Freedom

David Hayward, the nakedpastor, has had  several excellent, thoughtful posts of late.  The one today on freedom and bondage is so strong, so right on...please go check it out.

This one, from a couple of days ago, on tilling one's garden, is also very, very good.  I meant to mention it a couple of days ago.

The artwork is by David, too, which you can see here.

Stevie Wonder

Yeah, the Republican convention would have been so much cooler if Stevie had played there instead of screwing around with the Democrats in Denver last week.  But I really don't care about his politics.  The man is a living American treasure.  Happily, he has just received an award from the Library of Congress, the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, confirming this fact before the world.  

Hunker Down

Like everyone else in the country paying even a modicum of attention to current events, I am very concerned about the terrible storm bearing down on the Gulf Coast.

However, it seems that it is impossible for anybody, and especially the phalanx of news reporters on the scene, to speak for more than three minutes without using the term "hunker down." What a peculiar, idiomatic term that is. If English were not your native tongue, you might puzzle over that linguistic artifact for quite some time before it made any kind of sense at all.

Here is a dubious look at the possible, but not probable, origin of the term.

Photo stolen from, but dutifully attributed to CNBC's website.

Schmap! A Guide To Rome

Check out the widget in the right panel.  It is a very cool web-published travel guide to Rome and it features a photo taken by my wife, the international photo-journalist.  After we returned from our vacation in Rome earlier this year, Nancy posted some outstanding photos of our trip on her Flickr page.  The editors of Schmap!, no doubt scouring the internet for quality photo work, expressed interest in her work.  They ultimately selected her photo of the Fountain of Triton for inclusion in their guide.

This guide can be downloaded to most web-enabled personal devices such as the Apple iTouch, the iPhone, of course, and probably any smartphone, as well as blogs or websites.

Nancy at the feet of Triton.

And now for something completely different

This is a great, low-budget video by Aimee Mann, a singer/songwriter I've admired for many, many years.  She sings some of the best sad songs you will ever hear.  If her music is even marginally autobiographical then, poor girl, I don't think she has ever had a relationship that turned out well.  

As humorous as the video piece is, the song itself is poignant, expressing lyrically what many people feel as they approach the middle season of their lives:

"I thought my life would be different somehow,"

"I thought my life would be better by now."

Honestly, there are times when I feel this way, but it is usually just my episodic and passing melancholia, my small portion of "the artist's temperament."  Most of the time I am stunned at how blessed I am.  Really.

That doesn't mean that my life is perfect, or that it is what I thought it might be when I was 22 years old, looking forward.  It doesn't mean that I'm done either, ready to quit the race, cash in my chips, and relax.  Because I'm not.  But, by and large, I am content, happy with the choices I've made, and pleased with the things I've been able to do.  I've done absurdly stupid things and learned some difficult lessons the hard way, as many people do.  But mostly, I've been the beneficiary of such amazing love and consideration, such undeserved blessing.  Gratitude and humility is what I feel most of the time.  So far, I can count my regrets on one hand.

Life is interactive, and the world changes you over time.  More than you are ever going to change it, to be sure.  This is not a bad thing, and it is a true thing.  It takes 30 or 40 years before that realization starts to sink in and make some sense in a usable way.

At the moment, it looks like I will be attending my 30th high school reunion next month, Nimitz High School, Irving, Texas, class of 1978.  I hadn't planned to, but serendipitous events colluded to make it so.  It should be fun.  It will probably be strange. 

h/t Instapundit, who consistently has excellent taste in music.

Accordion stuff

Hey, the accordion is making a comeback.  Don't take it from me, read this article about this accordion guy in Seattle who says it is true.   I am ever willing to suspend my disbelief.

Further corroborating evidence is this advertisement for the Monsters of Accordion Tour.  I've never heard of any of these people, but clearly, on the West Coast at least, the accordion is poised to conquer the entertainment world.  

Reading through the different bands and artists on this bill is pretty interesting.  If they ever do a midwest tour, I'll be there.

That's all, I'm going to go practice.

The Cavaliers : Bronze Medalists at DCI World Championships!

Here are a few pics from our weekend at the Drum Corps International Finals in Bloomington. 

