harmony, embellishes the melody, plays with the words, and reworks the groove to suit personal taste and whim. Here it is:

Mix together:
1 bag of prepackaged slaw mix
2 bunches green onions, chopped
Noodles from 2 pkg. Ramen Noodles, crumbled but not pulverized
Handful of chopped nuts (I usually use almonds)

Stir together well and add to above mixture right before serving:
1 cup oil (extra light olive oil or canola is good)
1/2 cup sugar (or Splenda, which is better for you!)
1/2 cup vinegar
Both seasoning packets from noodles

This makes a fairly good-sized batch, but it is so tasty you will be eating it before you are through making it. I’m not kidding.

Notes:
I NEVER use sugar, I ALWAYS use Splenda. Any flavor of Ramen noodles work, but if you are going to use one of the meat variations below, which taste GREAT, then try to match the Ramen flavor to the meat. Olive oil works great, but you will want to use a really light variety so as not to overpower the other flavors.

Variations:
Sautéed chunks of chicken, beef, or pork turn this into a really excellent meal dish. Also, you can add steamed or sautéed shrimp. Even frozen shrimp (thawed & cooked) work great. Canned Albacore tuna is good. Just mix these ingredients in before you add the oil dressing mix. Wine vinegar works very well, too, especially with the beef.

Other good additives include:
Left over (real) bacon bits
Chopped fresh tomatoes - drained
Roasted pine nuts
Walnuts or pecans (instead of almonds)
Chopped fresh spinach leaves, carrots, or celery
Red pepper flakes (if you want more attitude)

This keeps great in the fridge for several days and tastes great cold. If you try this, you will thank me later. Guaranteed.

I wish I hadn't said that...

Here's what I read this morning. Jesus, speaking about the coming end, says in Matthew 12: 35-37:

"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him . But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

He is speaking directly to the Pharisees, but the context clearly asserts, with unswerving certainty, that everyone will be held accountable for the things we have said. I will be held accountable for all of the words I have uttered.

That is a very sobering prophecy, which is exactly what He intends for it to be.

"...with a pleasant lime odor."

I know it's early in the day, but this is my favorite thing I've seen on the Internet so far today. Be sure to click on the pix when you get there so that you can read the fine print...and it is fine indeed.

I'm just mildly surprised that it is intended to be applied to one's ears.

People Don't Stop Killers, People With Guns Do.

The inimitable Glenn Reynolds has a good essay on what is likely the only reasonable protection against random mass shootings on school campuses and other vulnerable public places.

Dave Kopel's Wall Street Journal op-ed says much the same, with somewhat more background and context, even.

It is almost certain, though, that the one safety measure that could work effectively will never be implemented. I do expect we will see a massive amount of discussion on things that won't work and that more impotent policy will probably be enacted. Sadly, there will probably be some good people scapegoated in Virginia before it's done, sent undeservedly into forced retirement or otherwise disgraced. Such gestures are merely symbolic, promoting an illusion of efficacy, but meaning nothing and doing nothing to make anybody any safer.

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)

I am certain that over the next couple of weeks there will be countless eulogies, remembrances, and salutatory obituaries as the world bids its final farewell to one of the greatest of American writers, Kurt Vonnegut, dead today at the age of 84.

I, like many others before and after me, discovered Kurt Vonnegut while in high school and his influence shaped my literary preferences for many years. The first novel of his that I read was "Slaughterhouse-Five", a copy loaned to me by my friend Lee Davis. Vonnegut was a relentless pessimist, irreverent, profane, and intractable. But his books sing with a voice like no one else's. His mix of humor, anger, compassion, and satire is unique and irresistible. I have not read every book he wrote, but I have enjoyed and been affected by each one that I have read. "Breakfast of Champions", "Cat's Cradle", "The Sirens of Titan"...all excellent.

My own beliefs are not nearly as cynical as Vonnegut's, nor do I admire all that the man has said and done. But he has had as indelible an effect on literature in my generation as Ernest Hemingway did on the previous, I think.

I have one personal, strange story about Kurt Vonnegut. In February of 2001, I flew in to Dallas for some business meetings at the corporate headquarters and to represent my company at an industry tradeshow. I lived for many years in the D/FW Metroplex and when I found I had some free time one evening, I just drove around to the old, familiar haunts. After dinner, I wandered into a Barnes & Noble nearby. Browsed for a while, of course, and then left with a copy of "Timequake", Vonnegut's self-proclaimed "last novel", published in 1997. I hadn't read a Vonnegut novel in more than ten years and I had been wanting to read this one for quite a while.

By the time I got back to the room, it was late and I was tired, so I didn't even crack the book. The next couple of days were chock full of business stuff so, when it finally came time to head to the airport for the trip home, I packed the book with my carry-on stuff so that I could read it on the way home. This was on Tuesday, February 13, 2001.

After I settled in, I got the book out and began to read. I had not even made it through the prologue when I noticed something peculiar...and I scrambled around for my ticket stub to confirm what I thought was true....and yes! The first big thing that happens in "Timequake" is a kind of cosmic hiccup that disrupts the space-time continuum, and it actually takes place in the book on February 13, 2001!

Basically, in the book, on that date, the universe gets yanked back to February 17, 1991 and everyone and everything is destined, or doomed (per KV's perspective) to relive that whole decade over again...without substantial alteration, really, just doing the same thing all over again. Never mind, it makes a kind of sense in the book, but the point is I was sitting there in my seat on the plane, about to take off, looking around nervously, grinning, and muttering under my breath. I wanted to tell somebody that I was reading a book whose narrative was supposed to be happening on the same day and time that I happened to be reading about it. Even though it had actually been written 4 or 5 years earlier.

But I didn't tell anyone. Instead I just nestled into my seat, and lost myself in the book. I half-wondered, as we landed in Dayton, would the world be the same? Or would it really be 1991 again when I got off the plane. I couldn't help it...it freaked me out, but I kind of half-hoped/half-expected something to be different. Vonnegut had once again completely suspended my disbelief. What are the odds that someone would actually be reading a book, a work of fiction, at the very same time that the events in that book were occurring?

It made for yet another singularly enjoyable, intensely moving, and absolutely unforgettable literary encounter with Kurt Vonnegut, one of the great writers of the 20th Century.

King Brain: FUNK IS THE FINAL FRONTIER

More great, obscure music that you've probably never heard of...

Today I stumbled across the website of a contemporary music producer based in Germany who goes by the peculiar moniker of "King Brain". I had never heard of him, but he's got it going on, especially in the terms of funk, groove, and dance production albums.

