Spirithome.com has been tidying up lately -- a lot of pain-in-the-butt little tweaks that add up to a lot. For instance, further refinement in the subject index means you can either scroll through the index to see what interests you, or look for a particular topic alphabetically and see what's there. It can be really fun to use! If it needs further refinements, please pass the idea along to me (in comments to this blog entry).
I hear that in an upcoming leg, the Amazing Race folks couldn't do what they had arranged to do, so they had to make a new stop 'on the fly'. Also, that on an upcoming leg, someone(s) got really far behind the leader - a half-day or more, which is a logistical nightmare. I wonder how they'll edit around those troubles.
Still pondering the apparent clash between the freedom to claim one's own spiritual identity and being spiritually honest with the rest of us. During this 'Jesus tomb' stuff, I read someone well up in the Methodist ranks saying that he doesn't believe in Christ's actual resurrection. Yet this person still acts in the name of an organization whose core belief is rooted firmly in precisely that resurrection, as a living reality not just a symbol. If what he said really is his settled conviction (and not just an expression of doubt or wondering), I think he ought to leave the Methodist church and admit what he really is, a Unitarian Universalist, Religious Scientist, or some other such group. Because the stated belief puts the lie to his stated identity. I can deal with people more honestly when they are being what they really are. I can respect that even when I disagree with them. But there's no respecting a lie.
Later, 'gator. (Oops... shouldn't say that during the NCAAs....)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Friday, March 09, 2007
David Wilcox, and the headache
Went to see David Wilcox tonight at the Boulton Center in Bay Shore NY. Great show, funny as ever, and his songs still strike that special spot. A bit too much time tuning the guitar, but that was fine, for the kind of show he did. It gave him a chance to do what he does second-best -- tell a story. (That's second only to singing that story.) It was a bit disappointing to see the place a little over half-full, he deserves better than that. But then again, he strikes me as someone who really would love doing it for just a handful.
I hope Wilcox didn't think I was bored. I wasn't -- I was just down. I had a sour stomach and an even sourer disposition. Eating the cost of a ticket has a very bad taste. What hurts much more is why : getting stood up. After all these years and all those turndowns, it still hurts like hell. And while Wilcox's show gave me some smiles, it also reminded me of what I miss. You see, he sings of hope and love, especially about love that grows when all you can expect of it is to die. I can't get it to even begin. I want to be the wonder in a woman's life, the one who gets her heart to blossom. There have even been specific women whom I most wanted to light up. But the story of my life is being not just dumped, but being dumped on my head. Hence, a persistent headache.
I'll gladly take the headaches that come with love.
I hope Wilcox didn't think I was bored. I wasn't -- I was just down. I had a sour stomach and an even sourer disposition. Eating the cost of a ticket has a very bad taste. What hurts much more is why : getting stood up. After all these years and all those turndowns, it still hurts like hell. And while Wilcox's show gave me some smiles, it also reminded me of what I miss. You see, he sings of hope and love, especially about love that grows when all you can expect of it is to die. I can't get it to even begin. I want to be the wonder in a woman's life, the one who gets her heart to blossom. There have even been specific women whom I most wanted to light up. But the story of my life is being not just dumped, but being dumped on my head. Hence, a persistent headache.
I'll gladly take the headaches that come with love.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Amazing Race
A guilty pleasure every Sunday night, on CBS. This time, it's the All-Stars.
I had been wondering where I had seen Joyce (of Uchenna & Joyce, one of the better all-star teams) before. Then, I was going by a TV that had Star Trek : Next Generation playing. There she was, on the bridge, in navigation. Checking up on the fan sites, it turns out she was on quite a few of them, labeled as having a 'bit part', but a bit less 'bit' than most; even had a character name, Ensign Gates. Quite attractive back then, and to some extent still is. I wonder if the folks at Stony Brook's ICON convention know about this? The question then is : if she can help navigate a starship to a far-away galaxy, it can't be all that much of a challenge to navigate a Chilean back road, could it? :)
I for one am going to miss David & Mary (aka Kentucky). She can be an angel in some ways, a harsh nag in others, but somehow both of them are more like real people I know than most of the others (TV actresses, beauty queens, in the previous edition an ESPY-winning triathlete, etc.). And they are both growing. But they also aren't very good at the Race, which is why it was okay for them to be eliminated.
I'm hoping for Oswald & Danny, but expecting Eric & Danielle.
I had been wondering where I had seen Joyce (of Uchenna & Joyce, one of the better all-star teams) before. Then, I was going by a TV that had Star Trek : Next Generation playing. There she was, on the bridge, in navigation. Checking up on the fan sites, it turns out she was on quite a few of them, labeled as having a 'bit part', but a bit less 'bit' than most; even had a character name, Ensign Gates. Quite attractive back then, and to some extent still is. I wonder if the folks at Stony Brook's ICON convention know about this? The question then is : if she can help navigate a starship to a far-away galaxy, it can't be all that much of a challenge to navigate a Chilean back road, could it? :)
I for one am going to miss David & Mary (aka Kentucky). She can be an angel in some ways, a harsh nag in others, but somehow both of them are more like real people I know than most of the others (TV actresses, beauty queens, in the previous edition an ESPY-winning triathlete, etc.). And they are both growing. But they also aren't very good at the Race, which is why it was okay for them to be eliminated.
