Last Week

It occurred to me just now that I haven't updated my blog in the past seven days. I did a fair amount of stuff so here's a list of events and activities that, if time and focus had permitted me, I might have blogged about.

I led trainings on:

• Listening Skills (showing Warmth, Empathy and Respect to people who seek us out as helpers)
• Facilitation Skills (building consensus within groups)
• Adult, Child and Infant CPR and First Aid (for the staff of a women's shelter home)

I met a guy (associate of a friend of a friend) for lunch who wanted to talk to me about a "great business opportunity"... yep, you guessed it - Quixstar (aka Alticor aka Amway.) It's been awhile since anyone has pitched me on The Plan so it was interesting to see the new version of it - basically steering people to buy their products through websites rather than out of stockpiles of merchandise I store in my basement. I graciously accepted a "Q & A" CD-ROM and told him I'd think about it. Last night I got the follow-up call where I informed my original friend that I was content with my current lot in life and would pass on the opportunity to get in on their action.

I had lunch with my friend Mark who created and hosts The Paul Page, dedicated to "the new perspective on Paul" (the apostle, that is.) Mark is one of my best friends here in Grand Rapids - we've done a lot together over the years in local peace 'n justice related activism. Though we're both a little detached from the scene these days because a) life demands other priorities of us and b) the "movement" seems to be a bit stuck in terms of what it would like to do and what it can realistically accomplish. My attention has shifted to the Barack Obama campaign as a much more potent catalyst for the kinds of changes I'd like to see happen in our society. I can hardly take Ralph Nader seriously any more, in comparison.

On Thursday night, I worked at the Van Andel Arena for the first time in months. The event was a concert by The Jonas Brothers, three young entertainers with nice eyebrows and cheekbones who have apparently achieved a high level of fame with the teenyboppers of today. I didn't go for the music, of course - the only songs of theirs I recognized were their covers of old 80's tunes, and the only one I can remember was a-ha's "Take On Me" which sounded close enough to the original for my tastes. Our sales were terrible that night... we sold a few beers to dads who were looking for some refuge from the scream-fest inside the arena. But most of the kids were content with small sodas and a pack of Twizzlers, which just doesn't add up to much in cash terms. I worked it mostly as a favor to the band - I've passed up a lot of other opportunities to work there - it's not as fun as it used to be and the musical acts that have been touring recently strike me as second-rate or I've been there done that already. For instance, Kid Rock was there a few weeks ago but I have no interest in listening to that clown, even though he wants to inherit Bob Seger's mantle as "Michigan's Finest" or something like that. What a pathetic loser... "Rock and Roll Jesus" indeed. No, my tastes are eclectic but I do have some standards and Kid Rock's pose is about as empty and banal as it gets. Upcoming gigs by Van Halen, Def Leppard and Kenny Chesney are all repeats of shows I've worked in the past few years (even though this version of Van Halen will have their original singer and Eddie's son Wolfgang on bass, which is slightly intriguing.) But it's just not really that attractive a proposition to me anymore, especially since my son no longer needs to earn money for the band. But oh, it was fun to experience the sheer power of thousands of girls shrieking and squealing with delight at whatever cute antics the Jonas boys were pulling on stage. One of my co-workers was there with his daughter and his ears were still ringing the next morning. One of the moms at the show came stomping up to the stand halfway through the show with a pinched-migraine-forehead expression, muttering "this is worse than Hannah Montana!" as she ordered a $6 Bud Light. That was a priceless moment and made the night's work worthwhile to me.

And because I was at the Jonas Brothers show, I wasn't able to see the Obama-Clinton debate but I did partake deeply of the post-event spin and analysis. I will forego any further discussion of presidential politics in this post simply because it leads to tangents that will take too long to adequately record in the limited amount of time I have to dedicate to this post.

This weekend I watched a few movies: "The Kite Runner" in the theater (our local cheapie second-run multiplex,) "Ordinary People" (on TMC as part of their Oscar Winners series) and "The Harder They Come" (on DVD.) I watched with mild interest the first part of the Academy Awards last night but that interest faded after awhile when it became clear to me that I could hardly care less who won anything this year.

So leave a comment if you want to read anything more from me on the above topics.

