tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91584370084008485312024-02-07T23:19:24.726-06:00The Sequoia FarmItems of interest, mostly dealing with philosophy, politics, Christianity, or what-have-you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger302125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-76059717824426786082014-09-30T00:35:00.000-05:002014-09-30T00:35:00.742-05:00"This is Water"David Foster Wallace on deciding how to see the people around you.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-75761936318860292022014-08-11T19:00:00.000-05:002014-08-11T19:00:03.641-05:00Ancient HistoryHistorian Philip Jenkins on events in Iraq:<br />
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"We often read of the birth and growth of churches, very rarely of their deaths. In Mosul, however, we may be seeing the end of an astounding example of Christian continuity that lasted nearly two millennia."</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2014-07/leaving-nineveh" target="_blank">Full article...</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-55996333383776154982014-07-12T23:59:00.000-05:002014-09-30T00:33:26.455-05:00The Last PhotoIvan Cash asks people near Auburn, Alabama, to tell about the last photo on their phone:<br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/95023516">Last Photo - Alabama</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/ivancash">Ivan Cash</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-14431722364861755462014-06-30T21:54:00.001-05:002014-06-30T21:54:10.177-05:00Behind the CurveA beginner-level introduction to elliptic curve cryptography (which is what will be keeping your information safe online for the immediate future). Nick Sullivan:<br />
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"Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is one of the most powerful but least understood types of cryptography in wide use today. An increasing number of websites make extensive use of ECC to secure everything from customers' HTTPS connections to how they pass data between data centers. Fundamentally, it's important for end users to understand the technology behind any security system in order to trust it. To that end, we looked around to find a good, relatively easy-to-understand primer on ECC in order to share with our users. Finding none, we decided to write one ourselves."</blockquote>
<a href="http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/10/a-relatively-easy-to-understand-primer-on-elliptic-curve-cryptography/" target="_blank">Full article...</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-89405922192269491142014-06-16T23:28:00.003-05:002014-06-16T23:28:45.949-05:00Web TypographyAn excellent introduction to various principles of typography and how they relate to web design. Richard Rutter adapts Robert Bringhurst's <i>The Elements of Typographic Style</i> to a web context. If you do any CSS work at all, you have got to check this out.<br />
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<img src="
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Link: <a href="http://webtypography.net/" target="_blank">webtypography.net</a> ...<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-55497293958170820292014-06-10T17:00:00.000-05:002014-06-10T17:00:04.560-05:00That's no moon..."How to Identify that Light in the Sky", a handy flowchart from NASA:<br />
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<a href="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1406/astronomy101_hk_750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1406/astronomy101_hk_750.jpg" style="max-width: 90%;" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140609.html">Source...</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">ht: Jay Ryan (<a href="https://twitter.com/JayRyanAstro">@JayRyanAstro</a>)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-53813734592139480462014-05-08T18:00:00.000-05:002014-05-08T18:00:00.741-05:00And yet so far away...A few quotes from recent reading on the subject of falling short:<br />
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"There will always be a gap between who we are and who we want to be." — Todd Pickett<br />
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"We have met the enemy, and they are partly right." — Tony Campolo<br />
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"That we act different in private than in public is everyone's most conspicuous experience, it is the very ground of the life of the individual. Yet curiously this obvious fact remains unconscious, unacknowledged [...]" — Milan Kundera<br />
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"Sin is not the worse thing in the world. The worse thing in the world is the denial of sin." — Fulton SheenUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-7349010137357624282014-04-30T17:00:00.000-05:002014-04-30T17:00:01.646-05:00DC area in a sentence"The place always makes me feel 15 minutes late, even when I'm early."<div>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
— Mike Rowe, on Washington, D.C.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-58825100109367824132014-04-21T18:00:00.000-05:002014-04-21T18:00:03.162-05:00Quote PackAn assorted bunch of quotes I've come across in the last week:<br />
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<br />
"The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law."<br />
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— Frédéric Bastiat<br />
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"Where orthodoxy is optional, orthodoxy will sooner or later be proscribed."</div>
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— Richard John Neuhaus<br />