I'm hoping for Oswald & Danny, but expecting Eric & Danielle.
audio devotionals for Lent
There are now 3 Spirithome.com audio devotionals for Lent : Third Sunday in Lent, Fourth Midweek, and Fifth Sunday. The sound quality is good, especially for using a computer's built-in mic. (I guess I'm learning how to fix overmod.) Give 'em a listen, and spread the word.
(Oh -- don't forget the written versions, Midweek and Sunday each week, for example Third Midweek of Lent.)
(Oh -- don't forget the written versions, Midweek and Sunday each week, for example Third Midweek of Lent.)
Friday, March 02, 2007
More on Mariamne and the Jesus Tomb
I was just reading some more about Jesus' time, to see the plausibility of the Jesus Tomb claim. More weakness in the Mariam(e)ne/Magdalene connection. Guess where I found some Mariamnes? In Herod's family. Several, in fact. The Herodian Miriams usually used the extended Greek form, which makes sense, given their longtime affectation for Greek culture. They, of course, would insist on a Greek or even Roman inscription on their box, while many other Jews (especially the rural ones, like Miriam of Migdal was) would insist on Hebrew or Aramaic in the face of the foreign occupiers.
Maybe I should make a cable TV special showing how these ossuaries are a Herodian link to Jesus? Nah. They're not ornate enough. These sort of burial ground ossuaries (bone boxes) were for the well-to-do landowners, merchants, and top officials, not the poor, the artisan, or the farmer. However, this was still way too simple to be a Herod.
The passage that identifies Mariamne in Acts of Philip reads thusly (in modern language):
The more I sift through this particular Jacobovici claim, the the more impossible it becomes. (Just as it was for the DaVinci Code's Magdalene claims.) And it would be hard to come up with a way to link Jesus of Nazareth to the Jesus of the bone box without such a link to Mary Magdalene, since we don't have a known sample of Jesus of Nazareth's DNA to compare to. (Knowing Jacobovici, he'll come up with something.) The whole thing is starting to have an abundance of Colbert's 'truthiness' -- some people really really want it to be true, want it to at least feel true.
Maybe I should make a cable TV special showing how these ossuaries are a Herodian link to Jesus? Nah. They're not ornate enough. These sort of burial ground ossuaries (bone boxes) were for the well-to-do landowners, merchants, and top officials, not the poor, the artisan, or the farmer. However, this was still way too simple to be a Herod.
The passage that identifies Mariamne in Acts of Philip reads thusly (in modern language):
- "Then the time came for the Savior to split the apostles up, and each went out to the area he was sent. It fell to Philip to go to the land of the Greeks. He thought it to be difficult, and wept. Then Mariamne his sister (the one who readied the bread and salt at the breaking of bread - though it was Martha that worked hard to serve it to the multitudes) saw this, and went to Jesus and said, ' Lord, see how much anguish this is causing for my brother?' "
The more I sift through this particular Jacobovici claim, the the more impossible it becomes. (Just as it was for the DaVinci Code's Magdalene claims.) And it would be hard to come up with a way to link Jesus of Nazareth to the Jesus of the bone box without such a link to Mary Magdalene, since we don't have a known sample of Jesus of Nazareth's DNA to compare to. (Knowing Jacobovici, he'll come up with something.) The whole thing is starting to have an abundance of Colbert's 'truthiness' -- some people really really want it to be true, want it to at least feel true.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Discovery Channel and Jesus' Tomb
Everyone's heard about this Jesus Tomb thing. It's very interesting. It is my duty as a human being with any sort of a brain to check out something that has bearing on what is to me the core incident that I have centered my life on. The Christian faith has trained me differently than it has others. Precisely because the Bible taught me that truth matters, I can't simplistically cordon off by itself a category known as 'religious truth' (a separate category from reality). There is such a thing as 'religious truth', but it is something that is embedded in reality, not hovering above it. (That is the way the God of the Bible works.) It means I -- and any credibly-thinking person, believer or not -- must take the claim seriously, and treat it with a rigorous going-over.