Meet The Obama

My friend Julie posted a column through UPI today that you can access by linking here (through her blog) or here (directly to religionandspirituality.com) Her thoughts on the resemblances between Barack Obama and U2 front-man Bono helped catalyze some half-formed notions I've had for the past few weeks about how Obama's campaign reminds me of the Beatles' 1964 tour of the USA. (Even including the fainting fans!) Which of course I only know from documentary footage, since I wasn't even three years old yet when they played on the Ed Sullivan Show and did all that stuff that they are so famous for. So this morning I wrote this to her as an email responding to her column but now I think I'll make it into a blog post as well.

I have been privately kicking around the parallels between Obama and
the Beatles myself recently, especially the way the Beatles took the
US by storm as something new and different back in 1964, when the
youth of the country were just getting over the trauma of losing
President Kennedy and sensing that things weren't shaping up the way
they'd been led to expect by their elders. The Beatles were dismissed
and misperceived by a lot of adults at the time who just saw them as a
fad - shallow pop singers who'd breeze through the country, sell a lot
of singles, then fade away just as quickly. The kids who swarmed to
see them, bought their records and emulated their looks recognized
that there was more happening here than simple entertainment. They
didn't anticipate all the details of what was about to happen, but
they recognized that something really big and cool was taking place
and they were eager to be a part of it.

Now there are many ways in which the analogy doesn't work and the
Beatles certainly can't compare in strictly humanitarian terms to the
work that Bono has done, but I think they unquestionably served as
harbingers of cultural change on a scale that actually does rival
figures like King and Gandhi. (Let's not get into the Jesus
comparisons though!) But I think Obama has at least the potential to
signify a breakthrough into the insulated realm of American
presidential politics comparable to that which the Beatles made into
the world of popular entertainment. They helped elevate the status of
the message and the style in a way that I think was truly
transformative to lives in ways that pop music in particular never had
quite reached before. How an Obama presidency would ultimately compare
to the kind of impact that the Beatles (or Bono) had on music and
popular culture of course is a matter of pure speculation. And of
course, the biggest difference between what he's trying to do and what
the musicians do is that Obama has to win outright in order to pursue
his agenda. If he doesn't get the nomination and then the presidency,
it all becomes a matter of "what if?" Whereas the bands could do their
thing as they saw fit and didn't have to worry about their competition
effectively shutting down their operation if they didn't have the most
popular record in a given season of the year. My desire to see what
indeed would happen in a world where "President Obama" becomes the
reality only adds to the sense of urgency to see his quest succeed
this year... not four years from now or longer!

Julie Quoted in Local Paper!

My wife Julie is a floral designer. She was quoted in yesterday's Valentine's Day edition of the Grand Rapids Press. They also published a very nice photograph of her standing at the edge of a sea of roses. Unfortunately, it looks like they cropped the image for the internet article, so the best I can come up with is a scan from the newspaper itself.

As you might figure, Valentine's Day is a long, exhausting endurance trial for her and the other designers. We have a tradition of me not buying her flowers (at her request) because she's not at a point where she can really appreciate them at the end of the ordeal. (Not just the day itself but the marathon of cranking out bouquets and arrangements in the days preceding.) So instead I fix her a nice dinner, load her up with some chocolates and do what I can to provide comfort and relief when she finally gets home after tending to the needs of all the procrastinating guys who run in fifteen minutes before closing time expecting to find the most ravishingly romantic bunch o' flowers, guaranteed to set their sweety's heart a-flutter.

Next To Impossible?

That's what I just read in a political blog - that Barack Obama's campaign manager just used those words in describing Hillary Clinton's chances of overtaking Obama's lead in the pledged delegate count. She would need to win upcoming primaries by a 60-40 split in order to do that, and from the looks of things, that's not at all how the campaigns are trending.

So while most in the media are taking the cautious approach of not underestimating the Clintons and their ability to still wrestle the nomination back into their grasp, the scenario looks increasingly desperate for them. Conventional wisdom is beginning to coalesce around the idea that the only way she will win the nomination is through machinations, imposing heavy-handed discipline and calling in old favors from her network of allies and cronies that she and her husband have developed over the years. If that happens, which I suppose it could, I can't help but wonder just how discouraging it would be for Obama supporters who have more reason than ever to believe that a dramatic new era is about to dawn in American politics and the wider culture that grows out of it. Obama's dominant wins last night, and the success he enjoyed this past weekend, look at the moment like a very pivotal juncture in the on-going narrative. Perhaps a point of no return will be marked here once we have more hindsight on the situation. A key detail, if Obama proves to be competitive or stronger in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania (where HRC is supposed to be the clear favorite,) will be how Hillary (and Bill) will manage a graceful step-down once its clear that the people have chosen someone other than her to be the party's standard-bearer, something they're not used to doing and which Hillary said on 60 Minutes the other day she can't even mentally envision or contemplate at this time.

