tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post115029767327916056..comments2024-03-28T20:04:20.286-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Edginess and Leading Edges in the Adventure of ConsciousnessGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150398741749815362006-06-15T12:12:00.000-07:002006-06-15T12:12:00.000-07:00Bob and Yankee:I share with Kurt Vonnegut the opin...Bob and Yankee:<BR/><BR/>I share with Kurt Vonnegut the opinion that a certain few controversial thing that Jesus said in the NT - like "The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me" - are actually <I>jokes</I> that don't translate very well out of the original Aramaic. (K.V. retranslates the above example as a cutting-edge example of early Jewish humor - "Relax, Judas. There'll still be plenty of poor people around after I'm gone.")Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150370675052790242006-06-15T04:24:00.000-07:002006-06-15T04:24:00.000-07:00I think that American minimalists had more to do ...I think that American minimalists had more to do with returning concert music to tonality than people like Part.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150348678221085512006-06-14T22:17:00.000-07:002006-06-14T22:17:00.000-07:00An excellent link:(Will, if you get time, let me k...An excellent link:<BR/>(Will, if you get time, let me know what you think of this.)<BR/><BR/>http://answering-islam.org/Authors/JR/Future/index.htm <BR/><BR/>JWMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150347884577490762006-06-14T22:04:00.000-07:002006-06-14T22:04:00.000-07:00I followed the link over to Huftingtonland, and re...I followed the link over to Huftingtonland, and read the Rigby article, and the follow up comments. Very depressing. About half of the people were of the "no God, no vertical, no afterlife" school of two dimensional no perspective, and the other half were the "America bad Bush evil" school of applied ignorance.<BR/>Consider for a moment Bush's reaction to 9/11. In the wake of one of the most vicious crimes in human history Bush committed our armed forces and our economic might to an attempt to improve the lives of millions of moslems trapped in two of the most repressive regimes on the planet. Talk about turning the other cheek, loving your enemies, doing good to those who would harm you, etc. And these vacuum heads see GWB as the evil one. I have come to the conclusion that the left is as much the enemy of civilization as is islam. Islam is the storm approaching your home. The left are the termites chewing away at the foundation.<BR/><BR/>JWMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150328230712765722006-06-14T16:37:00.000-07:002006-06-14T16:37:00.000-07:00Apropos of humor-- one aspect of Martin Luther's s...Apropos of humor-- one aspect of Martin Luther's sermons and Biblical commentaries that I've grown to appreciate more deeply over the years is not only his own sense of humor, but also his perception thar Jesus had a playful streak and probably spent some quality time joking and kidding around with the Twelve as well as teaching them.<BR/>As for JSB (the patron saint of music in my book), it never surprised me that the composer of the <I>B Minor Mass</I> also wrote the <I>Coffee Cantata</I> (BWV 211). Wonderful fun! (For Cosmonauts who have never heard of the <I>Kaffe-Kantate</I>, here's a link to a reader-friendly brief summary: http://www.bach.org/bach101/cantatas/cantata211.html)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150314605025166122006-06-14T12:50:00.000-07:002006-06-14T12:50:00.000-07:00Or the Ron Brown funeral, where he immediately shi...Or the Ron Brown funeral, where he immediately shifted from hysterics to tears as soon as he spotted a camera rolling.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150313711775353112006-06-14T12:35:00.000-07:002006-06-14T12:35:00.000-07:00Remember Clinton in the rose garden the morning of...Remember Clinton in the rose garden the morning of the day after Waco where some 30 children died? He was laughing up a storm about something or other. Not just cracking wise, I mean bent over in hysterics. Talk about "inappropriate", sheesh. Of course the MSM didn't call him on it. Humor was OK in those days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150307747455495832006-06-14T10:55:00.000-07:002006-06-14T10:55:00.000-07:00This past Sunday I happened upon a little church i...This past Sunday I happened upon a little church in rural Colorado and sat in on their Sunday school class. The topic was how Christians should respond to the claims of The DaVinci Code.<BR/><BR/>It was an hour long class before the morning service, and the instructor never got around to actually discussing the film. Why? Because he started out with a quote from St. Peter and used it to facilitate a discussion on how to engage in civil discourse and convey your beliefs in a respectful and effective way.