That's hard for me to do. Not because of faith, but because I know too much already about one of the two main people involved, Simcha Jacobovici. He is, to say the least, very fishy. He was the one who made the documentary that put the so-called James ossuary into the public spotlight a few years ago. It has been scientifically demonstrated that while it was a real ancient bone box, the inscription on it had been recently altered or added to, probably by a known counterfeiter. But he still tries to make people believe it's real. That wasn't the only time he shaded truth. He and James Cameron made the film (or is it a 'flim'?) Exodus Decoded, which theorized that mariners from Crete were instrumental in the happenings in Exodus. They also posited a bizarre time line and geography of what happened, and explained the plagues as the eventual result of seismic happenings across the Mediterranean. (There's a site that gives a good, if obsessive, point-by-point on it.) Why didn't he add space aliens, or Sasquatch? With that kind of a track record, his involvement should do big-time damage to the credibility of any theory. When combined with the director of Titanic, there is the distinct fragrance of P.T. Barnum in the air.
But that by itself means nothing; liars are occasionally capable of telling the truth, or at least stumbling upon it. The question is, has Jacobovici done so here? One of the items I've seen in the press and publicity strikes me as especially weak : the supposed connection of the Mariamne box to Mary Magdalene. Talk about a stretch! Mariam(e)ne is a well-attested long-form Greek version of Miriam (Mary), used by Josephus for all sorts of Miriams. So far as my old Greek class notes tell me, there are two early sources where Mariamne was used as a name for New Testament figures : the gnostic Acts of Philip and the Gospel of Mary, both written at least 5 generations later. And the use in Philip was for Philip's preacher-sister, not Mary Magdalene. The second word in the inscription is Mara, said to mean 'master'. But its position in the inscription is where the other boxes have the name of a person. My old notes say Mara was used by Hellenistic Jews as a short form of Martha. However, it also may be a Hellenist's rendering of the Jewish name/word Mara(h) ('bitter'; found in Ruth 1:20). That could be a reference to the bitterness of Mariamne after a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abandonment. In any event, in all the sources (including the gnostic ones), Mary Magdalene is named not by parentage but by town : Migdal. There is no mention of Migdal in the inscription. And, she was an Aramaic-speaking Jew from a small Jewish fishing village -- so why the Greek name forms on the inscription? Especially if she was the wife of a Jew that had a Jewish (not Roman or Greek) name, as the theory says?
If Cameron bases the identification of Jesus on linking the Mariamne bone box to Mary Magdalene, it is built on a foundation of sand.
That's hard for me to do. Not because of faith, but because I know too much already about one of the two main people involved, Simcha Jacobovici. He is, to say the least, very fishy. He was the one who made the documentary that put the so-called James ossuary into the public spotlight a few years ago. It has been scientifically demonstrated that while it was a real ancient bone box, the inscription on it had been recently altered or added to, probably by a known counterfeiter. But he still tries to make people believe it's real. That wasn't the only time he shaded truth. He and James Cameron made the film (or is it a 'flim'?) Exodus Decoded, which theorized that mariners from Crete were instrumental in the happenings in Exodus. They also posited a bizarre time line and geography of what happened, and explained the plagues as the eventual result of seismic happenings across the Mediterranean. (There's a site that gives a good, if obsessive, point-by-point on it.) Why didn't he add space aliens, or Sasquatch? With that kind of a track record, his involvement should do big-time damage to the credibility of any theory. When combined with the director of Titanic, there is the distinct fragrance of P.T. Barnum in the air.
But that by itself means nothing; liars are occasionally capable of telling the truth, or at least stumbling upon it. The question is, has Jacobovici done so here? One of the items I've seen in the press and publicity strikes me as especially weak : the supposed connection of the Mariamne box to Mary Magdalene. Talk about a stretch! Mariam(e)ne is a well-attested long-form Greek version of Miriam (Mary), used by Josephus for all sorts of Miriams. So far as my old Greek class notes tell me, there are two early sources where Mariamne was used as a name for New Testament figures : the gnostic Acts of Philip and the Gospel of Mary, both written at least 5 generations later. And the use in Philip was for Philip's preacher-sister, not Mary Magdalene. The second word in the inscription is Mara, said to mean 'master'. But its position in the inscription is where the other boxes have the name of a person. My old notes say Mara was used by Hellenistic Jews as a short form of Martha. However, it also may be a Hellenist's rendering of the Jewish name/word Mara(h) ('bitter'; found in Ruth 1:20). That could be a reference to the bitterness of Mariamne after a miscarriage, stillbirth, or abandonment. In any event, in all the sources (including the gnostic ones), Mary Magdalene is named not by parentage but by town : Migdal. There is no mention of Migdal in the inscription. And, she was an Aramaic-speaking Jew from a small Jewish fishing village -- so why the Greek name forms on the inscription? Especially if she was the wife of a Jew that had a Jewish (not Roman or Greek) name, as the theory says?
If Cameron bases the identification of Jesus on linking the Mariamne bone box to Mary Magdalene, it is built on a foundation of sand.
Monday, February 19, 2007
You Don't Know Until You Try
In this case, it's trying to make all sorts of little improvements to a 240-page-big website in time for the Lenten surge. In this case, it's CSS-ing the pages, validating the HTML, checking for readability, sending out to correct others' links to the site, and making the subject index actually easy to use. (You can check the subject index out for yourself -- comments, please?) That's 3 days' work. Like I can use more social isolation.... But it has to be ready for Lent, when usage jumps 3-fold. And the overhaul is overdue by a few years. Picture what it would be like if I didn't "keep it simple".