Well, that was last week, Hillary. I think it's time to adjust your thinking to a very plausible and increasingly likely scenario. I don't say that with smugness or spite toward her because I don't think she's as terrible as many make her out to be, nor do I think there should be any lasting enmity between Obama and Clinton supporters. But I just don't see Obama losing it at this point. He's been too strong, too skillful, too effective in making his pitch to the voters, for me to imagine him fumbling it away at this point. If he does, I will be even more astonished at his failure than I am at the victories he's racked up so far.

Phil Keaggy, a Masterful Musician

My friend Julie waxed eloquent the other day in journaling her response to the U2:3D film that she recently saw. (As far as I know, it's not showing around here, though I note that "Hannah Montana in 3D" has had its run extended and may present itself as a worthy rival to U2 for the title of "most emotions generated by a 3D movie experience in 2008"... with very little audience overlap, I should mention.)

I respect U2 as a band and as a cultural institution, but for a number of reasons, my personal bond with them isn't even close to what a lot of other folks feel. That's all rather beside the point, except to serve as an introduction to this concert review of Phil Keaggy & band, who performed last night at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. My wife Julie and I have seen Phil perform many times over the years - I suppose that I'd be correct in saying that I've seen him play live more than I have any other musician in the world, other than my kids who were in marching band and some of the punk rock bands that I used to hang out with back in the early 80s. We started going to Keaggy shows back in 1994, 95 or so, though we'd been listening to Phil's records since we were married in 1984. He represented the perfect meeting point between my adventurous musical tastes and Julie's interest in edifying, uplifting and expressly Christian songwriting. Phil has been widely regarded as one of the most accomplished guitar virtuosos in the world, regardless of religious affiliation or any other category one might wish to impose. He's pursued many styles over his long and prodigious career - he and a few others can rightly take credit for inventing contemporary Christian rock and pop music (but please don't blame him for what it's become in recent years!) I could elaborate quite a bit on the interesting twists and turns his musical journey has taken him but instead, I'll just focus on what happened last night. It was a very special evening, a singular concert that stands out distinctly from the dozen or so other times we've been privileged to hear him make his music in person.

The event was a recreation, live on stage, of what has proven to be the biggest selling album of his career, an instrumental release titled "The Master and the Musician." 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of this record. Though it may not be exactly a "household word" compared to a lot of other records released in 1978 (think "Saturday Night Fever," "Some Girls" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town") it's fair to characterize TMATM as a breakthrough release that set a lot of other things in motion. It was the first "Christian music" release that dared express its message not in words but in the sheer emotive power of the instrumental playing itself. This was a controversial and unprecedented thing, so much so that the record company felt compelled to have an allegorical narrative story printed up and included in the album's initial release so that an overt "gospel message" would be conveyed to the audience. When the album/CD was re-released in 1989, the story was dispensed with since it really had nothing to do with the music itself. (This caused some consternation among some of Phil's fans, and from what I've heard, the story is actually pretty well-written. But I've never read it.)

This focus on music for music's sake opened the door for what I regard as a more mature sense of aesthetics within Christian-oriented arts and music in general. The album can be seen as an essential step away from the cloying and often corny efforts at proselytizing that still makes a lot of overtly Christian expressions hard to appreciate. Now it's important to say that this didn't represent a theological back-pedaling on Phil's part (he remains very "Jesus-centered" in his message, lyrics and life-style.) But he created an important open space where words became secondary in conveying meaning and stirring emotions in the listener.

Beyond the lack of words, there's the music itself, which is extraordinarily warm, evocative, intricate and pleasing to the ear. I've appreciated this particular recording for many years, but I think hearing him and his band recreate the songs in sequence and on stage, my assessment of TMATM as a work of art has moved from "enjoyment" to "awe." Phil has recorded numerous instrumental albums over the years, some more simple and plainly acoustic, others more rocking, jamming, electrified affairs. A lot of his more recent stuff has the feel of highly inspired, technically proficient improvisation, which is brilliant enough on its own terms. But TMATM is clearly a highly thought-out, carefully composed and complex work of art containing many passages that sit elegantly in place like fine gems laid out for display. He put a lot of work into layering guitar parts, incorporating a variety of effects and production techniques and pacing the moods of the music in a way that takes the careful listener on a deeply satisfying journey - and it makes very pleasant background music too if that's what's desired!