This year, with a score of 97.235, the Rosemont Cavaliers show, "Samurai", took third place in the World Class competition, a hairs breadth behind the Blue Devils and the Phantom Regiment. The Cavaliers had an outstanding, superlative performance and finished their season with a nearly perfect show. In my opinion, it was the best and most creative show in the competition, but then I admit some predisposition towards that assessment.

Trumpet section visual rehearsal before the semi-finals.  That's JP in the middle.

Jordan and Nancy in Bloomington.

The IU stadium, hosting the Drum Corps International World Championship competition, "the major league of marching band."

A shot from the finale of "Samurai", the Cavaliers' final 2008 performance.

JP, after the show, wearing his medal.  The rose was awarded by the Cavaliers to all of it's graduates, those young men who, at the age of 21 or 22, will be aging out of the corps.  

Far, far more than just a marching band, the two seasons that Jordan has spent as a Cavalier have clearly been a great, life-molding experience.  This organization is, in a real sense, a brotherhood, a fraternity in which he will always belong.  It is a singular, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of something like this and, as parents, we are grateful to the Cavalier organization for the care that they took with our son, and for the inestimable value of the musical instruction, life experience, and love that they have poured into his life.  It will be a touchstone, a significant point of reference for him his entire life.

For more great photos, check out Nancy's Flickr page.  For more info on the Cavaliers, here is their website, and a YouTube link to see some of what they do.

Drum Corps International World Championships

I haven't blogged about it as much this summer, but my son, Jordan, has again been touring the last couple of months, playing trumpet and marching with The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. This is an elite, world-class group comprised of carefully selected musicians from among hundreds that come from all over the world to audition each year.  It is an all-male corps, the young men ranging in age between 17-21 years old, with the average age being 20.

I've written in detail about the corps and Jordan's involvement  here, here, and here, for those interested in the full backstory.

Tomorrow night, Saturday, August 9th, is the 2008 World Championship Competition at Indiana University/Bloomington.  Nancy is already on-site, attending the quarter-finals and semi-finals.  I will be joining her on Saturday afternoon with my mom, my grandmother, my niece, and one of my nephews.  At present, after last night's quarter-finals, the Cavaliers are locked in a death-match with their historical nemesis, The Blue Devils of Concord, Calfornia, coming in second place.

That has been the case all season, at contests across the country.  The Cavaliers routinely won first place at all the competitions that did not include The Blue Devils.  But when both are on the same bill, they toss it back and forth.  The Blue Devils won the DCI championships last year, with the Cav's coming up behind by a razor's edge.  This year, the competition between the two corps is hotter than ever.  The Blue Devils' show this year is considerably less difficult than the Cavaliers', particularly in terms of the marching, but their music is good, their performance is strong, and they have been able to execute with admirable precision and consistency.  The Cavalier's show is considerably more musically ambitious,  athletically challenging, artistically original, and visually exciting.  If they can nail down a few rough edges in performance, they should be able to take the trophy tomorrow night.  But it ain't gonna be no cakewalk, that's for sure.

I wish I could post some video of the show here, because if you haven't ever seen a world-class drum and bugle corps, you really aren't likely to understand what all of the fuss is about.  But DCI has that all locked up pretty tight with copyrights, etc.  Trust me, this is not a typical marching band contest.  You might be able to find some excerpts on YouTube, but in the past all I've seen is previous season highlights.  Typically, ESPN will rebroadcast it a few weeks after the competition, and you may be able to see it then.

Here are a few pics we took early in the season when we saw them at a contest in Ohio:

The finale, featuring the Cavaliers.  JP is the last Cavalier on the far left, second row, on the very end.

They have a state-of-the-art kitchen truck, easily capable of feeding a 150 or so people a full meal in a very short amount of time.

After the show, hanging out with JP.  That's Dan Merkamp, good friend and one of JP's former band directors.  His band, Northeastern High School, just won 4th place in the State Fair Band Competition.

The Proudest Mom in the World.

Wallpaper Airplanes - MBPYNHO

Everyone has to be from somewhere, of course, so don't be put off by the fact that these guys say they are from Hollywood, CA. Personally, I'm not 100% sure that anyone is actually from there, although there are certainly a lot of people who do try to wind up there. Nevertheless, be willing to suspend your disbelief and enjoy these tunes in today's installment of Music By People You've Never Heard Of.

