3.31.2005

Trimmed tonight

I probably wouldn't have trimmed my beard and moustache tonight if I thought that I even had a slim chance of winning the World Beard and Moustache Championships. My beard, though, even at its biggest and best, is too scraggly to win any competititions.

3.30.2005

nobody gnomz the trouble i've seen

Last week, I was over at Ben and Spike's apt., it was early in the morning, and I should have been writing a paper on current trends in the cataloging of comic books. Instead, I found this website:

Gnomz

Trying to avoid writing a paper, I decided to explore gnomz, and I ended up registering and creating a strip. The first thing that popped into my head was a fart joke, so i went with it, and, knowing that Jason Poole and Joel Dunham would be the people most likely to enjoy its juvenile humor, sent the link immediately to them (and also to Spike because it was comics-related).

Here it is for anyone else who's interested:

East vs. West


3.25.2005

Word and Image.

Terri Cartoon

Word and Image. I'm more of a multi-panel man, but it does amaze me what can be conveyed via word and image in even one panel that couldn't be conveyed in quite the same way in text alone or image alone.

3.24.2005

Thought for Food.

I am in fundamental agreement with what Doug Wilson has written about the Terri Schiavo case here, here, and here. There's not much that I can add.

Pointing Fingers

I try to keep up-to-date with fast food atrocities. I don't always post my findings here, but this one was too good (bad) to pass up.

I'm (not-really) pleased to present:

Woman bites into finger at San Jose restaurant

3.23.2005

Briton

When was the last time you shoved your Ha'Penny?

Visit Nation on Film

For my wife: Beer is better than milk?

For Scott: Galloway Dairy

Visit Scotland on Film

3.21.2005

Diversions

For all of my recent postings here, you might guess that all that I've been thinking about lately is comics and music. That is true to an extent. I have been thinking of those two things an awful lot. Culture is important to me, and music and comics are important expressions of any culture (at least as far as I'm concerned; of course music has always been regarded as an important part of culture... perhaps someday I'll make a case here for the place of the "newer" art form we call comics... or you can just go read Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, which you should be able to find at your local library).

But, also, amidst all of my work work, my school work, my family work, and my music/comics diversions, I have indeed remembered that it is the lenten season, and my thoughts have been shaped accordingly. Personal current events have forced the season on me to an even greater extent.

So, I wrote a lenten poem recently (which actually, in its finalized form, includes an accompanying comic strip).
I post it here on my blog in honor of Mr. Newman, who posted some of his own poetry a while back. If he's brave enough to let it loose out here, then I'll give it a shot, too.


untitled

self
murder only happens once
except you die to death
given in the blood
die daily, daily die saith
the minister of life kill
self

3.20.2005

Sobriety is a truth that I do much adore.

Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
-Psalm 56:10

3.19.2005

Gaiety

I went through about a one year period when I was obsessed with everything Elephant Six. This music is the anti-grunge, offering a whimsical delight in life, served with a smile.

I even created an E6 email account (now no longer offered, sadly) when I was in London to send Abigail email updates from her mother. I think the address was motherjohnson@elephant6.com.

Of Montreal is a close relative of the E6 clan, and the reason that I'm thinking about E6 and Of Montreal is because Of Montreal is featured on an episode of Spinning on Air which also features an interview with Craig Thompson.

I found the show because I've been looking at comics links all morning, and went to Thompson's site for the first time, where I found the link to the Spinning on Air interview. I really should have found the show in the past, because I've been to the WNYC page before, but sometimes it takes something beyond browsing to catch one's attention.

I then checked out the Spinning on Air site, and found that the newest episode features Viking Moses, so, now that I'm impressed, I'll probably spend the rest of the day going through Spinning on Air archives.

Sigh.

Listen to:
Of Craig Thompson, of Of Montreal, and of more

3.14.2005

3.09.2005

Upon Whose Rock?

I've never been a part of the CCM world. I knew a little bit about it as a kid, because my mother got various Dobsonite newsletters that told her which christian band was a good alternative to a specific secular band, but I never fell for a mediocre alternative. I'm grateful to my mother for buying Mike and Peggy Seeger's American Folk Songs for Children and making me listen to it, but that's the only instance in which I can say that I followed her musical guidance. I just couldn't get into Petra, when I could be listening to the Dead Milkmen.

My first full-blown exposure to the CCM sub-culture was at Houghton. I could write about how much it all sickens me, but that's not the point of this post. What I'm writing here is only meant to remind me that these folks that listen to this bad music are my brothers and sisters in Christ. So, in public, I'll cover for them, defend them to the death even (at the same time that I may have to publicly express my disgust for some particular doctrines of theirs - like tolerating bad music), but, in private, those brothers and sisters deserve no less than a tough noogie and a kick in the rear.

Here are some links:

Dear Abyssal Lord - a humorous "dear Abby" parody in which a Christian rocker writes in to ask the lord of darkness for advice.

Upon This Rock (a GQ article) - I wouldn't imagine that GQ could do this right, but the article is a great read, and, I think, very fair.

Christ-Haunted GQ - a brief Christian assessment of the above article.

A Secular Humanist Look Inside the World of Christian Rock - a comic by Peter Bagge (my thanks to Spike for pointing me to Bagge's Reason strips)

3.07.2005

Wading With Rolled-up Pant Legs

I've been really pleased with bands/artists that have offered online streaming versions of entire albums.