In order to bring this music to life in person, Keaggy assembled a wonderful band, probably the best combo I've ever seen him perform with. A lot of his shows are just him, a guitar and his collection of pedals, E-bows and such, but I've also seen him with a band on several occasions. Last night, there were at times, five different guitarists playing unique parts, along with a drummer/percussionist, a keyboard player and a woman who played flutes and other wind instruments, as well as supplying the female voice sounds that Phil's wife Bernadette contributed to the original recording. It was oh so much to take in, and it got me hoping that Phil decides to release a DVD of one of these concerts when this brief 17-date mini-tour is done.

Having lived with this music, absorbing it innumerable times ever since I purchased the CD in the early 90s, actually hearing it performed in person sent me on a contemplative and sentimental journey as I reflected on what's gone on in my own life over those years. I know that the tunes and melodies that Phil came up with grew out of some very deep personal challenges that he and his wife had faced in the preceding years. They had lost five children (yes, five) to miscarriage or very early death and were still childless at the time of its recording. They went on to have three children in subsequent years, who are all now young adults, but at the time, there was a lot of grief and melancholy that fueled Keaggy's songcraft. Things that words can't express, which is another reason for the instrumental approach. But tempering those heavier feelings was an underlying theme of hope, joy and resolution to continue forward in the face of great disappointment. Though his situation was particular and personal, the music he created connects deeply with many of us who face our own version of those struggles that informed his musical vision. The auditorium he performed in last night was filled with many people whose lives have had a Keaggy-inspired musical soundtrack for decades (and a lot of younger people checking out Phil for perhaps the first, but likely not the last, time!) Grand Rapids was the second stop on this tour (he was in Cincinnati on Friday night!) and this town, or West Michigan in general, is pretty much a given whenever he sets out to tour the country.

For many years, Phil has championed the cause of Compassion International. Often at some point of the show, he will mention his connection with this organization that cares for orphaned and oppressed children in poor areas of the world. We've heard a lot of appeals but never taken him up on the invitation to sponsor a child. But that changed last night. During the intermission, Julie and I decided to bring a new child into our family, now that our own kids are pretty much grown up. We talked to one of the volunteers and decided to sponsor the child whose packet was presented to us. His name is Wendinmi Ouedraogo. He's seven years old and lives in the CIE Dassasgo TBI Child Development Center in Burkina Faso. I will have more to say about him and this new interest in future blog posts!

After the intermission, Keaggy and band performed a bunch of old favorites, straightforward and relatively simple pop and rock numbers that, while skillfully performed and perfectly entertaining in their own right, only served to emphasize the brilliance of TMATM. I would have been perfectly satisfied to limit the program to the album recreation, but this was all just icing on the cake, and a nice chance to hear the band cut loose on songs I've heard him perform solo on many occasions.

So there's my concert review. I highly recommend that you get a copy of "The Master and the Musician" if you're not familiar with the album and these thoughts have stirred some curiosity. A nice 30th anniversary edition has just been released - the original recording has been remastered (not that it really needed it) and a second disc has out-takes, commentary from Phil on each song, and numerous remixes that provide an alternative listening experience to what they decided on for the final product. Here's the website if you wanna check it out!

White Guys, It's Time to Plead for Our Cause

This article goes on about how white men are shaping up as the "swing vote" in the Democratic primaries. The argument is kind of reasonable, based on the election results so far and how non-white non-males are tending to vote in predictable blocs. But it's still a bit odd and maybe even humorous (in a grim way) to think of white men as a group that's going to need to be catered to, soothed and persuaded in order to win their support. I mean, life is so rough, and we are just looking for our champion to make sure that someone sits up and notices us.

Gimme a break!

Clash Wednesday

One of my email list members expressed disappointment after watching last night's Super Tuesday returns, since the results didn't deliver the clear-cut victory and defeat scenarios he thought he'd been promised by all the build up. Here's a reply that I posted to him just now, including my thoughts on the inconclusive outcomes.

So, not enough blood on the floor to satisfy ya? :o) Personally, I'm pleased to see that nobody delivered a knockout punch last night. This campaign is going to force the candidates to wrestle with each other and engage the voters on the issues for longer than anyone had figured. This has a positive effect, imo, of forcing them to emphasize their differences and avoid the vagueness and sloganeering that generally happens when front-runners become presumptive nominees and turn their focus to delivering up general platitudes aimed at drawing in the masses.

