New blog home

I've moved this blog over to WordPress for the time being. I like the format over there, and it's got some useful stuff. All the old posts will be over there, everything is pretty much the same.

New Blog: http://cruxdecussata.wordpress.com/

Also, a new photoblog: http://imagodrei.wordpress.com/
(Get the pun in that title? Dei? Dre? Drei? HAWHAWHAWHAW)

Ora et Labora

This is something I've always thought about doing, but have never done until now. I've created a modified version of the monastic hours, the cycle of daily prayer as laid out in the Rule of Saint Benedict, a system for monastic life, written by Benedict of Nursia in the 5th or 6th century. Of course, because I have school and am not able to sit around a pray all day(although that would be nice), I've had to change things around a bit.

The Hours

I. Matins: 6:00 AM
II. Prime: 7:00 AM
III. Terce : 8:00 AM
IV. Sext: 9:30 AM
V. None: 12:30 PM
VI. Vespers: 5:00 PM
VII. Compline: 8:00 PM
VIII. Vigils: 10:00 PM

Song of the Week

"Vietnow" by Rage Against the Machine

Typical Rage song, politically charged raps and lots of choice words from our friend Zack de la Rocha, but that's just RATM for you. It's catchy, I like it. Good drum fills, too.

A Theology for Quitting Tobacco

So, I'm a tobacco consumer. I hesitate to use the term "smoker," since that conjures up images of me as a twitchy, gaunt individual who takes smoke breaks at work and can be found incessantly burning cigarettes whilst standing next to an ashtray outside various buildings. But yeah, I smoke pipes, I smoke cigars, so in the loosest sense of the word, yes, I'm a smoker. Having said that, there is another fact which must be put forth, something which others have mentioned to me. There are a lot of women out there who do not like tobacco. Some may not like the smell, the smoke, the health concerns, or all three. "Andrew, you bold de Bergeracian bachelor," I hear you ask, "what will you do if you happen to marry a woman who absolutely despises smoking? Will you give up your briar?" In a word, yes. (Did you see that, ladies?) But lest you think that I would merely change my behavior at a moment's notice, simply because it is distasteful in the eyes of women, I shall present to you a theological reason behind such a declaration. You see, in the bond of marriage, there is the dynamic of mutual sacrifice, even the sacrifice of your control over your own physical existence. In his first epistle to the Corinthians Paul tells us that "the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." Now, this could mean a number of different things, but here I'm applying it to tobacco. By smoking a pipe or a cigar, I am, in effect, putting tobacco into her property, that is to say, my body. I think this same principle can be applied to alcohol, diets, exercise, or anything else, really. And so that is why if my wife asks me to stop smoking, I'll do it.

Scotland, I will buy your wares.

The Scots are taking the Lockerbie Bomber issue way too seriously, if you ask me. Harris Tweed, one of Scotland's leading tweed manufacturers, has actually decided to alter their advertising for fear that al-Megrahi's release would somehow poison American buyers against Scottish products. Now, of course there are idiots out there who would refuse to buy Scottish, I mean, let's all recall the "freedom fries" incident. That was pretty stupid. The Scots didn't do anything to hurt us, everyone, just chill out. People emailed Walker's Shortbread, expressing their anger and displeasure. Walker's. Freaking. Shortbread. Really? "Well, your government released a prisoner that I don't like, so, as an act of protest, I refuse to buy your cookies." Hey, it's your loss, those things are unbelievably tasty. More for me!

"Immer zu! Immer zu!"

In my voice lessons I'm working on a setting of Goethe's poem "Rastlose Liebe" by Schubert. It's Goethe, so of course it's dramatic. Here 'tis:

Dem Schnee, dem Regen,
Dem Wind entgegen,
Im Dampf der Klüfte
Durch Nebeldüfte,
Immer zu! Immer zu!
Ohne Rast und Ruh!

Lieber durch Leiden
Möcht ich mich schlagen,
Als so viel Freuden
Des Lebens ertragen.

Alle das Neigen
Von Herzen zu Herzen,
Ach, wie so eigen
Schaffet das Schmerzen!

Wie soll ich fliehen?
Wälderwärts ziehen?
Alles vergebens!
Krone des Lebens,
Glück ohne Ruh,
Liebe, bist du!

And again, in a very literal English:

To the snow, to the rain
To the wind opposed,
In the mist of the ravines
Through the scent of fog,
Always on! Always on!
Without rest and peace!

I would rather through suffering
Fight myself,
Than so many joys
Of life endure.

All the inclining
Of heart to heart,
Ah, how curiously
that creates pain!

Where shall I flee?
To the forest move?
All in vain!
Crown of life,
Happiness without peace,
Love, are you!

Sad Truth

Ok, so if you read this post or this post, you'll see where this one is coming from. I recently bought Metallica's self-titled album on iTunes. I'm not really your typical Metallica listener, and I like different songs for different reasons. But all that aside, here is yet another poignant depiction of the human condition in Metallica's music.

Sad But True, by Metallica

"Hey, I’m your life,
I’m the one who takes you there.
Hey, I’m your life,
I’m the one who cares.
They, they betray
I’m your only true friend now.
They, they’ll betray,
I’m forever there.

I’m your dream, make you real,
I’m your eyes when you must steal,
I’m your pain when you can’t feel.
Sad but true.

I’m your dream, mind astray,
I’m your eyes while you’re away,
I’m your pain while you repay,
You know it’s sad but true, sad but true.

You, you’re my mask,
You’re my cover, my shelter.
You, you’re my mask,
You’re the one who’s blamed.
Do, do my work,
Do my dirty work, scapegoat.
Do, do my deeds,
For you’re the one who’s shamed.

I’m your dream, make you real,
I’m your eyes when you must steal,
I’m your pain when you can’t feel.
Sad but true.

I’m your dream, mind astray,
I’m your eyes while you’re away,
I’m your pain while you repay,
You know it’s sad but true, sad but true.

I'm your dream,
I'm your eyes,
I'm your pain.

You know it's sad but true.


Hate, I’m your hate,
I’m your hate when you want love.
Pay, pay the price.
Pay, for nothing’s fair.

Hey, I’m your life,
I’m the one who took you there.
Hey, I’m your life,
And I no longer care.

I’m your dream, make you real,
I’m your eyes when you must steal,
I’m your pain when you can’t feel.
Sad but true.

I’m your truth, telling lies,
I’m your reasoned alibis,
I’m inside open your eyes,
I’m you.

Sad but true."

The Whole Truth

There are many different theories as to what determines the course of history. Empires? Men of greatness? Movements, social change, war, economics? The ways in which one can approach the past are virtually limitless. However, these theories, when taken apart from the true Prime Mover of time and space, are utterly meaningless. History is not solely determined by great men or the conditions in which men find themselves, but by God. The motivations of humanity and the workings of the past can all be explained and properly interpreted when the corruption of man is recognized and the redemptive providence of God is applied and used as the lens through which we examine the annals of history. In my historiography class, we discussed the issue of the Whole versus the Partial, the Whole being the entirety of history, with all its depth and infinite complexity, whereas the Partial is far more limited, being only one piece of the puzzle. A particular historian may be an expert on one aspect of the Partial, giving incredible detail and expounding upon various minutiae, but without an understanding of the Partial within the context of the Whole, history cannot be fully interpreted. To understand the Whole, we need the Truth. How did history begin? Why do things happen the way that they do? Where does the Whole originate? As Christians, we recognize that God, the Creator, is the Prime Mover, the one who governs all and directs the world according to his perfect will. He is the Truth, the source from which flows all other truth. Without the Truth and our acceptance of our position in history as fallen creatures, we miss a vital piece of the puzzle. God is the key to understanding history. Without him, history is worthless.

