Found Music – Dear Landlord

Wadstock numero cuatro:

Dear Landlord.

Found Words – Plato

“not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration”

 - Socrates in the Apologies of Socrates

Found Words – The Yarns

Wadstock numero tres:

The Yarns.

One bit of advice for The Yarns. “theyarnsuk” while possibly interpreted “the yarns uk” is easily confused for “the yarn suk” which makes less grammatical sense, but catches the eye. I reserve judgement until Saturday.

Found Music – The Gullivers

Wadstock band numero dos:

The Gullivers.

Found Words – Einstein

“One of the strongest motives that lead persons to art or science is a flight from the everyday life…. With this negative motive goes a positive one. Many seeks to form for himself, in whatever manner is suitable for him, a simplified and lucid image of the world, and so to overcome the world of experience by striving to replace it to some extent by this image. This is what the painter does, and the poet, the speculative philosopher, the natural scientist, each in his own way. Into this image and its formation, he places the center of gravity of his emotional life, in order to attain the peace and serenity that he cannot find within the narrow confines of swirling personal experience.”

-Albert Einstein, as quoted in “The Great Influenza,” by John M. Barry

Found Music – Dot’s Funk Odyssey

Wadstock band numero uno:

Dot’s Funk Odyssey. 

They also get props for having a Nuffielder.

Written Words – Wadstock

So there’s a music festival of sorts Saturday at Oxford. It’s called Wadstock. I don’t really know anything about it, but a college mate of mine is playing in it, and he picked us up some tickets. 12 to midnight, and I’m trying to do a little prep work to see what bands I like. Expect a series of Wadstock bands and links, and of course, reports afterwards.

Written Words – Jon Stewart

Stewart has two great features up on the website today. The first is classic Stewart — Your Government Not at Work, Jane Harman Scandal. Just a fantastic tracing of a line including Israeli operatives, Nancy Pelosi, wiretapping government officials and … power rangers.

The second is not nearly as funny, but fascinating. Stewart has the whole Cliff May/torture interview up on the website. I really like what Stewart has done here. It’s the same thing as he did with the Cramer interviews. Jon has tried to do serious interviews in a way that he could clip up and make funny. That’s an interesting juggling act — but it’s a great chance to hear really intelligent people speak on important issues, and also to get into Jon Stewart’s mind, which is almost as worthwhile. 

Check it out.

Written Words – Faith and Music

One of the activities at my CLC group last night was a meditation focusing on my faith journey. At the end, the activity was to take a sheet of paper, and split it into time periods. Then in each period I was supposed to draw or write something that represented my faith journey during that time.

I was a little skeptical at first, but it turned out to be a remarkably introspective experience. A lot of memories, things I’ll be thinking about for weeks — the sheet of paper is currently hanging on my door so I think about it every time I head out of my room.

I’ll probably be writing about the different revelations for weeks, but this is one of the simplest ones:

Christian music has had a tremendous impact on my life. From being in St. Rose’s House Band as a kid, to trips to Creation, to just hanging out and listening to Bleach with my best friend, it’s been a part of my faith journey since I was a small child.

I’ve been pondering why exactly it was featured so prominently throughout my life. Here’s the best I could come up with.

It’s nourishing.

When so much of music, and indeed the culture I’ve found myself in, is at odds with my values — christian music is a safe place for me. It’s comforting. It’s a place where I can relax, and indeed even pray, without trying to fight back or keep my guard up.

In that spirit, here’s a couple of my faves. Listening to The Afters right now — Superchick, songs like Stand in the Rain or Courage, is my go-to when I’m struggling — FFH, especially the early praise stuff off their first album, is a nice one too.

Found Words – Ayn Rand

From chapter 10:

“And now we look upon the earth and sky. This spread of naked rock and peaks and moonlight is like a world ready to be born, a world that waits. It seems to us it asks a sign from us, a spark, a first commandment. We cannot know what word we are to give, nor what great deed this earth expects to witness. We know it waits.”

 - Anthem