The Dassler Effect's January 2008 Archives

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January 31, 2008

Stretching to the Light

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January 23, 2008

Ben Stein on Intolerance of Intelligent Design

My friend Dan Slater sent me a link to this site. Very interesting. I recommend that you check out the Super Trailer on this page.

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January 22, 2008

Take Two on Jesus and the Eschaton

As good an artistic counterpoint as any to the view of Jesus and the last days expressed in the Bright Eyes song of yesterday's posting might be found in the quirky, lovely music of Page France.

*Click here for "Chariot" and "Jesus" and two others
*The lyrics to "Chariot" and "Jesus"
*An excellent article on Page France and other artists by Jeremy Huggins
*Mr. Peach's excellent blog where I read of Jeremy's article.

Posted by jackdas at 01:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 21, 2008

Juno: Quick Hit Review

This review is a quick hit review because I did not get out of the theatre more than 20 minutes ago, and because I really don't want to say too much. Here goes:
*Enjoyed it immensely.
*Great, quirky soundtrack.
*There are scenes that ambushed me.
*I have feelings that are too personal to blog.
*The movie is too good for me to lay my polemical mitts upon.
* :)

Posted by jackdas at 10:58 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Intimations of Immortality - Arc of Time by Bright Eyes

Courtesy of Pandora, whist listening to a Postal Service station, I heard "Arc of Time" by Bright Eyes. Fascinating. Here are the lyrics, followed by a couple of thoughts below. You can listen to the song here, but I recommend skipping the video portion, just listening, and following along with the lyrics.

You can make a plan
Carve it into stone
Like a feather falling
It is still unknown
Until the clock speaks up
Says it's time to go
You could choose the high
Or the lower road
You might clinch your fist
You might fork your tongue
As you curse or praise
All the things you've done
And the faders move
And the music dies
As we pass over
On the arc of time

So you nurse your love
Like a wounded dove
In the covered cage of night
Every star is crossed
By phrenetic thoughts
That seperate and then collide
And they twist like sheets
Till you fall asleep
And they finally unwind
It's a black balloon
It's a dream you'll soon deny

I hear if you make friends
With Jesus Christ
You will get right up
From that chalk outline
And then you'll get dolled up
And you'll dress in white
All to take your place
In his chorus line

And then in you'll come
With those marching drums
In a saintly compromise
No more whiskey slurs
No more blonde haired girls
For your whole eternal life
And you'll do the dance
That was choreographed
At the very dawn of time
Saying, I told you son
The day would come
You would die, you'd die, you'd die, you'd die
You would die, you'd die, you'd die, you'd die
You would die, you'd die, you'd die, you'd die
You would die, you'd die, you'd die

To the deepest part
Of the human heart
The fear of death expands
Till we crack the code
We have always known
But could never understand
On a circuit board
We will soon be born
Again, again, again, again
And again, again, again, again
And again, again, again, again
And again, again, again

This song has all sorts of interesting things going on in it and I am sure I will not allude to them all. The first verse manags to present two competing views of destiny, the preordained one and the one best captured by the opening sequence of Forrest Gump (presented here with a different score). Conor Oberst also reflects on the choice one makes vis a vis God concerning "All the things you've done," repentance or fist clenching. Verse two is less straightforward, but seems to be talking about the process of dying.

Verse three is what really got me to write this post. Oberst presents a fairly disdainful view of Christianity, it seems. Some such reactions occur, I think, because of poor presentations of the truth of Christianity by Christians; some, though, are simply the choice that is at the core of all of our sin, the choice to not submit to God. Unfortunately, Oberst seems to see such submission as bland conformity. And there is a degree to which this is true; we are all clothed in white, the colorings of our sinfulness (which seem so multi-hued and interesting but eventually just blend to black black) must be covered in the white which symbolizes holiness.

Even as I type that, I feel the need to defend it. Well, I am not going to. It is simply one image, an important one, that describes what Christ does for us vis a vis clothing our sin, and if he chooses seemingly uniform white robes to symbolize that, so be it. The story does not end there, though, the problem comes because we, as Christians, have not fully articulated the truth that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, perhaps because we are not told much about how the new earth and our new bodies will exist.