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"Just because something bears the aspect of the inevitable one should not, therefore, go along willingly with it." </div>
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— Philip K. Dick<br />
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"[W]hen the officials trusted to execute law faithfully violate laws regularly, they lose their presumption of legitimacy."</div>
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— Andrew McCarthy<br />
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"Consequences that are not sufficiently painful or sufficiently scary aren’t consequences[.]"</div>
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— Jonah Goldberg</div>
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"A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure."</div>
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— usually attributed to Lee Segal (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segal%27s_law" target="_blank">Segal's Law</a>)</div>
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</div>
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</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-81118901052618814182014-04-14T21:30:00.000-05:002014-04-14T21:30:00.240-05:00Quote Grab Bag"When people lose sight of the proper objects of religious passion, they do not necessarily lose their religious instincts. Many will fill that hole in their soul with things of this world."<br />
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— Jonah Goldberg</div>
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[On Postmodernism:] "We should not be surprised at your inability to stand if your argument is that you have no legs."</div>
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— Douglas Wilson</div>
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"In America the young are always ready to give to those who are older than themselves the full benefits of their inexperience."</div>
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— Oscar Wilde</div>
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"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."</div>
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— George Orwell</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-35424611942993793242014-04-07T21:33:00.000-05:002014-04-07T21:33:01.247-05:00Is it not a little one?"Nonsense tolerated anywhere will metastasize, and the results are always ugly. 'When the people have got used to unreason they can no longer be startled at injustice.'"<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;">
— Douglas Wilson (that last bit from Chesterton)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-46831181128804286342014-03-18T15:22:00.001-05:002014-03-18T15:22:36.173-05:00TemblorThis word has bothered me for years. It seems like every reporter writing up an earthquake feels compelled to use it, even though no one else in the world (for the most part) ever does. I always chalked it up to news editors and their seemingly insanely over-the-top desire for "snappy" writing. Finally, someone has run the numbers:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"A quick search on Mark Davies’ <i>Corpus of Contemporary American English</i> shows that <i>temblor</i> occurs just over twice as often in newspaper writing as in magazine writing, and more than three times as frequently in newspaper writing as in fiction."</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.arrantpedantry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/temblor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.arrantpedantry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/temblor.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.arrantpedantry.com/2011/06/28/temblor-trouble/" target="_blank">Full article...</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-55448536604578159502014-03-08T12:36:00.000-06:002014-03-08T12:36:00.131-06:00Walking across Lake ErieOne guy's account of walking across Lake Erie in the winter (which is apparently a thing some people do):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"A half mile north of the island, I passed a cluster of ice fishing shacks which could probably have incorporated as a city. Snowmobile tracks were everywhere, and I could make out a few old cars sitting by themselves out on the ice, perhaps waiting for a watery spring burial. A jeep with four people in it pulled up alongside me, and the driver asked me if I'd seen Fred. 'I don't even know Fred,' I said, and off he drove."</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.clevelandmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=E73ABD6180B44874871A91F6BA5C249C&nm=Arts+%26+Entertainemnt&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Article&mid=1578600D80804596A222593669321019&tier=4&id=F7EDF6A7B6D84F49A1E779944EB21132" target="_blank">Full article ...</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-28966249127167627022014-03-06T12:30:00.001-06:002014-03-06T12:30:03.684-06:00The most important thing."Foreign policy is the art of establishing priorities."<br />
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— Henry Kissinger</div>
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Protip: you can replace "foreign policy" with "dealing with others".</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-86414212811566374672014-03-03T18:05:00.000-06:002014-03-03T18:06:24.136-06:00In Spots"What do you make of [life]? Pretty odd in spots, don't you think?"<br />
