It's crunch time here in the west MI, and as such, I've little time to update this thing with portentous and pretentious posts. Still, I feel the urge to at least put something up here to let y'all know that I haven't ventured over to Belgium to search for rare Trappist Ales (though few things have tempted me so much), or off into the Himalayas of the mind without a map.
Considering that it's the most popular podcast in the world, I probably don't need to alert you to the Ricky Gervais show downloadable from Itunes and Guardian Unlimited. It's free and funny as hell.
The folks over at Pitchfork have redeemed themselves (for the time being) with the latest brief installment of "Get That Out of Your Mouth," which deals with the condescension of music journalists toward artists who are openly religious. It's a trend I've noticed before, and it's nice to see someone finally speak to it. Here's a nice snippet:
Sure, the bands that rocked the Christian festival at your local speedway stick to celebration and sin, but consider the work of people who are described as "thinking Christians"-- a term that's about as patronizing as "intelligent dance music," but let's go with it for now. Take the quest for spirituality on Talk Talk's Laughing Stock, or the piety and humility of Sufjan Stevens' Seven Swans, or to widen the circle, the furious morality of the abolitionist preacher in Marilynne Robinson's Gilead...
Amen to that, and this sentence, from the introduction:
It's quaint when old men on 78s sing spirituals, and a rugged legend like Johnny Cash can pray however he wants, but if you're a scrawny songwriter with a 4-track, siding with Jesus makes you a leper.
This sentence points out a latent racism/classism that I find among those who gainsay the religious expression of (supposedly) cultivated and cosmopolitan white people while celebrating the gospel shouts and moans of poor Americans from south of the Mason Dixon. It's as if the latter can be excused for their overt religiosity, because it's the quaint and charming expression of an ignorant and uncultured mind, set to a rollicking good beat. But, shoot, we really should expect more from those hipster doofuses who shop at Urban Outfitters. Their intellectual sophistication and liberal politics should prevent them from articulating any sort of spiritual longing.
Considering that it's the most popular podcast in the world, I probably don't need to alert you to the Ricky Gervais show downloadable from Itunes and Guardian Unlimited. It's free and funny as hell.
The folks over at Pitchfork have redeemed themselves (for the time being) with the latest brief installment of "Get That Out of Your Mouth," which deals with the condescension of music journalists toward artists who are openly religious. It's a trend I've noticed before, and it's nice to see someone finally speak to it. Here's a nice snippet:
Sure, the bands that rocked the Christian festival at your local speedway stick to celebration and sin, but consider the work of people who are described as "thinking Christians"-- a term that's about as patronizing as "intelligent dance music," but let's go with it for now. Take the quest for spirituality on Talk Talk's Laughing Stock, or the piety and humility of Sufjan Stevens' Seven Swans, or to widen the circle, the furious morality of the abolitionist preacher in Marilynne Robinson's Gilead...
Amen to that, and this sentence, from the introduction:
It's quaint when old men on 78s sing spirituals, and a rugged legend like Johnny Cash can pray however he wants, but if you're a scrawny songwriter with a 4-track, siding with Jesus makes you a leper.
This sentence points out a latent racism/classism that I find among those who gainsay the religious expression of (supposedly) cultivated and cosmopolitan white people while celebrating the gospel shouts and moans of poor Americans from south of the Mason Dixon. It's as if the latter can be excused for their overt religiosity, because it's the quaint and charming expression of an ignorant and uncultured mind, set to a rollicking good beat. But, shoot, we really should expect more from those hipster doofuses who shop at Urban Outfitters. Their intellectual sophistication and liberal politics should prevent them from articulating any sort of spiritual longing.
I hope that the crunch time goes well Bork! Hang in there, I can see spring coming soon.
Enjoy a nice weekend at Schulers.
Posted by
Peter Bratt |
7:12 PM
Yes, preach it Brian!
Those down-home country folk are probably just religious cause they're lookin' to the sky for rain all the time, cause you know, they're all farmers down there.
Meanwhile, we urban folk have no troubles. Crime, homelessness, pornography, greed, shitty schools, consumerism, prostitution -- why would we ever think that God is needed in the city?
Certainly not cause of any of those things. And certainly not cause anyone in the city is lonely; there's people everywhere! And if not, there's the internet, chat rooms, web cams, online multi-player gaming; virtual human intimacy is waiting for you just around the corner.
The Psalmist was always off in some field, or hills, or pit. Surely we cosmopolitan folk can turn on the TV or iPod or internet or X-box or something else to distract from that longing for meaning.
Posted by
Jana |
6:14 AM