Song of the Week

"Hell" by Squirrel Nut Zippers

This is a fun song. That's all, really. Just listen to it. You'll see. Trust me.

A Complex Complex

Y'know... Napoleon wasn't all that short. He was only 5'6", which was actually pretty average for the time. Current French president Nicolas Sarcozy is actually an inch shorter at 5'5". I think Bonaparte's height gets exaggerated to a certain degree. Anywho, I thought that was an interesting fact. Yaaaay.

An Open Letter

To all the illiterate morons posting comments to my British accents video on YouTube: You can't justify whatever drivel you decide to post by saying "I'm British." You need to read this: http://xkcd.com/481/ The humorous thing is that YouTube actually has that feature now. (Thank you, XKCD.) Also, "lol" doesn't count as an actual comment. Thank you.

Sincerely,
The Rev. Dr. Dre

P.S. Yeah, I lied about that real post stuff.

P.P.S. Crap, I'm out of cigars.

The Boy Who Cried "Fire"

The day that I catch fire and start burning alive, no one will believe me. Such is my life.

Song of the Week

Sorry for all the micro-bloggery this month. A real post soon, I promise.

"Northwestern Girls" by Say Hi

Something I Have Realized

If I could go to my classes barefoot, I'd totally do it. That is all.

Song of the Week

"Evil" by Interpol

ALL RIGHT SCIENCE, THIS IS THE LAST STRAW

I DON'T CARE IF I GET CANCER, CANDLES ARE NOT A SODDING HEALTH RISK.

Song of the Week

"Prefers Unhappy Endings" by Say Hi To Your Mom.

Say Hi always has some good drum beats and oftentimes it's the drums that make the song. This is one of those songs. It just wouldn't be as good without those toms. Plus, this one has some really good synth in it as well, so it's probably one of my favourite Say Hi tracks.

An Observation Both Valid and Applicable

“Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object that is abused. Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we prohibit and abolish women? The sun, moon, and stars have been worshipped. Shall we pluck them out of the sky?” - Martin Luther

Long Term View of Afghanistan

This guy has the right idea when it comes to seriously helping Afghanistan. If attitudes like this are the ones guiding the future of Afghanistan, things will turn out a lot better for everyone involved and there won't be a return to a Taliban-like form of government.

"Don't make me stick a cigar in your P'Zone."

www.superpoop.com

Song of the Week

"I Gotcha" by Joe Tex.

Also, it's on the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack, so... there you go. Oh, and it was in a Dr. Pepper commercial, which is where I first heard it. I've got a nifty new 2.1 speaker system, so I've been making full use of its music playing capabilities. Wooo!

And then there were eight...

Coming to a theatre near you, from J.K. Rowling and the producers of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"... Witness the untold story of one wizard boy's journey... TO THE MIDDLE EAST, as Harry Potter and his magical pals join the WAR ON TERROR. In a whimsical world where anything is possible, one muggle is playing a dangerous game. And his time is up. OSAMAAAAA! The Ministry of Magic has summoned the Boy Who Lived... find Bin Laden... or DIE TRYING. Join director David Yates as the saga continues in: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZERBAIJAN!

"Dumbledore lives... and he's really, really pissed."

(This film has not yet been rated. In theatres 9/11/2009.)


[This post is intended for parody purposes only.]

Why I've Lost Interest in Arctic Monkeys

The Arctic Monkeys will never be the same. They suffer from something I call Multidimensional Music Syndrome, i.e., trying to actually put some depth into their work, and not just pleasing fans. I'll explain. Their first album, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not," was great. It was, for all practical purposes, a concept album. The songs were about being a bored teenager in Sheffield, where the band is from. Alex Turner, the Monkeys' frontman, is a very clever lyricist. He brought wit and charm to otherwise mundane tales of underage drinking, party-going, and the general sort of shenanigans that go along with being a wild teenager. It was really good! They turned out a really solid first album and became an instant success. Now, with such success comes a problem. Will they stick to the formula, or branch out? Most bands opt for the latter, even unintentionally, since duplicating such work is quite difficult, unless your style is extremely formulaic to begin with. So, the sophomore album was quite different. As with all bands, evolution is inevitable, and the changes that came with the second album were... well, different. Not so much "Riot Van," more like "Leave Before The Lights Come On." And that's ok, I mean, you can't stay still with your music for too long. But, personally, I liked the Monkeys that we met in the first album better. The second just didn't do for me. Their third album looks like it will continue down this road. The Kings of Leon did this, too. They went from raunchy Southern riffs to expansive arena rock, and it doesn't look like they're turning back. But, I like their new style all right, and their old stuff is still great, so it's all good. However, the Arctic Monkeys are moving towards some sort of psychedelic stylings, according to the band, which is just not the band that I was so enthused with three years ago. Some bands can pull off this transition well, namely, the Strokes. These sorts of garage rock groups begin with simpler songs, lyrics that are a bit more raw, both in topic and in structure, and then move on into more complicated instrumentation, deeper producing, a cleaner, more polished sound, and become more experienced in the studio. The Hives, the White Stripes, the Black Keys, and many other bands have gone through this. Most of these bands have been able to hold my interest throughout, but that really just isn't the case with Arctic Monkeys. But, that's ok, that's just how the band is, and they still have plenty of fans, so, that's all right by me.

Holy Crap

"On foot, or by the help of transportation..."

So I finally figured out what Royksopp's song "Remind Me" is all about. But hold up. Y'know that Geico commercial? The one with the caveman in the airport, standing on the moving walkway, carrying a tennis bag? Well, there's a song playing in that commercial, and that song is "Remind Me" by Royksopp. The song is a happy sounding one, but it's really a sort of strange, slightly sad song, and I thought it was interesting, so I'm going to talk about it. So the song is about this dude who was in England for a long time. He comes back home, pokes around a bit, and can't really remember why he wanted to come back so much. So, he travels across the city to where his friends live, only to discover that they don't actually live there anymore, a fact which he had forgotten while he was away. It's an interesting sort of lyric, even if it ends up being a bit glum.

This brings me to another point. There's a website called SongMeanings.net, and on this website, song lyrics are published, and users post comments about what they think the song means. Almost all of these comments are complete bull honkery. They start out in this fashion: "This song obviously contains deep meaning about relationships... blahblahblah, reading in metaphors, blahblahblah." They tried to turn "A-Punk" by Vampire Weekend into some sort of complicated love-saga! WTF, mate? Stop this nonsense! But, people on the internet will do what they will. Personally, I like to take songs at face value, as seen above.

You Fail at Latin

The other day, my mother, who works in our church's office, emailed me for some help with a Latin translation. There's a song in Latin being sung on Sunday, and she needed a translation to print in the worship folder. The text was Panis Angelicus:

Panis angelicus
Fit panis hominum;
Dat panis coelicus
Figures terminum;
O res mirabilis!
Manducat Dominum
Pauper, pauper
Servus et humilis.