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-- P.G. Wodehouse</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-3740896089933723892014-02-14T17:32:00.000-06:002014-02-14T17:32:00.556-06:00Fallback"Assume that your plans are wrong."<br />
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— Seth Godin</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-38694147460556641982014-02-07T17:32:00.000-06:002014-02-07T17:32:05.960-06:00Not hearers only."If you've done something with what you've learned, then maybe you know it."<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;">
— Seth Godin</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-49863713686758118382014-01-26T10:00:00.000-06:002014-01-26T10:00:02.055-06:00Democratic Gospel Theory"Woodberry's results essentially suggested that 50 years' worth of research on the rise of democracy had overlooked the most important factor."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/january-february/world-missionaries-made.html?paging=off" target="_blank">Read more at CT...</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(ht: Douglas Wilson)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-40909107132850676002014-01-18T10:00:00.000-06:002014-01-18T10:00:04.985-06:00Why read old books?"Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books."<br />
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— C.S. Lewis</div>
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<br />
<a href="http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2014/01/17/c-s-lewiss-argument-against-the-strange-idea-that-you-should-read-only-modern-books/" target="_blank">More context from Lewis here (via Justin Taylor)...</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-71782168425886674132014-01-13T22:29:00.005-06:002014-01-13T22:29:49.527-06:00w/ your name on it"You don't simply perceive something that is statically present, but in fact there is a visionary quality to all experience. It means something because it is addressed to you."<br />
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— Marilynne Robinson</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-2314562003830023742014-01-02T01:24:00.001-06:002014-01-02T01:24:47.482-06:002013 Year-In-Review<div style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
<p>Another year, another year-in-review. This is more for me than it is for you, but you're welcome to look over my shoulder while I take a look back at the things that stood out to me about 2013.</p>
<h2 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: black; font-size: large; text-transform: none;"><b>Events</b></h2>
<ul>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0168e4a1bb17970c-800wi" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline-block; float: right; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0168e4a1bb17970c-800wi" width="200" /></a>
<b>Personal. </b> 2013, in retrospect, was marked by transition in my personal life. I got a different job (or rather, was assigned to a new contract within the same company), a different vehicle, a different apartment, and even (for the first time) a different official address. I switched from teaching very young children at church back to teaching junior high kids (that may be the most jarring transition of all). You would think, after all that change, and more, that I'd feel completely different, but I don't. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Alphonse_Karr">Mr. Karr</a> was right: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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<p style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OthFo6kgNULygXs8FRs7wOy9l9_HxB7OpXjufao2_z54zMnTJBmESNBlIuHJdlcbLzreYVes5aMdGwLWBZ9CsinQn-iC4jSkXU9NY9gKGX1IuxnrG78EmGUA53TpfRrixkkqr4nsMcQ/s1600/nsa+spying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline-block; float: right; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OthFo6kgNULygXs8FRs7wOy9l9_HxB7OpXjufao2_z54zMnTJBmESNBlIuHJdlcbLzreYVes5aMdGwLWBZ9CsinQn-iC4jSkXU9NY9gKGX1IuxnrG78EmGUA53TpfRrixkkqr4nsMcQ/s320/nsa+spying.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<b>At-large.</b> As for the wider world, you'll see plenty of recaps on other sites. The main story that held my attention throughout the year was the whole NSA domestic spying scandal, precipitated by the actions of Edward Snowden. What was revealed confirmed what many of us in the tech. industry had been saying for a long time, but went beyond that to show that the situation was much, much worse than anybody had thought. The documented facts of the matter quickly caught up to even the wildest speculation and also managed to best some insane conspiracy theories. A lot is still coming out, and much remains to be sorted out politically. People are going to have to come to a decision about what kind of society we want to be ... and soon. As far as technology is concerned, the path forward toward a restoration of privacy is pretty clear: minimum trust, maximum encryption. What that will look like in practice remains to be seen. Technologies like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy" target="_blank">PGP</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrueCrypt" target="_blank">TrueCrypt</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-perfect-forward-secrecy-20863" target="_blank">Perfect Forward Secrecy</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/05/tor-beginners-guide-nsa-browser" target="_blank">Tor</a>, and various <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_No_One" target="_blank">TNO</a> encrypted communications solutions will make it much harder to continue the slide toward a surveillance state. If you don't know how to secure your own communications, now might be a good time to take your IT guy out to lunch.
