Coffee Klatch

I found a cool website this week. It’s a wiki dedicated to the Muppets. That means that not only is a great source of information about the Muppets, but it’s a place where you can add information if you have some that’s not there. Visit the Muppet Wiki at http://muppet.wikia.com.

[tags]wikis, muppets[/tags]

Postmodern philosophy is a point of view that says you cannot isolate binary opposites like knowledge & ignorance or presence & absence. Many people think of postmodernism as being relativistic, which it sort of is, unless you want to mince words. In that case, postmodernism is more about being open to truth or meaning from different sources, while relativism is more about getting rid of authority and meaning. For most, it’s probably a matter of semantics and postmodernism and relativism are seen as pretty much the same.

So I ask this question:

If postmodernism is saying there is more than one truth, that meaning is more subjective than objective, and more than one person can be right in holding different views of truth… isn’t that what many (most?) Bible studies are like?

People get together to read the Bible and discuss it, and they ask, “What does this mean to you?” or “How do you feel about this verse?” Since there is no real authority with regards to Bible interpretation, everyone is open to their own takes on it. Ostensibly under the influence of the Holy Spirit, but still coming to different conclusions. Sometimes quite opposite conclusions. And what does the Christian have to fall back on as an authority? Most will say that they would ask their pastor. But that’s not really any different from any other individual saying what the passage means, except that the pastor would probably have studied more. Then we just bump the question from differences between individuals’ interpretations up to the level of the seminaries and THEIR interpretations.

Many Christians champion the Bible as an objective source of truth, flying in the face of postmodernism, and yet when it comes to establishing the meaning of difficult passages, there IS no objective source of authority for interpreting it.

(Unless you go along with Catholicism’s view, saying that the Church has been the “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15) for the last 2,000 years.)

I’ve never heard any non-Catholic provide a good explanation or resolution for this issue. Most Protestants just accept that we can’t agree on everything and leave it at that. That makes me sad, because Jesus prayed that His Church would be brought to complete unity and I seem to remember that unity is to be a sign of the Church. But when we can’t agree on the meanings of Scripture, where’s the unity?

[tags]bible study, interpretation, postmodernism[/tags]

For almost two months now, I’ve been living with a shaved head. I must say that I’ve gotten to like it. Car windows don’t affect me any more, I never have bed-head when I wake up. It’s also nice to have it smooth; just like after shaving your face, it’s nice to feel it smooth. Since I have a beard still, that’s the only way I can get that feeling.

Here are some tips for anyone contemplating shaving their head. These are based on my personal experiences, so your mileage may vary. And maybe you’ll find something helpful, since I didn’t have much to go on when I made the jump, apart from a couple of thoughts from a friend who’d been shaven for years.

• You should probably try using clippers and a #1 edge-guard-thing on it. That’s 1/4-inch and will give you a basic idea of how you’ll look if it’s all gone.
• I actually progressed from a #4 down to a #1 over the course of several months, so it was a gradual change that was easier to make.
• When I first did it, I started with clippers with no edge guards, so it was just the clipper part, which got it down to 1/8-inch or so. Then I used my regular 3-head rotary razor to shave everything. It worked pretty well, but couldn’t get totally smooth. Just like shaving your face. Rotary doesn’t quite shave as close as a regular razor.
• After several weeks of just using the electric razor for keeping my head clean, I decided to make the jump and get a razor. I recommend something with several blades and a pivoting head. The pivoting function is more important for shaving your head than it even is for your face. You can’t see your head. And you may not always be holding the razor at the best angle for each part of the curves on your head. The pivoting function of the razor overcomes that.
• You can use a shaving cream or even shampoo to be the lubricant.
• The shower seems to be the best place for shaving your head. It helps if you have a shower head that is adjustable, so you can turn the flow down to a minimum while shaving.
• I’ve found that long strokes shave cleaner than short ones. Short ones are safer, but once you get the knack, longer strokes seem to be more efficient and effective. I typically use short-to-medium strokes for the first pass, then, as I’m feeling around for parts that weren’t totally removed, I use longer strokes, going around the curves of the head.
• Most of the time, you’ll probably shave toward the top back part of your head, so front-to-back and bottom-to-top, in the opposite direction that the hair grows. You may need to go at angles to get everything feeling smooth.
• If your skin gets irritated, you can shave with the hair, in the direction it grows, but it won’t get as close.
• After shaving, you can spread the remaining shaving cream around while you’re feeling for any parts that aren’t totally smooth. That’s when you’ll want to shave sideways or use angles more, since your hair doesn’t usually all grow in the exact same direction.
• Oh, and you’ll need to make sure you wear a hat. Especially in the winter, but also when you’ll be out in the sun for a while. Without even short hair to protect your scalp, it’s easier to get burned, get headaches, or even develop skin cancer.