I found a lot of sloppy translations. As a general rule, I hate English translations of Latin hymns. Oftentimes, liberties will be taken with word mean. For example, a number of translations take "panis angelicus" as "the bread of heaven," when the word for heaven is nowhere to be found in the text. Also, "coelicus" is translated as "heaven," when in reality it means "inhabitants of heaven." Clearly, this text is referring to heavenly beings, not merely heaven as a place. Furthermore, the phrase "dat figures terminum" is translated as "puts an end to symbols," which, for one thing, sounds really awkward. But I think there's some context that is missing. Number one thing I remember from Dr. Heckel's Latin I class: Context is king. "Figures" can also be translated as "forms." Ah, forms! Plato! The allegory of the cave! This is a foundational term in classical philosophy. In this context, Christ is the fulfillment of the prophets, the covenant, and, indeed, all creation. Earthly forms. The one redeeming factor in all of the translations I found is their treatment of "O res mirabilis." Well, thank God for that, I'd have been really worried, otherwise. O wonderful thing! Not too complicated. But now we run into some basic adjective/noun agreement issues. The next three lines are one sentence: "Pauper servus et humilis Dominum manducat." Pauper is the subject, servus and humilis are its modifying adjectives, Dominum is an accusative direct object, manducat is a verb, third person singular. For some ridiculous reason, somebody thought it would be proper to connect the adjectives with Dominum, like so: "The Lord becomes our food, poor, a servant, and humble." Now, although all of those adjectives can be used to describe our lord and saviour, and it might sound good in English, it is very, very bad Latin, given that both the adjectives are nominative, and Dominum is quite obviously accusative. Grrr. The intent of this text is to show that everyone, even the poor and humble, are able to partake of the Lord's body, the bread of angels, at the table. THAT is the wonderful thing mention earlier in the passage! So, after all that, here's my treatment of the passage.

The bread of angels
Becomes the bread of men;
The bread of the children of heaven
Gives an end to [earthly] forms.
O wonderful thing!
The poor man, the poor man,
Humble and servile,
Partakes of the Lord.

Latin nerd, away! *whoosh*

Fallen from the Means of Grace

It's stuff like this that is killing the Church in England and in Europe. Give an inch, and Europe's liberal atheist tendencies will take a mile. The level of importance that the modern Church places upon the sacraments is abysmal. The Lord's table is pushed to the margins of church life, covenant children are barred from partaking, baptism is viewed as a right of passage, rather than the sign and seal of God's grace, and Christian attitudes towards marriage are, on a broad scale, lazy at best. These are not rituals, these are not symbols. These sacraments are physical manifestations of God's power and grace in the lives of believers! Why would we skimp on that? It's ridiculous. The Church MUST strive to cultivate a deep respect the means of grace and take hold of them as her own.

Muir: It's like a swamp, only for English majors.

Blog blog bloggity blog.

The lightbulb in my room burned out last night. Rather than go through the effort of replacing it, I simply ran downstairs and got a candle. I can't decide if that's lazy or not.

For any Mac users reading, there's a really awesome launcher that I downloaded: Quicksilver. If you like being able to search your files, launch apps, or do pretty much anything on your Mac without a single mouse click, then check this out. It takes some getting used to, but it's pretty nifty.

I've bought another album by Say Hi To Your Mom, and I'm enjoying it. I've got three of their albums, and each one has some really great songs. I'll work my way through the entire catalogue, I'm sure. Another sort of interesting band is the Dead Weather. I'm a bit apprehensive about this one, since it's another of Jack White's non-White Stripes bands. There's a female singer this time, which is something new. I sort of wish Jack would step back and let someone else take control, since the Raconteurs has sort of become "Jack White's Other Band." I mean, there are definitely contributions being made from the other members, but it can't be denied that Jack's musical vision takes center stage. Hopefully this new project will shake things up a bit. OR... Radical idea here... the White Stripes could finish that tour they cancelled! GASP.

Time for some R.L. Burnside.

"You know my methods, Watson."

At ease, you worthless sons of mothers.

Well, hullo there, blog-reading public. Tonight, I am smoking my favourite pipe. In it, I have packed some tobacco which I purchased today. It's a Peterson blend called "Sherlock Holmes." I'm actually rather unimpressed. Holmes is probably the most well-known pipe-smoking fictional character, and I'm really not sure why they decided to name this tobacco after him. It smells absolutely wonderful, a really great liquorice sort of smell. But, sadly, the taste does not quite match its olfactory presence. I can tell that there's a lot of Burley in this blend. For one thing, it says so on the tin. But it's also rather bland in the taste department, which usually indicates Burley. Burley is a sort of filler tobacco, it doesn't have much flavour, and is pretty light. That's all well and good, but this blend just isn't doing it for me. It's not bad, I mean, it burns pretty well, and the volume of smoke is nicely consistent, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't smell good, but the taste just isn't anything special. Plus, it's got some bite to it right off the bat, which is a turn-off. Not that I mind a little pinch on the tongue, but I'd prefer to be smoking some punchy Latakia if I'm going to go down that road. If it's going to bite my tongue, I'd rather it have something pretty strong in the taste department to back it up. I won't try to quantify the actual taste, since that's pretty subjective territory. I'll give it a few more smokes and see if it grows on me. At least I've got it packed it my Bulldog, which never fails to produce a good smoke. A good English pipe, the way it should be.

As I mentioned before, I've been writing lesson plans for that church history study. I've gotten the first one finished. It covers the inter-testamental period, the rise of the Roman Empire, and sets the stage for the ministry of Christ. No small undertaking. Darius III, Philip II, Alexander the Great, Pompey, Julius Caesar, Augustus... lots of dates and dead people in this round. Next up is the aftermath following the Ascension and the struggles of the early church, namely the introduction of the Pauline gospel, and the conflict between Peter and Paul over the role of Jewish tradition in the life of the church. Heavy stuff. The early days were rough going. It makes one appreciate aspects of orthodox Christianity that we sometimes take for granted. If Peter and some of the more pharisaic factions within the church had won out, we'd all be eating Kosher hot dogs and celebrating Passover instead of eating ham for our Christmas dinner. Kind of makes you think a little harder about how things got to be the way they are. Everything wasn't spelled out at first, and our fathers had to exercise a great deal of discernment to figure out exactly how the followers of Christ should live, worship, and carry out the Micah Mandate. I'm really looking forward to researching this period in-depth. Wait, I get to do this sort of stuff as a career? Whoa, awesome!

What I Have Been Doing

So, the Summer of Dre drags on. And on. And on. In fact, if there's much more dragging, I'm going to have a very serious rug burn. But no matter. I shall continue in the next paragraph.

Ah, here we are. I'll now discuss some things that I have been up to this summer.

I. Being In Britain. I actually still need to post the transcript of my travel journal. I'll get that up tomorrow.

II. Not Being In Britain. As I expected, upon my return from the Isles, things went back to normal, and the good times ceased to roll, as it were. AND IT GOT REALLY, REALLY HOT. But, it's cool, I began the summer with a bang, and one cannot expect to have such excitement(or 60° weather) on a day-to-day basis. Woooooo.

III. Photography. I've been playing around with my F5 a lot. I really love that camera. Sad thing is, I can't find a photolab that does a really good job. Walgreens and CVS do all right, but their negative scans are at low resolution and cost way too much. Regardless, I'm improving my skills, and I've found a C-41 film that I really like, so it's all good.

IV. Watching Fresh Prince Late At Night With The Lad.

V. Writing. I've been working on some material for a church history study I'll be doing next semester. It's been good so far. I've still got a lot left to do, but I'm off to a good start. I'll probably talk about this more as things progress.

VI. Doing pushups. 100 per day. Wooo.

VI. Sleeping.

VII. Listening To Morrissey. I do this a lot. Whenever I get into my car, I usually pick either Morrissey or Say Hi, so it's a good bet that in the course of a typical day, I've listened to Morrissey at least once. Anyways, I really like Morrissey. Yep. It's good.

VIII. Making Espresso. Apparently, my cappuccinos aren't as terrible as I thought. Meh, who knew?

IX. Cooking Breakfast. I've gotten rather good at eggs. They're tasty, and they've got loads of protein. Yessssss.

X. Not Smoking My Pipe. It's too freaking hot. Unless I want to go outside to smoke at 2 AM. Which I have done. BUT STILL. TOO HOT.

So that's pretty much what I've been doing. The Summer of Dre drags on.

The British need to get out more.