Feedback would be much appreciated.
Feedback would be much appreciated.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
A Form of Insanity
I'm used to being on the periphery of the 'organization' part of organized religion. One would think that would be a creative place to be. I can see the needs that organization leaders must deal with, and I can feel the alienation and disengagement in those who aren't let 'in' on it.
But what I feel most is a sense of impotence. I speak up, I take part, I relate, whether in 'hierarchical' ways or in 'emergent' ways. But each new venture ends up peetering out, either in frustrating failure or acceptance of small, almost trivial gains. Maybe it's middle-age getting to me. Or just the endless repeating of the pattern. I still want to make a difference. I still want to be a vessel for God's work in moving the Church Universal ahead. But instead, I'm a part of spiritual regression. I try to do it a little differently each time (and occasionally a lot differently), knowing how insane it is to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. But I still make nibbles when full bites are needed. I keep myself spiritually open, looking for God's open doors, trying some doorknobs, peeping through peepholes. But nothing much happens. I have so much to offer, but instead everyone else wants me to do what I'm not at all good at, with predictable results. And when I try to start something myself, I end up out there alone. It's not a good place to be. I don't belong there.
I don't really think anyone has an answer for that. But I share it anyway.
But what I feel most is a sense of impotence. I speak up, I take part, I relate, whether in 'hierarchical' ways or in 'emergent' ways. But each new venture ends up peetering out, either in frustrating failure or acceptance of small, almost trivial gains. Maybe it's middle-age getting to me. Or just the endless repeating of the pattern. I still want to make a difference. I still want to be a vessel for God's work in moving the Church Universal ahead. But instead, I'm a part of spiritual regression. I try to do it a little differently each time (and occasionally a lot differently), knowing how insane it is to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. But I still make nibbles when full bites are needed. I keep myself spiritually open, looking for God's open doors, trying some doorknobs, peeping through peepholes. But nothing much happens. I have so much to offer, but instead everyone else wants me to do what I'm not at all good at, with predictable results. And when I try to start something myself, I end up out there alone. It's not a good place to be. I don't belong there.
I don't really think anyone has an answer for that. But I share it anyway.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Opting out
I've been digging into some stats and several case studies/examples about Christian believers who no longer belong to denominational churches, or even to churches at all. I'm not talking about people who find that they no longer believe in Christ. I'm talking about those who believe in Christ, and some who even stake their lives and livelihoods on that faith, but are avoiding 'organized church' entirely. Some pretty interesting stuff.
I can't say I identify all that much with these people. Their stories display many of the reasons I choose not to opt out. But I've gone through some of the things they have, so I can't simply ignore them. I have to listen. And so do all the leaders of those who choose not to join them.
More on that later.
I can't say I identify all that much with these people. Their stories display many of the reasons I choose not to opt out. But I've gone through some of the things they have, so I can't simply ignore them. I have to listen. And so do all the leaders of those who choose not to join them.
More on that later.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Second Midweek in Advent
Rejoice. It's a theme that Paul keeps coming back to throughout his letter to the Philippians. But the Philippian church isn't doing much rejoicing. They're split into at least two factions, probably more. The reasons for the split are not clear; he warns about common enemies that might come, but they don't appear to be there yet. Instead, he appeals to them to follow examples of how to be caring and self-giving -- Jesus, Timothy, Epaphroditus (the church at Philippi's own cofounder), and himself.
Paul loves this church. He speaks as someone who is torn when it is torn, uplifted when it raises upward. He is concerned that maybe they've lost track of what they have to rejoice over. "The Lord is near", Paul writes. And with Him comes the peace of God beyond all understanding.
When our life together is marked by bickering and feuding and backbiting (if not backstabbing), it becomes easy to forget the reasons we have for rejoicing. It is still true : "The Lord is near."
Lord, grant us Your peace, restore our joy, and lift our worry from us, so that we can live in a way fitting for the nearness of Christ. Amen.
A challenge : Keep watch on what you say. If you catch yourself saying things to tear people down, think of something to say that might build them up, and say that instead.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Living With Our Neighbors
I just read the remarks from the new Deputy Prime Minister of Israel. He's sugggesting that it's time for Israel to give up on ever having peace with its neighbors, and completely ignore the Palestinian government.
If I were US President, I would come down hard and clear in public about even a hint of such talk.