Go check out his website here. The embedded mp3 player hooks you fast with a clip from a knockout tune by Leroy Emmanuel called "Funk Is The Final Frontier". Spend some time clicking around some of the other links and mp3's, too. There is a great YouTube video showing Emmanuel playing a couple of other tunes off his new album, "Color Me Funky", and then a really bizarre performance involving spoons. Emmanuel's music really reminds me of some classic Tower of Power, Parliament/Funkadelic, Earth Wind & Fire, kind of funk. This is the genuine article.

A big portion of the website is in German, but it is easy to navigate. There's a lot to see and some great music that you won't hear anywhere else.

MATTHEW 28

May the blessings of this Resurrection Day

fill your heart with longing,

your soul with joy,

and your mind with understanding.

Roll Over, Ben Franklin...

Here is Benjamin Franklin, the American renaissance man, performing on an ingenious musical instrument of his own design, the Glass Armonica. It is a series of tuned glass bowls of various sizes that are rotated on a horizontal spindle by a foot-powered treadle. One plays it with moistened fingertips, of course. Mozart reportedly composed two works specifically for this instrument, and there are people who still perform on them today.

This is one of the many wonderful and bizarre instruments from the gallery at Oddmusic.com.

Most of the instruments featured, including the Glass Armonica, have audio files to listen to as well.

1:47 A Documentary Film

"1:47" is the name of a fascinating documentary film now in production that tells the story of a horrific explosion in 1968 that devastated downtown Richmond, Indiana, the city near which I live. Richmond is an interesting, historic town, and this was a very significant event, still very much remembered today.

Here is the link to the website on which you will see a short film trailer featuring photographic and interview footage of the disaster.

Movie Review: 300

Last weekend my son and I went to the movies. We saw 300, the new Frank Miller-inspired movie adaptation of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. in which soldiers from an alliance of independent Greek states staved off an invasion by a huge Persian army against overwhelming odds. It is a great piece of history on its own and its military tactics, as well as its cultural significance, is still studied today. The movie, of course, was a fictionalized account centering on the 300 Spartan warriors under King Leonidas.

The look and feel of the film was great. Some folks won’t like the violence, but we’ve all seen worse, I think, and it was pretty stylized, comic-book style. I really liked the musical score too, alternately dense and minimalistic, symphonic and powerfully expressive.

The parallels between the story and our own modern times were inescapable and, surprisingly, wholly politically incorrect by typical Hollywood standards.

King Leonidas was not authorized to go to war and defied the law of the land to do so. The Spartan Senate was decidedly against what seemed to them an improper and provocative preemptive measure, deeming the Persian threat distant and improbable. Yes, the Persian threat. Leonidas took his troops to war anyway, recognizing that the unappeasable Xerxes, the Man-God, sought nothing less than the complete conquest and subjugation of the then Western world. While the King was fighting off the totalitarian, religiously fanatical invaders, there was great turmoil and treachery in the government back home as unscrupulous politicians sought to undermine the war effort abroad in any way possible.

This story of the violent clash between two cultures is an unmistakable analogue to our present world state today. The story ends essentially faithful to the historical account and I’m not interested in quibbling over the details.

What I liked about this movie, beyond its marvelous cinematic qualities and engrossing story was it’s moral clarity. There are good guys bent on doing what is right who would gladly die before seeing it any other way. And there are bad guys with evil designs who need to be encouraged to either go away or, barring that, need to be ushered into the presence of their Maker with as much haste as possible and as much violence as required. It is, at least in part, a movie about the price of freedom.

It’s just not that complicated.

Who is Niki Haris?

For the last few weeks now there has been a commercial on TV that never fails to turn my head toward the tube. Visa, the credit card company, has a new campaign that features "Downtown", the old Petula Clark hit from the 60's. The video shows a winsome, though unremarkable actress/model being whisked through a rapid succession of cosmetic transformations into some kind of beauteous archetype of fashion and glamour, all because of the power of Visa credit, blah, blah, blah... Big deal.

What is completely arresting about this commercial is the great arrangement of this song and an outstanding singing performance by the stylish black woman who we see at the beginning and end of the spot. In less than 30 seconds, her soaring and soulful vocal on this commercial grabs you and doesn't let go until it's done.

So, after wondering for several days, I finally went to Google and typed in:

"visa commercial downtown"

Lo and behold, it seems I am far from being the only person impressed by this commercial. What pops up immediately in this search are several referential hits reflecting a real interest in this talented singer. It turns out her name is Niki Haris, she's got a website (of course!) and has successfully developed a genre-hopping, multi-faceted singing, acting, and dancing career. Among many other credits, she is a long-time backup singer for Madonna, has toured with legendary funk band Rufus (in the shoes of Chaka Khan), sung at the Newport Jazz Festival, choreographed major dance performances, written and performed music for television and movies, and released numerous gospel, dance, pop, and jazz albums. Pretty amazing. Most artists don't get to enjoy much success in so many disparate fields.

If you've gotten this far and don't have any idea what I'm talking about, YouTube has the video clip:



I am again amazed at how cool it is to have so much information so immediately available with today's technology. There are many things about computers and the internet that I don't like but, as recently as a couple of years ago, it would have been very hard to find ANY of this information, but now, it is right at our fingertips, complete with video. Amazing.

Untitled and mercifully short post in which the author whines about having to work too much. He should shut up and count his blessings.

Alas, this is my life's theme this week. I am burning the candle at both ends and working like a dog. Not a heroic Space Dog, but a regular working stiff of a dog that is compelled to work at too many jobs all at one time such that he has no time to sniff the breeze or run free in the fields or gaze at (or lick) his navel or other things that dogs like to lick.

You'd be surprised at how many images there are on the internet of a candle burning at both ends. Most of them are copyrighted. I guess it's something folks can relate to.

Dogs in Space

This is excerpted from the Space Today Online website:

"Korabl-Sputnik-2 (Spaceship Satellite-2), also known as Sputnik 5, was launched on August 19, 1960. On board were the dogs Belka ( Squirrel) and Strelka (Little Arrow). Also on board were 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants.

After a day in orbit, the spacecraft's retrorocket was fired and the landing capsule and the dogs were safely recovered. They were the first living animals to survive orbital flight. Strelka later gave birth to six puppies, one of which was given to Caroline Kennedy, daughter of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, by Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.

Today, the bodies of Strelka and Belka remain preserved at the Memorial Museum of Astronautics in Moscow. Belka sits in a glass case in the museum while Strelka is part of a traveling exhibit that has visited the U.S., China, Australia, Israel and other countries."