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</ul>
<h2 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: black; font-size: large; text-transform: none;"><b>Literature</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately, I had less time for reading in 2013, but I did manage to get through a few items:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://aleheads.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/judah-maccabee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline-block; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="http://aleheads.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/judah-maccabee.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<i style="font-weight: bold;">Antiquities of the Jews. </i>In preparation for teaching several Wednesday nights at church on the inter-testamental period, I read (most of) Flavius Josephus's history covering that period. It was filled with interesting bits and pieces that bridge the gap between the end of the Old Testament and the start of the New. Every other page is a "Oh, so that's why that's like that..." moment. I also read <i>I Maccabees </i>as part of this study, and found it very helpful. I regard it as a true account, though still deuterocanonical (if only just).
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>The Elect Lady.</i></b> I've read a fair amount of George MacDonald's work before, but this was my first time reading some of his non-fantasy writing. This book turned out to be <a href="http://thesequoiafarm.blogspot.com/2013/04/q194-elect-lady.html" target="_blank">unbelievably</a> <a href="http://thesequoiafarm.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-elect-lady-ii.html" target="_blank">quotable</a>.
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<p style="text-align: justify;">
<i><b>All Things Considered.</b></i> G.K. Chesterton's writing is about a century old now, but it still sounds like it was written for this morning's paper. This work (which, to be honest, I'm still not quite finished reading) is a collection of columns he wrote on various subjects — all still relevant in one way or another. It also proved to be ten <a href="http://thesequoiafarm.blogspot.com/2013/08/chesterton-all-things-considered.html" target="_blank">pounds</a> of <a href="http://thesequoiafarm.blogspot.com/2013/12/chesterton-atc2.html" target="_blank">quotes</a> in a five pound bag.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Zechariah.</i></b> I've read the book of Zechariah before, and it may well be my favorite book of the Bible, but this year, I had to teach it, verse by verse, and word by word. I had to research the historical, cultural, and geopolitical context, as well as do quite a lot of translation from Greek and Hebrew. As a result, I found unbelievable depth in the text and got a better picture of the unity of voice between the Old and New Testaments. It's one of those bits of the Bible that is often just ignored, or quoted in soundbite, but that really is (in my opinion) a shame.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
There were other bits and pieces to chew on during the year. I listened to a lot of podcast readings of short stories. Among them was my first introduction to the work of <b>H.P. Lovecraft</b>, with which I was duly impressed. I'll also be following up with <b>Italo Calvino</b> after hearing one of his stories read. I read (and enjoyed) a short piece by <b>David Foster Wallace</b>, who I've often heard praised, and I started reading through a collection of rabbinical quotes called <i><b>Pirkei Avot</b></i> (or, as my copy titles it: "Sayings of the Jewish Fathers").
</p>
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</ul>
<h2 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: black; font-size: large; text-transform: none;"><b>Music</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">2013 was quite a year for music, or at least the sort of music I like. I saw a couple of live performances (She & Him, Toad the Wet Sprocket), and purchased more albums than I have in quite some time. It was also something of "The Year of the Compilation Album", as we'll see below. As far as albums go, here are some notables to note:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Blitzen Trapper - <i>VII</i>.</b> Still (for my money) the best new band of this decade (new to me, that is). Eric Earley and the boys continue to draw on sources so broad that even Chuck Norris couldn't do <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFJeaAq5Mv4" target="_blank">the splits</a> between them: seventies rock and funk, country, bluegrass, blues, even West Coast rap from the 90's. All this while managing fairly thought-provoking lyrics that incorporate numerous references to Earley's Christian understanding, set in a world full of old prospectors, Indians, and Israelites. For starters, check out "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UOoehCjxjc" target="_blank">Shine On</a>", "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWbKrhqufU8" target="_blank">Thirsty Man</a>", and "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p6J_2oy1RQ" target="_blank">Valley of Death</a>", but for pure feel-good, it's hard to beat "Don't Be a Stranger":
</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe border="0" height="25" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/woS3DEC1p1o?rel=0" width="300" style="border: 0px;"></iframe>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Toad the Wet Sprocket - <i>New Constellation</i>.</b> I think TTWS was one of the best bands of the 90's, and I'm glad to see them back. So glad, in fact, that I was a participant in their Kickstarter campaign to fund this album, and went to see them live when they came through. Have a listen to "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvL62ib1vsA" target="_blank">California Wasted</a>" (acoustic, non-album version), "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z109xdNRa50" target="_blank">Golden Age</a>" (also not the album version), and "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyeKHoPwg3Y" target="_blank">Life Is Beautiful</a>", but the best version of the title track isn't on the album, but was recorded at a seemingly impromptu acoustic session:
</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="25" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NSZWFvKzY2Q?rel=0" width="300" style="border: 0px;"></iframe>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Inside Llewyn Davis</i> (Soundtrack).</b> Chris Thile. Justin Timberlake. Marcus Mumford. Folk Music. T-Bone Burnett. Buy it. Buy it quickly, before they take it back.