The single most important thing we must get through Israel's head is that no amount of deceit, hatred, or killing gives any nation anywhere at any time any right at all to be anything other than a nation among nations that has to work at living with their neighbors, and indeed the rest of the world. (The Palestinians also have to learn this, true, but noone has any right to wait until the other guy does it.) I'm a full supporter of Israel's right to defend itself. But that right to defend itself is limited to actions against their direct attackers. If Hizbollah takes action against Israel, Israel has every right to stomp Hizbollah into the ground. I'd rather they found a different way to handle the matter, but it is rightfully their decision to make. But then Israel destroys the facilities (and occasionally homes) of everyone else in Lebanon. They punished the Lebanese government and people, even though they'd have gotten rid of Hizbollah long ago if they had anything even remotely resembling the power to do so. By their actions, Israel simply increased the proportion of enemies around them, an act that makes matters worse not better. (There is also Lebanese foolishness, for not understanding that Hizbollah is largely the cause of their disaster, and thus are their enemy not their defenders. It is of very high importance that this is what they say at all times and what they base their actions on, and definitively cut the crap about their being in any way "heroes".)
We know Bush knew that Israel had decided to go into Lebanon once those soldiers were kidnapped. It is now clear that W. took no action -- not even talk -- to try to impress upon Israel the importance of very strictly limiting their actions to their immediate purpose and their direct enemy. This failure on W's part is of a piece with W's other Middle East failures, including Iraq. His legacy is hellish, but who cares about that? I care about the blood, the bombs, the hatred, and the idiotic illusions that pass for reality in the Middle East. Bush is under similar delusions. He has blown the opportunity we had at 9/11 to really keep the world behind us and really get at the terrorists and what they represent. It was once said that we are a great nation because we are a good nation. (I never did believe we were all that good, just that most others are noticeably worse.) Bush has led the world to have even more doubt about how good our nation is. It is up to us to hold him and his administration responsible for that, and to do it right now. If we do, I expect Bush to then act more responsibly -- like most anyone who is held responsible after misbehaving.
If I were US President, I would come down hard and clear in public about even a hint of such talk.
The single most important thing we must get through Israel's head is that no amount of deceit, hatred, or killing gives any nation anywhere at any time any right at all to be anything other than a nation among nations that has to work at living with their neighbors, and indeed the rest of the world. (The Palestinians also have to learn this, true, but noone has any right to wait until the other guy does it.) I'm a full supporter of Israel's right to defend itself. But that right to defend itself is limited to actions against their direct attackers. If Hizbollah takes action against Israel, Israel has every right to stomp Hizbollah into the ground. I'd rather they found a different way to handle the matter, but it is rightfully their decision to make. But then Israel destroys the facilities (and occasionally homes) of everyone else in Lebanon. They punished the Lebanese government and people, even though they'd have gotten rid of Hizbollah long ago if they had anything even remotely resembling the power to do so. By their actions, Israel simply increased the proportion of enemies around them, an act that makes matters worse not better. (There is also Lebanese foolishness, for not understanding that Hizbollah is largely the cause of their disaster, and thus are their enemy not their defenders. It is of very high importance that this is what they say at all times and what they base their actions on, and definitively cut the crap about their being in any way "heroes".)
We know Bush knew that Israel had decided to go into Lebanon once those soldiers were kidnapped. It is now clear that W. took no action -- not even talk -- to try to impress upon Israel the importance of very strictly limiting their actions to their immediate purpose and their direct enemy. This failure on W's part is of a piece with W's other Middle East failures, including Iraq. His legacy is hellish, but who cares about that? I care about the blood, the bombs, the hatred, and the idiotic illusions that pass for reality in the Middle East. Bush is under similar delusions. He has blown the opportunity we had at 9/11 to really keep the world behind us and really get at the terrorists and what they represent. It was once said that we are a great nation because we are a good nation. (I never did believe we were all that good, just that most others are noticeably worse.) Bush has led the world to have even more doubt about how good our nation is. It is up to us to hold him and his administration responsible for that, and to do it right now. If we do, I expect Bush to then act more responsibly -- like most anyone who is held responsible after misbehaving.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Impoverished politics
I'm watching the election results as I write. Bush has to understand just how much of an albatross he has become around the necks of some pretty good Republicans who lost. But is he the kind who is able to take his medicine and learn his lessons? His presidency thus far leaves me with little hope that he can. Which will leave him increasingly like a lame duck. Only, while he sits there lame, more soldiers and more Iraqis will die.
Watch for the Baker-Hamilton report, coming very shortly. W isn't going to like that, either.
Watch for the Baker-Hamilton report, coming very shortly. W isn't going to like that, either.
Friday, November 03, 2006
online dating weirdities
I've been spending a lot of time the past few months in the hopes of finding companionship and maybe true love on-line at the services. If you're not familiar with it, it's an odd experience, to be sure. Most of the services have you create a profile where you describe yourself and your interests. Each member searches through the profile, based on a choice of factors or by keyword.
Unfortunately, reading them can be a form of torture. Especially for me, since I fancy myself a writer and I'm very picky about spelling. There are all sorts of elements to the torture. You can probably guess a few of them -- lying about age or weight, using photos from many years ago, or photos of someone else. But here are some you may not know :
(1) There are more problems with the photos than the obvious ones. For instance:
(a) dark photos. (So dark I can't tell where the clothing or hair ends and the background begins.)