The photograph is from a Library of Congress photograph collection. Stumbling over one of the cutest dog pictures I've ever seen inspired me to do a little research on it's subjects.

Blessings #1

This entry is, hopefully, the first of a kind. I have just passed the 100-post mark and it occurred to me only this morning, sorry to say, that I really need a category entitled "Blessings".

I am writing this post on a laptop, a Mac iBook G3, given to me a couple of days ago by a very dear friend. As her family upgraded their own computers, she graciously bestowed this one on me. Refusing my attempts to pay her, this is by no means an uncharacteristic kindness of my friend. She routinely demonstrates the spiritual gift of generosity to all who know her. It's who she is and it's what she does because it's the way God made her. And she knows full well that what she has done for me is not merely given me a gift, but she has enabled me. She has invested in my life in a singularly meaningful way. I am humbled and awed by this, and I can't express enough gratitude. I will spend the next few weeks trying, though.

My intention is to optimize my new iBook for the writing and production of original music. A bright happy day has dawned around here in the land of Pike Speak. Dreams deferred have been resurrected and have taken on fresh, new vibrant colors.

I am richly blessed in friends, that is for sure.

Blue Man Group: How To Be A Megastar Tour

Last Sunday night we went to see the Blue Man Group in Dayton and it was a fabulous show. I have always been intrigued by how wildly creative they are and especially fascinated with their unusual musical instruments.

This particular tour features a large live rock and roll band and a lot of music, inclusive of both classic rock and some fine original music. Their version of The Who's "Teenage Wasteland" is especially great.

There are two primary themes to the show. The most visceral is the unfolding parody of the cult of celebrity, specifically in the music biz, which they launch off of the concept of the three blue men sending off for and receiving a mailorder manual and video with instructions on how to become a megastar. Very, very funny stuff.


The secondary theme, more subtle and thoughtful, unfolds in the original music and video segments, exploring the postmodern idea of feeling alienated and dehumanized by mounting contemporary societal pressures and the pace of technological advancements. These themes include the emotional and spiritual aspects of being overwhelmed by the amount of information, feeling alone in crowds, searching for love, the fear of reaching out to others in meaningful ways, and the pressure to suppress individuality for the sake of conforming to social conventions.

Artistically, some of these ideas succeed better than others, but the juxtaposition of these ideas with outrageous humor and bold artistic gestures and images was loads of fun.

It is a smallish venue, the Nutter Center in Dayton, and we had excellent seats some 32 rows from the stage, next to the sound board The show was mixed on a Yamaha PM1D with minimal outboard gear employed. Audio Analysts, one of the best companies in the industry, provided all of the tour support on the audio side. The volume was completely adequate but even at its most exuberant never approached the sound pressure levels usually heard at a live rock show. And the mix was quite good, very listenable, especially for a show in an athletic arena. Sorry to say, I'm not sure who the lighting company was, but the lighting design work was great.

Other show highlights included great performances by the band and extensive utilization of some of their unique self-designed musical instruments such as the tubulum and the drumbone made from PVC and the airpoles, which are made of various sizes of steel whip antennae. Very cool. Also, I especially enjoyed the boisterous use of the suspended concert bass drum and the open grand piano soundboard, both of which were pummelled mercilessly with giant sized mallets. Great video and animation, as well. There also had confetti cannons, TV headgear, and some crazy live video shennigans with microcameras inserted into various objects and orifices. Wild fun. It was a very enjoyable evening.

I found this pick underneath one of the seats in the row behind us as we were leaving.

4:00 AM and wide awake

“So what did you write about?” she asked as we walked to the car.

It was 10:00 PM and we were on the way home from Sacred Grounds, Richmond’s premier coffee shop. We had been there since 7:00, kind of an impromptu date night, with the intent of a light supper and the relaxing cup of warm joe.

She is working on fleshing out the bones of a great book idea on her laptop. I had a little BSF homework left to do, passage analysis on Romans 12:3-8, and then the freedom to read or to write as I pleased.

“Hmm.” I cleared my throat. I had anticipated this question, and had already weighed my response. I had considered the parry, perhaps the distraction or the oblique, but opted for transparency. I wanted to be honest, but I didn’t want to cast a pall on the whole evening. “Disappointment, mostly…but it was good.”

She was quiet for a moment. Not the answer she had hoped for, but she was not surprised either. She knew that I wasn’t talking about her, or about us, but about me.

“Was it something from that book?,” she inquired, very slightly peeved, wanting to know if this was just me being gratuitously morose again or if there had actually been a spark of something meaningful in my answer. She had given me a wonderful little volume several days before entitled “The Pocket Muse-Ideas and Inspirations for Writing,” by Monica Wood which I had been reading with enjoyment.

“Sort of…well, yeah, definitely,” I replied unconvincingly. But as I considered the naked inadequacy of that answer in the quiet time after that, I realized that it really had been partly a result of something I had read.

“Cleverness is not wisdom” was the quote by Euripides that had stuck with me. Wood’s intent with that quotation was to expose the fallacy of prosaic artifice that does not serve the writer’s subject or intent, but instead attempts to impress the reader with the author’s intellect or deft technical skill. But the bigger difference between cleverness and wisdom is not in technique, but in ethical depth and veracity. Wisdom is informed by truthfulness, whereas in cleverness truth is optional and sometimes an encumbrance.

So what I had written in my journal was truthful. Painful, confessional, self-accusatory, lacking in cleverness, and with no pretense at wisdom, but definitely truthful.

And truth can set a man free.

Gandhi Schmandhi, thats what I always say...

Fred Thompson's got it goin' on. Commenting on some of the anti-war left's exaltation of Mahatma Gandi as a symbol of peace, he notes:

"During World War II, Gandhi penned an open letter to the British people, urging them to surrender to the Nazis. Later, when the extent of the holocaust was known, he criticized Jews who had tried to escape or fight for their lives as they did in Warsaw and Treblinka. The Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher’s knife, he said. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs. Collective suicide, he told his biographer, would have been heroism."

Fred and I agree, Gandhi was a knucklehead. Although I mean that in a nice way.

Refractions: Being a Child of the Creative Age

I read the transcript of an inspiring speech by artist Mako Fujimura to the recent International Arts Movement (IAM) conference, an organization I had never heard of until yesterday.

"If you asked a room full of kindergarteners "Raise your hand if you are an artist!" Almost every child would raise his hand. But if you ask a room full of adults, almost every adult would not."

