Sunday, February 10, 2008
The Mother of All Arts: Agrarianism and the Creative Impulse
by Gene Logsdon, 20% off from University Press of Kentucky:
Amazon
When Gene Logsdon realized that he experienced the same creative joy from working on his farm as he did from writing, he began to suspect that farming itself was a form of art. Thus began his search for the origins of the artistic impulse in the agrarian lifestyle. The Mother of All Arts is the culmination of Logsdon's journey, his account of friendships with farmers and artists driven by the urge to create. He chronicles his long relationship with Wendell Berry and discovers the playful humor of several new agrarian writers. He reveals insights gleaned from conversations with Andrew Wyeth and his family of artists. Through his association with musicians such as Willie Nelson and his involvement with Farm Aid, Logsdon learns how music--blues, jazz, country, and even rock 'n' roll--is rooted in agriculture.
Logsdon sheds new light on the work of rural painters, writers, and musicians and suggests that their art could be created only by those who work intimately with nature. Unlike the gritty realism or abstract expressionism often favored by contemporary critics, agrarian art evokes familiar feelings of community and comfort. Most important, Logsdon convincingly demonstrates that diminishing the connection between art and nature lessens the social value of both.
Humorous and introspective, The Mother of All Arts is neither conventional cultural criticism nor traditional art criticism. It is a unique, lively meditation on the nature and purpose of art--and on the life well lived--by one of the most original voices of rural America.
Gene Logsdon, a writer and farmer in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, is the author of many books, including Wyeth People, The Contrary Farmer, and the forthcoming novel The Lords of Folly.
Amazon
Petrodollar Warfare
Inspired by this post from Professor Deneen: Paper Tiger
I need to do more reading about the dollar being the reserve currency and so on--I have seen differing opinions on what the impact of changing the currency in which oil is priced would be...
Petrodollar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Petrodollar warfare - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Feasta - Oil, Currency and the War on Iraq
From 2005: Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil ...
Iraq, the Dollar and the Euro by Hazel Henderson - The Globalist ...
Putin: Why Not Price Oil in Euros? - Social and Economic Policy ...
Petrodollar became the essential basis for the US economic ...
Petrodollar Theories of the War
Petrodollar Warfare, by William R. Clark
Petrodollar Warfare - Home
William Clark talks about "Petrodollar Warfare"
William Clark updates "Petrodollar Warfare," part 1 - Brightcove
alt
New Society Publishers - Petrodollar Warfare
Google Books
Interview With William R. Clark, Author "Petrodollar Warfare: Oil ...
Global Public Media: Author William Clark on Radio New Zealand's "Nine to Noon"
Plus:
American House of Saud :: Steven Emerson
Review of The American House of Saud
The Dollar as Reserve Currency
The dollar’s reserve currency role is drawing to an end
The World's Reserve CurrencyPCR:
The Dollar’s Reserve Currency Role Is Drawing to an End
Asia Times: US dollar hegemony has got to go
Dollar Hegemony and its Danger: Reading Henry CK Liu | american ...
I need to do more reading about the dollar being the reserve currency and so on--I have seen differing opinions on what the impact of changing the currency in which oil is priced would be...
Petrodollar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Petrodollar warfare - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Feasta - Oil, Currency and the War on Iraq
From 2005: Petrodollar Warfare: Dollars, Euros and the Upcoming Iranian Oil ...
Iraq, the Dollar and the Euro by Hazel Henderson - The Globalist ...
Putin: Why Not Price Oil in Euros? - Social and Economic Policy ...
Petrodollar became the essential basis for the US economic ...
Petrodollar Theories of the War
Petrodollar Warfare, by William R. Clark
Petrodollar Warfare - Home
William Clark talks about "Petrodollar Warfare"
William Clark updates "Petrodollar Warfare," part 1 - Brightcove
alt
New Society Publishers - Petrodollar Warfare
Google Books
Interview With William R. Clark, Author "Petrodollar Warfare: Oil ...
Global Public Media: Author William Clark on Radio New Zealand's "Nine to Noon"
Plus:
American House of Saud :: Steven Emerson
Review of The American House of Saud
The Dollar as Reserve Currency
The dollar’s reserve currency role is drawing to an end
The World's Reserve CurrencyPCR:
The Dollar’s Reserve Currency Role Is Drawing to an End
Asia Times: US dollar hegemony has got to go
Dollar Hegemony and its Danger: Reading Henry CK Liu | american ...
Can I live with less?
