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.