The Ghost of John Fahey

I'm excited about this.

Almost unrelated, but I'm thinking about cover songs...

William Shatner's version of the Pulp song Common People is so much better than Pulp's own.

I've Never Read a Graphic Novel

Charles Burns and Chris Ware discuss graphic novels on the radio show Open Source.

The Dark Pages: An hour of radio dedicated to the graphic novel

In a comment on the program, I came across this:

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I am reminded of an anecdote shared by Neil Gaiman in an interview on the PRI program Studio 360. Gaiman was at some literary shindig, and had told some literary bigwig that he made comics. After some awkward conversation, the man brightened and said “Oh, you’re Neil Gaiman! My dear fellow, you don’t write comics; you write graphic novels!” Recalling this, Gaiman said, “I felt like a whore who had just been told that she was a ‘lady of the evening.’”

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I hunted down the interview; it can be heard here.

Access

"The times are changing, and the model of intellectual property that derives from circumstances where only a few people had available the capital to underwrite the mass reproduction of information--that model of intellectual property no longer functions. Interested parties may keep it alive in a declining state of vitality, but the circumstances that supported the model no longer obtain."
-A. K. M. Adam

The Disseminary:
What Theological Educators Need to Learn from Napster

In Control

Johannah Faith Duggar was born at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and weighed 7 pounds, 6.5 ounces.

"Where is... the funky tattooed intellectual poetess who, along with her genius anarchist husband, is popping out 16 funky progressive intellectually curious fashion-forward pagan offspring to answer the Duggar's squad of über-white future Wal-Mart shoppers? Where is the liberal, spiritualized, pro-sex flip side? Verily I say unto thee, it ain't lookin' good."

-Mark Morford, God Does Not Want 16 Kids

Matt Colvin posted a short, nifty response to this heinous, almost desperate sounding, newspaper column.

Matt wrote,

"For all the author's feigned concern for the well-being of the 16 "hungry" children, and for the overpopulation problem, he is actually distressed about Christians having babies because he fears their cultural influence. It angers him that a Christian couple has 16 Christian kids. He is frightened of the prospect of those 16 kids each having more kids. The author frets, "gay couples still can't openly adopt a baby in most states." Which of course, wouldn't be a concern, were it not for the fact that they can't reproduce in any states."

Reading Matt's response (and, indeed, it was Matt's post that made me aware of the hostile article) reminded me of a Doug Wilson post from last year that has stuck with me since I read it.

The irony is that for thirty years, pro-life Christians have been unsuccessfully trying to dissuade secularists from killing their own replacements, the next generation of secularists. We have failed in this, but in that failure we must come to see the severe judgment of a holy God. And because sin never makes sense, when it finally completely dawns on the secularists what they have succeeded in doing, they will become furious with us. Why? Because we have children, we received them from the hand of God, we loved them, we gave them a real education in the ways of the covenant. As the bumper sticker puts it, "I'm pro-life and I vote. And so do all my kids."

Imaging the Word

Even if you don't like the project I'm linking to, you have to enjoy the idea of an effete group of artists reading through the book of Leviticus for material to illustrate.

The Flaming Fire Illustrated Bible

Ollie Ollie Oxen Free

I just finished reading Green Arrow: Quiver, written by Kevin Smith, pencilled by Phil Hester, inked by Ande Parks

Smith's story caters to the fanboy, with references and allusions to Zero Hour, guest appearances by the Phantom Stranger and the Sandman, and an all-around plot atmosphere so steeped in DCU history that it leaves one dizzy (and wanting more).

The most humorous moments are the loving jabs:

Batman: Arrow-Plane. Haven't heard that in ages. You retired it years ago along with the Arrow-Car.
Green Arrow: What about the Arrow-Cave?
Batman: Good Lord, man -- did you ever have an original thought back then?

Occult themes figure large and the theology is terrible, but forgivable, as it's not to be expected that a fictional universe conform to reality. Mostly, the spiritual construct set in place is forgivable because it completely serves the story. This story can only work in the spiritual world that Smith presents and I don't think that he anywhere contradicts any previous DC mythology. And, anyhow, who can accept a DC heaven that does not accept DC heroes?

Click to see larger image

All of the reunion scenes are fun, and I'm sure to start the next collection because I want to find out how Green Arrow rebuilds all of the relationships in his life.

This book is what a superhero title should be: Smith treats the material seriously, almost religiously, all the while laughing at himself, the DCU, and us.

What is it good for?

"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography."

-Ambrose Bierce

Endless Numbered Days

"The number eight was, for ancient Christianity, the symbol of the Resurrection, for it was on the day after the Sabbath, and so the eighth day, that Christ rose from the tomb. Furthermore, the seven days of the week are the image of the time of this world, and the eighth day of life everlasting. Sunday is the liturgical commemoration of the eighth day, at the same time a memorial of the Resurrection and a prophecy of the world to come …"
-J. Danielou, The Bible and the Liturgy

Check out Eighth Day Books and request a print catalog.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42



This "GOD" fellow evidently has a lot riding on how you do in this week's progressive jackpot.

Leithart Spotting

Date: 7/24/2005
Title: Prayer
Passage: 1 Kings 17:1-24
Speaker: Peter Leithart

Here is the direct mp3 link:
http://www.trinity-pres.net/audio/sermon05-07-24.mp3

Also, don't miss the Leithart Sunday School lecture from the same day:
1 Kings 22 The Lying God?
http://www.trinity-pres.net/audio/ss05-07-24.mp3

Both files are from Trinity Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, Alabama.

Compulsory Reading

As I was flipping through a book for class, I came across the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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Article 28

1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular:

(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;
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For anyone that has never questioned the idea of compulsory education, please read this:

Confederacy of Dunces: The Tyranny of Compulsory Schooling
by John Tayor Gatto


"Compulsory schooling has been, from the beginning, a scheme of indoctrination into the new concept of mass man, an important part of which was the creation of a proletariat." -Gatto

Section IX, in particular, was influential in my decision to become a librarian.