A Thinking Reed

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

pop culture

  • Wednesday hip hop? – Public Enemy, “Harder Than You Think”

    A great new track from PE’s 20th anniversary album(!) How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul??? Read more

  • The devil’s music

    I had to make note of this theological reflection on the lyrics of a Tool song if only because it lives at the rarely visited interstection of heavy metal fandom and Christian belief. Oh, and the album’s good too. On a somewhat related note, Beliefnet recently interviewed the former guitarist for Korn who converted to Read more

  • Bono fatigue

    I was reading this somewhat interesting piece on “emergent” Christians in Austin, TX and found myself pondering a deep mystery: why are all these post-evangelical, post-conservative, post-modern, post-whatever Christians so into U2? “For the emerging churches, (church is) not a place, it’s a people,” Gibbs said. “It’s not a weekly gathering; it’s a seven-day-a-week community. Read more

  • Elvis and race

    This article by the author of the definitive two–volume Elvis biography attempts to dispel the strangely persistent rumor that Elvis was racist. Some very interesting stuff about how Elvis broke down racial and musical barriers (via Unqualified Offerings). Read more

  • Tom Snyder, Joe Strummer, and Johnny Rotten

    Veteran talk show host Tom Snyder has passed away. Josh has dug up a couple of fascinating clips of him interviewing the Clash and John Lydon (nee Rotten). Read more

  • “May the Force be with you.” “And also with you!”

    Last night I gave a presentation on “The Gospel According to Star Wars” under the auspices of our parish’s “Theology on Tap” series. This barmy idea was cooked up by me and our curate after a couple of beers at last summer’s parish picnic, but I think it went well all things considered. The people Read more

  • Paris Hilton: scapegoat

    I find myself in the rare position of agreeing with Christopher Hitchens on this. So, what’s the deal here? Is it that we feel ashamed for paying so much attention to Hilton, et al. that we heap scorn and derision on her at the first opportunity in order to feel better about ourselves? Read more

  • We’re all lost

    I agree entirely with the spirit of this article. The point of Lost, I’ve always thought, isn’t to “solve” the mysteries, whatever that might look like. I see it as essentially a metaphor for the human condition – we’re thrown into this world that may or may not have a larger meaning. Things are ambiguous; Read more

  • VI top 6 albums of 2006

    Sheerly based on personal preference and in no particular order: 1. Mastadon, Blood Mountain2. Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood3. Johnny Cash, American V: A Hundred Highways4. Decemberists, The Crane Wife5. Trivium, The Crusade6. Jars of Clay, Good Monsters Read more