(And, yes, I am aware that a more grammatically accurate appellation might be Music By People Of Whom You've Never Heard. But that's just silly and pedantic, so let it go....)

So, go listen a bit to the Wallpaper Airplanes. Their music reminds of several classic artists I like. I hear a little Pink Floyd, a little Psychedelic Furs, and a dash Radiohead, but that's just me. I like the creative and balanced song structure, the artfully woven layers of synth, guitar, groove, and, with one exception, vocals.  A lot of the synth timbres are kind of retro, but I like the way they are used compositionally.  There aren't that many indie rock bands nowadays that rely on synthesizers for this much texture, and it is refreshing.

I would buy the album, I think, overlooking the whole "we're from Hollywood" thing. I like all of these songs and I hope you do, too.

INDIANA SKY 7/30/08

"They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory." 

Matthew 24:30b

Nancy took this picture a couple of evenings ago. Evidently, the Lord never tires of either sunrises or sunsets. Not only can He see both occurring continuously somewhere here on our planet, but He has made the universe such that this same phenomenon is rendered unceasingly across the breadth of His creation, in infinite and relentless variety. 

What does that say about Him?

Black and White, alternating and repeating in rhythm to a snappy, uptempo beat.

How we define progress, how we measure personal growth, says a lot about who we are.

On my accordion, I can play Fairest Lord Jesus, Be Still My Soul (aka "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius), Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, This Land is Your Land, and the most hummable parts of Beethoven's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.  Both melody and chords.  

The key of C major is working best for me right now, partly because of some unfortunate sticky black notes in the upper register.  What can I say, it's a $50 accordion.  Also, it is a Major Diatonic instrument, which means that the left hand chord keys are basically arranged in a handy I-IV-V configuration, with the keys of G, C, and F represented.  That means it lends itself most happily to music in one of those three major keys with simple harmony.  Minor tonalities and jazzier progressions are possible, though, but not yet.  I've got minor keys figured out strategically, but they are not tactically practical at the moment (which means I can't play them yet). 

Now one might think that being limited thusly would be a drag, but it's really not.  Just because you've got the 16 Crayola box and not the 64 Crayola box does not mean you can't draw some great pictures and do some serious coloring.

On the list of things that are more difficult than they sound I now include the song Greensleeves, because of the minor key, and that boom-chick polka rhythm that everybody and their uncle Gunther from the old country does...can't figure that out yet, either.  I think there's a trick (uhm, I mean technique) to it.  Also, long, slow lyrical phrases don't come easy, but they don't really come easy on any instrument.

At the moment, I don't own any zydeco music, nor do I have any recordings of Astor Piazzolla, the great Argentine tango composer.  I shall have to remedy that soon.  By the way, I just learned that Astor Piazzolla's middle name was Pantoleon.  Translated, that means "lion pants", I'm pretty sure.  How cool is that for a name?  Anyway, he's supposed to be the Chuck Norris of accordion music, so I need to get up to speed.

And check this out:

Accordion Hero II is just being released, too, I understand.  It includes M.C. Hammer's Can't Touch This and also Ride The Lightning by Metallica.  Does that rawk or what?!?!

The Clover - Innovations in Java

The video is from Wired.com so, naturally, there is a 15-second commercial in front of the feature.

Here is the interesting story to go along with it.

Yeah, I want one. How about you?

The Dark Knight, part deux

From Brant Hansen, to whom I obliquely refer in my post below, through Bill Kinnon, I found and now am happy to present this little tribute to The Dark Knight. Bill, who agrees with Brant that Batman ain't all that, found it at the amusingly named blog, "Waving or Drowning."

Now, with that lengthy list of hat-tips, weblinks, and obliging nods behind me, here you go:



On the one hand, I think Brant, Bill, et al, are simply demonstrating their membership in a club to which I myself belong, Contrarians International. And I'm fine with that. I am totally in touch with the notion that if everybody in the world thinks something is pretty cool, well then there is obviously something seriously wrong with it, whatever it is. This is America, after all, except in Bill's case where it is actually Canada, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, regardless of whether or not it's brilliant, silly, or just plain wrong.

