Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

When Good Editors Do Bad Things

Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler’s Nudge. – By Dahlia Lithwick – Slate Magazine
Given that someone someplace is often setting the defaults anyhow, wouldn’t we prefer that the guy in charge be Dr. Spock? Could any of us agree, however, about which Dr. Spock is truly worthy of making these decisions?

Of course, Dahlia Lithwick means Mr. Spock — the ever-logical first officer of the Enterprise as commanded by James Tiberius Kirk.

Since I generally like Lithwick’s writing and since I’m in the mood to actually forgive people for not knowing everything on earth there is to know, I’m going to blame this little gaffe on her editors at slate.com. Um… they do have editors there… right?

Okay, so how is this topic even blog-worthy? Is this minor screw-up on the name of my favorite Star Trek character really symptomatic of a larger problem of sloppiness and inaccuracy?

Probably.

Or maybe not.

Bleh… whatever. Return to your regular reading.

The King Statue

Unhappy With ‘Confrontational’ Image, U.S. Panel Wants King Statue Reworked – washingtonpost.com
A powerful federal arts commission is urging that the sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. proposed for a memorial on the Tidal Basin be reworked because it is too “confrontational” and reminiscent of political art in totalitarian states.

This is absurd. Now, now when the statue is this far along, they want to change it? Now?? What a bunch of assholes.

I like the statue just as it is. Yes, King looks a bit confrontational — but that’s good! He was a peaceful man but he also made it perfectly clear that it was no longer going to be acceptable to deny equal rights to black people. That took strength and guts and this statue shows King as a strong man.

It’s a good statue.

Pickles & Peppers

Here’s the second duet Sue and I played at the recital. This one is a rag called “Pickles and Peppers” published in 1906 by Adeline Shepherd. I’d like to think she’d enjoy our version of it. Sue is on piccolo here and I’m on the bass flute.

Furstenau Duet

My friend Susan and I put on a recital for our students this past weekend and at the end of it, we played a couple of duets. My husband — who was completely new to using my video camera — recorded us. Here’s the first movement of the Furstenau duet in Bb Major. Oh.. in case you were wondering, I’m the tall one and I’m playing the lower pitched part.

Praise Music

Daniel Radosh’s Rapture Ready! – By Hanna Rosin – Slate Magazine
In his interview with Radosh, Powell pulled out an imitation of a 1982 New Wave pop song with the lyrics; “You’ll have to excuse us/ We’re in love with Jesus.” This, he explained, was the equivalent of a black-velvet painting of Elvis. Only it’s more offensive, because it’s asking the listener to base his whole life around an insipid message and terrible quality music.

Yes! This leads me to one of my favorite hobby horses: how much I loathe “praise music”.

If you’re not familiar with it, “praise music” is the latest thing in Christian churches. It started out in the big evangelical mega-churches and it’s gradually trickling (like raw sewage) into even mainstream Methodist and Lutheran churches. You can recognize “praise music” by its contemporary-sounding beat and its insipid lyrics. Yeah, yeah… I know. The guy I quoted already called it “insipid”. But I’ve been calling it insipid for YEARS, so I’m not abandoning my word at this late date.

“Praise music” is the Velveeta of religious music. It’s annoyingly simplistic and it cheapens the whole concept of music as part of worship. Sure, the people love it (well… lots of people, at any rate) because it’s upbeat and is easy to sing. But it’s BAD MUSIC and I hate it.

Okay, just compare, if you will, these two snippets:

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You

To see You high and lifted up
Shinin’ in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy, holy, holy

And…

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T’was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Now, you might argue that “Open The Eyes Of My Heart” has the form it does because it’s meant to serve a different purpose from that of something like “Amazing Grace”. I’d have to ask, then, what exactly that purpose might be? Is it to discourage deep thinking about the meaning of religious faith? Is it to put people into a happy-happy mood where whatever the hell crazy thing the minister comes up with during the service will be accepted with a dopey smile?

“Praise music” is like commercial jingles — it’s designed to catch people on the subconscious level where rational thought doesn’t exist. Worse, it’s bad music. It’s poorly written. It’s stupid and boring. It takes potentially profound ideas and translates them into cartoon music. It’s…yes. Insipid.

Falcons 2008

It’s spring again and the falcons at the Minnesota Power stack in Cohasset, Minnesota are once again nesting. In viewing the 24-hour falcom cam (click below for both the live cam and the 24-hour cam), it appears they’ve got two eggs this year.  I’ve been watching the Cohasset falcons online for 3 or 4 years now and I’ve seen them with as many as 4 chicks at a time. I presume environmental factors play a role in how many eggs are laid each year.

FalconCam