Some that I've been listening to lately:

M Ward's Transistor Radio

Jolie Holland's Catalpa

The Golden Apples of the Sun (compilation, songs selected by Devendra Banhart)

3.06.2005

leatherworking

from a recent entry by Spike:

The problem with paganism is that it doesn’t really exist anymore. Once, paganism was a metaphysical belief system that existed on it’s own, but, now, it must contend with religions that have theologies. Paganism is the skin of a dodo bird stretched over motorized tinker toys and called “alive!” Paganism is, now, just anti-Christian, which is to say, another form of Christianity. Rather silly one at that.

Yes, that Mike Judge

The Animation Show is coming to the Eastman House in Rochester on April 8th through April 10th, and I hope to go if I can get all of my schoolwork done that is due that weekend. Anybody else interested?

Watch the '05 trailer.

About 9 months ago, Tim Enloe linked to an excellent post by the Cogitator on Artificial Intelligence, SF/Fantasy, and life in Christ.

You should go read the entire post, but here's some highlights:

" ... I see a glimmer of a powerful Christian truth at work in these madcap AI [artificial intelligence] ventures. In a nutshell, the Gospel is about the redemptive Lordship of Christ, and our collaboration with Him, by the Holy Spirit, in the establishment of His Kingdom. One of the primary features of His Kingdom is life -- life bursting from His wounds and from His resurrected glory, pouring into us and through us to the ends of the earth. In Christ, all shall be made alive; all shall be made new; all that is shabby and dead shall somehow be transposed and glorified. The tress will burst forth with song and the hills will clap with joy. The earth, so long muffled in the heavy, stained cloak of sinful mortality, shall be made fully alive."
...
"Our pursuit of AI is but a pursuit of the fire fantasy and sci-fi won’t let us forget. The flow of history since Christ’s Passion and Resurrection has been a steady battle by the Church against the forces of death, against Mordor. Pessimists may say death is still just as sovereign as it was before Christ ascended, or perhaps even more powerful, and they may be right. But for the moment I prefer to focus on the victories of the evangelium vitae. Since the day of Pentecost, life has gradually, broadly, on the whole, gained the upper hand over death in many areas of our world: marital assumptions, penal policy, medical charity, economic practice, etc."
...
"The development of AI is, if I may be so bold, one of the most innovative – and unsuspecting – manifestations of Christ revivifying the world. His life-giving hands were pinned to the Cross at Calvary, blessed His Apostles in Palestine and have since been working their way into every nook and cranny of life. AI is simply the unseen, uncredited work of His hands in our time, now on quartz crystals, silicone fibers, pneumatic tubes, copper wires, and all the rest. Where the river flows there will be life, even artificial life (cf. Ezekiel 47). "
...

It's worth going to read the entire article, so please do.

Whether or not you agree with the above, I hope that it gives you lots to think about. I, personally, had never previously considered AI technology as an outworking of the Gospel. But surely it is. Even the stones cry out.

How could I have overlooked such an insight? AI development still gives us many practical and theoretical things to worry about, but it in no way challenges the glory of God, or the image of God in man.

I finally linked to this article from almost a year ago, because I was thinking about it this morning as I was considering animation and the Animation Show tour. Animation is another sign of life, that now pen and ink, paper, some cameras and film, cannot remain still. The abundant life that Christ has brought has caused these still objects to rise up and tell their stories in motion.

I'm just thinking out loud on my blog. I haven't come to any definite conclusions, but I have come to dwell more and more on the ramifications for life that the Gospel has on all the world, even inanimate objects.

3.05.2005

Any Russian in You?

ЧЕБУРАШКА

Want some?

Sooper

This is a follow-up to my previous, recent Superman link.

Super D-Wordery

.... at least Spike will enjoy it....

3.03.2005

Merry Mush

I fell in love with Smoosh after hearing this song:

Massive Cure

Smoosh consists of two sisters (Asya is twelve, Chloe is ten)

Ever since I first heard these two girls, I've been pushing Mildred to form a band with Annika, and start recording. They're both pretty good with pots and pans.

A week or so ago, I posted the Banhart/Arcade Fire Morning Becomes Eclectic links. This past Sunday, I discovered that Smoosh had been on last friday.

You can listen/watch here:
Smoosh on Morning Becomes Eclectic

3.02.2005

Sticks and Mud

Being a librarian and all, I feel duty-bound to occasionally provide links to cutting edge technology in the field of information.

Pupna: The search engine puppy that retrieves exactly what you are searching for(and absolutely nothing else!)

I'm sure that you will not be disappointed.

3.01.2005

Octopus in Hot Sauce

Well, Abigail and Mildred just left for Tops, and Annika and I have decided to stay home and blog.

Today, I signed up for a K7 account.

I know that I'm terribly bad at returning messages or ever calling people at all, so I don't deserve to get a good response to this, but I think that it would be cool if everyone who reads this blog would leave me a voice message.

Call 206-888-4173 and leave me a message. It will be delivered to my email inbox. Amazing!
(note: the number is a long distance number so don't call it unless you're using a cell phone or a calling card, but please do call it!)

When playing a game, the goal is to win, but it is the goal that is important, not the winning. —Reiner Knizia