A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Fun links

  • Some metal for the weekend

    Here’s the first single, “Redemption,” from the just-released Shadows Fall album Threads of Life. Good stuff. It’s always fun to read reviews from die-hard fans who are horrified that the singer is – ugh- singing! Sell outs! I’m pretty sure this line of criticism is unique to the genre. Read more

  • I always knew I was special

    E-mailed to me from a friend: “Heavy metal ‘a comfort for the bright child’” Intelligent teenagers often listen to heavy metal music to cope with the pressures associated with being talented, according to research. The results of a study of more than 1,000 of the brightest five per cent of young people will come as Read more

  • Big Sister

    I’m not a Barack Obama booster, but this is pretty amusing (via Andrew Sullivan and not affiliated with the Obama campaign so far as I know). Read more

  • Woo hoo! Heaven, here I come!

    You know the Bible 100%!   Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses – you know it all! You are fantastic! Ultimate Bible QuizCreate MySpace Quizzes Via Derek the Ænglican, who also points out an error Read more

  • If I was better looking I could be a TV news anchor

    What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you’re a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Read more

  • Backpedaling

    I’m not usually a fan of this style of music (jangly-indie-folksy), but I bought my wife the Sufjan Stevens Christmas box set and I have to say it’s grown on me quite a bit (go here to stream it). Disc 2 is my current favorite. Read more

  • Yet another political quiz thingie

    Your Political Profile: Overall: 45% Conservative, 55% Liberal Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal Defense and Crime: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal How Liberal Or Conservative Are You? (via Haligweorc) It’s funny how end up as kind of a Read more

  • New Over the Rhine Christmas album

    Here’s an article from The New York Press on the great group Over the Rhine, who apparently have a new Christmas record coming out, with a pretty awesome cover. (via Thunderstruck) Their previous Christmas album is called The Darkest Night of the Year. For what it’s worth, OTR are a great live act if you Read more

  • More of a Howie Mandel than a Paris Hilton

    Find out your status here (via Siris). Read more

  • Friday metal mayhem

    Read a review of the new Trivium album, Crusade in the Metro this morning. You can listen to it streaming on AOL here (don’t know how long that link will be good for). Sounds fantastic, especially if, like me, you’re a big fan of 80s thrash metal (early Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, etc.). And don’t tell Read more