The Paper Trail

Via All Manner of Thing: “It’s a visualization of a...

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:17:27 -0500

Via All Manner of Thing: “It’s a visualization of a two-part canon from Bach’s Musical Offering. The canon in question exhibits both retrogression and inversion — that is, the theme harmonizes with an upside-down and backwards version of itself.”

The Musical Offering has a very interesting history. From Gene Veith: ‘King Frederick, who enjoyed humiliating his guests, had composed a long melody line full of chromatic scales that was impossible to turn into a multi-voiced canon…and told Bach to turn it into a fugue. Whereupon Bach, on the spot, sat down at one of the new piano fortes and turned it into a three-part fugue. The flummoxed King said, in effect, OK, turn it into a 6-part fugue. A few days later, Bach sent him a 6-part fugue and more than a fugue, “A Musical Offering” that rebuked Frederick and all of his Enlightenment notions with the Christian faith.’

Photo

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:58:27 -0500

Video

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:13:14 -0500

"I never understand people who give up because a relationship is long distance. If you give up..."

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:26:17 -0500

“I never understand people who give up because a relationship is long distance. If you give up because of the distance, then you’re not admitting to yourself how you really feel. Because when you *love someone* (oh that paltry phrase)…you will do anything. You will interrupt your life, your job, your house, your car, whatever…to make it work.”

- Lara, Sept 2008

“Asking people to imagine a Dan Brown where he got his...

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:30:39 -0500

“Asking people to imagine a Dan Brown where he got his fact straight is closer to asking people to imagine what an Agatha Christie novel would read like if set in a postapocalyptic future where giant mutant weasels fight off vampire dogs aided by elves from a parallel universe, in a metaphor for the fifth century Roman Empire and the collapse of the Catholic church.

“Performed as a play written in iambic pentameter, and directed by Spike Lee.”

- DavidTC on Slashdot

Please - please - vote for this design to be reprinted.

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:45:09 -0500

Please - please - vote for this design to be reprinted.

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Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:16:39 -0500

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been sitting in...

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:52:12 -0500

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been sitting in front of my laptop and wished I had a chainsaw handy.

"Your insistence that Christians must equate ‘the literal word of God’ with..."

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:26:53 -0500

“Your insistence that Christians must equate ‘the literal word of God’ with ‘infallible transcriptions, every single time a book of the Bible is copied’ is just plain wrong. That’s not what most Christians believe. They believe that the method God used to preserve the text was to have it copied quickly and widely before any single organization could control the process and make ‘secret’ alterations to the Scripture.”

- G Adams on Slashdot.

Wind-powered Scarf Knitting Factory

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:12:03 -0500

Wind-powered Scarf Knitting Factory:

With the power of the wind, a knitting machine knits from the outside towards the inside of the building. The knitted material is harvested from time to time and rounded-off in individually packaged scarves. Each scarf has its own label which tells you in how much time it has been knitted and on which date.

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Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:17:59 -0500

Men really ought to do more beautiful things. (illustration by...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:17:45 -0500

Men really ought to do more beautiful things. (illustration by Andy Smith)

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Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:00:39 -0500

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Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:59:03 -0500

A custom blank-inside greeting card I picked up in the basement...

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:26:44 -0500

A custom blank-inside greeting card I picked up in the basement of an antique shop. No idea what I’ll use it for, but it was too good to pass up.

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Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:08:14 -0500

This bird keeps trying to get in my office window. Maybe he just...

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:45:17 -0500

This bird keeps trying to get in my office window. Maybe he just sees a rival in the reflection, but I like to think he’s got a message for me that’s so good it just can’t wait.

John Gruber Leads The Way

Thu, 07 May 2009 09:59:00 -0500

You wrote:

Church-Goers More Likely to Support Torture
CNN:

The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

Evangelical Christians lead the way.

John, this is the definition of irresponsible, sloppy writing. Even the laziest attempt at an accurate perspective on this story would have added “…in supporting torture under limited circumstances, with the non-religious close behind.”

The original article was skewed enough, but it at least gave you enough information to see that 75% of non-religious people in the survey agreed that torture is sometimes justified, compared with 90% of evangelicals.

Your treatment of the story, however, is atrocious. Here is some perspective for you: Evangelical Christians do not give blanket support for torture. You will not find a single solitary evangelical Christian who supports what was done at Abu Ghraib (though you would invite your reader to believe that they all supported it wholeheartedly).

Evangelical Christians believe that torture is justified in time-sensitive circumstances when the lives of thousands of people are at stake. It boils down to this: if you had a man who refused to tell you how his friends would be killing your wife and children in the next day, I doubt you would peacefully resign yourself to his silence. Many of us do personally believe that inflicting pain and fear would be morally justified under such circumstances, and this belief is an extension of our care for those who ought to be under our protection, not of a love of violence or cruelty. It may not be a position you agree with, but you must allow it is not unreasonable, nor does it betray a sweeping inhumanity among evangelical Christians as you would invite your reader to believe.

I’m not interested in persuading you that your position on the issue is wrong; just that your treatment of it was sloppy at best and poisonous at worst. You’re normally a detailed and thoughtful person. If you can give that kind of care to your opinions when talking about pixels and phones, surely you can make it worth your while to make at least a show of effort when talking about more important things.

Minnesota Blankety Blanks

Fri, 01 May 2009 23:26:00 -0500

Love this mini-series on Twitter today:

“Minnesota Twins. Least intimidating team nickname ever. Siamese Twins, maybe. Evil Twins, better. Hitler Twins, much better.”
— @badbanana

“Look at that clean cut gentleman from Minnesota. What, he has a brother that looks just like him? «shudder»”
— @badbanana

“You wouldn’t mess with the Minnesota Hitler Twins. That’s all I’m saying.”
— @badbanana

Here are some other ideas , none too flattering, that I kept in a notebook from a 2007 camping trip (we laughed so hard I couldn’t let them be forgotten):

the Minnesota Chin-knickers

the Minnesota Proboscis

the Minnesota Razor Burns

the Minnesota Stiffs

the Minnesota Frozen Steel Pole Lickers

the Minnesota Frozen Corpses

the Minnesota Potholes

the Minnesota Taliban

the Minnesota Mexicans

the Minnesota Suckers

the Minnesota Hibernators (motto: “But we still have a pulse”)

the Minnesota Shovel Busters

the Minnesota Numb Butts

the Minnesota Fine Cheese Haters

the Minnesota Cheapskates

the Minnesota Dock Spiders

the Minnesota Bus Accidents

the Minnesota Fish Bellies

the Minnesota Bad Dreams

the Minnesota Hat Hairs

the Minnesota Hangnails

the Minnesota Deer Ticks

Gracious Uncertainty

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:04:16 -0500

Our natural inclination is to be so precise — trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next — that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, “Well, what if I were in that circumstance?” We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.

Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life — gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God — it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, “…unless you…become as little children…”. The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, “…believe also in Me”, not, “Believe certain things about Me”. Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in — but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.

— Oswald Chambers