So, apparently the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001 has gotten up to 184. According to the BBC, this makes Afghanistan the bloodiest conflict since the Falklands. 184? In almost nine years? That's a miracle, really. Of course, I understand that no one wants to see their countrymen die in war, but nonetheless, those numbers are on the modest side.

This is unreal.

The last 20 seconds are very sad indeed.

A Well-Respected Man About Town

I've found a most excellent website, The Chap Magazine, one which promote most excellent things, such as quality tailoring, pipe-smoking, and moustache-growing. The protest recounted here has got to be the best thing ever. I'm only sorry that I wasn't there to witness it.

Fallout from the Age of the 10,000 Commandments

Apparently saltires are racist. This is one of those completely ridiculous instances of political correctness. The saltire is the Scottish flag. It's a rather simple symbol, actually, just the cross of St. Andrew backed by a field of blue. But apparently it might be offensive to non-Scots? What? At the National Library of Scotland, no less. Now, I don't think that this is anything to get worked up over, but it is one of those dumb little situations that arises because of the faux egalitarian world that we live in.

"Spring-heeled Jim winks an eye..."

"Lord, what fools these mortals be..."

Ok, I have a problem, here. Where has my attention span gone? When I was 12, I could sit and read a book for an hour or two and be perfectly fine. Now, I feel like I'm having trouble focusing on things, whether it's reading, writing, or anything more engaging than reading a quick news story on my RSS reader. I'm not quite sure why this is. Maybe it's just a lack of personal discipline or something, or perhaps it's some sort of side effect of internet consumption.

On a different note, here's an interesting phenomenon. A lot of times, you'll hear(or read) something like, "Well, Shakespeare once said..." Blahdeblah, insert Shakespeare quote here. But, in pretty much all of those instances, the quote will be taken out of context. And, not only that, but the quote is attributed to Shakespeare, not Shakespeare's character, for Shakespeare always speaks in character, and never as himself. There's a difference, I think. You can't take something from one of his plays and then declare it wisdom and deep, profound truth simply because it's from a Shakespeare production. What if the particular bit of prose is said by a villain or an idiot? Perhaps then it is not so wise. Oh well. Another pet peeve of mine.

In Which Andrew Discusses How He Dislikes Camera Store Salespeople

Ok. So, today, I went out to buy a replacement for my broken 50mm lens. No big deal. I go to my local Wolf Camera first, in an attempt to save myself a trip downtown to the "real" camera store. I walk in, stand in front of the lens case, and look confused. I wasn't confused in the least, but that's the only way to get attention from salespeople. HONESTLY, WHY IS THAT? Anyways, I look confused, and, as I expected, a salesman who had just walked in the door a few minutes ago comes over, drinking a soda. Well, look who showed up for work bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I ask him if they have the lens I'm looking for. He quickly tells me that they're sold out. In fact, according to this gentleman, every place in town is sold out of this lens. Aha! I call your bluff, sir! I left the store and drove down to the "real" camera store downtown. Now, my problem with this place is that they've never got enough salespeople. I always have to stand around for 15 minutes while the staff work on selling retirees expensive cameras. I'll go on a tangent, here. [new paragraph]

Ahem. There are a lot of things people don't get about digital photography. Here's a big one: There are a lot of things that you really don't need. With digital photography comes a lot of jargon, and with jargon comes confused consumers who don't know what they're talking about and who can be easily talked into things by salespeople. A prime target is megapixels. Anyone who is doing normal, family reunion, annual ski vacation to Colorado-type photography doesn't need 12 megapixels. Megapixels only matter if you're going to make huge prints. I made a 20x30 print with a 10 megapixel camera, and it turned out fine. You can get almost that big with 6 megapixels, and you'll be all right. But just the same, people think that more megapixels = better camera. Not true. The guy in the store today sold an elderly couple a Nikon D60 rather than a D40 because "the benefits outweigh the cost." That's nonsense! Perhaps I'm being too picky, but every single time I am in that store, I see some older person buying an expensive digital camera with a telephoto lens that they really don't need! I have nothing against the older people buying the stuff, I just don't like how the salespeople use the obvious lack of knowledge on the part of their customer to pile onto the pricetag. For hundreds less, you could get a perfectly good camera and lens and be able to make great pictures. But I digress.

Point is, I have to wander around the store until the retirees have gotten all their questions answered, have had their money taken, and are out the door. Then, I can ask for the one little lens that I need and get the heck out. So, back to our story. I ask for the lens, and LO AND BEHOLD! It is in stock. Mr. Soda-drinking-camera-store-salesman, you misled me so that I wouldn't go to your competitor! You didn't even ask me if you could order one for me, or email me when you had the lens in stock. It was obvious you just didn't care about my business. So I had to go all the way downtown, stand in line for 15 minutes, and then drive all the way back home, just to get this stupid lens. Thank you, sir. I shall not frequent your store from now on. Good day.

I was pulling for Barnabas, personally.

"As it were that one would crucify Paul in order to redeem Peter." - 12th Century Latin Saying

"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." - George Bernard Shaw

"Blame me for robbing Peter, but don't you blame Paul." - Jack White

Look To The Right

Greetings, one and all, I only have eight minutes to write this, so I'll make it brief. (My internet card only has so much time on it, you see.) We've been in Oxford for the past two days, we took the walking tour this morning, which took us by all the various colleges, libraries, and other university buildings. We had lunch at the Eagle and Child, which was quite good. Tomorrow is Stratford and a performance of Julius Caesar. Once I get my hands on some postage stamps, postcards will be mailed. Cheers, all!

Dre

A Surprisingly Unsung Bard

I find this amusing, especially given our blatant lack of knowledge about the person generally known as William Shakespeare. Despite what the residents of Stratford-Upon-Avon would have you believe, we really don't know much about the playwright who crafted the body of work that is attributed to Shakespeare. So, I'm not sure anyone is in any sort of position to proclaim what Shakespeare would and would not approve of. That's like saying Homer would be totally down with violent, gory movies, simply because the Iliad features loads of descriptive violence, or that Robin Hood would support redistribution of wealth in modern society. (Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore...)

"He is on the hunt."

Ok, so I'm usually not into the 80's style of music, and I haven't been all that attracted to the Smiths in the past, but I thought I'd check out some music by Morrissey, the singer from the Smiths, who went on to pursue a solo career. So far, it's been interesting. I'm listening to his first solo album, Viva Hate. The one thing I like about him is that he isn't afraid to use ALL of his voice. He really sings, and sings pretty well. A lot of singers(and I use that term loosely) don't actually tap into the full potential of the human voice, which is just stupid. Morrissey actually sings in a way that sounds full and expansive, which is rare, at least, in my experience. Interesting stuff. Not exactly my usual fare, but a change of pace is always nice.

I've been playing around with my grandfather's old Yashica rangefinder camera, a Yashica Electro 35. I'm not used to the way rangefinders focus, so it's a little different, but I kind of like it. The lens does pretty well indoors, and can take good exposures(at least, according to the meter) without a flash. It's a really fun camera, and I'm glad I've been able to mess around with it a bit.

Leaving for Britain on Tuesday, more later.

Hail Blog, King of Bashan

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeeeeaaaah.

Anyways, hullo. I am currently preparing for my trip to the UK, which begins on June 2nd. Pretty awesome. I should probably be packing right now. Nah.

On a completely unrelated note, Ashton Kutcher will never be taken seriously. Ever. I cannot look at him without seeing one word blatantly plastered across his face: Kelso.

