Sundry links, scattered thoughts, and super music lists

Lots of stuff to get to. All here. Right now. Okay, deep breath. And we're off!

• I finally (finally!) watched Inception for a second time. And it only reinforced my first impressions (see here and here). Also, my wife agrees with my analysis, which almost never happens when it comes to movies, food, music, and the importance of watching sporting events...

• Nice tweet from Jeremy Thompson, an Ignatius Press reader: "Sidenote on the Pope's new book: Love the design of Ignatius Press books. Of all publishers I read, their books are the easiest on my eyes." 

•  Congratulations, Mary Eberstad! The Italian translation of her best-selling book, The Loser Letters: A Comic Tale of Life, Death, and Atheism, will be presented by Nova Millenium Romae in Rome on March 23rd. The first "letter" of the book can be read on Ignatius Insight.

 • Music list #1: My Twenty-Five Favorite Jazz Albums of 2010:

1. "Home", by Aaron Goldberg.
2. "Highway Rider", by Brad Mehldau.
3. "The Latin Side of Herbie Hancock", by Conrad Herwig.
4. "Pathways", by Dave Holland Octet.
5. "Chamber Music Society", by Esperanza Spalding.
6. "Place to Be", by Hiromi.
7. "Ten", by Jason Moran.
8. "Jasmine", by Keith Jarrett.
9. "Our Secret World", by Kurt Rosenwinkel.
10. "Third Round", by Manu Katché.
11. "Nikki", by Nikki Yanofsky.
12. "Alive", by Phronesis.
13. "From Billie Holiday To Edith Piaf: Live In Marciac", by the Wynton Marsalis Quintet and Richard Galliano.
14. "Daylight at Midnight", by Taylor Eigsti.
15. "Roman Nights", by Tom Harrell.
16. "Unknown Angels", by Tony Grey.
17. "Solo", by Vijay Iyer.
18. "Caravan Palace" by Caravan Palace.
19. "Vibrainium", by Chris Massey.
20. "Treelines", by Christine Jensen.
21. "Hands", by Dave Holland & Pepe Habichuela.
22. "Same Girl", by Youn Sun Nah.
23. "Atmospheres", by Ray Riendeau.
24. "III", by Walter Smith III.
25. "The Gate", by Kurt Elling.

• Dave Pierre, author of Double Standard: Abuse Scandals and the Attack on the Catholic Church, has just posted a good piece, "Unfair in Philadelphia? A Closer Look at the Grand Jury Report", that is worth reading for anyone interested in truth and justice regarding the very bad situation in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

• "Images of Mohammed in Islam are more common than fundamentalists claim", writes Ibn Warraq in this piece for City Journal, arguing that there are at least three general types of Islam: "the Koran; ... the religion as it was subsequently expounded, interpreted, and developed; ... and the actual behavior of believing Muslims."

• Cardinal George Pell offers to publicly debates scientists about global warming, referring to one such scientist as "a hot-air specialist."

• A reminder that I am one of the speakers on the 2011 Catholic Answers Cruise (Alaska), which launches on July 8th. I will be giving two talks (in addition to taking part in a panel discussion), one on fictional attacks on Catholicism and another on "five false Christs."

• You've likely heard about the situation in the UK of the Christian couple and hopeful foster parents, Eunice and Owen Johns, whose traditional belief that a homosexual lifestype is not good or moral has run them afoul of something called the "Sexual Orientation Regulations and the Equality Act". Anthony Daniels (an atheist) laments the insanity of the situation, writing that "in the modern world everything must be codified, and everyone must conform in the name of diversity". Joe Trabbic writes, "Are people overreacting? Not so long ago such a ruling would have been unthinkable. Now it is not only not unthinkable, it is a fact." Christina Odone flatly remarks, "It’s official: Britain is no longer a Christian nation". And Michael Kirke states, "This was inevitable – and it is only beginning."

