Five recent milestones: 1. Passed the 600,000 visitor mark. This is a big deal because after 600,000 visitors, the 600,001st is half-price. 2. Passed Pg. 150 in Left Behind. At this pace, according to the calculations at If:Book, it will take me roughly another 80 years to work through the rest of the series. I suppose I'll either need to pick up the pace or begin training an apprentice. 3. For the first time in my life, I changed a... Read more
This Friday, Sept. 23, is the debut of Perfection Unspeakable, a new play by Tom Minter, directed by David Garone. Here's the blurb from the promo materials: In the silence of Heaven, two angels use sign language to articulate their debate, manipulating man as chess pieces to enact their thoughts, incorporating the lyricism of American Sign Language, dance, and spoken language — Perfection Unspeakable is a dynamic work that flexes the boundaries of ensemble theater. I'm a part of the... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 151-154 The opening sentence of Chapter 9 clearly establishes that this is not a flashback: Buck's subconscious waking system failed him that evening, but by 8:45 p.m. he was back in Steve Plank's office, disheveled and apologetic. So it's not a flashback. This scene occurs after the mass disappearances. We are in the executive offices of a premier newsmagazine, the top editors gathered to discuss upcoming stories. This is not a flashback. Emotions are high. They're tossing... Read more
every now and then I seem to dream these dreams ?where the orphans suckle and the slaves go free … Mark Heard, "Dry Bones Dance" Jeff Buckley, "Last Goodbye" Crowded House, "Mean to Me" Van Morrison, "And It Stoned Me" da, "Kalhoun" Soul Coughing, "Let the Man Go Through" Elvis Costello, "Suit of Lights" Kasey Chambers, "We're All Gonna Die Someday" Prince, "7" Wild Swans, "Bringing Home the Ashes" Read more
Sinead O'Connor has recorded a nice version of the Peter Tosh song "Downpresser Man." Hearing it yesterday, I was struck by how Tosh's lyrics capture the meaning and the spirit of the apocalypse better than anything Tim LaHaye has ever written. If you haven't heard it, "Downpresser Man" is an explicitly apocalyptic song. It describes the Day of the Lord's Judgment, complete with wrath raining from heaven — "the sea will be boiling … the rocks will be melting." This... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 144-150 Rayford's saintly dead wife has been plucked away by the very hand of God, thus elevating her above even the chaste pedestal on which he had kept her. This makes our hero's madonna/whore complex that much worse. He thinks back again to when he "indulged in that make-out session at the Christmas party before Raymie was born." Earlier, he'd thought of that incident dismissively, as an inconsequential lapse in his otherwise flawless fidelity. Now he has... Read more
sometimes you lose your address to find your shelter Aztec Camera, "Song for a Friend" The Cure, "Just Like Heaven" The Call, "I Still Believe" The Cloud Room, "Hey Now Now" Madeleine Peyroux, "Reckless Blues" Nine Inch Nails, "Head Like a Hole" Rickie Lee Jones, "Satellites" Jane's Addiction, "Jane Says" The Verve, "Bittersweet Symphony" Vigilantes of Love, "Earth Has No Sorrow" I have nothing against Edward Elgar. "Pomp and Circumstance" is a lovely piece of music, and there's something to... Read more
My friend Andrew from Zion's Herald keeps tabs on groups like the Institute on Religion and Democracy — a Scaife-funded PR-tank dedicated these days to attacking mainline Protestant denominations. (Part of IRD's current mission is to take over the spiritual renewal groups in these denominations and convert them into a partisan, political machine.) He sends along this link to an article by longtime IRD hatchetman Mark Tooley. I should warn you — if you follow that link you'll be taken... Read more
Sometimes a journalist's job is simply to state the obvious. That's why, for example, TV weather jockeys start their reports confirming that yes, your eyes didn't deceive you, it really was a very nice day outside. That's sort of what the AP's Frank Bass does with this piece, "Poor suffered brunt of Katrina's wrath." Bass restates the obvious and backs it up with census data and on-the-scene detail, thus helping to make the obvious official: People living in the path... Read more
1-800-HELP-NOW Teresa and Patrick Nielsen Hayden have posted some remarkable stuff this week on the unfolding tragedy. Go read it all, but see especially their Katrina info page. Patrick includes a link to a rant from Tenn.-based Cherie Priest, who dissects the class-based cluelessness of much of the reporting on the destruction of New Orleans: Look at the reporters who are "incensed" by the rampant looting. Look at the smugness from those distant from the situation who chastise the dumb... Read more
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