I've found a new band. Actually, it's not exactly a band. It's one of those deals where it's really only one guy who does the music and the recording, but he tours with some people who play all the instruments. Anyways, it's called Say Hi. It used to be called Say Hi To Your Mom, but the opportunity for "your mom" jokes must have been too tempting for some people, and the dude probably got pissed off and just changed the name. Something like that. I dunno. The sound is basically what you'd get if you took the Strokes, Death Cab For Cutie, and Conor Oberst, put them in a blender, pressed the "liquefy" button, and poured the resulting concoction into a frosty glass. The music is indie pop/rock of a pretty chill sort. Nothing completely mind-blowing, but it's nice to find some indie music that isn't overly angsty, doesn't take itself too seriously, and it's written by some guy wearing skinny jeans and a flamboyantly ridiculous tie. It's catchy, fun to listen to, and talks about cool stuff like vampires and robots and things. What's not to like?

YEEEEEAAAAAAH

The government is my friend

This is really sort of silly. So, to begin with, everyone is caught up in this notion that the internet is now where everything is happening. Putting things on the internet is the only way to everyone's attention, especially if you're talking about young people. The internet is where everyone gets their news, information, ideas, etc. Well, that's the premise, anyways. Political campaigns have recognized the usefulness of the internet as a more or less free source of advertising, and the most recent Presidential campaign saw the use of YouTube as a campaigning tool come into play. So, the United States government has seen fit to create a YouTube account. Look at this, it's crazy: USGovernment. They've got the EPA, FEMA, the White House, State Department, Social Security Administration, FBI, NASA, USDA... pretty much all manner of governmental alphabet soup organizations. Kind of silly if you ask me. YouTube will probably be on the out sometime in the next five years or so, and it will all be for naught.

Needless to say, I sent the U.S. Government a friend request.

An Open Letter to the Church in America

Brothers and Sisters:

We screwed up bad, guys. We've got some work to do.

Love,
Andrew

I don't think I need to comment on this.

Strange Times

You can always tell what a culture worships by its blasphemy laws, the things that you aren't allowed to say. Blasphemy laws in America, whether on the legal books themselves or merely stigma present in society, are turning against God's truth. That's all there is to it. America's god is not God. America's god is Man's ability to rebel against his creator. As someone who is studying to be a Christian educator, will be going to seminary, and possibly entering the ministry, these sorts of trends are scary because of the fact that within the next twenty years, certain aspects of my profession will almost certainly be criminalized on the federal level. This should be scary for all Christians, really. But even so, I welcome this turn of events. The church has always flourished under the rod of persecution, and this will be no exception. As America continues to descend into the pit of atheism and despair that Europe has fallen into, Christ Triumphant will make his church stronger than ever.

"Though there be those who hate her,
And false sons in her pale,
Against both foe or traitor
She ever shall prevail."

A Thought

I keep finding people whom I've met at school on Facebook, and these individuals say on their profiles that they are Christians. I would have never guessed from the way they act. This caused me to wonder. Could the same be true of me? This is a simple realisation, but it is a very serious one, and will no doubt give rise to circumspect reflection on my part. In fact, this is something for all Christians to consider, regardless of age or spiritual maturity. We must always be on our guard against assimilation.

"Give us those nice bright colours..."

I've finally ventured into the realm of film photography. My weapon of choice is the Nikon F5:

This camera is really awesome. The autofocus is insanely fast, the body has the durability of an ironclad war-elephant, and the shutter speeds are, like the autofocus, ridiculously speedy. It makes my D60 seem like a toy, it really does. I can honestly say that despite the slight inconvenience of developing film, I'd much rather pick up my F5 and shoot with that as opposed to my D60. The glass I've got on the F5 is a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D, which is a really great budget prime lens:

It does a good job in lower light conditions and gives me a lot more breathing room when it comes to shutter speeds. Also, the depth of focus is incredible. Shooting wide open at f/1.8, the background is completely blurred, leaving only the subject in focus. Really great stuff. I've already shot one roll of Fujichrome Velvia 100(Not Paul Simon material, apparently):

I'm going to get it developed tomorrow, so we'll see how it turns out. I'll have a digital CD made along with the prints, so I'll be sure to post the photos on here.

A House Divided Against Itself

BBC News

Some American Christians seem to think that things are getting worse for believers in this country. And while the United States is certainly not receptive to the Church and her ways as a whole, we are in paradise compared to Europe. An entire continent, which had once been the bulwark of Christian civilisation, has now been overcome by despair and atheism. When Christians in both Europe and the United States find themselves unable to take Biblical stances on issues like abortion and homosexuality, as the Church of Scotland is on the verge of doing, we are going to have problems. If Christians allow wholesale murder to continue on their very doorsteps, without saying a word against it, how can they expect to further Christ's kingdom? As for me, I will continue to pray for the church in Africa and Asia, because when our time comes, and our churches are in need, we will have brothers and sisters in those parts of the world that were once dark. We are not immune. American Christianity is a mile wide and only half an inch deep, European Christianity is under assault, and those places which we once ministered to are now beginning to reach out towards us. We must not concede ground. Even if our nation won't listen to us, we cannot conform. As long as portions of the Church are willing to give in to post-modernism, we, as the catholic, universal church, will not be able to move forward.

420

I don't get this at all. Do stoners need to make up an arbitrary excuse to get high? Wouldn't they just get high anyways? It's really weird and I don't get it. That's like me creating an "Andrew Drinks Dr. Pepper Day." Srsly u guyz.

"Brave men tell the truth, a wise man's tools are analogies and puzzles."

If at all possible, I am going to smoke my pipe in the Eagle and Child pub when I visit Britain this summer. How brilliant is that? I think it's pretty cool. Here's the full itinerary.

Also, I've ordered a 35mm film SLR for my photography course in the fall. It's a Nikon, of course, namely the N80. I've also purchased a new 50mm Nikon lens, which should work wonderfully with the N80, as well as three rolls of Kodak T-Max 100 B&W film. I'm pretty excited.

I've acquired some new music recently, most of which is outside my usual sphere of listening, if such a sphere could indeed be identified, given my somewhat eclectic collection of artists and albums. First of all, an album which is somewhat related to my last post, Apocalyptica's "Plays Metallica By Four Cellos." Strangely enough, the title is very self-explanatory. Imagine that. Except that it's "celli." However, I digress into nitpicking. But in all seriousness, Metallica's music works very well on the cellos(celli?), and retains a great deal of the original gravity and drone-like qualities that are present in the original cuts. Overall, an excellent idea and an excellent performance. If you don't like Metallica, but like cellos(celli!), you might like this album. A side note: I've no idea how Apocalyptica went from being an awesome cello quartet to churning out that piece of whiny garbage that's on the radio right now. Bring back the cellos(CELLI)! Next up is Dan Auerbach's first solo album, "Keep It Hid." I haven't made up my mind about this one. Definitely not quite Black Keys material, but it's still Auerbach, so it's got some of the same attributes. It's too early to say, I need to give it a few more listens. I didn't like the latest Keys release all that much, so I won't be too surprised if I don't like "Keep It Hid," but because Dan is pretty much le awesome, I want to give him a chance to convince me. I've met the guy, I at least owe him that much, right? I also purchased an album by Royksopp, a duo of electronic musicians. Some interesting, laid-back electronic tunes, good for relaxing, or driving or whatnot. Nothing like the nigh perfection that was The Postal Service, which kind of bridged the gap between the things I dislike about electronica and the things that bug me about Death Cab For Cutie. But Royksopp is nice so far. We shall see.

In conclusion, this is my 100th post on this blog. Wooooo!

"Let the blow fall soon or late..."

One of the reasons I like Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" is probably its similarity to Ralph Vaughan Williams' "The Vagabond," both lyrically and musically. I'd be willing to bet that Ulrich and Hetfield had heard "The Vagabond" at least once when they wrote their song. Anyways, it's an interesting parallel.