</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="25" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SQyPVBtLXk0?rel=0" width="300" style="border: 0px;"></iframe>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Divided & United: Songs of the Civil War</i> (Compilation).</b> Another project with connections to T-Bone Burnett. Pretty much everybody you'd want on board, from Loretta Lynn, to Chris Thile, to Steve Earle, Jorma Kaukonen, OCMS, Carolina Chocolate Drops, etc., etc. I can't imagine how they got everyone to agree to this, but they did. So many good songs (<a href="http://gardenandgun.com/article/first-listen-divided-united" target="_blank">listen to the whole thing here</a>), but this is probably my favorite:
</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe style="border: 0px;" height="70" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/117003465&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false" width="300"></iframe><br />
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>The Storm Is Passing Over</i> (Compilation).</b> Another surprisingly-good compilation, put together as a benefit for Hurricane Sandy. The whole album is available on a free / donation basis <a href="http://noisetrade.com/masonjarmusic/the-storm-is-passing-over-a-hurricane-sandy-benefit-album-from-mason-jar-music-friends" target="_blank">here</a>. Pretty much any sad song about flooding you've ever heard is on here, including this:
</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="25" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lRYo5zJ_gCc?rel=0" width="300" style="border: 0px;"></iframe>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Chris Thile - <i>Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 1.</i></b> Classical for people who don't really like classical. If you need a record to play on repeat while working, you won't find a better one.
</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="25" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wAUoI49Ndmk?rel=0" width="300" style="border: 0px;"></iframe>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Honorable Mention:</b> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue9lsHpGKd4" target="_blank">Shovels & Rope</a>; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZGn4LncY0g" target="_blank">J.D. McPherson</a>
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: black; font-size: large; text-transform: none;"><b>Other Media</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This is the category for anything that isn't a book or music. </p>
<div style="margin-left: 25px;">
<p><b>Movies</b></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Blockbusters. </b>As I've said before, I don't like comic books or comic-book-related things, but I usually end up going to see major comic book movies with friends who do like them, and 9 times out of ten, I end up enjoying them. This year, for whatever reason, I ended up seeing almost exclusively these kinds of movies. Among others, I saw <b><i>Iron Man 3</i></b>, <b><i>Man of Steel</i></b>, and the second Thor movie ("<b><i>Thor: The Dark World</i></b>"). This last one confused me to no end, as I very much disliked a number of things about the movie, but thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. Go figure.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I saw a few other movies along the way that were memorable. I had heard good things about <i style="font-weight: bold;">Moonrise Kingdom</i>, and they were all true. It's a classic <i>Romeo & Juliet </i>meets Noah story (I know, right?). I was also amused by a movie that I had somehow missed when it came out: <i style="font-weight: bold;">Kung Fu Hustle</i>. It pushes the boundaries of the genre so hard that there aren't really any boundaries left at all, and it has a good time doing it.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><b>TV</b></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I stayed fairly up-to-date on <i style="font-weight: bold;">The Walking Dead</i> throughout the year. Different people like that show in different ways. I enjoy it, not because of the darkness it portrays, but because of how it shows some of the characters, even in such darkness, trying to love and help each other, and salvage little bits of light. If you view it in the right way, it's a very hopeful show.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I also started watching <i style="font-weight: bold;">Breaking Bad</i> late in the year (don't tell me how it ends). It, by comparison, is not a very hopeful show at all. It (very expertly) shows how very little might be keeping the average person from becoming a real monster. Most interestingly (and accurately), out of all the wrong decisions they make, the show focuses on a lack of truthfulness as the main thing dragging the characters down that road. Lots of insight in the writing here.