Quoting Bronte's Jane Eyre, and holding it up as a model, Fujimura calls on artists to “create the world that ought to be.” It is a stirring and fascinating piece.

Please go read it.

And I need to go find a copy of Jane Eyre. I know, don't say it...

Current Events

JP is out of school for spring break. Its great to have him home.

My grandma turned 91 this past Friday and we celebrated on Sunday at my folks house. She is such a gem. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. She got her driver's license renewed last Friday, too. But she only drives to church, the bank, and the grocery...less than 5 miles round trip, so don't worry. She's smart and she knows her limitations.

I don't exactly know what to call what it is I did at church on Sunday. Basically, during the offering time, I orated/performed a poem (co-written by my friend, John Waltz) accompanied by a simple hip-hoppish/electronica-style musical underscore that I composed. Is there a name for that? I was a little nervous at first, but after I got into it, it seemed to go well from my perspective. So far, all the feedback I received was positive. It was definitely different than anything we had done before. It was my wife's concept. She's a smart one. If I get a video clip, I'll try to figure out how to post it.

We did several cool things at church this weekend, including playing as a postlude the old R&B hit "I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers, redone ala BeBe & CeCe Winans. Jesus likes the funky music and so do I. Go check out this fabulous YouTube clip of this tune on Soul Train. You know this song - you love this song. It is big fun.

Next weekend, I get to play my lapsteel guitar at church. I need to practice and get my chops together. Scary, because I'm really not very good, yet.

The snow is nearly gone, having had a couple of days where the temps were in the upper 50's. It was unnerving how quickly the birds and bugs appeared, though, at the first hint of warm weather. Somehow a wasp got in the house, in our bedroom, and in our bed on Saturday morning. Not long after I left for a BSF meeting, Nancy woke up to find that she had been stung on the palm and looked over to see a wasp sauntering across my pillow. She was not pleased, to say the least. And we've already had flies and ladybugs (actually, it is that stinky little asian beetle that looks like a lady bug - you know the one). Yeesh. This old house needs an exterminator.

I'm quitting my part-time job at the USPS. As much as we need the extra income, I really have felt since the first of the year that the Lord was nudging me to let it go. It will be a couple of months, probably, before they find my replacement and I am committed to stay on until they do, but it is in the works. This will help me in several areas, simplifying some things and enabling me to do a better job in my function as lay worship leader and artist at my church. It will also require me to trust God in an area where I always seem to have issues...financial security. I'm cool with that although I don't expect it will be easy. The Lord and I have a long history with this particular topic, and I'm probably due another lesson. He will provide, just like He always has.

k...bye.

Prayer

"Prayer is like the dove that Noah sent out from the Ark. It blessed him not only when it returned with an olive leaf in its mouth, but when it never returned at all."

This thoughtful illustration is quoted from Today's Dictionary of the Bible, the 1982 edition, which is published by Guideposts/Bethany House Publishing. One doesn't expect such poetical musings from a dictionary. I copied this quote several years ago and it is written on one of several small slips of paper that randomly inhabit the pages of my Bible. It is fun to stumble across it from time to time as I'm reading other things.

Triangulation Adulation - The small, the mighty

Last night I finished the track for my spoken word thing that I'm doing for my church this weekend. It is pretty simple, really, composed mostly of loops and effects from Garageband (the program, not the previously mentioned website), which is, of course, a standard fixture on my wife's Mac laptop.

As a composer, one of my very favorite instruments is the triangle. It is a very unassuming, seemingly simple device. It looks like it would be easy to play and is just about as uncomplicated in design as anything one could imagine.

Even a caveman could play the triangle!

This is not true, however. The triangle, like the humble shaker, actually requires great physical skill, keen sense of rhythm, and zen master-like powers of concentration. It is capable of a tremendous variety of subtle tonalities. In an orchestral setting, the triangle is sometimes played in a manner as shown in the picture above. In more rhythmic applications, i.e. Latin or other "world" musics, it is typically held in a way that enables the player to use his palm to alternately mute and unmute the triangle as he strikes it. It is only very occasionally played in the style of the chuck wagon cook who is calling the ranch hands in to dinner.

The triangle completely and absolutely dominates in the frequency spectrum that it performs in. There are a few other noteworthy cymbal-type percussion devices that also thrive in that part of the spectrum, but they do not rule the kingdom like the triangle does. It is really an especially powerful sound when played in a driving, rhythmic beat. It creates a relentless, irresistable pace to the beat, energizing a groove like nothing else. It adds a special kind of shiny high-gloss sheen to the sound, but it can also be the glue that fuses together the various elements of a groove. From a compositional standpoint, much of this is true of electronic, sampled triangle sounds, as well, although I always prefer the real thing when possible.

This is the kind of thing that makes me happy.

Garageband.com

I'm working on a couple of real blog entries...some poetry, another Frederick Polley installment, maybe some reflections on the the prophecies of Isaiah, and/or the attributes of God. You know, the regular stuff, nothing too heavy.

But I'm also working myself silly at the moment. I need a clone...preferably one with some significant investment income to rely on.

So, for now, all I've got is this link to a cool website with great music by people you've never heard of before. Pick a genre and then find the button that says "PLAY ALL" and away you go, listening to tunes on your computer. Sure it's obscure, but that is what makes it cool. Only you, me, and maybe 37 other people on the planet will know this music exists.

Where Does Your Soul Go?

The Weak-Minded Pessimist: Where Does Your Soul Go?

This post is a good example of why I read Jeff's blog every day.

How To Make A Record

Here are a couple of really cool short YouTube videos on how vinyl records are made. I've been in the music biz for over half my life and I've never seen this before.

Part 1

Part 2

Amazing.

Do you kiss your grandma with that mouth?

I found this survey about the use of profanity on the internet interesting. The focus is sufficently narrow, specifically targeting high-profile politcal blogs on both the right and the left. It does include, of course, not just the blog content but the comments left by blog readers. It is not high science, perhaps, and I don't know if the methodology would survive the scrutiny of professional statisticians, but it is telling, nevertheless.

It would appear, as I suspected all along, that Democrats are a bunch of rude, intolerant, closeminded, foul-mouthed heathens. Oh, and the Republicans are too. When it comes to being wrong, just because you aren't as wrong as some other guy doesn't mean you are right.

Let it be known that we'll brook no such sailor-talk around these parts.

h/t Instapundit...because Glenn knows it all first and then tells the rest of us.