I know very little about the exact situation in England, but I do believe that it won't be long before this sort of general situation arises here in the U.S. In the fall of 2009, my wife and I had to take a series of three-hour classes from the Department of Human Services here in Lane Country (Oregon) so that we could be certified as foster parents in order to adopt our second son (our first two children came to us through private adoptions). A couple of hours were spent on issues relating to "sexual orientation" and moral behavior, and the directives were very clear: not only is "being gay" not to be viewed negatively, it is too be encouraged. For example, if a 14-year-old foster son were to "come out", foster parents are instructed to never say anything negative and are to "educate" themselves about the joys and wholesome goodness of being "gay", including reading gay literature, attending gay events, and so forth. Similar attitudes were strongly presented regarding pre-marital sex. I plan to write more about this topic in the near future, but I'll just say that Kirke is right: this is only the beginning.

• It's not an Ignatius Press book, but I'm really looking forward to Papal Economics The Catholic Church on Democratic Capitalism, from Rerum Novarum to Caritas in Veritate by Maciej Zięba, O.P., available soon from ISI (Intercollegiate Studies Institute). In fact, I look forward to nearly all books from ISI, one of my favorite publishers.

• Three wonderful poems—"Three Loves"—by my friend Ann Applegarth, published in the Pilgrim journal.

• Surpise! Hans Küng has written another book. Surprise, surprise! It is an attack on Catholic doctrine. From a news report: "The book Can the Church Still Be Saved? was set to go on sale in Germany Thursday, coinciding with the worldwide release of a book by Pope Benedict XVI titled Jesus of Nazareth - Part II." Küng says that Jesus would not approve of today's Catholic Church, saying, 'If Jesus of Nazareth returned, he would not prohibit contraceptives, he would not shut out divorced people, and so on..." I would almost say that Küng apparently believes he is the mouthpiece for Jesus, but I am increasingly convinced that he apparently believes Jesus should be the mouthpiece for Hans Küng. Sigh. A couple of years ago I posted this clerihew:

The prolific Hans Küng
Writes a book every June,
Infallible? Nary a one,
Causing him great frustration.

And a reader posted this joke: Q: Why couldn't Hans Kung ever be pope? A: Because he's infallible. Yes, it's a bit funny. But also more than a little sad. I think that Küng—like all of us, I hasten to add—should be a bit more concerned with the question, "Can I still be saved?"

• Music list #2: My Twenty-One Favorite Rock/Pop Albums of 2010:

1. "The ArchAndroid", by Janelle Monáe.
2. "Sigh No More", by Mumford & Sons.
3. "Kaleidoscope Heart", by Sara Bareilles.
4. "Plum Coulee", by Amy Seeley.
5. "Black Sands", by Bonobo.
6. "6: Commitment", by Seal.
7. "God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise" by Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs.
8. "Harlem River Blues" by Justin Townes Earle.
9. "Live At The Fillmore", by Chris Isaak.
10. "Civil Twilight", by Civil Twilight
11. "What We Want, What We Get", by Dave Barnes.
12. "The Union", by Elton John & Leon Russell.
13. "Catching A Tiger", by Lissie.
14. "Suburba", by House Of Heroes.
15. "So Runs The World Away", by Josh Ritter.
16. "ABIII" by Alter Bridge.
17. "Sinners & Saints", by Raul Malo
18. "Band of Joy", by Robert Plant.
19. "Junky Star", by Ryan Bingham.
20. "Laws of Illusion", by Sarah McLachlan.
21. "Black Dub", by Black Dub.

• David Mills ponders why it is that the "Evangelical Left" has suddenly discovered that massive national debt is immoral.

• Deadly numbers: "The number of people who died from abortion in 2008 in New York City is 149% of the number of people who died from all other causes."

• "The Theology of the Liturgical Year" is an excellent essay recently posted on the Catholic Culture site.

• Ridiculous Quote of the Week, about the coming changes to the Missal: "If these changes were coherent and made liturgical and grammatical sense, then sure. These changes are stilted, move away from understanding and oneness in the mass, and are more about the boys in Rome pushing their crap on us once again. It has nothing to do with spirituality and the oneness of the universal church and more about power, control and who can urinate longer and faster." Someone needs to spent more time reading good theology and less time reading the walls of public bathrooms....

• NRO's "Lenten Reading Symposium" makes mention of Ignatius Press books by Hans Urs von Balthasar and Christoph Cardinal Schönborn.