<BR/><BR/>The entire time there was not a single outburst, derogatory statement, hint of anger...<BR/><BR/>Despite the fact that they were talking about such a profound, disrespectful and dishonest assault on the core of their beliefs that is actually influencing millions of people.<BR/><BR/>In contrast, I tried (unsuccessfully) to imagine a MoveOn.org meeting - about anything - conducted with such maturity and dignity; and I didn't even both trying to picture an Imam leading a similar class on cartoons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150306392899135862006-06-14T10:33:00.000-07:002006-06-14T10:33:00.000-07:00Oh yes, the real edge is the center, whether it's ...Oh yes, the real edge is the center, whether it's Charlie Parker in Kansas City, Bob Zimmerman in Hibbing, Minnesota, or Buck Owens in Bakersfield, California....<BR/><BR/>Culture is not a product of "culture," much less the cultured sophisticates....Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150305273013540832006-06-14T10:14:00.000-07:002006-06-14T10:14:00.000-07:00Yes, "edgy" always seems to be a taunt, a pose, an...Yes, "edgy" always seems to be a taunt, a pose, and a calculation.<BR/><BR/>The real edge is not so barbed, and it always comes out of some place you'd never expect, not if you're wired into "where the action is", ie., NY, LA, etc. <BR/><BR/>In '61, who would have expected a world-changing popular music to come out of *Liverpool*, England?<BR/><BR/>In the 70's, 80's, all the music critics seemed to think NY composer Elliot Carter and his ridiculously convoluted music was *it*. But the real "new age" stuff was to come out of eastern Europe, not exactly in the media spotlight. A Part and H Gorecki, etc., not only returned music to tonality, but their music was organically spiritual, grown out of the barrenness of the soviet system, out of real suffering and deprivation, not out of a media demand to be "edgy".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150303467805638142006-06-14T09:44:00.000-07:002006-06-14T09:44:00.000-07:00>>"For those with eyes to see, America--despite it...>>"For those with eyes to see, America--despite its flaws--is so obviously at the leading edge of history that it is difficult to conceive of where history would be without her."<<<BR/><BR/>I was just thinking of that last night and the differences between the conservatives in this country and their boldness, vision and commitment in tough times or the liberals with their cut and run, mediocre philosophies and how history will look back and judge just who was at the cutting edge.<BR/>Take the last two presidents for example.<BR/>Our current one who has the vision to take bold direct action and who, in time, will be known as a great liberator in the Middle East.<BR/>Or the latest "saviour" President of the left who because of his mediocre, easily forgotten initiatives will go down in history as the misogynist who through his own hubris, ended up being impeached and disbarred.<BR/>Once all the emotion and confusion of the present political battles clears up in the fullness of time, those two things are what will be remembered.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150299903999307052006-06-14T08:45:00.000-07:002006-06-14T08:45:00.000-07:00Yes, Elvis was only Elvis because he was a member ...Yes, Elvis was only Elvis because he was a member of an integrated Pentacostal church in which music was central. Haven't heard of Larry Norman. But remember, I'm speaking in large generalizations. By definition, one can always find exceptions to the generalization.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1150299537088351582006-06-14T08:38:00.000-07:002006-06-14T08:38:00.000-07:00Hi Bob,When it comes to Christian rock music, what...Hi Bob,<BR/><BR/>When it comes to Christian rock music, what derived from what?<BR/><BR/>Go back in time further, and you see "rock" music going mainstream in the 1950's when white kids started playing "race music": that upbeat music that blacks were playing. Many white parents of the 50's didn't like their children listening to this "race music".<BR/><BR/>And, where did the blacks learn this upbeat music? Often in church. They learned this style of music growing up in black churches in the South where they joined the choirs and learned instruments and played it.<BR/><BR/>So, one could say that Christian rock is a derivative of "rock", but "rock" is derivative too, and the gospel music of the black churches was a very strong influence. <BR/><BR/>That's what Larry Norman says, who is credited as being the founder of Christian rock music. Have you ever heard of Larry Norman, or heard his style of Christian rock?<BR/><BR/>EricAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com