LOST: Not Parallel Universes

February 12, 2010

In the first 10 minutes of Episode 1 of Season 6, I tweeted the phrase “parallel universes!” That stuck in my mind, especially with the free will set-up from just a few moments before in the re-cap. If free will can trump fate, then alternate universes seemed a possibility.
But a friend (hi, Jon) suggested to [...]

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LOST and Found: “What Kate Does”

February 10, 2010

So far, Season 6 of LOST has not disappointed. I want to focus primarily on the redemption stories in the series as we follow the characters through the rest of the adventure.
The parallel universes has confirmed one thing: These characters were “lost” whether or not they ever landed on an island. They are, first and [...]

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Localists in the Modern World

February 9, 2010

Ultimately, I don’t think there’s any practical way we can undo the historical, cultural and economic situation we’re thrown into. Emphasis on practical: if one wanted to be like the Amish, that option is always there. But there’s got to be a defensible middle ground between complete refusal (the Amish option) and complete, uncritical acceptance….We [...]

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Layers of LOST

February 2, 2010

Knowing about my love for character development and layers of meaning in story, friends of mine urged me for a long time to watch LOST. One friend in particular said it was right up my alley. If I had my own alley, yes – this indeed would be up it.
Tricia and I spent this last [...]

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Criticism Has Become Trivial

January 30, 2010

While there are areas I differ with John Gardner, and I’m still trying to thoughtfully digest his debate-provoking book, On Moral Fiction, I can resonate with this sentiment from early on in the work:
The language of critics, and of artists of the kind who pay attention to the critics, has become exceedingly odd: not talk [...]

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The Swell Season: Falling Slowly

January 6, 2010
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2009 Books Read

December 31, 2009

Paradise Lost, by John Milton
The Enchanted Castle, by Edith Nesbit
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis
The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells
Dracula, by Bram Stoker
The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge
Electrophysiology Testing, by Richard N. Fogoros
Handbook of Cardiac Electrophysiology, by Murgatroyd, et al
The Only EKG [...]

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One Grand Miracle

December 24, 2009

“…the Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take [...]

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Baby, It’s Cold Outside: Norah Jones & Willie Nelson

December 24, 2009
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Recommendation: Bob Dylan, Christmas in the Heart

December 21, 2009

Sometimes you plan to write something, and then you find someone who already said it better than you ever could have. That’s the case with Bob Dylan’s newest album, Christmas in the Heart.
You need to read this review of it. Fantastic.
And then go buy the album.

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Advent Music: The Advent of Our King

December 8, 2009

I’ve not successfully found really great Advent music (please let me know if you’re aware of any!). So I’ve decided to start working on some of my own. To begin, I’m finding old Advent hymns to which I’ve never heard the music, and just writing my own.
“The Advent of Our King” is an 18th century [...]

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St. Nick and Christmas Stockings

December 6, 2009

From the St. Nicholas Center:
One story tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman’s father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to [...]

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Happy St. Nicholas Day

December 6, 2009

Of course, this is the Americanized, jovial Santa Claus, not the Christian saint and Bishop of Myra. I’ll post a story on him later today.

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Clearing the Mental Ray

November 30, 2009

Yesterday, on the Christian liturgical calendar, a new year began: it was the first Sunday of Advent. Sadly, Sophia, for the first time ever, so overslept that we missed Sunday morning worship. (Yes, we’ve missed for several other reasons as well; but she’s at least been the reliable alarm clock, until now.)
Every year I hope [...]

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Everything is a Sign

November 27, 2009

“The reason Lewis and Chesterton and Williams and Tolkien fascinate readers so much is that fundamentally they still live in the medieval world, a world chock full of built-in, God-designed significance. That’s why they all think analogically, sacramentally, and imagistically. For them, everything means something beyond itself. Everything is not only a thing, but a [...]

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