The Vagabond

Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river -
There's the life for a man like me,
There's the life for ever.

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Or let autumn fall on me
Where afield I linger,
Silencing the bird on tree,
Biting the blue finger.
White as meal the frosty field -
Warm the fireside haven -
Not to autumn will I yield,
Not to winter even!

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o'er me;
Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I ask not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven above
And the road below me.

---

Wherever I May Roam

…And the road becomes my bride
I have stripped of all but pride
So in her I do confide
And she keeps me satisfied
Gives me all I need

…And with dust in throat I crave
Only knowledge will I save
To the game you stay a slave
Rover, wanderer
Nomad, vagabond
Call me what you will

But I'll take my time anywhere
Free to speak my mind anywhere
And I'll redefine anywhere

Anywhere I roam
Where I lay my head is home

…And the earth becomes my throne
I adapt to the unknown
Under wandering stars I've grown
By myself but not alone
I ask no one

...And my ties are severed clean
The less I have, the more I gain
Off the beaten path I reign
Rover, wanderer
Nomad, vagabond
Call me what you will

But I'll take my time anywhere
I'm free to speak my mind anywhere
And I'll never mind anywhere

Anywhere I roam
Where I lay my head is home

But I'll take my time anywhere
I'm free to speak my mind
And I'll take my find anywhere

Anywhere I roam
Where I lay my head is home

But I'll take my time anywhere
Free to speak my mind anywhere
And I'll redefine anywhere

Anywhere I roam
Where I lay my head is home

Carved upon my stone
My body lie, but still I roam
Wherever I may roam
Wherever I may roam
Wherever I may wander
Wherever I may roam.

"So far as it depends on you..."

Although there are a lot of people with access to the internet who aren't very articulate, and some of them are obviously featured in this video, this is certainly telling about how Christians are perceived by hardline atheists. It is beyond me how people who claim to be followers of Christ can justify ignoring all tact and gentility, as some of us have apparently done.

On the other hand, while Mr. Dawkins does not descend into the realm of the tactless, he is very dismissive and insulting towards this Christian, who is attempting to ask Dawkins a straightforward and sincere question. If only those emails had read more like this gentleman's question.



In Romans 12, Paul gives these instructions to the church in Rome:

"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

We are to speak the truth in love. Yet if we sink into hypocrisy, our words will only be met with hostility and anger.

April 8th

1652: Cape Town in South Africa is founded by Jan van Riebeeck as a supply post for the Dutch East India Company.

Smoking a pipe, the Scotsman's way.

Today was National Tartan Day, and I decided to celebrate with smoke. Earlier this afternoon, I went to my tobacconist and purchased a tin of Presbyterian, as seen here:

(Click to enlarge)


Seeing as I am a faithful Scots Presbyterian(albeit somewhat removed), I thought this would be a fitting way to mark the day. Upon opening the tin, I noticed that the smell was rather like the Windsor, but not quite so strong. Still savoury, since it is an English blend, but a tad more fruit-like than Windsor.



The tobacco packed easily and smoked well, despite the fact that today was rather windy. The smoke was good, I enjoyed it. The flavour wasn't anything mindblowing, but it seems like a solid everyday sort of tobacco, good for a walk, a talk, or a read. Vincent's Torment is still my favourite. It's smooth and burns incredibly well. However, I have a feeling that Presbyterian will definitely be showing up quite often in my tobacco rotation.

"Give to me the life I love, let the lave go by me..."

And so it begins. I've officially registered for the Fall semester. I'll be taking three history courses, a decision which I pray does not bring about my premature death. It's an interesting mix. There's Roman Civilization, Modern Europe, and Historiography. I think Roman Civilization will be a lot of fun, since I've met the professor before, and she herself seems like a lot of fun. So, we'll see. I expect historiography to be a challenge, especially in the writing department, but my writing style is very structured and to-the-point, so it may be just the ticket. Modern Europe... not sure what to expect. Well, actually, I am. Enlightenment-blah-modernism-blah-Western-civilization-is-evil-blahblahblah. I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Please? Latin III will be taught by a different professor than my previous two Latin courses, which surprises me. I'm sure it'll be fine, just different. Lastly, there's Film Photography, which is more or less an indulgence on my part. But it'll be good for my technique and it should be fun. Also, I'll continue to take voice lessons. All told, this adds up to a glorious 18 hour courseload. Wish me luck.

"All I ask, the heaven above, and the road below me."

I can't speak to his music, but I like this.

Edifying Thoughts of a Tobacco Smoker

Whene'er I take my pipe and stuff it
And smoke to pass the time away
My thoughts, as I sit there and puff it,
Dwell on a picture sad and grey:
It teaches me that very like
Am I myself unto my pipe.

Like me this pipe, so fragrant burning,
Is made of naught but earthen clay;
To earth I too shall be returning,
And cannot halt my slow decay.
My well used pipe, now cracked and broken,
Of mortal life is but a token.

No stain, the pipe's hue yet doth darken;
It remains white. Thus do I know
That when to death's call I must harken
My body, too, all pale will grow.
To black beneath the sod 'twill turn,
Likewise the pipe, if oft it burn.

Or when the pipe is fairly glowing,
Behold then instantaneously,
The smoke off into thin air going,
'Til naught but ash is left to see.
Man's fame likewise away will burn
And unto dust his body turn.

How oft it happens when one's smoking,
The tamper's missing from it's shelf,
And one goes with one's finger poking
Into the bowl and burns oneself.
If in the pipe such pain doth dwell
How hot must be the pains of Hell!

Thus o'er my pipe in contemplation
Of such things - I can constantly
Indulge in fruitful meditation,
And so, puffing contentedly,
On land, at sea, at home, abroad,
I smoke my pipe and worship God.

Johann Sebastian Bach - 1725 (1685-1750)

From: The Second Little Clavier Book For Anna Magdalena Bach

There are a lot of people out there who would label classical Christian education as "indoctrination." The way they see it, teachers like the men and women who taught me aren't letting their students think. They are instead implanting narrow ways of thinking, governed solely by religious agenda, into their pupils' minds. Homeschooling comes under attack quite frequently, and prominent classical educators, such as Dr. George Grant, are often demonized as radical conservative Christian brainwashers. I have this to say. If the government begins arresting teachers for such "indoctrination," they are going to have to drag me by my feet out of the classroom. That's all there is to it. I am a slave to the Gospel, one of many, and Yahweh is my master.

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." - Provebs 16:25

The Art of Patience

Earlier today, I had one of the more enjoyable smokes I've yet experienced. Since I had smoked my briar on Thursday, I decided to take my cob instead. My cob is sort of my travel pipe, if you will. I don't have to worry about breaking it, the maintenance is pretty low, and it holds better in my mouth. So, I packed a bowl of 24 Karat, a blend that I got at a new tobacconist I found about 8 miles from school. I had previously been unimpressed by this blend, as was the case with my other aromatic blends. But, after doing some reading and thinking about my smoking technique, I realised that I was drawing on the pipe too hard and smoking too fast. I had actually been recording some video while smoking my briar on Thursday, and as I was playing the footage back, I noticed that whenever I puffed on my pipe, there was an audible sucking/whistling sound. This didn't seem to be quite right. So, while smoking my cob, I tried making my draws slower and steadier, making sure that I was drawing quietly. Overall, the smoke was much better. I got through the bowl without any significant tongue bite, which is more or less a first, and I could detect small hints of flavour in the smoke.