Whatever. I liked The Dark Knight. It's not my favorite movie in the world, nor is it some kind of sophisticated and complex social commentary. Sorry, it's just not. It is pretty entertaining, though, if you like that kind of thing, and well worth the $8 to see it on a big screen.

The Dark Knight

Just saw the new Batman movie. The Dark Knight. Liked it, I did. It was visually compelling, action-packed, and a ripping good yarn darkly drawn.

Philosophically, there are a number of ideas that can be drawn from the telling of this tale. For me, principal among them is the observation that, in a fallen world, there will be and has always been a need for a few meritous, ethically-motivated men who willingly rise up to confront evil, even when doing so spins them into a difficult place, drawing from them morally compromising or ambiguous behavior. As the oft quoted Theodore Roosevelt sagely observed, "Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

One of the lines of dialog that I believe to be true is Alfred’s (Michael Caine) observation that the motivation behind the violent deeds perpetrated by some men is a perverse desire to see the world burn. This view, and it is one of the core values of the movie, signifies that Evil, with a capital E, does exist. It does not represent a “clash of values”, or some kind of situationally-dependent, relative evil rooted in a sophomoric understanding of contemporary culture, nor is it an evil motivated by a poor upbringing, or some kind of psychological disturbance that can be cured by therapy. No. It is the kind of pure Evil whose sole hunger is for destruction, chaos, and power, before which the only appropriate resistance is the unfettered full measure of action and unrestrained determination that results not merely in Evil’s surrender, but in it’s utter defeat. It is that uncomfortable, hard place where we unwillingly are forced to admit quietly, if only to ourselves and God that, in fact, sometimes the end does justify the means.

The movie also captures, with not much subtlety, the idea that, though we all know that sometimes our heroes must be ruthless and implacable to win the day, as civilized people, we must periodically scourge our warriors in the vain and failing attempt to, symbolically, cleanse ourselves of their blood sins.

For me, pretending that this dichotomy doesn’t exist is the greater of two deceits, for that embraces a lie. Personally, I am glad that somewhere, in a windowless inner office, deep within the bowels of CIA headquarters in Quantico there are a few good, rough men who compose secret plots of violence and assassination with the goal of keeping me, my family, and my country safe and free. No, it’s not legal. It’s ugly, cynical, messy work. But it is necessary and I hope they keep at it.

Another, not unrelated theme rests in the character of Harvey Dent, in whom we plainly see that even the best of men are capable of evil. This is not a subtle thing, but rather is painted in broad brush strokes so that it will not be missed by even the youngest or least attentive viewer.

That said, The Dark Knight is just a movie, not some deep social commentary. Unlike some folks, I don’t think it is a sign of the coming Apocalypse. We already have plenty of those.

So, if you’ve seen the movie, did you like it? What did you think?

A Miraculous Healing

A friend of mine, Barry Garrett, whom some of you prayed for a few days ago, has had an astounding recovery from a very serious and debilitating medical emergency. He was admitted to the hospital last weekend with a terrific headache, nausea, and vision problems. It turns out there was a tumor surrounding his pituitary gland that was compressing the optic nerve and spinal column. There's much more to the story, but go to his blog to read about it.

And here is a picture of the pituitary gland, for those of you who, like me, need some help with your glandular geography:

Have a nice day!

BROOKE FRASER - SHADOWFEET (MBPYNHO)

And out of the blue comes this installment of Music By People You've Never Heard Of.  This is Brooke Fraser singing her song "Shadowfeet" from her album, Albertine.  I really like the directness, the simplicity of the lyric and music.  And the video bears the same aesthetic, relying on the intrinsic strength found in the human face, portraits of real people.  

So what do you think?

If I Have Not Love by Matt Redman (a different Matt than the one in yesterday's post.)

I am leading this song at church during the offeratory time this weekend. It is a song that really speaks to me and I am excited about it. Nancy and I were in attendance at the live recording of the album from which it comes a few years ago at the Facedown Conference in Atlanta. One of the things I like best about this album is how the idea of the mystery of Christ is so wonderfully explored in both lyric and music.