Tonight KK, her husband, my mother and I drove up to SF to have dinner with the grandparents at... of course Emperor Palace. We should have made a reservation, as plenty of others had done so, to have dinner to celebrate the New Year there. We were able to get a table, but it was in the corner, and it was not such a comfortable arrangement, as they had pushed two smaller rectangle tables together, presumably to get them out of the way since a lot of large tables had been set up in the main dining room. The food there was generally good, though I heard the chicken wasn't. And my sister and her husband still prefer salt and spicy pork over the si jap gwat dish that came with the $21.95 wo choi lunch/dinner special (which my mother usually orders when she takes the grandparents to lunch).
I wouldn't consider my grandparents to be poor or destitute--but they don't have that much, and their apartment is rather simple. There is running water, electricity, heat... a small TV too. Nothing like the luxuries most Asians aspire to have these days... I wonder how many of us would be content with what my grandparents have?
Now if only they would be converted to Christ. When they lived at our home, which was a long time ago, maybe 20 years now, my mother noticed that they did not talk to each other much. They might take a walk or read newspapers, but there was very little conversation. Maybe their relationship has improved since then--I noticed that my grandfather gaap sung/grabbed food to give to my grandmother again tonight. He hadn't done this before. My mother marvelled when I mentioned it to her after the last time he did it--the change in character was quite unexpected.
At Emperor Palace there is a TV, and KCNS was broadcasting special New Year's programming from Mainland China. There were plenty of people in the audience. How many people in China could entertain themselves? Make their own music and so on? Is the percentage of people who can do so even less there than it is here? One can live the simple life but not by choice. On the other hand, the simple life is probably not incompatible with having leisure. As Wendell Berry points out, we need to learn how to entertain ourselves, rather then relying upon mass-produced "culture." But like the domestic skills and arts that we have lost, the art of singing or making music and so on must be recovered.
I wouldn't consider my grandparents to be poor or destitute--but they don't have that much, and their apartment is rather simple. There is running water, electricity, heat... a small TV too. Nothing like the luxuries most Asians aspire to have these days... I wonder how many of us would be content with what my grandparents have?
Now if only they would be converted to Christ. When they lived at our home, which was a long time ago, maybe 20 years now, my mother noticed that they did not talk to each other much. They might take a walk or read newspapers, but there was very little conversation. Maybe their relationship has improved since then--I noticed that my grandfather gaap sung/grabbed food to give to my grandmother again tonight. He hadn't done this before. My mother marvelled when I mentioned it to her after the last time he did it--the change in character was quite unexpected.
At Emperor Palace there is a TV, and KCNS was broadcasting special New Year's programming from Mainland China. There were plenty of people in the audience. How many people in China could entertain themselves? Make their own music and so on? Is the percentage of people who can do so even less there than it is here? One can live the simple life but not by choice. On the other hand, the simple life is probably not incompatible with having leisure. As Wendell Berry points out, we need to learn how to entertain ourselves, rather then relying upon mass-produced "culture." But like the domestic skills and arts that we have lost, the art of singing or making music and so on must be recovered.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
More thoughts about Macross F
Macross Frontier is en route to the center of the galaxy, where the first Megaroad expedition was lost. Might it be possible for some of the characters of the original Macross to make an appearance later in Macross F? After all, it is the 25th anniversary of Macross. And according to the wiki page for Macross F, some of the alien mecha have similar markings to those on the "bird" mecha of Macross F. Is there a connection? Will the aliens turn out to be related to the Protoculture in some way? Perhaps even survivors or descendants from that supposedly extinct race? But perhaps modified in some way?
I don't think the Nome characters in Macross F and Macross Zero have any relation to each other... but if they do... that would be interesting.
Some stills from the first episode. Macross Frontier Image Page. Macross Frontier Manga Page.
Edit: I just skimmed through episode 5, and the scientists talk about the alien being the one who tinkered with genes to create the human race... so it does appear that the Bird-Human alien was a part of Protoculture.
So the humans have suspected that the Protoculture is still around, but in hiding? But that someday mankind would encounter them as they continued exploring the rest of the galaxy?
I don't think the Nome characters in Macross F and Macross Zero have any relation to each other... but if they do... that would be interesting.
Some stills from the first episode. Macross Frontier Image Page. Macross Frontier Manga Page.
Edit: I just skimmed through episode 5, and the scientists talk about the alien being the one who tinkered with genes to create the human race... so it does appear that the Bird-Human alien was a part of Protoculture.
So the humans have suspected that the Protoculture is still around, but in hiding? But that someday mankind would encounter them as they continued exploring the rest of the galaxy?
