Taking Off and Landing

So much good music as of late. I call Kevin sometimes and start conversations like this:

“Man, I’m listening to ______________, and I just had to tell somebody how good this is. That’s all I got.”

Postal Service–Get Up–I don’t really care that this is 2004’s album. I just got around to listening to it. And listening to it. And listening to it. The first four tracks just kill me. The number of memorable lines per capita should make this a triple album. Lines like, “I’ll be your platform shoes/ And undo what genetics did to you/ So you won’t have to strain when you look into my eyes”, just make me want to pull the car over. Ben Gibbard, if I ever see you in concert, I may have to shake your hand.

Smashing Pumpkins–Siamese Dream. How can people not still love this album? I’m not ready to tattoo a droopy heart on my chest or anything, but Billy Corgan really outdid himself on this one. It perfectly captures the early 90s–angsty, loud, guitar-filled. And smooth as butter.

Broken Social Scene–Broken Social Scene I’m a sucker for bands that use a lot of instumentation and aren’t afraid of wind instruments. Toss in two or three guitars, multiple lead singers, and the occasional use of trumpets, and you’re good to go. Lush, odd time signatures, and a lot of crunch. You could alternately fall asleep and rock out to this collection.

Fine Young Cannibals–Fine Young Cannibals. 80s one-hit-wonder? Maybe. Or maybe they just quit while they were ahead. Either way, you can’t go wrong with a little drum machine and falsetto.

I’m trying to resist buying the new Keane album. Yes, Kellen, I’m sure it’s great, but I’m slightly aware that I have two road trips coming up, as well as Fall school expenses, so that may have to sit on the shelf. When I can find the plasma donation center in town, I’m going to be a regular.

My dad and I agree on some films. We both think that the Mad Max trilogy is pretty great. The scene in Road Warrior where Max’s car blows through the trailer is just awesome. But for the most part, I like what Dad refers to as “conciousness raising films”: Syriana, Munich, The Green Mile. Dad, who works with lunatic customers, wants to watch a DVD that will let him unplug for a moment. I, who largely deal with a world of books and ideas, am forever needing grounding.

This isn’t at all to say that Dad isn’t aware of the world around him. The man knows his stuff when it comes to finances and politics, and can tear a new one on tax legislation. He teaches high school boys in Sunday school. He’s gone on endless choir tours with screaming adolescents and given lots of money to lots of places that needed it. He has sacrificed, and I’ve always said that it’s his and Mom’s fault that I’d do something as stupid as working on a hunger farm or advocate for the homeless.

Dad, you’re to blame for me even writing this post.
**

A few light articles for a Monday morning:

The G8 Promises: One Year Later– I have to wonder how much of international action is just run by PR services in Thailand.

Afghanistan: Part Six–just when you thought the mess was over simply because you haven’t been hearing anything in the news about it.

Somalia May Yet Be A Country–just when you thought it was safe to watch Blackhawk Down, you find out that Somalia hasn’t existed for almost 15 years.

Enjoy the morning.

Another friend has started blogging. This could be really good.

If you love me, you’ll check it out.

My freshman year at Ouachita, I was involved with just about everything you could be involved with, in a good sense. Mondays, I was doing something church related. Tuesday, something else. Wednesday, you get the picture. For a while, I was visiting prisoners at a regional institution, and this is where this story begins.

I was a freshman trying to find my way, looking like a young Eddie Vedder with long hair and flannel. I have the pictures to prove it. Anyway, during this time of youthful exuberance, I was taking the occasional visit to prison and filling in the wayward hours with homework and the Waffle House. And being a freshman, and therefore sans vehicle, I needed a ride to the lockup. John Barber, being older and wiser, with his roommate Sam Stroope, saw this young lad and said, “He looks cool. Let’s ask him to go in our car.”

It was on that roadtrip that I was introduced to the Vigilantes of Love, and to Sam and John. John went with me to my first Vigilantes of Love show later that year, and I am forever grateful. And then, a little over a year later, he met a great woman named Janna, got married, moved to Florida, had two kids, and spends his days doing adult things. Their kids, Sam and Laney, are completely beautiful.

Janna’s an equally excellent woman. I just don’t have a cool introduction story to go with her.

But nonetheless, with that introduction, a shameless promotion:

You should check out Janna’s writing, if for no other reason than I said so. That, and what she’s writing about now is totally heartbreaking and beautiful.

I’m in the middle of my final paper for the semester. 13 pages stand between me and ecstasy.

In the words of Tom Waits, “You’ve been drinking cleaning products all night and you’re open to suggestions.” How do I celebrate the end of the semester?