Amena Brown

A couple of years ago Nancy and I were blessed to be in attendance at a Worship Arts conference in Atlanta, sponsored by Passion, at North Point Community Church. It was called the Facedown Conference and was the occasion and location of the live recording of Matt Redman's Facedown album. There were many wonderful, worshipful and artistic things that happened that weekend. It was truly a mountaintop experience, one that we still remember with joy, and that continues to fuel a lot of what we do. (Get the DVD, it's extraordinarily well done and extraordinarily cheap at the link above.)

One of the artists who performed and talked about her amazing work was the poetess, Amena Brown. Check this out. This really knocks me out and I hope it will you as well.

At our church, in a couple of weeks, we are going to have a similar offering in which a poem by one of our gifted writers, John Waltz, will be performed. It should be interesting, both an opportunity and a challenge. I will be composing the musical underscore and orating the poem live.

My prayer is that it will be excellent, effective, and moving. And, most importantly, that the Lord will be blessed by it.

Grumblings from the Mailstrom

It is not a misspelling. It is a play on words. My vanity requires an explanation, causing the ruination of the effect. I realize one shouldn't have to explain a pun, but neither can my fragile ego suffer the quizzical stare, or worse the "Hey, you misspelled 'maelstrom'. Whaddaya, ignernt?" No, better to explain and then shuffle on.

This has been a very difficult week. My numerous professional and personal obligations have again careened into each other's orbit, as they are wont to do periodically, and the subsequent interaction of their gravitational fields has caused chaos, fatigue, frustration, and self-loathing again. Same as it ever was.

What I need is to simplify, simplify, simplify. Maybe next week I'll have time to look into that.

But take a look at this cool picture from my Rural Route #2. This was taken in nearby Carlos (pop. approx. 50) which is pronounced "carr-lus", dry and atonal, with no lingua romanzesca whatsoever. It is a vintage limo; I have no idea what year or make. If I have time, I'll get a closer look tomorrow. Sure, it's beat up, but it is still a great-looking car. How fun it would be to fix that baby up and tool around in it.


This picture really cheers me up. I'm not sure why.

When I work too much, I get depressed. It really sends me into a funk, and not the good kind of Brothers Johnson or Tower of Power funk. But, in those inspired moments when I do momentarily stop feeling moody and snappish, and actually pray for help, God actually does help. Sometimes my prayer goes something like this:

"God, you are going to have to deal with this because I have had it up to here with this @#$^)$#@ and I can't take it anymore. I can't believe I have to deal with this #**$%^@!"

The Lord understands frustration, though, verily far better than I, I'm sure, since He has billions of people to deal with. And as soon as I start talking to Him about what it is about my life that is driving me temporarily insane, the relief starts to seep in. Not all at once, but little by little, my heart starts to unclench, my brain starts to clatter again, the muscles in my neck relax and, even though my circumstances may still suck, I really do, miraculously, feel better. If I stay at a bit, my perspective actually shifts into a much happier and healthier place as I again remember how well off I am, comparatively. Music helps, too, especially worship music. When I stop focusing on myself and my "problems", I just start to feel better.

God's strength abounds when his children are beset by weakness. He has had numerous opportunities to show His strength around me this week. When there is less of me and more of Him in the equation, things definitely go smoother.

Here is a short and very good devotional my Mom sent me that cheered me up. It's good when you're Mom cheers you up. Its good when my Mom cheers you up too. So go read it and be blessed. If you don't, that means that you either don't like my Mom or you have all of the blessings you need right now.

Update: The limo is a hearse. I thought it was, then I thought it wasn't because of the windows, then today I looked closer and now I'm sure it is. That makes it even cooler, of course. I don't know much about vintage cars and even less about vintage hearses.

Short Riffs Given Short Shrift

Here are some random thoughts. Drive-by blogging.

1) I could be in Orlando, but I'm not. In my job I am not required to travel much on behalf of my company. I actually like to travel for fun, but typically, when you're profession is sales or marketing, regardless of your industry, travelling for work is exactly that. Work, and a lot of it. Now, having said that, the one trade show for which I am customarily responsible happens to be one that I very much enjoy, the National Religious Broadcaster's convention, being held this weekend in Florida. This convention is a fascinating convergence of radio/tv, publishing, technology, engineering, programming, media, church ministry, and music. Folks come from all over the planet, from every imaginable background. My company usually has a booth and a display, underwritten by a handfull of the more 300+ manufacturers we represent. It is a lot of work, but it is a lot of fun, too, especially when my wife accompanies me which she often has.

I've met some interesting folks, famous, notorious, and unknown. And I've heard some wonderful music and amazing preaching by some of the best. I heard President Bush speak there shortly after 9/11, and got to see the pre-release version of Passion Of The Christ another year. There is always something cool going on, plus I always get to see some of my best customers and good friends. But I'm glad I'm home this year.

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2) Below is something my wife sort of gave me last year. Actually, she bought it to sell in her antique store, but she made the mistake of bringing it home first, and so I, uhm, appropriated it. It is a very small, very old 4-string banjo. It is 21" long from stem to stern and the head is a mere 7.5" across, about the size of a mandolin.



It is presently strung with nylon strings and I may leave it that way. It is difficult to keep in tune and the action is decent only down in first position near the headstock, but it has a really cool sound. The head is genuine cowhide and, although the quality of the construction and condition is quite good, there is no identifying maker's mark.

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3) This is a little bit of found art in my office. As I walked in today, what normally would pass for clutter and mess struck me more as a collage.



It consists of a framed poster that we got at the Leopold Museum in Vienna a couple of years ago, featuring one of Egon Schiele's landscapes. I also have a Gustav Klimt poster downstairs which we got at the same exhibition. We had the most wonderful time in Vienna and visiting the art museums there was one of the highlights.

Propped up against this poster is an interesting primitivist original work entitled The Winter Lands (how appropriate!) by an artist named Dick Shoemaker. It is dated 1965 and, I'm sorry to say, I don't know the name of the technique used to created it. Most of the image appears to have been first drawn on the paper with some kind of sharp object, perhaps a stylus, and then filled in and expanded with some kind of thick black ink. Perhaps I will scan this and dedicate a separate post to it, soliciting an expert opinion, perhaps, to tell me what might be known about this technique.

Below that is a map taken from a 1959 National Geographic entitled "Lands of the Mediterranean". It includes the Holy Lands, Turkey, most of northern Africa, and the Middle East. I love maps. I keep meaning to frame and hang this one.

There is also a book of Vineyard worship music and an audio cable in the lower right hand corner. The whole mess is atop an antique glass case that houses my modest collection of (mostly) antique knives.