Fr. Samir responds to Rowan Williams
Sharia and English law: a weakened Europe abandons humanism
by Samir Khalil Samir, sj
Debate has been raised by the proposal of Rowan Williams, the Anglican primate, to insert parts of sharia into British legislation. To integrate Muslims into Europe, the practice of hospitality is better. Europeans appear to be abandoning the same humanist ideals that attract many, Muslims and non-Muslims.
The archbishop of Cantebury's speech
by Samir Khalil Samir, sj
Debate has been raised by the proposal of Rowan Williams, the Anglican primate, to insert parts of sharia into British legislation. To integrate Muslims into Europe, the practice of hospitality is better. Europeans appear to be abandoning the same humanist ideals that attract many, Muslims and non-Muslims.
The archbishop of Cantebury's speech
Justin Raimondo, The Cable-Cutter Mystery
The Cable-Cutter Mystery
Spies, lies, and "conspiracy theories" – what's behind the Middle East internet outage
via EB:
Using the Internet as a weapon
Commentary: Internet interruption in the Middle East looks fishy
John C. Dvorak, MarketWatch
Spies, lies, and "conspiracy theories" – what's behind the Middle East internet outage
via EB:
Using the Internet as a weapon
Commentary: Internet interruption in the Middle East looks fishy
John C. Dvorak, MarketWatch
Nakama Yukie vids
出演：仲間由紀恵・歌：島谷ひとみ
仲間由紀恵 きれいなおねえさんシリーズ プラチナ篇
仲間由紀恵 ナノケアＣＭ
Glico: Panapp Commercial
Glico: Pocky Reverse Commercial
仲間由紀恵 日清チキンラーメン CM Yukie Nakama
Yukie Nakama - NISSIN CHIKIN RAMEN
Nakama Yukie - Talk 1/3 祝『ウソコイ』DVD発売
Nakama Yukie - Talk 2/3
Nakama Yukie - Talk 3/3
Tetsuko's Room guest Nakama Yukie 2007(1/3)
Tetsuko's Room guest Nakama Yukie 2007(2/3)
Tetsuko's Room guest Nakama Yukie 2007(3/3)
Eetomo talk guest Nakama Yukie October, 2007
【CM】 Yukie Nakama - au by KDDI 誰でも割 「ツルの恩返し篇」
【CM】 Yukie Nakama - au by KDDI 誰でも割 「桃太郎篇」
仲間由紀恵 きれいなおねえさんシリーズ プラチナ篇
仲間由紀恵 ナノケアＣＭ
Glico: Panapp Commercial
Glico: Pocky Reverse Commercial
仲間由紀恵 日清チキンラーメン CM Yukie Nakama
Yukie Nakama - NISSIN CHIKIN RAMEN
Nakama Yukie - Talk 1/3 祝『ウソコイ』DVD発売
Nakama Yukie - Talk 2/3
Nakama Yukie - Talk 3/3
Tetsuko's Room guest Nakama Yukie 2007(1/3)
Tetsuko's Room guest Nakama Yukie 2007(2/3)
Tetsuko's Room guest Nakama Yukie 2007(3/3)
Eetomo talk guest Nakama Yukie October, 2007
【CM】 Yukie Nakama - au by KDDI 誰でも割 「ツルの恩返し篇」
【CM】 Yukie Nakama - au by KDDI 誰でも割 「桃太郎篇」
Multiculturalism in the public schools
An illustration of multiculturalism--what I experienced on Tuesday and Wedneday for my most recent teaching assignment. The school was celebrating the Lunar New Year.
The Asians at the school are mostly Vietnamese, though there may be a few Chinese.
One of the 5th grad classes (6th grade?) sang "Vietnam Vietnam" in Vietnamese. (I don't know if they still play this song on Ch. 38 at the end of Vietnamese programming. To me, Vietnamese seems somewhat difficult to learn, even though some people claim Cantonese and Vietnamese sound very similar. It was a bit odd watching Hispanic and Anglo kids singing in Vietnamese... but they seemed to do it well.
I think the same class also sang "Gong Xi."
It was nice to see the Vietnamese students (and teachers) dressed up in ao dai. (Even if many were rather generic ao dai for children.) Some of the non-Vietnamese students (and again, teachers) were dressed in qi pao or Chinese tops.
I can see why those seeking to preserve Anglo culture and a national identity might complain about this. On the other hand, this is a school where most of the students are non-Anglo. It doesn't seem like the lunar calendar will ever be able to compete against the solar calendar in a Western country; besides the solar calendar is an international standard, and the lunar new year (in China at least) important only for marking certain holidays and picking fortuitous dates for weddings and so on.
