The Dassler Effect's January 2007 Archives

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January 31, 2007

Heartbreakingly Beautiful

I am not a huge Wizard of Oz fan, by any means. I find the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" sung by Judy Garland and others as dreamy, somewhat wistful, and somewhat sappy all at once. I find the medley of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World" sung by Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole heartbreakingly beautiful. It weighs my heart with sad joy and makes it soar all at once. It has been used with several movies and commercials, and I can completely understand why, as it would lend its qualities to whatever it is coupled with. I first heard it during the credits of the film Finding Forrester, which I enjoyed quite a bit on its own, and stood in the half-lit theater while the credits rolled, soaking it in.

You can hear it on Youtube here over a montage of images of Iz's life and the spreading of his ashes at sea. Sadly, unchecked obesity led to a short life of 38, though from afar they seem like a happy 38. If you want to hear a cleaner copy of the song, click here. Rhapsody will give you something like 25 free listens when you sign up. While your there, check out Iz's Hawaiian version of John Denver's "Country Roads." Nice.

I have done a Melancholdy/Beautiful post before about songs that make me ache. Do you know the feeling? Do you have a song?

And how nice is the ukulele.

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January 29, 2007

Keep the Light On

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January 25, 2007

C. S. Lewis Film Online

This is not the the Lewis biography I referenced in a recent blog entry. That one is in the latest box set of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie from Disney. It has an interesting style, with a group of children reading from the books in various places. It is really quite good, and I am very open and eager to loan it out.

The links below are to a video you can view online for free. It is a documentary which I think originally appeared on the Hallmark channel.

You can screen it online for free, after signing in to the site, and they don't send you any emails either. It involves dramatization of Lewis' life by actors along with commentaries by Lewis scholars, and is really quite good.

There are other religiously themed videos available to screen online as well.

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Dry at the Fountain

Meeting of the Waters

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January 24, 2007

Erasing Hate Seminar and the L'Abri Conference

The Matthews House Project, the same people who produced Narnia on Tour, in 2005 and evidently again in 2008, are doing a series this year which looks worthwhile. Moreover, the St. Louis session is by Jerram Barrs, so it promises to be engaging, thoughtful, and challenging. Not in St. Louis? Here are some other cities the tour is visiting.

I attended this conference last year and it was very good. The aforementioned Jerram Barrs will be speaking on "Because He is There and Not Silent," "Speaking Prophetically Into the Political Arena," and "Creation and Fall in Perelandra." This lecture alone is why I am going to this conference. Richard Winter from Covenant Seminary is also speaking on "Sex, Body and Bible: A Conversation About Sexuality." I have always found his talks to be excellent. Luke Bobo, also from the seminary, will be talking on "Race: Why Are We Still Talking About It." There are many other excellent talks. Check it out.

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January 22, 2007

"We've Hauled Some Barges in Our Day, Filled With Lumber, Coal, and Hay!"

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January 20, 2007

It Shaped Up to be a Good Saturday

a monstrous start

prince kong

alhambra on the mississippi

you are the salt

keeping it up

metro

bus

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January 19, 2007

Love's As Warm as Tears

Love's as warm as tears,
Love is tears:
Pressure within the brain,
Tension at the throat,
Deluge, weeks of rain,
Haystacks afloat,
Featureless seas between
Hedges, where once was green.

Love's as fierce as fire,
Love is fire:
All sorts�infernal heat
Clinkered with greed and pride,
Lyric desire, sharp-sweet,
Laughing, even when denied,
And that empyreal flame
Whence all loves came.

Love's as fresh as spring,
Love is spring:
Bird-song hung in the air,
Cool smells in a wood,
Whispering "Dare! Dare!"
To sap, to blood,
Telling "Ease, safety, rest,
Are good; not best."

Love's as hard as nails,
Love is nails:
Blunt, thick, hammered through
The medial nerves of One
Who, having made us, knew
The thing He had done,
Seeing (with all that is)
Our cross, and His.

C. S. Lewis
-buy the book here

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Late Night Yearnings...

...after watching a biography on Jack.

longing :: pining :: aching :: groaning ::: beauty :: truth :: peace :: love _____________________ working :: watching :: waiting ::: wedding :: feasting :: consummation

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January 17, 2007

Unleashing My Inner Pakistani With a Little Bit of Soul

OK, so probably 95% of Pakistani men have a moustache, which they grow from whenever they can to the end of their lives . I generally avoid just a moustache alone because it makes me look older, unlike say my middle brother Adrian, for whom a moustache makes him look just kind of ruggedly handsome.