There. I hope that helps any of you thinking about shaving your head. WikiHow has some more tips, especially about just cutting the hair really short. And they make a good point that some guys just don’t have a head shape that looks good shaven. And if you’re starting to go bald, it’s better to just shave it all. Saves money on haircuts, too. And, of course, since it’s a wiki, you can add your own thoughts and comments to the list.

For those of you who care, or are looking for something maybe you haven’t heard before, here are some of my favorite classical works. I’ve included covers and links to Amazon because these are my favorite performances of these works. You can get quite a big discrepancy between different performances of the same works. And thanks to the audio samples available at Amazon, you can get a good feel for what each piece is like. These are some of my favorites (wow, there’s a lot of Russian/Slavic pieces):

Large Works
St. Matthew Passion, by J.S. Bach (one of the greatest musical masterpieces of all time!)
Requiem, by Mozart
Requiem, by Verdi
Vespers, by Rachmaninov (two very different recordings, both excellent)
Symphony No. 9, by Dvorak
Requiem, by Durufle
The Planets, by Holst
Symphony No. 9, by Bruckner (probably the best recording since the 1944 Furtwängler recording)
Symphony No. 5, by Shostakovich (his son, Maxim, is conducting this one and, while there are tons of other versions out there and this one’s hard to find, it’s still my favorite) (the Haitink is very good also)
Symphony No. 3, by Mahler

Symphonic Poems
The Isle of the Dead, by Rachmaninov
The Noon Witch, by Dvorak
Fantasia on a Theme By Thomas Tallis, by Vaughan Williams
Marche Slave, by Tchaikovsky
Second Essay for Orchestra, by Barber (all three are good, but I especially like #2)
Capriccio Italien, by Tchaikovsky
Russian Easter Overture, by Rimsky-Korsakov
Appalachian Spring, by Copland
1712 Overture, by P.D.Q. Bach

If you don’t listen to any of the others, get the Bruckner 9 and listen to it. It was unfinished, meaning he died after only three movements were completed (four was the normal number of movements in a symphony). That third movement is so moving and poignant, you’re sure that Bruckner knew he was going to die and was writing his elegy. Sit in a quiet room somewhere and just immerse yourself in this symphony. I swear, if you let it touch you, you’ll be in tears by the end.

Here’s another cool online dictionary. It’s called The Free Dictionary and it has “English, Medical, Legal, Financial, and Computer Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine all in one!” It’s based on the Fourth Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary (2003).

What I like about the site:

• You can search for whole words, beginnings of words, ends of words, or words in the body of the entry.
• It has definitions with examples and links to related words, and also the etymology of the term.
• The entry from their large, hyperlinked thesaurus is right below the definitions.
• They provide links to other entries in FreeDictionary that use the word.
• You’re given several “references in classical literature” that use the word, with a link to more results.
• They have a couple of browsers showing the words and phrases that come before and after your term.
• There’s a “Cite/Link” link that gives you the citation for your page in APA, Chicago, and MLA styles.
• There’s also a list of your recent searches.
• They’ve created a customizable home page that gives you not just linguistic and literary information, but also news, weather, word games, and more. Just drag and drop to “use or lose” the various modules. You can even add your own RSS feeds!
• The website is designed much better than yourdictionary.com.