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4) The coolest thing we did, musically, at church this weekend was a song called Bread by Ginny Owens, from her album Beautiful. A very simple, very funky, sparsely orchestrated tune. My wife sang it beautifully, nuanced and soulful. One of the coolest things about it was the fact that the whole song required that I play no more than 4 simple two-note chords...unbelievably minimalistic, but a very fun, expressive vehicle for some great R&B poetry about Jesus as the Bread of Life, and what that means. We got to hear Ginny Owens play piano and sing at the NRB convention in Nashville a couple of years ago. Exceptional. Here are the lyrics:

Man cannot live
By bread alone,
He needs something stronger
To feed his hungry soul,
So he'll try everything
Under the sun,
But nothing will end his hunger
Nothing but Your love.

He'll acquire treasure,
But it won't amount to much,
He'll fall in love with pleasure,
But none will fill him up,
And when he has exhausted
All this world can give to him,
Still he'll not grow weary of chasing after the wind-
I looked in the mirror,
Just the other day,
I was so surprised,
I hardly recognized the change,
So restless and so hurried,
I've spent so much time,
Running after things
I'm gonna have to leave behind

Good stuff, that. My son, JLP, played keys with us this weekend, too, which is always great. The kid's got it goin' on. He sounds better every time I hear him. Even though he never updates his blog these days .

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5) Heather has an interesting, thought-provoking post on her website about how certain books, music, film, and art experiences seem to resonate with us in an especially personal way, while others do not. And I left one of my annoyingly long comments over there already so I'm not going to elaborate. Just go check it out.

Listening: "Old Wells...New Wine", an album of contemporary piano improvisations on classic hymns by my friend, Mark Bovee. Mark is a world class jazz and gospel pianist as well as a gifted arranger, composer, and worship leader. While I hate making these kinds of comparisons because its just soooo lame, if you like George Winston or Jim Brickman, you will like MB's album. Guaranteed.

A Severe Beauty - Thoughts on Snow

Here are a handful of photos of snow at our house. I know, do we really need more snow pictures on the internet? I mean, EVERYBODY has snow right now, so whats the big deal?

This (above) is a picture of our garden at sundown one day last week, before the smackdown we got on Tuesday.

This I took on Tuesday...and it is about a foot deeper.

This is taken from our front yard looking down towards the mouth of our driveway onto US Hwy. 27, the road we live on. Our driveway is a deep cut in the side of a steep hill. Typically, the sides rise up to 12 feet or so on each side. In this picture, it is full of snow. We don't leave the house when it is like this.

Here's a picture of the back side, accross the driveway . The door on the left is the one we normally use to enter and exit. There are three steps there, completely buried in snow at the moment. The handle of the shovel, visible near the door, is a portend of the labor to come.

This is a shot from "the Big Porch", looking south, across the driveway, and the field beyond. Snow is so beautiful.

Snow removal is interesting to me, too. In spite of mankind's sophisticated technologies, there is not much that we can do about it when snow falls where we don't want it. When snow falls in great quantity, the world comes to a standstill. Snow dictates its own terms. There are no really effective snow elimination systems. The only thing man can do with snow is move it somewhere else. There are snow blowers, snow plows, and snow shovels, but the only really effective snow eliminator is the sun.

You might think that there should be some high-tech laser evaporater device that would quickly clean off the driveway and make the roads and sidewalks safe, but no. Its the most elemental laws of physics at work. When you melt snow, you get water. When you heat water (with your laser), you get steam. Well, if its still cold outside, and it obviously is or you wouldn't be out playing with the snow laser in the first place, then the steam will become ice again and fall back to the earth. And there you are, only now its worse. Because now you have to figure out how to get rid of the ice that you made. Ice is a much bigger pain than snow to get rid of. That is why there aren't ice shovels, ice plows, and ice blowers. You should have just moved the snow somewhere else.

With ice, you can use salt or chemicals, but that only works to a point. The melting catalyst works with increasingly less capability as it dilutes and, eventually, if the cold temperature continues, the liquid will refreeze. You have more ice.

The sun is really good at melting snow and ice. Its not fast, but it is relentless. Sometimes we're not as smart as we think we are. And I don't have a problem with that.

Prince and the Superbowl - Behind the scenes

Here is a really quick follow-up to my Superbowl post from last week.

A lot of folks in the pro audio industry marvelled at the effort that was put forth to make Prince's half-time performance so unbelievably successful in the midst of a downpour.


Here is a link to an article from Front Of House magazine's online edition that gives some of the detail. This article ultimately points to a press release on Sennheiser's website that gives even more detail, if you are interested. They make the wireless mics that were used.



Yeah, I know, this is another geeky techo post, but some folks like that kind of thing.


Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!

p.s. I hate the way Blogger does photos.

Repentance

I don't like to do this, not one bit. But I am compelled.

I apologize for calling Jimmy Carter "a tool".

While I do bear a deep disappointment in and distrust for the man, I should not have referred to him in that manner. He is an ex-President, after all. Upon reflection, I realized that I have been rightly raised to respect our nation's leaders no matter what they do, including and up to the time they resign in disgrace or are indicted and perhaps subsequently pardoned for egregious offenses. By no means does this mean I have to like them or the things they do, but it does mean that I should treat them with the full measure of respect that the office deserves.

It is unlikely that I would have referred to President Carter so disparagingly had he been in the room, consequently it is not right for me to have used such a demeaning term "behind his back", so to speak, in print. And it doesn't matter, really, that only 12 people are going to read this and only 2/3 of them speak English. It was still wrong, and I'm sorry I said it.

But if I do meet President Carter some day, on this side of the great divide, and should engage him in conversation, I would not fear to tell him what I think of his post-Presidential career. He's done some very good things, but he has also done some very bad things. He is profoundly wrong in a number of areas but, as far as I can tell, he is still one of God's children.

And as long as he didn't start calling me names first, we could probably keep it civil.

For the record, I'm not at all convinced that this same level of required civility applies in reference to lesser politicians and I'm pretty sure when it comes to loudmouthed leftist actors and knuckleheaded musicians that all bets are off. I'm not even certain that it applies to Al Gore at this point.

So there. That's that. Now you kids get out of here...

BIRD'S EYE TOURIST

Check this out.