(b) the photos of her with her exboyfriend or ex-husband. (With the head whited out or with the face cut off. I guess she still has issues....)
(c) The Group Photo, usually with co-workers, friends, or sisters. (Not a bad concept, really. But in practice, there's always someone in the photo that looks much better than the one whose profile I'm looking at. No self-respecting woman would answer if asked about her friend instead of her. Also : her friend's probably married.)
(2) Profiles are Cliche Central. For instance :
(a) "My friends say I'm ...." (Or at least they say that to her face...)
(b) "I'm equally comfy in a formal dress and blue jeans." (But how is she in khakis?)
(c) "I love to travel" (Most of us do, but we can't afford to do much of it. Can she?)
(d) "no [emotional] baggage" (Right. If you get past 30, or you have a divorce, you've got baggage, you may not know where it's stored.)
(e) "I'm sick of the bar scene" (But she wanders back there once in a while...)
(f) "I see the glass half-full" (Of what?)
(g) "down to earth" (But she loves gossip and fashion magazines, romance novels, and makeup.)
(h) "Looking for Mr. Right" (But how much has she worked on being Ms. Right? Be a good partner, and you'll get a better partner.)
(i) "I'm family-oriented, with strong traditional values, looking to settle down." (I guess that's why she's posted that racy photo with the busts propped up, or in a come-on position draped over her bed.)
(j) "Liars and players, go elsewhere." (But she usually don't know who's lying or playing games until she knows them a while. Remember : the gamers know how to game her.)
(k) "I like all styles of music, except [multichoice, select from country, opera, rap, or metal]" (I have a radio show at one of the most widely-varied stations in the world, WUSB. I've heard it all. And I can say there's no style I don't like something from. But there are many genres and subgenres I overall don't like. How many women actually have listened to any styles or artists that are outside the Top 20 or MTV?)
(l) "Writing about myself is pure torture." (She wonders, 'do I have anything worthwhile to say about myself?' And comes up blank...)
There's much more where that comes from. An original, unusual, or honestly personal profile is rare. (That includes my own, which suffers from TMI.)
Unfortunately, reading them can be a form of torture. Especially for me, since I fancy myself a writer and I'm very picky about spelling. There are all sorts of elements to the torture. You can probably guess a few of them -- lying about age or weight, using photos from many years ago, or photos of someone else. But here are some you may not know :
(1) There are more problems with the photos than the obvious ones. For instance:
(a) dark photos. (So dark I can't tell where the clothing or hair ends and the background begins.)
(b) the photos of her with her exboyfriend or ex-husband. (With the head whited out or with the face cut off. I guess she still has issues....)
(c) The Group Photo, usually with co-workers, friends, or sisters. (Not a bad concept, really. But in practice, there's always someone in the photo that looks much better than the one whose profile I'm looking at. No self-respecting woman would answer if asked about her friend instead of her. Also : her friend's probably married.)
(2) Profiles are Cliche Central. For instance :
(a) "My friends say I'm ...." (Or at least they say that to her face...)
(b) "I'm equally comfy in a formal dress and blue jeans." (But how is she in khakis?)
(c) "I love to travel" (Most of us do, but we can't afford to do much of it. Can she?)
(d) "no [emotional] baggage" (Right. If you get past 30, or you have a divorce, you've got baggage, you may not know where it's stored.)
(e) "I'm sick of the bar scene" (But she wanders back there once in a while...)
(f) "I see the glass half-full" (Of what?)
(g) "down to earth" (But she loves gossip and fashion magazines, romance novels, and makeup.)
(h) "Looking for Mr. Right" (But how much has she worked on being Ms. Right? Be a good partner, and you'll get a better partner.)
(i) "I'm family-oriented, with strong traditional values, looking to settle down." (I guess that's why she's posted that racy photo with the busts propped up, or in a come-on position draped over her bed.)
(j) "Liars and players, go elsewhere." (But she usually don't know who's lying or playing games until she knows them a while. Remember : the gamers know how to game her.)
(k) "I like all styles of music, except [multichoice, select from country, opera, rap, or metal]" (I have a radio show at one of the most widely-varied stations in the world, WUSB. I've heard it all. And I can say there's no style I don't like something from. But there are many genres and subgenres I overall don't like. How many women actually have listened to any styles or artists that are outside the Top 20 or MTV?)
(l) "Writing about myself is pure torture." (She wonders, 'do I have anything worthwhile to say about myself?' And comes up blank...)
There's much more where that comes from. An original, unusual, or honestly personal profile is rare. (That includes my own, which suffers from TMI.)
Friday, October 27, 2006
great time at the show
The singing groups special went quite well, thank you. (Even with having to use the guest mic for nearly the whole show.)
