May 31, 2009

O hope of every contrite heart

from Barbara H. @ Stray Thoughts

These are some of the lesser-known stanzas from the hymn “Jesus the Very Thought of Thee” by Bernard of Clairvaux: the rest is here.
O hope of every contrite heart,
O joy of all the meek,
To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
How good to those who seek!
But what to those who find? Ah, this
Nor tongue nor [...]

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May 30, 2009

PS…

from Dan Forrest @ ForrestWorks

I didn’t find out until tonight, that I had a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC tonight, on a “Fresh Currents- Songs of the New Millenium” concert, featuring new composers…check out the link here.

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More quizzes

from Barbara H. @ Stray Thoughts

I don’t know why, but I enjoy these silly little things.

You Are a Calculator

No matter what someone tells you, you’re likely to focus on facts and data.
You’re a highly analytic person. You are only concerned with what you can know for sure.
You look at situations objectively, and you have no problem approaching problems from multiple [...]

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May 29, 2009

Dictionary Definitions

from paulmatzko @ "One Little Hour"

Today I read an article on a humor website that poked fun at online, contributive encyclopedias by listing a number of bizarre wikipedia clones like “Conservapedia” and “Pagan Wiki.” [Parental Advisory: the article is frequently obscene.] Though the article was tongue-in-cheek, the impetus behind niche encyclopedias is quite fascinating.
Encyclopedias (and their kissing cousins, dictionaries) are odd creatures. [...]

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Updates, May 30

from Dan Forrest @ ForrestWorks

Wow, there’s a lot going on- trying to keep things updated here, so here’s the list, all at once:

See my previous blog post for info on the upcoming Composer Weekend in Philadelphia…
I’ve updated my Concert Choral, Church Choral, and Instrumental pages with new links, publisher info, etc. I hadn’t realized how outdated they were!
For JW [...]

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kcaturan.delightinhim.org 2009-05-29 20:11:26

from kcaturan @ kcaturan.delightinhim.org

“Lord, draw me into a closer walk with You.”

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MTC Post Discussed on Internet Monk Radio

from Chris @ My Two Cents

Michael Spencer, the Internet Monk and the moderator of the Boar’s Head Tavern, addressed a portion of my post on Mark Driscoll during his recent radio podcast, #142. You can hear it here, starting at about 13:30 and ending at about 21:00.

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Friday’s Fave Five

from Barbara H. @ Stray Thoughts

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details, and you can visit Susanne to see the list of others’ favorites.
1. Some of the friends my middle son, Jason, [...]

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Terrible Yellow Eyes - Chalk Thing

from Cory @ light night rains

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May 28, 2009

Spring Reading 2009

from Jordan M. Poss @ Jordan M. Poss: Blog, Ltd.
This has been one of the best reading seasons I’ve yet had. Of the sixteen books I read between the end of January and the first weekend of May (which period, for the purposes of this blog, shall be defined “spring”), I disliked only one. I also got in a good mix of fiction and non-fiction this Spring, which was a nice change from my reading over the fall and winter.
Once again, hyperlinked titles will take you to my more detailed reviews at Amazon.com. A few more reviews are forthcoming. Hope I can help someone find something good to read for the summer.
The List:

Agincourt, by Bernard Cornwell
The Return of Martin Guerre, by Natalie Zemon Davis
The Saga of the Jómsvíkings, trans. by Lee M. Hollander
The Last Kingdom, by Bernard Cornwell
The Face of Battle, by John Keegan
A Slobbering Love Affair, by Bernard Goldberg
The Pale Horseman, by Bernard Cornwell
The Godwins: The Rise and Fall of a Noble Dynasty, by Frank Barlow

Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Batallion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, by Christopher Browning

Fallon, by Louis L’Amour
One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer, by Nathaniel Fick
Intelligence in War, by John Keegan
Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming

Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies, by David Bentley Hart

Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown

All Shall be Well; and All Shall be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall be Well, by Tod Wodicka
Best Read:
Though almost everything I read this Spring was good or excellent, David Bentley Hart’s historical treatise Atheist Delusions, despite its polemical-sounding title, was easily the best book I read–both this Spring and in a long, long time. I’d have to go back to Carnage and Culture for another book that has so radically challenged and shaped me. Atheist Delusions is a brief history from which anyone would benefit–especially the author below.
Worst Read:
In a field of reading this good (in my private list I gave virtually everything As and high Bs), Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons is an almost obscenely fat, easy target. It’s bobbing there, waiting to be picked off like a weak, diseased gnu straggling behind the herd. But I’m not above taking cheap shots when a book is this insipid, misguided, inaccurate, poorly written, unjustifiably self-confident, and totally, brutally, criminally retarded. So there.
Second Thoughts Award:
Following several months of thought on The Return of Martin Guerre, I find that I was far, far too generous in my Amazon.com review. To be more to the point than in my review, this book is Marxist, feminist trash with a clever but overblown story.
Honorable Mentions:
It was the distinct misfortune of One Bullet Away to be read shortly before Atheist Delusions, because in any other seasonal reading list this would be the best read. The story of Nate Fick, a former Marine lieutenant in the invasion of Iraq, One Bullet Away was not only literate and exciting, but it challenged me to be a better person and a stronger leader. John Keegan’s Intelligence in War was also a good non-fiction read, and is not only a great set of case studies in the usefulness and shortcomings of military intelligence (which many people seem to assume is flawless), but has given me a lot to consider for my master’s thesis.
I’ve already finished four books since the end of my designated “spring” season. I’m sorry to say you’ll have to wait to hear about those until September, though I can say that I liked every one of them. Until September, then, this is what I’ve read so far this summer:
What’s So Great About Christianity, by Dinesh D’Souza
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, by John le Carré
Lords of the North, by Bernard Cornwell
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