I think the networks were mostly going by prior precedents in casting Super Tuesday as the slaughter-fest you were expecting. This was indeed the biggest single primary date in US history in terms of states holding elections, overall votes and delegates determined. So for them, it was a challenging rehearsal for this coming November, testing out their touch-screen monitors, projection calculations and instaspin analysis mechanisms. And of course they just laid on an extra layer of hype to pull in a few more viewers. While not as cataclysmic and definitive as I imagine the Clinton and McCain campaigns were hoping it would be, iIt wasn't quite "Geraldo opening Al Capone's vault" either.

The delegate distribution thing interests me. It looks to me like the Democrats have a protracted battle of the demographics ahead of them. Obama is drawing African-Americans, young people (primarily white, but overall he's killing everyone else in the 18-29 bracket) and wealthier whites. And a few voters like me, who are neither wealthy nor young, though I aspire to both. :o) Clinton's strength is with lower-income working class whites (that's my demo, but I'm striving to break free,) older white voters and Latino and Asian minorities. And of course her long-time allies in the political establishment. Generally speaking, the outcomes in various states seem to hinge on which of those demographic coalitions is most numerous among the Democratic primary electorate. I'm not really sure if Obama is going to make huge inroads into Clinton's base, but I think his chances are better than are hers of making inroads into his base.

So the question to me is, what kind of configuration will result in the Clinton and Obama bases coming together to keep the enthusiasm and determination to win in November as high as it is right now? Supporters of both candidates have to feel energized and positive about their chances right now, but who will cope better with the disappointment of being eliminated, when that inevitable day arrives? From what I saw on the screen last night, overall turnout in the Democratic primaries is mostly stomping the numbers who show up to vote Republican. The big puzzle that Democratic strategists must be contemplating at this moment is how to keep the fires burning throughout the summer and fall, so that Clinton vs. Obama doesn't become a bitter, hostile civil war. Does putting them both on the same ticket solve that problem, or is it asking too much from Mr. and Mrs. White Bread Suburbanite America to put both a woman and a black man in the executive branch at the same time?

I will save my analysis of the Republican side for some other time. I gotta get to work.

Sooper Dooper Pooper Scooper

So here we are on Super Tuesday, the second "super" cultural event in the past few days... I'm feeling a little supered out - the superlatives fail me... So much analysis has gone into what is going to happen in the nationwide primary elections tonight that it may end up being anti-climactic if "the expected" happens, namely McCain solidifying the Republican nomination while Clinton and Obama battle to more or less a draw, each taking their share of proportionally-doled out delegates. But I imagine that I will be watching TV late into the night as the returns are feverishly pored over, weighed, sifted and interpreted to give us viewers an up-to-the-minute diagnosis of the American political psyche.

In a real sense though I feel like a total bystander... I won't reiterate all my complaints about the Michigan primary here but I'm bummed that I neither got to cast a meaningful vote, nor do I have anything to look forward to later in this season... just in November. This map is especially galling, since it shows that Michigan was supposed to be one of the states casting votes today until our idiot political establishment messed with the formula. I know that we would have gotten some serious campaign action if the state had been in play - practical neighbors of Obama's homestate and a female governor who's strong in Hillary's camp (supposedly on a short list for an appointment should HRC get elected.) But nooooo! We had to miss out on all that ever-so-eager solicitation of our votes all for the sake of becoming an irrelevant footnote to this historic turning point in American history. So once again the fate of the nation is in the hands of people other than myself. I often wonder how I have been able to endure such an injustice over the course of my 46 years of life...

I saw Obama and Clinton on the Today show for a few minutes this morning, each making their morning pitch to viewers still teetering on the edge of making up their minds. They had Hillary talking with Meredith and Barack paired up with Matt. Why not mix the genders? I would have enjoyed switching the hosts with the candidate of the opposite sex to see how those interactions went but I suppose that Matt Lauer would have exercised his veto on that since he seems more like a Bushie at heart and wouldn't want to fake civility with HRC unless he had no other choice in the matter.

Neither Clinton nor Obama said much that I hadn't heard before, and neither left an indelible impression on me - they mostly slid past the clumsy attempts to snag them on some trivial point or another. And made pleasant happy sounds aimed at winning admiration from the viewers. Obama gave McCain a few gentle knocks toward the end of his bit. I hope that he is ready to get tough if he wins the nomination because the Republicans are going to try to make this an election about war-mongering if McCain faces Obama. I'll tell you what, I am getting good and tired of living in a world run by baby-boomers like Bush and the Clintons. I would love nothing more than to make this the election where they are pushed that much further over the hill! And I don't think returning to the pre-boomer generation for national leadership is any solution either. I do wonder just how much of a generational struggle this election may yet turn out to be.