But if a local identity is more important than a national identity, and the make-up of a community changes because of immigration and emigration, how can one really complain that the culture of the community is being lost (or more accurately, replaced)? Hence, one can understand the gripe of certain people that the Federal government is at fault for allowing so much (legal) immigration, to the detriment of local cultures and identities.
Yesterday I was asking some of my students the names of various things in Vietnamese. That was rather fun. The vowel sounds of Vietnamese do sound more complex than those of Cantonese...
So what's the harm in having children learn about other cultures? After all, they have to live with one another and therefore understand one another don't they? But do children really learn about culture differences in a public school, or do they get all of their learning from a textbook? And what of core values, and the customs that embody them? Should there be only one set? If children learn more than one, will they become confused, or worse, relativists?
I remember in high school we discussed the difference between ethics and etiquette, and people generally argued etiquette was not as "serious" as ethics, or did not have the same, well, ethical import. Nonetheless, is this really so? Some acts may seem neutral, such as using the right hand to hold the knife when cutting, but what about greeting one another? Isn't that tied to the virtue of friendliness?
And would it really be too much to expect that those who immigrate here should have more than a superficial knowledge of "American culture," beyond what is required on the citizenship test and what they may see on the television? How about a required etiquette course?
More later...
The Asians at the school are mostly Vietnamese, though there may be a few Chinese.
One of the 5th grad classes (6th grade?) sang "Vietnam Vietnam" in Vietnamese. (I don't know if they still play this song on Ch. 38 at the end of Vietnamese programming. To me, Vietnamese seems somewhat difficult to learn, even though some people claim Cantonese and Vietnamese sound very similar. It was a bit odd watching Hispanic and Anglo kids singing in Vietnamese... but they seemed to do it well.
I think the same class also sang "Gong Xi."
It was nice to see the Vietnamese students (and teachers) dressed up in ao dai. (Even if many were rather generic ao dai for children.) Some of the non-Vietnamese students (and again, teachers) were dressed in qi pao or Chinese tops.
I can see why those seeking to preserve Anglo culture and a national identity might complain about this. On the other hand, this is a school where most of the students are non-Anglo. It doesn't seem like the lunar calendar will ever be able to compete against the solar calendar in a Western country; besides the solar calendar is an international standard, and the lunar new year (in China at least) important only for marking certain holidays and picking fortuitous dates for weddings and so on.
But if a local identity is more important than a national identity, and the make-up of a community changes because of immigration and emigration, how can one really complain that the culture of the community is being lost (or more accurately, replaced)? Hence, one can understand the gripe of certain people that the Federal government is at fault for allowing so much (legal) immigration, to the detriment of local cultures and identities.
Yesterday I was asking some of my students the names of various things in Vietnamese. That was rather fun. The vowel sounds of Vietnamese do sound more complex than those of Cantonese...
So what's the harm in having children learn about other cultures? After all, they have to live with one another and therefore understand one another don't they? But do children really learn about culture differences in a public school, or do they get all of their learning from a textbook? And what of core values, and the customs that embody them? Should there be only one set? If children learn more than one, will they become confused, or worse, relativists?
I remember in high school we discussed the difference between ethics and etiquette, and people generally argued etiquette was not as "serious" as ethics, or did not have the same, well, ethical import. Nonetheless, is this really so? Some acts may seem neutral, such as using the right hand to hold the knife when cutting, but what about greeting one another? Isn't that tied to the virtue of friendliness?
And would it really be too much to expect that those who immigrate here should have more than a superficial knowledge of "American culture," beyond what is required on the citizenship test and what they may see on the television? How about a required etiquette course?
More later...
Friday, February 08, 2008
Lori Gottlieb gives the case for settling for Mr. Good Enough
via the Crunchy Con:
The case for settling for Mr. Good Enough
by Lori Gottlieb
Marry Him!
See also her The Case for Mr. Not-Quite-Right
There is much truth in what she says...
The case for settling for Mr. Good Enough
by Lori Gottlieb
Marry Him!
See also her The Case for Mr. Not-Quite-Right
There is much truth in what she says...
NLM: How to Sing Dominican Chant I: Notation
How to Sing Dominican Chant I: Notation
posted by Fr. Augustine Thompson O.P.Zenit: Greek Orthodox Church Elects New Leader
Greek Orthodox Church Elects New Leader
Metropolitan Ieronymos Promoted Dialogue With Catholics
ATHENS, Greece, FEB. 8, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church elected Metropolitan Ieronymos of Thebes and Livadia to succeed Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece, who died last month.
The conclave, which lasted only 4-hours, was held Thursday at Athen's main cathedral. The new archbishop was elected in the second round of voting and received 45 votes out of a possible 75.