What I don’t like about this site:

• Not much.
• There are some customized ads (like Google) at the top and middle of the page, but they’re easy to overlook.

[tags]dictionary, thesaurus, online dictionary[/tags]

Today is the birthday of Dmitri Shostakovich! Today also had the births and events happen in history that I have listed below.

Birthdays: Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Japanese Shogun (1358), Francesco Borromini (1599), Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683), Henry Pelham, Prime Minister of Great Britain (1694), Nicholas Van Dyke (1738), Fletcher Christian (1764), Charles Robert Maturin (1782), William Faulkner (1897), Mark Rothko (1903), Dmitri Shostakovich (1906), Phil Rizzuto (1916), Sir Colin Davis (1927), Barbara Walters (1929), Shel Silverstein (1930), Glenn Gould (1932), Michael Douglas (1944), Cheryl Tiegs (1947), Mark Hamill (1951), Christopher Reeve (1952), Anson “Potsie” Williams (1952), Heather Locklear (1961), Scottie Pippen (1965), Will Smith (1968), Catherine Zeta-Jones (1969), Heather Stewart-Whyte (1969), Matt Hasselbeck (1975)

Events:
1493 - Columbus sets out on second voyage to America (with 17 ships)
1513 - Spanish explorer Balboa reaches the Pacific Ocean
1534 - Pope Clement VII dies
1639 - First printing press in America
1775 - Rev. War hero Ethan Allen captured
1789 - The first U.S. Congress adopts 12 amendments to the Constitution; the first 10 became the Bill of Rights
1849 - Johann Strauss, Sr., dies
1882 - First baseball double-header
1890 - Yosemite National Park established
1960 - Emily Post dies
1963 - Annette Funicello’s first beach film, Beach Party, debuts
1970 - The Partridge Family debuts on ABC-TV
1976 - The band, U2, forms
1981 - Justice Sandra Day O’Connor sworn in as first femail Supreme Court Justice
1986 - Justice Antonin Scalia appointed to Supreme Court
1990 - Saddam Hussein warns U.S. will repeat Vietnam experience
1999 - Marion Zimmer Bradley dies
2005 - Don Adams dies

For those of you who enjoyed my other recent “Fun Online Games,” here’s my latest little addiction: Drag the Dot! I got all the way to Level 16, which takes you to the boss (which I DID beat, by the way)! Some of this is hard, but it’s all doable.

http://www.gamershood.com/flashgames/1999

Current music: Bolero, by Stanley Jordan

[tags]games, online[/tags]

Today was the Circle City Ringers‘ fall concert. It was at Irvington Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis and was part of their “Fourth Sunday” Concert Series. We ended up playing much better than I’d expected on most of the songs and the audience of 127 really enjoyed the concert. Lots of discussion afterwards (and then a pizza party in the parlor).
We got to play three of my songs, all of which went over really well. The Chicken Dance (for 3 octaves) was our encore. We also played my 3-octave arrangement of the William Tell Overture (just the “Lone Ranger” part) which went at a good tempo and was highly enjoyed. Plus, I got to direct my “Appalachian Sunrise,” which was for 3 octaves of handchimes.

And, of course, most of the music was NOT by me. It went a full hour and included a wide variety of songs, so there was something for everyone.

Overall, it was quite the success. Now we get a week break and then launch into Christmas music.

[tags]music, handbells, concert, William Tell[/tags]

Today’s the Fall Equinox. Specifically, it was at 4:03 am UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), which translates to 11:03pm last night Eastern Daylight Time.

Wikipedia has a chart with the solstices and equinoxes (dates and times) from 2002 to 2014 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_equinox. Also a ton of information about the history, meanings, methods of calculating the dates/times, and the different views of the seasons.

[tags]equinox, fall equinox, solstice[/tags]