May 2007
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A Speculation on Pentecost Today at Mass I had a brief glimpse of what Pentecost might have been like. Two men sitting behind me were annoying me with loud muttering, loud enough to be distracting but not quite loud enough to be understood. Then as the homily began I heard quite clearly one of them…
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Joe Satriani: Flying in a Blue Dream This one is probably of interest mainly to lovers of flash guitar, but to these it offers a lot. Satriani is by reputation one of the wizards, and there’s plenty here to justify the reputation. I didn’t find it particularly appealing at first listen, and if not for…
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How very pleasant to say that! As a southern white male Christian I don't get many opportunities for it. Sadly, though, I'm only a victim of my own stupidity. I am having massive self-inflicted computer problems. I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say that I know how Wile E. Coyote feels…
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…it sounds like this. (Click the "Listen" buttons.) (Who or what is Cthulhu? Click here.) Pre-TypePad http://js-kit.com/for/lightondarkwater.com/comments.js
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That Longing Which The Aeroplane Cheats …the longing for the noiseless, gracious, economical flight of a bird, that longing which the aeroplane cheats, except in rare moments, seen high and by wind and distance noiseless, turning in the sun…. —Tolkien, “On Fairy Stories” Ok, it’s official: I hate to fly. That’s what I was thinking…
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Au Revoir Simone: Verses of Comfort, Assurance, and Salvation This slight (28 minutes) but memorable album (or EP) is the work of three girls who sing in sweet unaffected voices backed by slightly old-fashioned-sounding synthesizers and drum machines. The effect may be intended as nostalgic, a supposition strengthened by the “wah-ah-ahh”s and “ooo-wah”s in…
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I'm about to go out of town till Sunday and am not taking my laptop with me. I may have the opportunity here or there to get online, or I may not. So if you email me or leave a comment for me, you may not hear back until Sunday or Monday. Also, in case…
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A Permanent Culture War? About one in six Americans have changed their religious identity at some point in their lives….. Boston University’s Peter Berger notes that “modernity in its essence means an enormous change in the human condition, from fate to choice” and that such switching is inevitable. (“Religion in America,” Touchstone, April 2007) That…
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I've been predicting for a while now that the tattoo fashion would lead to a profitable trade in tattoo removal. My parents had a collection of cartoons from Punch that gave me many hours of pleasure in my youth. I think it was there that I saw one which has come to mind often since…
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Miles Davis: Miles Ahead One of my perpetual complaints is the treatment of the 1950s in popular lore, in journalism and entertainment. The way some of these people talk, you’d think they really do not understand that Ozzie and Harriet and Leave it to Beaver were sitcoms, not documentaries, the silly pap of their time…
Light On Dark Water 