I was thinking about how I was tiring of the "contemporary" acappella groups -- the ones patterned on Rockapella and then infused with boy-band slickness and a sort-of-jazzish calculated cool. What could they do to make a sound that had inventiveness, soul, guts? My show, oddly enough, held part of an answer; it had all sorts of great sounds in it. The "contemp" groups, well.... they don't. They haven't put these sounds to use. Do they know how to do it? I would guess they know how to do some of it. But the point comes in a song where you could really use, say, a sharp Beach Boys or Crosby Stills Nash or Delfonics harmonic, or a lead that really ran with the song's end like Phillippe Wynne of the Spinners, or a bass who talks it through like Hoppy Jones of the Ink Spots. Or maybe sharing leads with the precision of the Temptations, perhaps, or they could add a touch of Celtic or Dalmatian voicings, maybe even a burst of Bulgarian choir or Black Mambazo if they have enough singers. But when the time comes ... it passes....
I'm well aware that no group can do all those sounds well, but any of them can draw on more of them than they use now. The harmonics, leads, lyrics, and feel are different for each, but lessons can be learned from all of it, and having these modes in your arsenal means it's there when the song or the live moment calls for it.
Their palettes are just too skimpy. (Just one part of the puzzle, but an important one, I think.)
I was thinking about how I was tiring of the "contemporary" acappella groups -- the ones patterned on Rockapella and then infused with boy-band slickness and a sort-of-jazzish calculated cool. What could they do to make a sound that had inventiveness, soul, guts? My show, oddly enough, held part of an answer; it had all sorts of great sounds in it. The "contemp" groups, well.... they don't. They haven't put these sounds to use. Do they know how to do it? I would guess they know how to do some of it. But the point comes in a song where you could really use, say, a sharp Beach Boys or Crosby Stills Nash or Delfonics harmonic, or a lead that really ran with the song's end like Phillippe Wynne of the Spinners, or a bass who talks it through like Hoppy Jones of the Ink Spots. Or maybe sharing leads with the precision of the Temptations, perhaps, or they could add a touch of Celtic or Dalmatian voicings, maybe even a burst of Bulgarian choir or Black Mambazo if they have enough singers. But when the time comes ... it passes....
I'm well aware that no group can do all those sounds well, but any of them can draw on more of them than they use now. The harmonics, leads, lyrics, and feel are different for each, but lessons can be learned from all of it, and having these modes in your arsenal means it's there when the song or the live moment calls for it.
Their palettes are just too skimpy. (Just one part of the puzzle, but an important one, I think.)
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Singing Groups radio special
Tomorrow, Wednesday 25 October 2006, 1 pm - 5 pm (13:00-17:00) Eastern Daylight Time (like in New York).
WUSB 90.1 FM on the radio (Long Island and coastal Connecticut), wusb.fm to the website and the link to the netcast (up by the logo, to the right).
All sorts of singing groups -- with instruments and without, US and the world, pop and rock and soul and vocalese and collegiate and old and new and and and ..... It's in there. There has been no more more consistent presence in music, and never more than now.
Tune in -- radio or web! And tell others about it!
(Oh -- and it's a fundraiser for the station, so please give. There's a link at the website, or call 1-800-394-WUSB or 1-631-632-6901.)
WUSB 90.1 FM on the radio (Long Island and coastal Connecticut), wusb.fm to the website and the link to the netcast (up by the logo, to the right).
All sorts of singing groups -- with instruments and without, US and the world, pop and rock and soul and vocalese and collegiate and old and new and and and ..... It's in there. There has been no more more consistent presence in music, and never more than now.
Tune in -- radio or web! And tell others about it!
(Oh -- and it's a fundraiser for the station, so please give. There's a link at the website, or call 1-800-394-WUSB or 1-631-632-6901.)
Words of War / War of Words
We had no business going to Iraq. Many of us have been saying that from before the start, as President W. was ramping up for it. (Some are wondering where Christians were at that time -- they've forgotten some rather large rallies that took place before W. went in, where quite a few of us Christian believers went.) In any event, I felt like I failed the day we went in.
Once the move was made, I was hoping for the next best thing -- an honest, caring attempt to create the framework for a government that most Iraqis could be part of, so we could get the hell out. It soon became apparent that the US was most interested in keeping certain sectors out. Granted, most of those sectors didn't want 'in' (or at least not in something where they had to deal with others) and didn't really care if everyone else was blown up. But the more people that are outside of the government, the easier it is to challenge its legitimacy.