I don't normally watch the Today Show but we turned on the TV because Derek was back from school early. It seems that someone broke into Wyoming Park High School on the overnight, messed up some of the plumbing and shattered a few windows. So the school is now a crime scene and they sent all the kids home for the day. We turned on the tube to see if the situation was generating any coverage. No it hadn't yet, but I'm sure it will by the time I get home to watch the local evening news.

Super Bowl Blogging XX

And with a couple of long-distance incompletions from the mighty arm of Tom Brady, and a very odd time-keeping quirk at the end of it all, we see a very remarkable finish. The Giants interrupted the dreams of the Cowboys, the Packers and the Patriots on their way to capturing the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Not the script that anyone predicted and only the most delirious of Giants fans dared to envision. But that's the reality. A tactical masterpiece by Tom Coughlin and his coaching staff. And Eli Manning executed the big drive when he had every reason to surrender to the inevitable and watch Brady get his fourth ring, Randy Moss go down in the record books with a game-winning TD, Bostonians celebrate MLB and NFL titles in the same annual cycle and New England assume the throne of the most dominant single season performance of any major American sports franchise.

Way to go and spoil all that, New York Giants!

Super Bowl Blogging XIX

Amazing! Giants get the big play! Wow! This game suddenly becomes a memorable Super Bowl! Tom Brady has 35 seconds to astonish the nation.

Super Bowl Blogging XVIII

Now that was a signature play! Manning claws his way out of a scrum, hucks the ball down the field, then Tyree makes an acrobatic catch at the 25 yard line and seizes the ball even as defenders are trying to rip it out of his hands. Maybe pivotal!

Super Bowl Blogging XVII

After all that, Randy Moss is left standing alone in the end zone, where he takes a little leap just for style points and pockets as easy a touchdown as he's probably ever caught in the NFL. Brady did what he had to do, I have to give it to him.

Now it's up to Eli to march his team down the field on a drive to football destiny...

Super Bowl Blogging XVI

The game has been lacking in action and certainly hasn't produced any signature moments so far, but at least it's drawing toward a suspenseful conclusion.

I would be interested participating in some kind of consumer activist movement that pledged to patronize businesses who refrain from making the humor of their advertising CGI-dependent.

Super Bowl Blogging XV

Wow, an actual game-action, football-related post! Giants take the lead. It's looking right now that if the Giants hold this score and win, a defensive player has to get the MVP award. Michael Strahan, perhaps?

Super Bowl Blogging XIV

Lys bursts out with a big harumph and eye roll at the Marilyn/Shakira/Madonna shampoo commercial ("Make your hair happen" was the tagline, I think...) Charlie Brown comes out on top, beating Stewie and Underdog for the helium-filled bottle of Coke (which means he really comes out the loser after all since he's bound to be disappointed when he pops the lid on that thing.)

Super Bowl Blogging XIII

I'm watching the game from home and having a pleasant enough time of it. I imagine some of the parties going on around the country are having a hard time focusing on the game right about now. I'm having a hard time finding much worth blogging about.

Super Bowl Blogging XII

Will Chase Blackburn join Scott Norwood among the all-time Super Bowl goats?

Super Bowl Blogging XI

Our whole family enjoyed the SalesGenie cute panda ad. Even my football-hating daughter, who's been complaining about how many times she has to hear the name "Tom Brady."

Super Bowl Blogging X

Giving a Shout Out to Zach Medendorp of Grand Rapids MI who correctly predicted that the Patriots would lead 7-3 at half time!

Super Bowl Blogging IX

Here's the 1/2 time show... Tom Petty. I remember when he was young and vaguely associated with the "new wave" back in the late 70's... I don't think he'll be singing "Breakdown" tonight. I imagine most everyone out bouncing around in front of the heart-shaped stage wasn't born when "American Girl" first hit the airwaves. But I harbor no grudge to see Petty up there. Good for him! I think he can be trusted to keep all his clothes on tonight.

Super Bowl Blogging VIII

Game has turned sluggish. Commercials seem increasingly violent (Timberlake's pratfalls, the giant mouse beating down the Doritos eater...)