This is where I think the role of the Christian artist can be very useful, indeed the role of any artist who wittingly or unwittingly captures a glimpse of truth, as so often happens in movies, sometimes without the director even realizing the implications of what he or she has made. I think art which points out the real blackness and horridness of sin is useful in this way. Art which points out the beauty of goodness is a much harder thing to achieve, but it also happens everywhere too. The Holy Spirit is a sneaky one. One of these places where I have appreciated both of these tasks being done well is in C. S. Lewis book Perelandra. It may may not be as artfully subtle as contemporary tastes would like, but it paints an amazing picture of the beauty and diversity and freedom that flows out of obedience. His chapter on "the Great Dance" puts to bed mocking notions such as that of Oberst's in which obedience equals the bland conformity of a chorus line. Admittedly, unfortunately many Christians are often guilty of presenting just such a view of the implications of obedience.

The final verse of "Arc of Time" is also fascinating because Oberst seems to be positing an alternate form of eternity in a digital media. Judging from the tone of the verse, though, I am not sure if he is excited about that prospect either. The concept of digital immortality was the theme of this short story I wrote, and two others which are somewhere down the pipeline, which I hope to one day make into sort of a trilogy. This song seems to jive well with the theme of Oberst's album name Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. I might have to check out the rest of it.

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Fun With the Softening Tool

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January 18, 2008

Photo Show Castoff

Alas, when you don't keep track of things and accidently resize something and save it in that size, you can't really use it for enlargements. But since I took so much time messing with these and juxtaposing them side to side here, here you go. Not perfect, but you get the picture. Ha ha.

Posted by jackdas at 11:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

On a Cold, Cold Day

Nature

Artifice

Nature and Artifice

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January 14, 2008

Starving Artist Needs Frames!

Well, I can hardly make the case for the first part of this blog title from a physical perspective. And financially I am far from it as well. Thanks be to the Lord. However, it is not necessarily the best time to lay out a great deal of cash, even for the sake of art, which is exactly what I will be doing over the next few weeks as I get ready for a photography show that I will be putting on in February at the seminary I am attending. At any rate, if you are in the St. Louis area and wish to be of help and have some old frames laying about that you are willing to let go at a low price (or no price :), well, I am your man.

I am looking for nice-ish, wood frames, with glass, of sizes 14" X 18" or above, though some a little smaller may be OK too. If you are willing and able to participate, email me, and I will come by and have a look, and then, if I want the frame, you can pick your price from the handy price chart below.

Posted by jackdas at 06:57 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Quote and Note: Jane Austen

Perhaps this will become a little series, or perhaps not, but while reading Persuasion by Jane Austen I was struck by her keen eye for understanding human nature, which the movies convey somewhat but not nearly well enough. So, here is the first quote and a bit of a note.

"When the evening was over, Anne could not but be amused at the idea of her coming to Lyme, to preach patience and resignation to a young man whom she had never seen before; nor could she help fearing, on more serious reflection, that, like many other great moralists and preachers, she had been eloquent on a point in which her own conduct would ill bear examination."

Jane Austen did seem to posess a healthy scepticism of individuals who are moral busybodies and killjoys, which the movies portray quite well, and, yet, I get the sense that she is not cynical about the Christian faith in a modern way at all. I think she does really believe that it is a useful thing to learn of "patience and resignation" in response to a Providence that seems to be frowning for the time being. And, still, the final line of this quote is so true. Is it not?

Posted by jackdas at 03:15 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

January 05, 2008

Uncorking the New Year!

This fun, lucky shot features another good friend who is gone across the ocean and also a flatmate and the author of the enjoyable and thoughtful Sweet Chicken blog in the background. It was great to have both around to enliven the New Year's Eves goings-on.

Posted by jackdas at 10:54 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

:( one week ):

In the photo below, taken shortly after midnight on New Year's morning, my hand is covering the flash, creating a sort of faded out effect, which is an apt enough symbol, I suppose, for how I am beginning to feel that my relationship with the man at the center of the picture will soon become, not because any failing in friendship, but because he will be on the other side of the world in Nepal, and not a firm and solid friend just down the street, perhaps available for a cup of tea and a chat. Watching your friends dreams come true can be hard to stomach sometimes, when it means that distance, situational, spacial, interposes itself and changes your relationship. That is the way of the world, though, and I continually need to be reminded that that can be a very good thing. I don't like change much, I'm afraid. On the flip side there is something in the sorrow of parting that, oddly, is a helpful reminder of eternity, when goodbyes, I imagine, are not a necessity. There was an old CCM song that went "Heaven is a long hello." I like that. And because Jesse is going to Nepal to minister to street kids and show them God's love that is cause not for the sad faces of the title but:

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)