• Music List #3: My Five Favorite Progressive Rock Albums of 2010:

1. "Something Here is Missing", by The Pineapple Thief.
2. "On This Perfect Day" by Guilt Machine.
3. "Missa Atropos", by Gazpacho.
4. "Lunatic Soul II", by Lunatic Soul.
5. "Road Salt One", by Pain Of Salvation.

• My good friend, Dr. Anthony Clark, has a new book out: China's Saints: Catholic Martyrdom During the Qing (1644-1911) (Lehigh University Press). He will be on EWTN's "Bookmark" program this coming Sunday to talk about the book, and later this spring/summer, EWTN will be airing a 13-part series based on the book.

• The cart before the horse: "A new survey has found that most young American believe it is more important in life to be a parent than to be married." Or is it, "the cow before the milk"?

• Do you like icons? And Flannery O'Connor? Then you'll like, "The Iconographic Fiction and Christian Humanism of Flannery O’Connor", by the fine Eastern Orthodox writer, Vigen Guroian.

• Music List #4: My Six Favorite Non-Classical Instrumental Albums of 2010:

1. "Emotion & Commotion", by Jeff Beck.
2. "Songs of the Martin", by Kevin McCormick
3. "Up Close", by Eric Johnson.
4. "Disappear Here", by Hybrid.
5. "Jam Session", by Mark O'Connor.
6. "Nunun", by Nunun.

• Has anyone else been watching "Blue Bloods" on CBS? If so, have you been as impressed as I've been with its respectful and very positive portrayal of Catholicism? My favorite new show of 2011.

• Okay, one more: Music List #5: My Fifteen Favorite Albums of 2011 (So Far):

1. "100 Lovers", by Devotchka.
2. "Barton Hollow", by Civil Wars.
3. "Live In Marciac", by Brad Mehldau.
4. "King of Limbs", by Radiohead.
5. "21", by Adele.
6. "Anna Calvi", by Anna Calvi.
7. "Across the Way", by Brad Shepik Quartet.
8. "The Majestic Silver Strings", by Buddy Miller.
9. "The Unfazed", by Dolorean.
10. "The Valley", by Eisley.
11. "build a rocket boys!", by Elbow.
12. "Shadowless", by Jonathan Kreisberg.
13. "Before the Rain", by Noah Preminger.
14. "Live on I-5 EP", by Soundgarden.
15. "Mission Bell", by Amos Lee.

Comments

[Joe]

"A new survey has found that most young Americans believe it is more important in life to be a parent than to be married."

Then we certainly will not be needing Planned Paretnhood, right?

[Agnieszka]

Carl,
The thoughts may be scattered but you are consistently quite coherent. But how do you find time for all this?
(And sporting events, that just kills me!)

[April B]

This blog needs a 'Like' button like on facebook. I 'like' Joe's comment. ;)

I've not heard of Küng, but have had opportunity to hear plenty of comments in that same vein already. I'm always more surprised that people actually care what someone like him would have to say more than I'm surprised at their bogus attacks. I would think that if you wanted people to believe you, and not think you were an off-the-wall fanatic you would go with an argument that was a little less aggressive, and maybe even just a bit more subtle. And then I always wonder, did this guy actually read the Bible? Or the Fathers? Or did his 'church' start yesterday with zero history over the past 2K years? I just do NOT get it! IMO Any Christian who really reads any of the documents or history that exist has to know and believe at least some semblance of the truth, even if they don't understand it fully, whether or not they choose to ignore it. Which I've noticed seems to be what most of the persons I know do -- pick and choose elements of Christianity like they're at a buffet. So irksome!

Lastly, I know Jesus said to turn the other cheek, but it's just sad that we as a collective whole have sat back and watched our rights be taken from us in so many parts of the world. It makes me so sad. I always remember when I start depressing myself over what we've lost, or rather handed over, Fr. Corapi saying something about the darker the night the brighter the stars shine, and now that the times are getting darker we have the opportunity to shine so much brighter for God and it really excites me and makes me feel oh so much better about the whole situation -- at least in part. :)

Wonderful long blog today....oh, and I liked the article on Islam...silly group 3 Muslims.