Pastor Adrian

Below, are photos of my moustache with a crazy little soul patch for good measure. Who knows how long it will survive, so here it is for blogsterity. My roommate Lloyd said it looked rather child molesterish. Child molesterish? Now I would have settled for Inigo Montoya or Zorro gone to seed, but child molesterish? Now, who looks really cool with this facial hair arrangement is Dr. Williams at Covenant Seminary, but he has the shaved head and toughness to back it up.

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"Floats like a Butterfly; Sting Like a Bee"

When I was growing up in Pakistan, the biggest sporting events of all were the boxing matches of Muhammad Ali. I think this was because of a combination of his dynamism and Islamic faith. It is hard to imagine boxing being such a world event these days, but when Ali fought it sure was.

The two similes in the title are what Muhammad Ali used to describe his fighting style, but might apply equally well to his tongue. Below are a sample of his words, cocky, confrontive, funny, eloquent words. Click here for more.

On being the Greatest
"I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalised a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick."

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."

On Boxing
"Boxing is a lot of white men watching two black men beat each other up."

"I never thought of losing, but now that it's happened, the only thing is to do it right. That's my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life."

On Race, Religion, and Life
"I am America. I am the part you won't recognise. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me."

"I know I got it made while the masses of black people are catchin' hell, but as long as they ain't free, I ain't free."

"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs?"

Ali vs. Frazier
"Frazier is so ugly that he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wildlife."

"Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head."

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January 15, 2007

Free Range

free range.JPG

Inititally, this post was intended to consist simply of a cool picture with a catchy title. However, it got me thinking...

I have some fairly well defined thoughts concerning the issues of free range meat and dairy, vegetarian, and veganism. This is not the post delineating those thoughts either...

Over the past week, I have overhead two friends talking about decisions/resolutions that they have come to. One said that she is going to try to eat only organic meat. The other said she wanted to eat less meat. Amirable and healthy and decisions.

I have often made and want to make similar decisions in the future in this area and other areas related to simple living and lifestyle. What keeps me from doing this? A tremendous intertia in my own soul, a fear of being radical, of going places where others may not follow, of needing to explain unpopular choices, of doing the hard work to alter one's lifestyle. Moreover, the Church, as it reflects society, is not a tremendously accomodating place when it comes to these issues, indeed, any decision that leads to what seems to be a radical life.

Last night, talking to some friends, we talked about how the best sort of changes, the most lasting at least, generally come of small steps rather than large ones. It has taken me a while to learn and to continue to apply that lesson.

Well, I need to bring this ramble in for a landing. More later...at some point.

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Lovely Banner from Google for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

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January 11, 2007

Miscellania II-More Selected Recent Photography

Different photos; same arc.

papa!

"we work all day for sugar in our tae"

ball :: boy

glow three

"sugar plums"

bones

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January 10, 2007

Psst...Peter's Got a Blog and Good Tunes

I recently discovered that a friend from my church and our Sunday lunch group, The Flying P.L.A.T.E.S(S), is an active blogger. Peter's blog is Flakjammit! You will have to have him explain the title. But I can tell you it involves cursing.

Also, he is an avid musician, and, to my untrained ears, his songs sound pretty good. To listen to all the songs at once, select the "all songs in one go" option at the top. Favorites: "Make Your Move" (though, Peter is somewhat ashamed of what he calls its "cheesiness"), "Push Comes to Shove," "Here We Go Again," "Smile When You Say Goodbye."

Enjoy.

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One Must Have Bread to Whine

Is this phrase true? I am in the process of writing a short story that has this as one of its themes.

In a related note, here is a description of the detective from P. D. James' Death in Holy Orders, which I read over the break and thoroughly enjoyed. It is a mystery with some theological components and even a bit of a romantic payoff. Not bad.

James�s detective is not at all the two-dimensional sleuth of most mysteries, a caricature composed of a bundle of idiosyncrasies. He is a self-effacing professional, secure about his position and happy to have aides make crucial, enlightening discoveries. When asked if he is happy, widower Dalgliesh replies: �I have health, a job I enjoy; enough food, comfort, occasional luxuries if I feel the need of them, my poetry. Given the state of three-quarters of the world�s poor, wouldn�t you say that unhappiness would be a perverse indulgence?�

It is the last bit of this quote that relates to whining, or rather it is about why whining is really pretty pathetic.

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