Super Bowl Blogging VII

The Myth of Sisyphus makes an appearance in 2008... for a hybrid SUV. I'll have to think about how that connects.

Super Bowl Blogging VI

Bad break. I think that interception by the Patriots will be pivotal in this game. It's being played so fast that if NE gets points from it, the Giants may not be able to catch back up.

Super Bowl Blogging V

Super Bowl ads have jumped the shark. They have their own MySpace page.

Super Bowl Blogging IV

I'm not feeling the commercials so far. The Audi car itself (in the "Godfather dead horse parody") was cool but I didn't enjoy the particular reference. That's a horrifying scene, not one that makes for a positive product association.

Super Bowl Blogging III

All I knew about Jordin Sparks before just now was that she won American Idol last year (though I never watched her perform on that show.) I learned today that she has a rather pleasant singing voice and that her dad played in the NFL. I think her performance of the anthem was about as nice on the ears as any I've ever heard.

Super Bowl Blogging II

The Giants are introduced to the sounds of Kanye West's "Stronger," while the Patriots come on accompanied by Ozzy Osborne's "Crazy Train." New York seizes the early advantage.

Super Bowl Blogging I

I just now turned on the TV to watch Super Bowl coverage... what time does the game start anyway? The screen shows a lengthy clip of NFL players past and present reading the Declaration of Independence. What is that all about? It seems to me at first impression a serious over-reach of trying to merge the National Football League with the American mythos. No... sorry, I am not moved by this too-solemn ceremonial invocation. I like football and I respect the Declaration of Independence but they are not cut from the same cloth. It feels exploitive to me.

Crossan Notes

Here's pretty much a word-for-word transcription (I'll add a few more clarifications as I go) of what I scribbled down when I went to hear John Dominic Crossan speak at Hope College last Wednesday:

Walt Whitman and Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (not the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court but his dad) each spoke circa 1860 about the United States as a new empire, the natural successor of Rome. Said this in glowing terms - rhapsodic even.

The problem: Is the biblical God for or against Empire? If for, is God for a Jewish but not a pagan empire? Or a Christian, not a Roman empire? Crossan whittles these down to a core question: is the biblical God violent or not?

His view: In the Bible, there is a struggle between two visions of God - violent and non-violent. The Christian theology of the Christian bible faces that ambiguity. Are there two Gods - one who employs and encourages violence, and another who purposely refrains from violence? This struggle represents the integrity of the Bible - it's unique and radical honesty in wrestling with that dilemma.

Focus moves to the consideration of biblical justice - is it best understood as non-violent distribution (fair share) or violent retribution (punishment.) Our common usage of the word "justice" mainly seems to side with the latter - the "criminal justice system" has much more to do with punishing offenders than with restoration or righting to the extent possible the wrongs that were committed.

Crossan goes on to discuss the biblical accounts of creation, reviewing Genesis 1 and ending with the punchline that the text shows that humanity is not the "crown of creation" as we've traditionally been led to believe, but rather, the work of a late Friday afternoon! (and we all know how productive late Friday's tend to be - not very!)

The creation account is mostly about the establishment of the Sabbath - the deliberate coming to rest every seven days. In this perfect ("very good") creation, there is no shedding of blood, no need for violence. The purpose is not a day of rest in order to worship, but rest itself as worship.

Distributive justice characterized: "So that your poor may eat..." (gleaning, forgiveness of debts, etc.) The land itself observes and enjoys a Sabbath rest.

God in this vision is depicted as a "householder" (the Father) who provides well for all of his children. (What would we think of a father who feeds only some but not all of his children?) This is the Levitical depiction of divine distributive justice.

Switch over to Deuteronomy 28 which offers a vivid and dramatic example of retributive justice. Rewards for obedience, punishment for disobedience. This framework of sin/punishment and repentance/deliverance carries over into the book of Judges and forward from there through the books of Kings. But the question is raised: what explains a good king dying young (e.g. Josiah) or a wicked king living a long life? Crossan unambiguously declares that it's bad theology to say that imperial invasion is punishment for the sins of the nation - basically, Crossan takes on Deuteronomy and the biblical narrative tradition that grew from that teaching!

Next topic is eschatology. As a concept, it's simple - if your faith is that God is just and in control, yet life is unjust, how do you hold on to that faith? The answer is the claim of eschatology - that "someday God is going to clean up the world." This teaching is not about "the end of the world" but rather, how divine justice is to be achieved. The earth's transformation, not its destruction.