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Podcasts</b></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Most of my media consumption in 2013 came in the form of podcasts, which (stemming from my love of radio) is my favorite medium. The fact that you can listen to a podcast while you do something else doesn't hurt. I listen to all the big boys (<i style="font-weight: bold;">This American Life</i>, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Radiolab</i>, etc.), but I've expanded far beyond that. Notable on my list are: <i style="font-weight: bold;">Mysterious Universe</i>, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Stuff You Missed in History Class</i>, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Security Now!</i>, <i style="font-weight: bold;">The New Yorker Fiction Podcast</i><i>, and </i><i style="font-weight: bold;">The SFF Audio Podcast</i>, among many, many others, and I'm still picking up new ones to listen to. </p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><b>What-have-you</b></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In the web comic world, I kept up with Randall Munroe's excellect <i><b>xkcd</b></i>, and it's non-fiction-y spin-off <b><i>what if?</i></b>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p style="text-align: justify;">On Youtube, I followed several channels devoted to "science experiments" (or, in most cases, "seeing what would happen if..." would be more accurate): <i><b>Taofledermaus</b></i>, <i><b>CrazyRussianHacker</b></i>, and North Alabama's own <i><b>SmarterEveryDay</b></i>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; color: black; font-size: large; text-transform: none;"><b>Themata</b></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/One-balanced-rock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline-block; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/One-balanced-rock.jpg" width="200" /></a>
There isn't much to discuss as far as large themes that emerged for me this year. The best I could do would be to point to an overarching feeling of "unsettledness". As I've already mentioned, it seems like everything this year was in transition. Transition even popped up in my reading and study throughout the year, focused, as much of it was, on the inter-testamental period of Biblical history. The year wasn't especially remarkable, but it felt like it was stuck in a very unsteady state. One thing for sure about unsteady states: they collapse into something. It remains to be seen how things will settle out in the new year.
</p>
<br/><br/>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="25" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cYgJwVe6GM0?rel=0" style="border: 0px;" width="300"></iframe>
<br/><span style=" font-size: xx-small;">Peter Mulvey - "Shirt"</span><br /><br />
</div>
<p>As ever:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<i>"May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His divine countenance upon you and give you peace."</i>
</p>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-27482563304878517682013-12-19T02:30:00.000-06:002013-12-19T02:33:41.380-06:00Chesterton: ATC2G.K. Chesterton's <i>All Things Considered</i> is proving to be so quotable that I'll need 3 posts to hit the highlights. Here's #2:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>It is cheap to own a slave. And it is cheaper still to be a slave.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>I heard Mr. Will Crooks put it perfectly the other day: "The most sacred thing is to be able to shut your own door."</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>The woman's world is a small one, perhaps, but she can alter it.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>[T]here are some things that a man or a woman, as the case may be, wishes to do for himself or herself. He or she must do it inventively, creatively, artistically, individually—in a word, badly.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>It is the thing most common to humanity that is most veiled by humanity. It is exactly because we all know that it is there that we need not say that it is there.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>All persons, as far as I know, on this earth receive money for what they do; the only difference is that some people, like the Irish members, do it.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>The saints, the most exalted of human figures, were also the most local. It was exactly the men whom we most easily connected with heaven whom we also most easily connected with earth.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>I certainly should not know if a soldier's sash were on inside out or his cap on behind before. But I should know uncommonly well that genuine professional soldiers do not talk like Adelphi villains and utter theatrical epigrams in praise of abstract violence.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>But I do think that I am not exaggerating my own sagacity if I say that I should begin to suspect the doctor if on entering my room he flung his legs and arms about, crying wildly, "Health! Health! priceless gift of Nature! I possess it! I overflow with it! I yearn to impart it! Oh, the sacred rapture of imparting health!" In that case I should suspect him of being rather in a position to receive than to offer medical superintendence.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>And as long as one is loyal to something one can never be a worshipper of mere force. For mere force, violence in the abstract, is the enemy of anything we love. To love anything is to see it at once under lowering skies of danger.