This is why pipe smoking is known as "the art of patience." Finding a tobacco you enjoy? It takes patience. Packing the pipe? That takes patience. Lighting the pipe? Patience. Smoking the pipe. Yeah. Patience. Cleaning the pipe? Do I even have to say it? The whole affair is one big process, but that's part of it. When you smoke a cigar, you're basically paying someone else to prepare that perfect smoke for you. But with a pipe, the quality of the smoke and your enjoyment of the experience is entirely reliant upon your smoking technique and the way that you use your pipe. Personally, I find my pipe to be a rather relaxing ritual. I'll go outside, find a suitable place to sit, and then I'll enjoy a bowl of tobacco. I've found that smoking my pipe is very conducive to reading. I tend to get distracted easily, especially when I'm reading something I don't want to be reading. But when I'm having a smoke, there really aren't any distractions to take my mind off of my book. Pipe smoking has often been associated with the sophisticated, intellectual man, and it seems to me that there is good reason for this.

All told, I am enjoying this new hobby of mine.

Spider-fireman

Ok, I'm glad the kid is all right, but I think it's a little wonky that the fireman just happened to have the costume in his locker. Just sayin'.

Thai 'Spider-Man' to the rescue

Puffpuffpuff

Well, I've decided to take up pipe smoking as a sort of casual hobby, I guess you could say. So far, I'm enjoying it. My pipe is a Savinelli briar, and here it is:

(The first two got cut off because of Blogger's margins, click to make it the right size, or just go to Flikr and view them even larger.)







I've been trying out different tobacco blends, and I haven't quite found one that I really, really like, but I've got this one blend right now that I think will probably grow on me. I'm sure I'll be blogging more about this in the future...

Stuff White People Like

Here we have a collection of amusing articles, all analyzing the things that white people apparently like. Of course, the white people in question are more or less upper-middle class urbanites, but I can still find some humour in it, even concerning my own habits.

www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com

Barack Obama: Entertainer of the Year

I'm sorry, this is ridiculous. I know, I know, the entire world has a giant crush on our new president, but really, let's not get carried away. Apparently, Obama is one of the top nominees for the British Book Awards. I don't quite understand. The man hasn't done anything yet. I walked into a bookstore a couple months ago, and I saw an entire set of shelves covered with books by Mr. Obama and his wife. Realistically, he's America's most popular celebrity. It just doesn't seem to me that this man has done anything to deserve such fame. I haven't been impressed so far. Is it telling that one of the other favourite nominees for the British Book Awards is Stephanie Meyer? Perhaps.

Most Likely to Secede

Why are Texans so obsessed with the idea that Texas is "the only state that can secede from the Union?" I don't get it. For one thing, it's dumb. Don't be ridiculous. We all know that every hardcore Texan has some sort of fantasy that if the War(you know which one I mean) suddenly broke out again, they could grab the nearest firearm and start shooting Yanks. But that's not going to happen, so stop being silly. And secondly, it isn't true. Vermont joined the United States upon the condition that it could leave at any time, as did other states, such as New York and Virginia. Furthermore, according to Texas v. White, even if every single person in Texas voted to secede, it wouldn't be legal. I'm pretty sure that after the Civil War, the federal government made sure that secession was no longer a legal option. So I don't know what people are going on about, it's all a rather large amount of ballyhoo over nothing. Texans are strange. Just get over it, y'all.

EDIT: This is actually kind of interesting. More than a few states, including Vermont, have current secession movements. Most of the websites for the Vermont movement cite a lot of pre-Civil War material, such as quotes from the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, things of that nature. But they conveniently seem to ignore the Supreme Court case I mentioned, which interprets secession as unconstitutional. I mean... if you can't do it, you can't do it. I'm not saying I don't think they're right in some respects, but it looks pretty rock-solid to me. It's illegal, no matter what Thomas Jefferson might have said.

"An island in the sun..."

LOST has been one of my favourite television programs for the past few years, and I've recently decided to try and catch up with the story line. I've gotten a little behind, given my lack of a television and all. So, the show has taken a decidedly science-fictiony turn. I was a bit skeptical when people began labelling the series as "science fiction." Yeah, it had some supernatural/unexplained elements, but it's mainly about survival and getting off the Island, right? Apparently not, since in the current season, everyone is trying to get BACK to the Island. I was prepared for the show to go down a completely ridiculous and implausible road, especially when the concept of time travel was introduced. But I'm quite pleased to find that this is one of the better applications of time travel that I've seen. It doesn't involve alternate realities or time streams or anything ridiculous like that. They've taken what could've been a really bad plot twist and kept it under control. The writing team behind this show has always kept a pretty long range view with regards to their plots. With Alias, they kind of messed things up a bit, but I think they've done a great job with LOST so far. I was beginning to have doubts about whether or not the story would remain cohesive, but for the time being, my faith has been restored, so to speak. Now, about Cloverfield...

"And did those feet, in ancient times, walk upon England's mountains green..."

As much as I love Britain and her culture, the growing difficulties which Christians face there are more than a little disturbing. The Anglican church is headed towards crisis, as far as I know. Islam is given more and more allowances, especially concerning Sharia law and the direct subversion of British law. In Canada, too, it will soon be more or less illegal to criticise the homosexual lifestyle. I remember one story of a Canadian pastor who was accused of hate speech because he was preaching concerning the sinfulness of homosexuality. There is a reason why our brothers and sisters in Rwanda have seen fit to send missionaries our way. The American Mythos tells us that America is still a great beacon of Christianity in the world, but that is not the case. Do you know where the Gospel has seen the most growth? Asia. One of the places in the world where the Gospel is heavily persecuted and even forbidden is the region that has seen the most growth for Christ. I have a feeling that America will soon forsake the Gospel even more than she already has. It is quite possible that my generation will see the beginnings of actual persecution in our country. I'm not talking about prayer being banned at schools or the Ten Commandments being taken out of courthouses. Those are ridiculous little occurrences that really shouldn't surprise anyone. I'm talking about men and women being imprisoned for Christ. This is right outside our door. Let them come, I say. If they want to bring charges against me for "indoctrinating" young Christians and speaking truth in the classroom, then so be it. If it takes persecution to bring about genuine revival in the United States, then I welcome it with open arms. They covet the kingdom, but the kingdom is Christ's already. They hunger for blood, but Christ's blood has already sealed their doom and our victory. The Lord has raised a standard up. Let us follow it quickly.

Sissero or Kickero? Sayzar or Kaiser? Which sounds more manly to you, eh?

As a student of the Latin language, I am somewhat conflicted when it comes to pronunciation. There are two ways to pronounce Latin, the Classical, which is as close to original Roman use as we can get, and the Ecclesiastical, which is the pronunciation adopted for use in the Church. Now, the biggest difference between these two, and the one that you'll most often hear new Latin students talk about is the V sound. Classical Latin sounds the V like an English W, Ecclesiastical sounds the V as we would. In Dr. Heckel's Latin I class, we used Ecclesiastical pronunciation, for the most part. Under Dr. Haskell's tutelage here at SU, we use Classical pronunciation. It's fine, I've gotten used to it. I prefer the Ecclesiastical. EXCEPT for the C sound. We did not use the soft C in Dr. Heckel's class, and I am incredibly glad that we didn't. Choral Latin uses the Ecclesiastical pronunciation, and this involves using a soft C in front of e, i, ae, or oe. For example, the word "caeli" starts with a "ch" sound, not a "k." To my ears, this makes Latin sound like Italian. Ok, ok, so Romans, Italians, what's the difference? I don't know, I just think the soft C sounds really ridiculous and wimpy. I really, really, really hate having to sing the soft C in choirs. I just hate it. So, I'll keep my hard C and my English V, put my high horse back in the stable, and go on my merry way. As Dr. Haskell's wife reminded us on the first day of Latin I at SU, everyone who spoke Latin as their native language is dead. They don't care how you pronounce it. SPQR in the house. Where my proconsuls at?

