Tomorrow I’ll be playing at the Red Stag Supperclub in Minneapolis, from 10:30 to 12:30, with my brother-in-law and drummer, Shawn Kolles. I plan on recording the whole show and releasing it on Noisetrade as a free live album. We’ll be debuting some of the new original songs that will appear on my forthcoming album (Late to Love) along with songs from Freedom for... Read more
If there is in this world a single man knowing all that is useful to know in order fully to understand the historical, philosophical and theological meaning of the Divine Comedy, that man is highly privileged indeed, but it is not impossible to imagine a man possessed of that thorough knowledge of the meaning of the poem and yet incapable of experiencing it as the thing of beauty that it is. Etienne Gilson, The Arts of the Beautiful Read more
Back from fishing, will be posting again soon. (Taken with Instagram) Read more
A flower in the plaza of the hotel I just checked out of in Houston. Next stop: the Rio Grande Valley. (Taken with Instagram) Read more
Greetings from the Republic of Texas! In my recent talk on Augustine and Monica, I may have given the wrong impression: that modern science cannot be engaged with seriously and faithfully. This is NOT my position. The point requires nuance and balance. This new blog promises to possess that and more. About the author: a student and friend of mine, and recent graduate of Wabash College, has been studying the philosophy of science in his ongoing, personal quest to grow... Read more
A former colleague of mine recently sent an e-mail lamenting his lack of summertime productivity and passed along an article that might help others in similar predicaments. The article — from Inside Higher Ed — is one of those dime-a-dozen, pathetic self-help columns with enumerated tips on how to be more “productive,” so on and so forth. The e-mail and article were both addressing the sad fact that many mid-career academics find it hard to work without external incentive. In... Read more
I’ll get as much energy as a hippo that runs through the night! I’m having more fun than turtles on Tuesday! Tomas Rocha, age 5, at Bunker Beach in Blaine, Minnesota. Read more
A short, brilliant piece of advise from NPR’s Ira Glass for people — especially young people — doing creative work. The message is simple: keep working hard; do lots and lots of work; it will help you get to a place where you can reach your creative ambitions. The longer version — Ira Glass on the Art of Storytelling — can be found at Open Culture. Read more
Here is recording of the guest lecture I gave yesterday at the Church of Saint Paul in Ham Lake, MN: “Sts. Augustine and Monica, the Head and the Heart.” The talk follows the annotated outline below: I This talk will introduce St. Augustine’s Confessions by making a somewhat bold claim: St. Monica is the sine qua non of the book, the character without which there is nothing at all. This claim asks us to imagine Augustine confessing to Monica, a... Read more
Things have been quiet here with lots of good stuff going on here locally. Yesterday I played with Sonar for the Diocese of Crookston’s leadership camp and today I’ll be delivering a guest lecture on Augustine’s confessions at the Catholic Church of Saint Paul. I hope to have it recorded and should post it here this week. Then, I’ll be headed down to the Republic of Texas for a week. Every time I’ve predicted a quiet website, I seem to contradict myself. Hopefully the... Read more
Sam Rocha
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