intermezzo

going off air for a while. g'day....

"Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men;
but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy."

- Samuel Johnson

3 wierds

all three hour seminars, once a week.

class one: taught by one of today's leading contemporary theologians. we come to class having read the piece and sit around and discuss. mostly the prof talking stream of consciousness. pauses to laugh at own jokes but class doesn't ever get them so prof only one laughing. prof usually talks in a tone that says - Im so increadibly bored with this material and with you, kill me now. which is how most of us feel. sidelong glances, eyes rolling, smirks. a friend tells me i should interrupt prof to ask prof what s/he thinks about Prince (yes, as in the artist formerly know as...). This is in reference to a class last quarter w/ another prof where we in fact did spend half the class talking about the prof's love of Prince and last Prince concert. other students chimed in concerning their own favorites. This will not happen this quarter in this class. all too intimidated to take the discussion in said direction, though all terribly bored. except for that one kid who is always asking insightful questions.

class two: team taught. one flamboyant, engaged, effusive, other grumpy and brooding. most of seminar is them going back and forth, disagreeing cordially with the other. one will give a lecturette to the class, and the other, as the last word is out, will say, But lets consider it this way... and try to undo what the other has just said. quite entertaining, though at some point rest of class feels somewhat neglected. some start to whisper to each other about other matters.

class three: prof talks like that guy from Scarface, Heeeyyyy Bossss. doesnt really open the mouth fully, sort of slurs the words. interesting when we are discussing metaphysics and it is presented as if it is really secretive. one thinks that, if they dont agree with the perspective then tonight they're gonna swim wit da fishes. as in most philos classes, many odd ones. one talks incesantly, disagreeing with the prof and citing the german text as proof. but he is so earnest and genuine, not mean spirited. really loves the material so the prof resists bitch-slapping him. not sure if his classmates will be so forgiving.

liberal pope? neoliberal, that is.

Well, if Sirico and the Acton Institute are endorsing this Pope and really excited about him, I know that is bad news.
http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?id=263

Habemus Papam

Wow. Just watched live the revelation of the next pope. Caridinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI.
Amazing to watch this significant transition. Looks like, for better or for worse, the conservative line of the church continues.

Marlowe's Aria

We love Renee Fleming in the mornings. There is something so soothing about letting her melodious voice float through the morning air as you sit and sip your coffee. I often imagine (and wish) I am somewhere near the Mediterranean, in a house on the cliffs, the breeze flowing through gauze curtains as the waves lap somewhere below, while the diva's voice caresses the soul.
Marlowe has taken to this as well. He loves to sing in the morning, as he sits by the window, gazing out at the sunshine and birds. Often we'll wake up to his soft, gentle crooning. It is ever so subtle, just a light note here or there, a slight tremolo. He sticks in the same range, perhaps hesitant to try new things for fear that his voice might crack. He's no Renee, but waking up to his fluttery notes has a peacefulness to it, it's a reminder that everything's gonna be ok.

Waiting for Hegemon

Wasn't it Peter and Valentine Wiggin who skillfully manipulated the world through the efficient use of blogs? Their assumed personalities and web based alter egos effectively swayed public opinion and cajolled politicians and pundits alike. Simply through such conversations, commanding a global audience, they worked their way into power. It was an effective political poesis. When will they show up? Where are they now? How much longer until Hegemon is revealed?

Friday, dark but good

"The death of Jesus on the cross is the center of all Christian theology. It is not the only theme of theology, but it is in effect the entry to its problems and answers on earth. All Christian statements about God, about creation, about sin and death have their focal point in the crucified Christ. All Christian statements about history, about the church, about faith and sanctification, about the future and about hope stem from the crucified Christ...

"When the crucified Jesus is called the 'image of the invisible God,' the meaning is that this is God, and God is like this. God is not greater than he is in this humiliation. God is not more glorious than he is in this self-surrender. God is not more powerful than he is in this helplessness. God is not more divine than he is in this humanity...

"In the cross, the Father and Son are most deeply separated in forsakenness and at the same time are most inwardly one in their surrender. What proceeds from this event between Father and Son is the Spirit which justifies the godless, fills the forsaken with love and even brings the dead alive, since even the fact that they are dead cannot exclude them from this event of the cross; the death in God also includes them."

- Jurgen Moltmann, Der gekreuzigte Gott

Hyperreal Voyeurism: The Joy of Blogging

I'm sure everyone who begins a blog has to work through the implications of this genre, and what it signifies about those who participate in it. Perhaps it's a sense of guilt, of being ill at ease with some of the underlying issues involved. I know it is in my case, at least. It's probably wise not to begin such ventures unreflectively, especially given the proliferation of literature on new communications/media technologies, and their implications for new forms of subjectivity and consciousness. If we are going to be transformed (and possibly wacked out!), let's at least have some sense of what's coming and why.

Why blog?
To keep in touch with friends? Well, you could just send out mass emails, or heck, call or write. Is it so central to maintain a hub where you present information (usually inane- come on, let's be honest) and expect people to come to it to check up?

As a journal? In part, sure, but why in this way? Why not keep your own journal, your own running file? Why publish it?

It's fun? Yes, kids, it is. But why is it fun? Why do we like to do it?

I'm suspecting that part of it has to do with the dialectic between exhibitionism and voyeurism. Ok, you say, what they hell?! I'm not trying to get too nuts here, or get too psychoanalytic. But there is some appeal about posting your thoughts, exposing yourself, in public, for all to see. This is in part the appeal of a webpage. But blogging adds more of a personal element, and a sense of historicization, as the information changes, and is added to regularly. We want to be recognized, we want to be noticed. We want others to read our thoughts and be impacted in some way by them.
But there is more. We don't just publish a blog for a select group of people we know. We leave it open to "the stranger". We allow the off chance that someone unbeknownst to us might stumble onto our blog and get drawn in. That raw exhibitionism kicks in.

On the flip side, voyeuristically, we (as readers) find these sites fascinating. We want to know what the blogger has written. We want to peep into their journal, their often unfiltered rants (who moi?) and exposed feelings. We like to catch a glimpse of their cyberside.

I know there's more to it, but I just wanted to suggest this aspect. Perhaps, like the Freudians and the Lacanians after them, I'm just projecting my own issues. But hey, perhaps you resonate. After all, why are YOU reading this?