--

Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace:
Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum
Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum:
Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.

Another Thing I Overheard at Work

Well, I didn't overhear it, since it was part of a conversation I was involved in with my coworkers, but oh well. We were discussing rap music and the rhymes involved therein, particularly words that rhyme with "rims." One of the servers had this to say: "Seriously, don't underestimate the ability of rims to rhyme with itself... that's totally what they'd do."

Don't you hate it when that happens?

"A collision at sea can ruin your entire day." - Thucydides

Unrest Among the Victorious

Post number 80! Two things before you begin. First, this is one of those posts where I begin talking about one thing, and then apply my observations of that thing in a broader and more general sense. I never mean to write this much, or to go off on tangents, it just happens. Secondly, I wrote all of this on my iPod Touch with my own two thumbs. I didn't actually realise how much I'd written until I put it on the blog. Anyways, the post proper begins below.

I recently watched a documentary about the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, produced by the BBC, called "The Most Hated Family in America." The Westboro Baptist Church is famous for their slur-filled pickets, where they employ signs that declare, "God Hates Fags," and give voice to other forms of venom, including vehement criticism of U.S. troops for participating in the war. Now, obviously, I'd have certain qualms about saying that this group is certifiably Christian, but that judgement is not mine to make. I will, however, explain why I have this hesitation.

To begin, I'd like to point out just how gratingly these people are deliverng their message in the name of the Gospel. For Westboro Baptist parishoners, the word "fag" has become a sort of catch-all term for everything that is apparently wrong with world. Our military are "fag-troops," there are "fag-enablers," a term that basically describes anyone who disagrees with them, and a lot of other rhetoric that would offend just about anyone. Indeed, at their pickets, they are cursed by Christians and unbelievers alike. This is partially because their rhetoric is so blantantly offensive. I don't agree with the supporters of the homosexual lifestyle. I think that way of living is sinful. But in my efforts to speak the truth, I do not think it is wise to use such a vulgar term to describe our fellow sinners! Let us not forget that in his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul exhorted Christians to "be at peace with everyone." Christians being cursed in the streets? May it never be! Yes, Christ told us that we will be persecuted for his sake, but that persecution comes from being faithful witnesses, not purveyors of vulgarity. The parishioners of WBC seem to be gluttons for punishment. That's not exactly the way Christ taught us.

Also, based on the things I saw in the documentary, as well as what is published on the church's website, one can observe that as far as the ministry of WBC goes, the Spirit does not seem to be fully present. I am reluctant to completely discount the church as unorthodox, but there are many aspects of WBC's work which cast heavy shadows of doubt across the whole affair. For one thing, according to Fred Phelps, WBC's pastor, his is the only congregation which has salvation. Somehow, this ideology concerning America's evil deeds has given Phelps a monopoly on the salvation market, as it were. There is no concept of the Church Universal, in all of her splendor and diversity. All other believers would probably fall into the category of "fag-enablers," and would thus be considered out of fellowship with the WBC. This is utter foolishness. The entire body of the elect is contained in one group of Baptists living in Kansas? Come now.

In addition to this, the BBC reporter who was conducting the documentary attempted to ask Phelps some honest, sincere questions about the doctrine behind Phelps' teaching. Phelps flat out refused to comply because his interviewer did not have enough knowledge concerning the Bible to understand what he was talking about. This is more a personal fault of Phelps', to be sure, but his attitudes are part and parcel with the beliefs of the rest of the church, given the fact that the parishioners who were featured in the documentary backed him wholeheartedly.

Personally, I think Phelps genuinely has something wrong with him. But even so, he has a good number of people following him, claiming to be followers of Christ, driven by a psuedo-religious political ideology and moral agenda. Their message has no place for forgiveness or mercy. They WANT to be hated. The informational videos on the WBC website are supposed to "dull your ears and blind your eyes." That's parable language! God closed the hearts of an erring Israel to the truth by speaking in parables through his prophets. The verses that are used on the site to back this up lead me to believe that they view their message as something that no one will understand. And is it any wonder? They call their slur-ridden pickets "Love Crusades," after all! Now, maybe the Westboro Baptists are easy targets because of all the radical things that they do. But this is an example, albeit exaggerated, of a problem with modern American evangelism. Spitting the truth into the face of the mob will not speak to the souls of unbelievers, nor will it glorify our savior. You can distribute all the tracts you can print and shout scripture at strangers in the streets until Christ returns. But the reality is that the Spirit works through personal connections. not confrontation. Personal relationships, kind words, the quiet display of Christ's love and the results of his work on the cross. That is how the Gospel advances. We are not the riot in the streets, we are not the revolutionaries. We are to be the meek ones. And yet, despite our seeming weakness when compared to the power of secularism, we have already conquered this world through Christ! There's no need for any sort of "Christian revolution," because the Gospel, at its core, is not a revolutionary concept. Death and sin have already been taken as prisoners of war, because they embody the revolution of Man. Why do the restless heathen madly rage, what haughty schemes are they in vain contriving? Yahweh, who sits enthroned on high laughs them to scorn, he holds them in derision! We are the children of this same Yahweh, Christ is our brother! Who shall then stand against us? Therefore, let us go forth, and make good the victory of Christ.

MAA: Moleskine Addicts Anonymous

Yes, I am addicted. I am currently planning to turn an old Moleskine of mine into a case for my new iPod. Fun, eh?

Fast Times at the Lane

So, at work earlier, we had Joe Rogan show up. Yeah, the Fear Factor guy. This wasn't particularly exciting to me, since I couldn't possibly care any less about Fear Factor or Mr. Rogan, but it was interesting nonetheless. Of course, some moron had to go over there and ask to take a picture with the guy, which is just kind of annoying, but what're ya gonna do? /celebrity sighting story

In other news, I have purchased a 16 GB iPod Touch, and am currently using it to write this post. I thought it might be useful in the UK this summer, for directions and such, but it's really rather handy all around. I can access school files on the university's website, store other files, such as Latin homework, check my bank account, read the complete works of Shakespeare, or perhaps my favourite G.K. Chesterton novel. Oh, and it plays music and stuff. So far, it's looking like a great alternative to lugging my MacBook Pro around everywhere, which can be a hassle at times. Anyways, it's a good product, as well as a much more economical alternative to the iPhone.

That's all for now, I must sleep.

Lack of Blog = Lazy Trog

Yes, I just called myself a troglodyte. But there hasn't been anything to rile me up lately, and therefore, nothing to write about. There have been copious amounts of photgraphy, which I'd love to post on this site, but I have no reliable hosting service. Flickr is great, but I can only upload a certain amount of data per month, and I've already used my quota. Sad day. However, I've ordered some more prints, three 12x18's, to be precise(to be precise, three 12x18's), so that should be good. My 20x30 print of the cactus(this one) turned out magnificently, so I am sure these other three will be just as good, if not better.

More later, when I am not quite so sleepy.

P.S. Extra points if you spotted the hidden reference I made. If not, nevermind.

A Few Photos

Well, I'm back at school. I got a little bit of relaxation in St. Louis during a week-long trip up north. I did a lot of photography while I was there. Some of the better pictures are on Flickr, but here are a few of my favourites. (Click to enlarge and then use the "All Sizes" button at the top to view the full size photo)

A wider angle

So, I finally bought another lens for my Nikon D60. It's a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens, which I purchased at a local camera store. I originally bought a Tamron 10-24mm, but upon further inspection and research, I decided that I'd be better off with a different lens, even if the range on the Sigma isn't as wide. I'm happy with the lens so far, the construction seems solid and it feels good on the camera. I'm looking forward to really testing it out this coming week while I'm in St. Louis. Hopefully I'll be able to capture some decent photos.