The name of this site is Bird's Eye Tourist, and it is an online collection of satellite imagery. It is similar to Wikipedia and other interactive websites in that the owners invite reader participation and submittals. Many of the entries, like the one for the Coliseum in Rome pictured here include historical footnotes. The entries are tagged and carefully arranged into into collections or categories based around location or theme, which makes browsing or searching productive and fun. Some entries are quite detailed and specialized, like the fascinating collection of retired military aircraft, the architecture collections, national landmarks, prisons, or the views of carousels from all over the US. There are also, of course, celebrity homes, crimes scenes, and such, as well as noteworthy historical locations, like the site of the great Hindenburg zepellin crash in 1937.

Fascinating stuff.

Grammy Awards - I Get To Decide

I almost never watch the Grammy Awards, or any of the big show-biz shows like that, because they are usually stultifyingly boring. It is mostly about artists who I don't care for receiving accolades that I don't thing they deserve. From what I did observe last night and also on the news reprisals this morning, last night's show was no exception to this, with the exception of the astounding appearance of The Police. I really would have liked to have seen that portion of the show. Unfortunately, I was otherwise engaged at the time and missed it. I do intend to catch up with them on YouTube later today.

For a very long time now, my artistic and musical tastes have tended away from the mainstream towards the eclectic. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is that as I get older, I simply care less about and have become increasingly immune to the nefarious efforts of the entertainment media and the pop culture it serves to sell me on what "the industry" thinks is great and wonderful. I have been a performing musician for most of my life and over the years have been actively involved in many different technical and artistic capacities. I listen to music with an open mind, but I do bring several decades worth of experience and personal preference to everything I hear.

The main point is this: I like what I like, and in my world, I get to decide what is good and what is bad.

So here are some passing opinions, in no particular order:

Dixie Chicks: Great players, decent singing, very good engineering and production, and gifted songwriting. Not sure how popular they would be if they weren't 2/3 gorgeous, though. I can't stand their politics. And politics is why they won the gold last night...

Ludicrus: Honestly, I don't like anything about his music. Rap/Hip-hop is not my favorite musical genre anyway, although there are other artists I like. His post-show comments, though, are telling. To paraphrase, he said that since this was the fifth time he had been nominated and he hadn't won a Grammy, when he set out to make his most recent album "Release Therapy", he was determined to win this year, no matter what. So...it's not about the art, then, it's about the award, the glitz, the money, the fame? Okay, that may be entertainment, but its not art. (Like I said, in my world, I get to decide.)

Carrie Underwood: I like her very much and was glad to see her win a couple of awards, including Best New Artist. Country is not my favorite genre, either, btw. She was my favorite in last year's AI competition because of her voice and because of her personality. She has great songs and great performances on her album, which is co-produced by Dan Huff, one of my favorite producers. My prayer is that she stays good and will somehow, miraculously, remain unbesmirched by this great early success. I hope she has good people with level heads around her. I will cry if she goes all Britney on us in the next couple of years. I like two of the other nominees in this category, too, Imogen Heap and Corrine Bailey Rae. My son introduced me to both of them and he has a very good ear for new and interesting music.

Rick Rubin: He won as non-classical producer of the year and he totally deserves it. He is one of the most gifted guys in the industry. While it was his work on the Dixie Chicks album that put him over the top, he is also responsible for all of the great recent Johnny Cash albums, including two this year. I was pleased that T-Bone Burnett was also a runner up in this category, principally for "Walk The Line", the superb soundtrack to the Johnny Cash bioflick (which was really, really good, too).

Jimmy Carter won in the Best Spoken Word Album category. Give me a freakin' break. So, do you think the entertainment industry leans a little towards the left? This unbelievably asinine award barely merits a snort and a spit from a thinking man, but it says something that Carter had to beat out Bill Maher and Al Franken. What a tool.

Red Hot Chili Peppers: I'm not a fan of their music, and I've never liked their vocals, in particular. But there are good things about them. I guess I somewhat grudgingly acknowledge their efforts.

Christina Aguilera: She is a great singer. Really good. I can't wait to hear what she is doing 10 years from now, actually, since she is one of the few female popstarts on the scene that I think really could have some serious staying power. I do find her persona annoying. I have heard the song that she won for, but not much else, lately.

John Mayer: Another gifted performer. Both of his recent albums, Trio and Continuum, deserve more attention. If he doesn't burn out, he is another artist that could and should continue to get better with time.

Don Henley: Yeah, okay, I guess so.

Michael Brecker: A great sax player. I've been a fan for many years. My formative years were spent playing in funk bands and we did several Brecker Bros. tunes. He deserved the recognition, for sure. An excellent jazz player, a lot of his music in the 70's and 80's was really progressive for its time. I have not yet heard the recent tribute album, but I need to pick it up. As I look across the jazz category in general, I see several interesting releases that I have not yet heard.

In the Gospel categories, a genre that I like, I am surprised at how ignorant I am of some of the entries. I have not heard Yolanda Adams' song from The Gospel soundtrack that won Best Gospel Performance. But she is a great singer in a category teeming with great singers and I'm reasonably sure it is probably great. I bet that Randy Travis album is good, too (no really, I'm not that into country), because his work is always impeccable. The only album listed that I've heard is Chris Tomlin's See The Morning, which I do like a lot. I would have liked to have seen The Vineyard's Sweetly Broken nominated. It is definitely one of the best worship albums of the last year, I think. Also, as a rule, anytime Sarah Groves is not nominated somewhere for something in some category, justice has been pretty much denied in my opinion. Tommy Walker could have been in there, too, with either of his last two albums. I think, though, in general, the music industry doesn't really understand worship music...most of the world doesn't understand worship music, really.

The thing is, there is music being made all over the world, in places and by people most of us have never heard of. I don't believe we need Hollywood, New York, or Nashville to tell us what we need to be listening to or who the best artists are. Some of the best music is made by folks who have day jobs, by college kids and senior citizens that record their own original music in their garage on the weekends, and by people who find their joy playing and singing at their local church, or at the blues bar on the edge of town. They may not be as polished as Justin Timberlake or as virtuosic as Celine Dion, but so what? Is that what is important? There are, of course, many medium-to-high profile artists who are also very dedicated, gifted artists, and we should gratefully enjoy their art, but they are the tip of the iceberg. Often, today, performers are promoted and sold to us as a colorful, exciting package when, in fact, there is little of real lasting, artistic merit underneath the superficial veneer of glitz and bling. Look instead for those works which inspire, which speak of life, beauty, spirit, and value.

If you like it, then its good - keep it. If you don't like it, then move on. You get to decide.

The T-Equalizer

Now here is an interesting audio accessory.

I can't decide if this is really cool or incredibly stupid. It could be both, I guess. Maybe I'm not the target market. Don't think I want one, but I can think of a few folks that I might buy one for.