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>It would be the end of German soldiers to be affected by German philosophy.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>[I]nvalids (alone of all human beings) desire strength.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>Journalists do control public opinion; but it is not controlled by the arguments they publish—it is controlled by the arguments between the editor and sub-editor, which they do not publish.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>No educated man born of woman will be quite so absurd as the system that he has to administer. In short, we do not get good laws to restrain bad people. We get good people to restrain bad laws.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>Men always attempt to avoid condemning a thing upon merely moral grounds. If I beat my grandmother to death to-morrow in the middle of Battersea Park, you may be perfectly certain that people will say everything about it except the simple and fairly obvious fact that it is wrong.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>[T]he modern world will not insist on having some sharp and definite moral law, capable of resisting the counter-attractions of art and humour, the modern world will simply be given over as a spoil to anybody who can manage to do a nasty thing in a nice way.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>[T]he vulgar man is always the most distinguished, for the very desire to be distinguished is vulgar.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>At no English public school is it even suggested, except by accident, that it is a man's duty to tell the truth. What is suggested is something entirely different: that it is a man's duty not to tell lies. So completely does this mistake soak through all civilisation that we hardly ever think even of the difference between the two things. When we say to a child, "You must tell the truth," we do merely mean that he must refrain from verbal inaccuracies. But the thing we never teach at all is the general duty of telling the truth, of giving a complete and fair picture of anything we are talking about, of not misrepresenting, not evading, not suppressing, not using plausible arguments that we know to be unfair, not selecting unscrupulously to prove an ex parte case, not telling all the nice stories about the Scotch, and all the nasty stories about the Irish, not pretending to be disinterested when you are really angry, not pretending to be angry when you are really only avaricious. The one thing that is never taught by any chance in the atmosphere of public schools is exactly that—that there is a whole truth of things, and that in knowing it and speaking it we are happy.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>[H]is righteousness would be more effective without his refinement.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>We are justified in enforcing good morals, for they belong to all mankind; but we are not justified in enforcing good manners, for good manners always mean our own manners.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>Precisely because our political speeches are meant to be reported, they are not worth reporting.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>Journalism is popular, but it is popular mainly as fiction. Life is one world, and life seen in the newspapers another; the public enjoys both, but it is more or less conscious of the difference.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>Physical science is like simple addition: it is either infallible or it is false.</i></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 20px;"><i>The paradox of courage is that a man must be a little careless of his life even in order to keep it.</i></li>
</ul>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-17818331920922496482013-12-08T19:00:00.000-06:002013-12-08T19:00:00.891-06:00♥2♥"There is a Future! O, thank God!<br />
Of life this is so small a part!<br />
'Tis dust to dust beneath the sod;<br />
But there, up there, 'tis heart to heart."<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
— from "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorena_(song)">Lorena</a>" by Henry Webster </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
(<a href="https://soundcloud.com/ato_records/del-mccoury-lorena">listen to Del McCoury's rendition</a>)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-80051054598475135112013-12-07T18:07:00.000-06:002013-12-07T18:07:00.290-06:00Mo' Problems"[W]hile greater knowledge is a greater burden, we should still get wisdom. We should grow, knowing that our burden will grow with us." <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
— N.D. Wilson</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158437008400848531.post-43386864070748594132013-12-06T20:00:00.000-06:002013-12-06T20:00:02.380-06:00Beta Testing"[W]hen we refuse to acknowledge Him here and now, the end result is that we start building little prototypes of Hell in order to test drive them."<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
— Douglas Wilson</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0