Go nuts. I’m making a list of suggestions. The top three may even get documented here.

Both my papers I needed to crank out this week are in the bag, barring the necessary revisions. If you really want to read them, I’ll be glad to let you peek, but I’m not promising too much. In the meantime, while Kevin hangs out in the Dominican Republic, and Celina hits South by Southwest in Austin, and Jennifer hits the West coast, I’ll be hanging out with this book, and listening to some fine tunes as I draft my fantasy baseball team tonight:

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones–The Hidden Land. The new album from the master of the jazz/bluegrass combo. It’s really nice stuff. In fact, you should do yourself a favor and pick this one up too. It’s too much goodness to take in all at once.

Queen–Greatest Hits, Vol. 2. It’s true: Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest frontmen of all time. Charismatic, boisterious, and completely on fire. And the music’s really great stuff.

Josh Rouse–Nashville–one of my current favorite singer/songwriter types. He’s pop, but in the best way possible. Catchy. Dance in your room kinda-catchy.

In the coming months, this, this, and this are going to put me into a music coma. What have I done to inherit ears which behold such glory?

But in the meantime, there are more papers to crank through. Somewhere, a meatgrinder is smiling.

First and foremost, this is the Internet find of the century. I won’t spoil the surprise. Just go check it out, and thank my friend Nathan for clueing me into this one.

Imogen Heap, Speak For Yourself. Despite my feelings on the Garden State in general, this spin-off of Frou Frou is really pretty nice. If you need something serene in the background, this is your set of tunes. It’s electronic, melodic, and puts a nice touch on the medulla oblongata.

Arcade Fire, Funeral. I held off for a year or so because it was so highly acclaimed, blah blah blah. They said the “acclaimed” thing about Milli Vanilli once upon a time, for crap’s sake. But these guys were making U2 and Coldplay nervous that they’d have to find a day job. Truly an excellent piece of work.

Tom Waits, Nighthawks at The Diner. It’s true: he sounds like he’s gargled gravel and Clorox. But his early stuff, before the cigarettes got to his voice, is really sharp and witty and what e.e. cummings would have done if he was a bawdy piano player. This is a live set that contains some of the best monologues and intros you’ll get on a live set.

Ani DiFranco, Living in Clip . Thanks to Kevin and E, I’m a believer, and waiting for her tendonitis to heal up so she can get back on the road.

My Morning Jacket, Z. Good old fashioned Southern rock goes astral projection. Good for morning drives when you wish your car would just transcend I-35 and take you to Mars or maybe just the Buffalo River.

So, Myles, what do they have you reading these days? What does a theology student read?

The second question is unanswerable, faithful reader. That depends on the methodology of the profs, how the progam understands the work and task of theology, etc. etc. etc. So, for that answer, I’ll default to the standard: “Your guess is as good as mine.” Or rather, “Everything that can get their hands on, starting with St. Irenaus and working up to Kathryn Tanner or Sarah Coakley.”

As to the first question, that’s easy. To give you an idea of the life of the PhD student, I’ll give you a partial list of what I’ll be reading this semester:

St. Origen–On First Principles
Karl Barth–Church Dogmatics, Vol. IV, Pt. 1 & 2
Pseudo-Dionysius–The Complete Works
Dietrich Bonhoeffer–Discipleship
G.B. Caird–New Testament Theology
St. Thomas Aquinas–selections from Summa Theologica
John Calvin–Institutes of the Christian Religion
Graham Ward–Cultural Transformation and Religious Practice
Hans Frei–Eclipse of the Biblical Narrative, Types of Theology, Life of Christ
St. Gregory of Nyssa–Life of Moses
St. Bonaventure–Journey of the Mind to God
Frederich Neitzsche–Birth of Tragedy, Ecce Homo, and so much more
Paul Lakeland–Liberation of the Laity
Multiple miscelaneous articles

Anyway, Faithful Reader, hope that helps. I’m off to party with Origen. Questions?

In case you haven’t noticed, or in case you never noticed before and didn’t really care…

Some of the links on the left are dead: bloggers that I know who never post, or links that I thought were fun for a little wihle, but lost interest in, or what have you. Same story on the right. It’s been months since Devils and Dust was spinning. I’ve come back around the horn and started listening to the Flaming Lips, but mostly, the book and CD recs are way overdue. I’ll get to those later.

But, first things first. I have two new links you should find: The John Laroquette Project and my friends, The Dominicans.

Maybe it’s the Shiner Dunkleweisen I’m finishing while I compose the last four pages of a paper, but these sites set me laughing like a dead hyena. A DEAD ONE, I tell you!

Check it out.