After the results were announced, the 20th archbishop elected to lead the Greek Church said, "I accept this high office and honor to uphold the holy traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church."
Archbishop Christodoulos, who was head of the see since 1998, died Jan. 27 after a 7-month battle with cancer. He was 69.
According to reports of the international agencies and local sources, Archbishop Ieronymos, 70, helped Archbishop Christodoulos in his steps of opening dialogue with the Catholic Church, which had its most decisive moment with the visit of Pope John Paul II to Athens in 2001.
The new archbishop also maintains a good relationship with the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, who has expressed his satisfaction and joy with this choice.
Archbishop Ieronymos will be enthroned Feb. 16.
Born Ioannis Liapis, the Greek native was a professor of philosophy and archaeology before entering the priesthood in 1967. He was enthroned as bishop of Thebes in 1981.
Zenit: Satan Exists, and Christ Defeated Him
Satan Exists, and Christ Defeated Him
Gospel Commentary for 1st Sunday of Lent
By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 8, 2008 (Zenit.org.- Demons, Satanism and other related phenomena are quite topical today, and they disturb a great part of our society.
Our technological and industrialized world is filled with magicians, wizards, occultism, spiritualism, fortune tellers, spell trafficking, amulets, as well as very real Satanic sects. Chased away from the door, the devil has come in through the window. Chased away by the faith, he has returned by way of superstition.
The episode of Jesus' temptations in the desert that is read on the First Sunday of Lent helps us to have some clarity on this subject. First of all, do demons exist? That is, does the word "demon" truly indicate some personal being with intelligence and will, or is it simply a symbol, a manner of speaking that refers to the sum of the world's moral evil, the collective unconscious, collective alienation, etc.?
Many intellectuals do not believe in demons in the first sense. But it must be noted that many great writers, such as Goethe and Dostoyevsky, took Satan's existence very seriously. Baudelaire, who was certainly no angel, said that "the demon's greatest trick is to make people believe that he does not exist."
The principal proof of the existence of demons in the Gospels is not the numerous healings of possessed people, since ancient beliefs about the origins of certain maladies may have had some influence on the interpretation of these happenings. The proof is Jesus' temptation by the demon in the desert. The many saints who in their lives battled against the prince of darkness are also proof. They are not like "Don Quixote," tilting at windmills. On the contrary, they were very down-to-earth, psychologically healthy people.
If many people find belief in demons absurd, it is because they take their beliefs from books, they pass their lives in libraries and at desks; but demons are not interested in books, they are interested in persons, especially, and precisely, saints.
How could a person know anything about Satan if he has never encountered the reality of Satan, but only the idea of Satan in cultural, religious and ethnological traditions? They treat this question with great certainty and a feeling of superiority, doing away with it all as so much "medieval obscurantism."
But it is a false certainty. It is like someone who brags about not being afraid of lions and proves this by pointing out that he has seen many paintings and pictures of lions and was never frightened by them. On the other hand, it is entirely normal and consistent for those who do not believe in God to not believe in the devil. It would be quite tragic for someone who did not believe in God to believe in the devil!
Yet the most important thing that the Christian faith has to tell us is not that demons exist, but that Christ has defeated them. For Christians, Christ and demons are not two equal, but rather contrary principles, as certain dualistic religions believe to be the case with good and evil. Jesus is the only Lord; Satan is only a creature "gone bad." If power over men is given to Satan, it is because men have the possibility of freely choosing sides and also to keep them from being too proud (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:7), believing themselves to be self-sufficient and without need of any redeemer. "Old Satan is crazy," goes an African-American spiritual. "He shot me to destroy my soul, but missed and destroyed my sin instead."
With Christ we have nothing to fear. Nothing and no one can do us ill, unless we ourselves allow it. Satan, said an ancient Father of the Church, after Christ's coming, is like a dog chained up in the barnyard: He can bark and lunge as much as he wants, but if we don't go near him, he cannot harm us.
In the desert Jesus freed himself from Satan to free us! This is the joyous news with which we begin our Lenten journey toward Easter.
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
* * *
Father Raniero Cantalamessa is the Pontifical Household preacher. The readings for this Sunday are Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11.
Kevin Gutzman reviews Lincoln's Constitution
A while ago I had a brief debate with someone at Soompi about politics, and we touched upon the right of secession, which he denied existed, citing Licoln's Constitution by Daniel Farber (Boalt) as support.
Well, today I found this review by Kevin Gutzman.
Lincoln's Constitution: an interview with Daniel Farber
Well, today I found this review by Kevin Gutzman.
Lincoln's Constitution: an interview with Daniel Farber
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