And that is all. ~A~

[Dan Deeny]

I agree with Agnieszka. When do you find time to listen to all this..uh..music? A long time ago I had an album by Keith Jarrett called The Cologne Concert. At the time I thought it was worthwhile, but now I don't know. Jazz seems to me to be just someone looking for attention, dribbling out notes that go nowhere.

[LJ]

To simplify matters considerably, we can speak of “Islam 1”—the Koran; “Islam 2”—the religion as it was subsequently expounded, interpreted, and developed; and “Islam 3”—the actual behavior of believing Muslims.

All due respect to Ibn Warraq, but this is one area where I would tread lightly, not for fear of Muslim retribution but for the simple reason that we ourselves spend a lot of apologetic time over the past actions of Christians.

There would be something to be said of the actions of Muslims, if we could demonstrate that the violence of some Muslims can be reasonably inferred from the faith itself, ie., "Koran1", or "Koran2". But that must be done first, at the risk of being labelled religiously intolerant, etc.

The whole point of the apologetic defense of Christianity in this area is that the faith itself does not teach violence, or simony, or child-abuse, or...name the sin. In fact our faith, when followed, leads us to abhor those things, even though it also recognizes that we occasionally fall into them and need reconciliation.

The real question is perhaps without a definitive answer/admission from Islam itself; does or doesn't Islam teach violence against any or all non-Muslims? I think it does, and am prepared to live with the consequences of such an opinion.

[April]

http://www.turtlebayandbeyond.org/2011/turtle-bay-un/more-christian-parents-jailed-because-of-sexual-education/

reminded me of the story you've got posted above Carl....

And in reference to LJ's posting, I've read in the Koran where it tells them to not force their faith on others, and also where it tells them to force conversion and seek out and kill those who refuse to convert....and they say the OT conflicts with the NT. HA!

[Carl E. Olson]

I agree with Agnieszka. When do you find time to listen to all this..uh..music?

Usually between the time I awake and the time I retire for the night. :-) I listen to music (mostly jazz and classical) while I work. And while I drive. And while I read. Etc. And I read regularly about music.

A long time ago I had an album by Keith Jarrett called The Cologne Concert. At the time I thought it was worthwhile, but now I don't know.

I think you are referring to The Köln Concert, which was a solo performance recorded in Cologne in January 1975. It is the best-selling solo piano album of all time, with 3.5 million copies sold. It is indeed worthwhile; for those who haven't heard any of it, listen to part of it on YouTube. Like most of Jarrett's solo concerts, the music was completely improvised on the spot (Jarrett regularly performed such concerts throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s). The beauty of the music is particularly impressive given that Jarrett was ill, hadn't slept for two days, and the piano (a last-second substitute) was of mediocre quality. And, to this day, there are jazz purists who won't accept the recording as "jazz". But that is part of the larger and ongoing discussion/debate over the question, "What is jazz?"

Jazz seems to me to be just someone looking for attention, dribbling out notes that go nowhere.

Well, Dan, I accept that some people simply don't like jazz. But your description is puzzling, to put it mildly. Granted, there is a wide range of jazz, and I don't care for all jazz (I'm not too keen on fusion jazz and a lot of free jazz). But I have to wonder as to how much jazz you've listened to. Anyhow, for those who have never really listened to jazz, check out my "Idiosyncratic List of Instrumental Jazz Albums (By Real Jazz Musicians) For People Who Swear or Think They Do Not and Cannot Like Jazz".

[Bradley Birzer]

Carl, you're a man of great taste. Thank you for all of this.

[Dan Deeny]

Carl,
Thank you for your response and comments. I listened to part of Jarrett's recording. I think I'll stay with my opinion on Jazz. It is interesting that his performance was in 1975, just two years after Roe v Wade, a watershed in Western Civilization. Does his music reflect the value structure that led to the abortion business? Take a look at the sculpture being produced when Jarrett played that concert. Then take a look at Bernini's sculpture The Ecstasy of St. Teresa. After looking at St. Teresa, look closely at the angel, look at his face, then read St. Teresa's description of her experience. Compare the sensuality of Bernini's sculpture to Jarrett's music.
In classical music you might want to listen to Prokofiev.