One eschatological tradition (not the only one) is Apocalyptic eschatology - a special revelation that divine justice is coming very soon! It seeks to answer the question of what is going to happen to "the nations." These writers were not concerned with the Irish, the Japanese, the Eskimos (e.g. peoples far distant and uninvolved with the Jews) but rather the Gentile empires that oppressed "God's people."

The biblical alternative to this "Armageddon" scenario is the vision of Mount Zion, where swords are beaten into plowshares, each man sits under his own vine. A divine feast, where the natural order is restored to its original non-violent condition. However, this is not a polytheistic pluralistic vision of a transfigured world - there is a conversion that takes place by the nations to the God of justice and peace - the one God, not necessarily the God of Judaism (that is, not a conversion through the process of circumcision or religious rituals.)

The Christian resolution of this unresolved Jewish dilemma is to ask, which of these competing visions of God do you find incarnated in Jesus? Crossan here acknowledges the tradition of the apocalyptic Jesus (book of Revelation) which is indeed a very violent portrayal of a vengeful, retributive Jesus. His response is to declare that the incarnate historical Jesus trumps the Jesus of the Apocalypse.

Jesus says to Pilate: My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my companions would be here using force to rescue me. In this, Jesus states the non-violent nature of his kingdom.

That's the end of my notes. That's a lot to digest, many different points he made. Much controversy to be found therein. Comments, anyone?

Obama's "Yes We Can" Video

This video has been making the rounds and it's "pop" enough to earn my vote so I'll embed it here for your viewing and listening pleasure. Wins my award for Most Creative Musical Adaptation of a Political Speech for 2008 (So Far):

Tanner '88

In honor of the current primary season, and to make up for lost time, I've been watching my recently purchased DVD of Robert Altman's Tanner '88. It's sometimes described as a "mockumentary" - a fictional, episodic narrative of the failed campaign of former Michigan congressman Jack Tanner, who sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 1988. The series was filmed by Robert Altman, scripted by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau, and is probably most famous for including some of the key players of the real 1988 presidential race - Pat Robertson and Bob Dole appear in early episodes, not just woven in from documentary footage, but actually going along with the storyline, treating Tanner as a legitimate candidate. It made for an attractive selling point, to create audience curiosity when the show was first aired in weekly installments on HBO. The series as a work of art definitely has a "made up as it went along" quality, and abundant entertainment value as it portrays so many aspects of American life - the political process, the role that orchestrated media images play in our view of what's meaningful and important, the personal foibles of people who influence and manage our larger cultural narratives, and more. I'm only into the fourth episode. Never had a chance to watch it before - Julie and I were too broke to afford HBO back in 1988 (three children aged 3 and under that year) and besides that I was not in the right political mindset to enjoy the series at the time anyway. The series was also rebroadcast on the Sundance Channel in 2004 but that option wasn't (still isn't) available in our Expanded Basic cable package so I missed it there too. But I got the DVD a few weeks ago, figuring now that we're in another primary season, this is a good time to catch up on what I missed.

I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Since I haven't seen enough to make fully informed commentary on where the series goes over the course of eleven episodes, this entry will be brief. But if anyone reading this has questions or more to say about the series, I'm opening it up for discussion.

Super Blogging Sunday

Oh that's right, there's a Super Bowl game on today. Despite reading in my Sunday morning paper that this has been a week of intense media coverage and pregame hype, the coverage of events in Arizona has mostly passed me by. I'm not as drawn into this game as I think I would have been if the Green Bay Packers were part of the festivities. I suppose that Eli Manning makes for a compelling-enough story as the QB focal point to counter-balance Tom Brady but I was looking to a Brett Favre appearance. And with the two contestants and their respective fanbases being situated in the American Northeast, it has the feeling of a regional match-up... which I didn't mind last year when it was Chicago vs. Indianapolis, but I'm not so interested in another New York vs. Boston grudge match.

But I know the Fox network is loving it. And of course, I will watch the game anyway. But as is usually the habit, I won't be tuning into the day-long pregame stuff.

Instead, I plan to do a fair amount of blogging today. I have a laptop computer from work that I'm borrowing because I used it when I spoke at a Christian parenting conference yesterday morning. My topic was "Avoiding Power Struggles with Younger Children" and I'd be happy to send you my PowerPoint presentation via email upon request, if I know you and I trust that you won't commercially exploit my intellectual property.

So if you follow this blog with any regularity, you will see several posts dated for Sunday, February 3, 2008 by the time this day is done.