Then, some of these people -- and I have to join with W. when he called these particular people 'terrorists', attacked certain targets (including a key mosque) in hopes of generating a Sunni/Shia conflict. The thing I keep finding hard to understand about the Middle East is the foolishness of so much of the anger. If I knew that someone was trying to make me hate, and I knew that particular someone was responsible for the attacks, and I knew that revenge attacks were what the attackers wanted to cause, I'd be a d**n fool to take revenge, wouldn't I? The last thing I'd do is give the guys who blew up my people's mosque/holy place exactly what they were aiming for -- it's like giving them a 'thank-you' note, or even a big cash reward, for striking me. I would think they'd have responded by redoubling efforts to unify and find common ground, and thus making sure the terrorists got the opposite of what they wanted. I would think the people of Iraq would want not to be a dummy, opening the mouth to speak someone else's words. That sounds like good revenge to me. But then, I'm not in the Middle East. It's almost as if the people there find any excuse they can for the foolishness they have been doing since WWII. Cheering them on. Protecting them. Doing everything but the one thing they must do -- the one thing that is far and away more important than anything else, even the righting of injustices -- stopping anyone who wants to carry out more war. Even if it means turning in your brothers -- because not turning them in puts all in your families at risk. The more the flames are fanned, the worse things get. So stop fanning the flames, and instead douse them with water. These conflicts are solid proof, as if any more were needed, that war and hate cause far more injustice than they can resolve. It must end, and end first. The 'compound interest' of the evil must stop. W. needs to learn that lesson, sure, but the biggest part of the problem is that the Middle East has no desire to learn it, either. Even if it is right there in their holy books (there are some threads of peace in the Quran, contrary to image and usage). Even if they and their loved ones keep dying over it. Peace is the only real path to survival, but true peace cannot be had while we fatten the vampire of hate by such endless supplies of blood.
I guess a blog entry is an electronic soap box. I'm getting off of this one, having said enough.
Once the move was made, I was hoping for the next best thing -- an honest, caring attempt to create the framework for a government that most Iraqis could be part of, so we could get the hell out. It soon became apparent that the US was most interested in keeping certain sectors out. Granted, most of those sectors didn't want 'in' (or at least not in something where they had to deal with others) and didn't really care if everyone else was blown up. But the more people that are outside of the government, the easier it is to challenge its legitimacy.
Then, some of these people -- and I have to join with W. when he called these particular people 'terrorists', attacked certain targets (including a key mosque) in hopes of generating a Sunni/Shia conflict. The thing I keep finding hard to understand about the Middle East is the foolishness of so much of the anger. If I knew that someone was trying to make me hate, and I knew that particular someone was responsible for the attacks, and I knew that revenge attacks were what the attackers wanted to cause, I'd be a d**n fool to take revenge, wouldn't I? The last thing I'd do is give the guys who blew up my people's mosque/holy place exactly what they were aiming for -- it's like giving them a 'thank-you' note, or even a big cash reward, for striking me. I would think they'd have responded by redoubling efforts to unify and find common ground, and thus making sure the terrorists got the opposite of what they wanted. I would think the people of Iraq would want not to be a dummy, opening the mouth to speak someone else's words. That sounds like good revenge to me. But then, I'm not in the Middle East. It's almost as if the people there find any excuse they can for the foolishness they have been doing since WWII. Cheering them on. Protecting them. Doing everything but the one thing they must do -- the one thing that is far and away more important than anything else, even the righting of injustices -- stopping anyone who wants to carry out more war. Even if it means turning in your brothers -- because not turning them in puts all in your families at risk. The more the flames are fanned, the worse things get. So stop fanning the flames, and instead douse them with water. These conflicts are solid proof, as if any more were needed, that war and hate cause far more injustice than they can resolve. It must end, and end first. The 'compound interest' of the evil must stop. W. needs to learn that lesson, sure, but the biggest part of the problem is that the Middle East has no desire to learn it, either. Even if it is right there in their holy books (there are some threads of peace in the Quran, contrary to image and usage). Even if they and their loved ones keep dying over it. Peace is the only real path to survival, but true peace cannot be had while we fatten the vampire of hate by such endless supplies of blood.
I guess a blog entry is an electronic soap box. I'm getting off of this one, having said enough.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Fund Raising
I just got back from the start of the fund raising drive at my station (wusb 90.1 FM) . Off to a good start! Over the years, the whole fund raising thing has slowly felt like it was bogging down. We really hadn't stepped upward to get the money we need to keep being the free-form, programmer/personality-centered weird and energizing place on the dial that it is. I think we may be onto something this time out -- we're putting some of that programming inventiveness to work.
Now, if only the website can be brought up to date....
Now, if only the website can be brought up to date....
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
On First
I'm making my second try at the world of blogging. I hope this time it takes, and I actually decide to write in it. I have a lot to say. Much of it is already on line at http://www.spirithome.com/, and in groups messages. But each of those cover only one specific turf. I'm figuring this will give me a place to flex my wings a bit.
My main thing isn't politics, or even (at least in an on-line way) religion, but public planning/zoning/economic development. Yet 'tis the political season, and I'm a Political Science MA, so that's what I will probably write about until a few weeks after the elections.
Bob
My main thing isn't politics, or even (at least in an on-line way) religion, but public planning/zoning/economic development. Yet 'tis the political season, and I'm a Political Science MA, so that's what I will probably write about until a few weeks after the elections.
Bob
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