(We will be doing without it the foreign subtitles, but this was the best version YouTube had to offer.)

Where the Hell is Matt?

This is a creative and curious little video.  

I promise it will make you smile and put juice in your camera....watch the whole thing, though.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding.

Then go check out his website and read his story.  

h/t Peeniewallie

District of Columbia vs. Heller

"The same folks who can read the Constitution and Bill of Rights and find an unassailable right to abortion and gay marriage can't find a right to possession of a firearm."

Well said.  Why didn't I think of that?  I recommend that you click through the link above to Megan McArdle's very brief but substantive observation on how the protection of gun rights is also pro-feminist.  

h/t:  Instapundit, of course.

BRUSCHETTA FOR TWO

Sometimes, rarely (okay, almost never, but still...), I feel that by blogging I am, in some small, personal way, helping the world to be better place.  That I am "giving back" or "paying it forward."  Uh-huh.  Well, today is one of those days.

Here is a simple, beautiful recipe for making a wonderful culinary treat. I call it “Bruschetta for Two.”

Ingredients
2 large slices of Italian or artisan bread
A few leaves of fresh spinach
1 -2 tomatoes, preferably Roma, depending on size 

Genoa Salami,
Mozzarella cheese
Whole olives
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt, ground black pepper
Ground or freshly chopped oregano and/or basil leaves to taste.

First, gently toast one side of the bread in your broiler. I prefer the Pane Turano from Turano Bakery, personally, but any robust, high quality artisan bread should work. I recommend using a pizza stone, if you have one. While the bread is toasting, clean, dry, and trim a few leaves of fresh spinach. Be quick about it, though, or the bread will burn.

Take the bread out, but leave the broiler on. Flip both slices over so that the toasted side is down. Very lightly drizzle or brush a little olive oil on the untoasted side.

Slice the tomatoes as thin as possible, trim out any pithy parts.

Slice the 6-8 pieces of mozzarella, also thin, about 1/4”.

Slice the salami at the same thickness, then dice it. Genoa salami has this quirky, concentrated flavor that is really tasty. And it cooks very nicely.

Yum. REAL olives...not the tasteless, mealy little funky things they call "Spanish olives." I hated olives when I was a kid. Now I love them. It's good to be a grown-up.

Pit and slice the olives, testing two or three as you go to be sure they are as good as they look (oh, yeah).

Now you are ready to assemble your masterpiece:

Place the spinach leaves on the bread, followed by the tomato slices. Next come the olives (on mine, not on the wife’s) and then the diced salami. Now a dash of sea salt and a bit of freshly ground pepper (not shown, sorry).

Finally, top with the mozzarella slices.

Place them back in the hot oven, on the bottom shelf. Let it stay in there for 5 minutes or so, checking on it occasionally. It is done whenever you say it is, but I like for the mozz to be fully melted and just starting to bubble and brown.

And it will come out looking like this!

Remove from the oven and immediately place on serving plates. Drizzle liberally with olive oil and sprinkle a little of the oregano or basil on top.

And serve. 

At our house, we eat this two or three times a week. It is a very flexible, improvisatory dish that is different and delicious every time. You can add or substitute many ingredients with great results, such as artichoke hearts, lettuce, fresh or roasted bell peppers, garlic in any form, arugula (if you can find it), pesto, tomato sauce, onions chopped or stripped, pickled Italian veggies, smoked  salmon, anchovies, prosciutto(!), diced red cabbage, parmesan or romano cheese, roasted asparagus tips, zucchini, mushrooms, etc. 

I have been known to sprinkle on a little of the pre-mixed Alexander's Bread Dip Seasoning at the end, and it works great.  

You can even add a fried egg on top, serve it around 11:00 AM some lazy, overcast Saturday morning, and call it “Brunchetta for Two.”  Ouch.

This is a really fast, easy, and good recipe.  To insure success every time, just be sure to use fresh ingredients where possible, good bread, and the best olive oil that you can afford. Also, part of what seems to make this work so well every time is that no single ingredient is allowed to overpower another. It is the combination of the subtle savory flavors, harmonized by the olive oil and toasted bread that makes it so delicious.

The good stuff.