The ad copy is pretty good, too.

Nancy Pelosi: I want my own jet and I want it now!

"And I also want an office that is shaped in an oval. And a big leather chair and one of those pretty red telephones for my desk. And my own chef, and a little dog named, uhm...Marney or Carney or something like that who will ride with me in my airplane. Now, please."

Okay, so Madame Speaker didn't actually say the last part in this article, as far as we know, but still. Yeesh! Wonder what the Democratic party faithful think about this. I hope they are embarrassed. Talk about your "inconvenient truths."

h/t Instapundit, of course. Duh.

Random Nostalgic Interlude

Here's a picture of the aforementioned red 1978 Honda Civic. What an excellent car that was. Quick, reliable, sporty, and she had an excellent sound system, cassette-based, of course, which was pretty hot technology at that point. She could hold a prodigious amount of dirty laundry for those monthly trips home from college, not to mention the various road trips across Texas in pursuit of adventure and romance.

And I look pretty spiffy there in my matching Dallas Tornado band shirt, too. One of my first professional musician jobs was playing trumpet for the Dallas Tornado, a pro soccer franchise. It was kind of a cross between a typical sports "pep band" (I've always hated that term) and a kind of ersatz Dixieland jazz group. They couldn't afford real musicians so they hired a handful of high school and college players along with a couple of wheezy has-beens who had let their union cards drop. It didn't pay very much, but it was fun at the time, I'm sure, and good experience. Nowadays a gig like that would be torture. Although, it might be fun to play electric guitar in an NHL band, if there were such a thing... How things change.

I've been mostly offline the last couple of days with connectivity problems. Even now my cable modem connection seems tenuous. Consequently I am behind in my professional obligations. Business seems to have slowed up a bit, too. Back to work, we've got mouths to feed and tuition to pay for.

Listening: Disk 2 of the Frank Zappa Box Set, "Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar". FZ was an extraordinary electric guitarist, his pottie mouth not withstanding. This has two of my favorites, "Variations on the The Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression" and "Gee, I Like Your Pants". His playing often sounds manic and chaotic, but is, in fact, completely intentional. Like everything else Zappa, its not for everybody.

Obligatory Super Bowl observations, etc.

I have not been much of a football fan since Jerry Jones usurped the Dallas Cowboys, moved his despicable self and his mouth to Texas, and proceeded to ruin the best football organization ever, including the summary dismissal and flagrantly disrespectful treatment of coach Tom Landry. Harsh, you say? A little bitter, still, perhaps? I know, it's bad to hold a grudge and I'm sure I'll get over it eventually. When I'm dead and gone to Heaven.

I do like hockey and was an avid Dallas Stars fan, for several years. That is one of the very best sports to see live and in person. But it's hard to keep a long-distance love alive, as they say. The closest NHL team to where I live now is the Columbus Bluejackets. And, I'm sorry, but that is simply too stupid a name for me to get excited about. I am not going to drive 2 hours, pay $200-plus, etc., to watch a team named after a monochromatic outerwear garment.

But, hey, that was a great football game yesterday. I've only been following the Colts since the playoffs began, and casually at that. But, with the game against the Patriots a couple of weeks ago and the Super Bowl yesterday…I think I’m becoming a fan. And yes, Hoosierland is partying like it was 1999.

Which brings me to Prince’s performance at half-time. To even attempt what he did in that downpour shows exemplary professionalism, first of all. The staging, the lighting, the pyrotechnics, and all of the technical stuff seemed to work flawlessly, as far as I could tell. And musically, it was so right on that it was shocking. Always a gifted composer, producer, and performer, Prince demonstrated why he remains at the top of his game after all these years. To the casual observer, it may have looked like just another super-cool Super Bowl rock show, but the focus, the intensity, the skill, and the resources necessary to make that happen in the middle of a football field in the rain are staggering. And I am referring not only to Prince, his band and his backline staff, but whoever the production company was that actually did the design, the engineering, and the grunt work to make that show work. Bravo! Those guys absolutely rock.

Most of the commercials were fun, too. Some were mind-numbingly stupid, like GoDaddy.com’s and the one where the guy got hit in the head with a rock. But the fan-produced Dorito’s commercial was great, I thought, and I liked the CareerBuilder.com commercial, too, with the business guys in the jungle.

Yeah, but its a dry cold...

Oh, man. It is -5 degrees with windchill outside right now. The HIGH temperature predicted for tomorrow is 14 degrees.

Delivering mail for the USPS (my part-time/keep-the-kid-in-college gig) out in the remote parts of Randolph County's witness-protection territory should be loads of fun. That is how I will be spending my Saturday.

How are you spending yours?

Update: That's Fahrenheit, for my international friends. And it is now an hour later and -6 degrees.

Living in a Virtual World

I barely have the time and energy it takes to properly live in the actual world, much less commit the many hours necessary to enjoy a life in some online virtual realm. Nevertheless, I find virtual communities a fascinating part of today's technological landscape and, although I don't participate, I have an abiding interest in their development.

The first treatment of the concept in my memory was the movie Tron, from 1982, starring Bruce Boxleitner and Jeff Bridges. I loved that movie. Of course, since then, there have been a myriad of virtual world scenarios explored in sci-fi literature by authors such as William Gibson (who invented the term "cyberspace"). My favorite to date is Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.

Clay Shirky has written a penetrating essay on the pyschological and sociological forces that drive this segment of computer technology and he offers some prognostication on its future. His piece then points to an interesting article on SlashDot, that goes into eBay's recent decision to delist and eliminate the buying and selling of the virtual assets acquirable in the course of playing virtual games such as World of Warcraft.

This article in turn points to another article, this time on CNET, that discusses some of the complex legal and commercial issues surrounding the ownership of these virtual assets, including whether and how virtual earnings may somehow be taxable. And so the virtual and actual worlds begin to overlap. Will the world's governments one day soon consider virtual dollars as tangible currency? Will they levy taxes and demand a share?

Phew! Why would I want to have a "second life" in a virtual world if all of the problems that I have with the actual world are just as real there?

This is why you get so much spam.

This article answers in disturbing detail a question I've wondered about for a long time. Everyone I know hates Spam. Nobody I know responds to unsolicited junk emails offering Viagra, mortgage loans, tax help, or anything else. Yet I still get nearly 200 a day in my filter. And I know many folks get much more than that. Clearly, somebody somewhere is making big money on spam or it wouldn't continue to clog the electronic highway.

This article from MSNBC.com explains who profits and why, and it is quite surprising.