Grim's Hall

These are various pictures that I've collected along the way recently. I note the first three prove New York is a bit more inhabitable than Grim likes to admit.

Cutchogue, Long Island (North Fork)

Westhampton Farmer's market, Long Island, South Fork (below)

A leftover from San Fran (below)

Another from San Fran

...and finally...

The Feast of All Saints

The Feast of All Saints:

Having been raised Presbyterian, I encountered the concept of saints fairly late -- initially just as honorifics associated with certain people who had either known Jesus directly (St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John, etc.), or people who were important thinkers about the nature of God (St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, etc).

I learned about other ways that people became saints later in boyhood, though still within the context of a church that didn't really believe in the idea of saints in Catholic terms. Still, I learned that some saints had become saints by overseeing the baptism of many people -- for example, St. Vladimir, St. Edwin of Northumbria, and St. Olaf. Others became saints by allowing themselves to become martyrs for the faith -- including the patron saints of England and Scotland. The one is St. George, about whom not very much beyond martyrdom can safely be said; the other is St. Andrew, who also qualified as an Apostle and one who was close to Jesus in his lifetime. (Most confusing of all is St. Michael, for whom the title almost seems like a demotion.)

The idea of martyrs didn't make much sense to me as a boy. I think that is unusual: I gather what normally doesn't make sense to people are the St. Olafs and St. Edwins, who achieved their sainthood by the sword. For someone raised in the Appalachian Scots-Irish tradition, that part made perfect sense. For that matter, there was no trouble about understanding -- since we were just talking about The Alamo, below -- martyrs who went down fighting. Of course those are heroes of the faith!

The idea that my boyhood self found confusing was that of martyrs who went placidly to their deaths. I think I understood that the idea was that this behavior was in emulation of Jesus himself; but (as I recall my childhood thoughts) the point of Jesus doing it was so that the rest of us didn't have to. I was under the impression that Jesus hadn't wanted us to emulate him in that particular way; and furthermore, I reasoned later in life, hadn't he told his disciples to arm themselves with swords precisely to avoid being martyred with him?

By the same token, however, Jesus' remarks when the sword is used to defend him are interesting. There are two versions, one clear and the other unclear. In Luke, the followers ask if they should strike with their swords, and one does; Jesus says, "No more of this," heals the would given, and goes off with his captors. In Matthew, Jesus rebukes the disciple who strikes directly, saying that all will die with the sword who slay with it.

The Matthew version appears to suggest that Jesus intended to license self-defense and defense of the human community from physical dangers; but not the use of the sword to protect him personally. By extension, the suggestion is that he would not approve of war for religion -- whether Crusades or conquests of the type St. Olaf led.

The Luke version is unclear; we are left as mystified as his own followers about whether to use the swords or not, in general terms. We just know that he wanted us to have them, but thought the one blow given in his defense was enough -- or was irrelevant to his purpose.

In any case, martyrs have been from the earliest days among the most beloved and venerated of saints. What was puzzling to me as a boy was natural and obvious to very many others.

The idea of having a day for celebrating all the saints. It's a good reminder that the tradition contains many people who have contributed to the faith in different ways. Some of these ways are puzzling -- martyrdom to me, sword-bearing to others -- but we have a certain debt to each of them. It is wise to reflect on that.

UPDATE: Martyrs are made today, at a church in Baghdad.

USMC Team

Project VALOUR-IT: Team Marine

If we are speaking of virtue, bravery and Fortune, we might take a moment to remember some of our brave and virtuous men who have suffered from her ill winds. Project VALOUR-IT aims at helping them in the hard first moments, and giving them a better shot at the rest of their lives.

It isn't only their virtue that matters in facing down the winds of Fortune. It's ours too: our friendship, our sense of justice, and honor. Please consider donating if you have the means.

Fortune Favors the Coward

Fortune Favors the Coward:

A talk on facing Fortuna in the modern world:

Today, conspiracy theory has gone mainstream, and many of its most vociferous promoters can be found in radical protest movements and amongst the cultural left. Increasingly, important events are viewed as the products of a cover-up, as the search for the ‘hidden hand’ manipulating a particular story comes to dominate public life. Conspiracy theory constructs worlds where everything important is manipulated behind our backs and where we simply do not know who is responsible for our predicament. In such circumstances, we have no choice but to defer to our fate.

It is through conspiracy theories that Fortuna reappears – but it does so in a form that is far more degraded than in Roman times. To their credit, the Romans were able to counterpose virtus to Fortuna. In a precautionary culture, however, fortune favours the risk-averse, not the brave.

The Roman idea about Goddess Fortune is not the only one superior to mere conspiracy theory, however: the Medieval ones were also superior. The two basic answers, St. Augustine's and Boethius', are quite different. Each has something to recommend itself. Compare Boethius' account with the Book of Job, for example.

Alamo @ 50

The Alamo at Fifty:

There's a piece on the anniversary of John Wayne's classic at Big Hollywood today.

The Alamo was a Grim's Hall Movie Club movie back in April 2006. If you're interested in rereading our discussion, we talked about the mythic themes that Wayne explored.

In the Iliad, these heroes are Agamemnon, Achillles, and Odysseus. In the Alamo, they are Col. Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett.

Travis asserts his authority through military discipline, and right of command. He is willing to speak insultingly to Jim Bowie to shut down challenges to his orders ('You were drunk at the last officer's call, and I do not wish to discuss my plans until the next'). He is willing to publicly slur the credibility of friendly Mexican caballeros....

Bowie and his men (like Achilles' Myrmidons) are volunteers, and can leave when they wish. Travis needs them to hold until aid can arrive. He also needs the help of another body of volunteers who arrive under the command of another hero, Davy Crockett.

Crockett appears less of a hero to Travis than his reputation would suggest. Travis is not happy to find his Crockett and his men brawling and drinking, and he refers to Crockett's usual manner of speech as a 'bumpkin act.' Yet when he hears Crockett's speech about the Republic, he is taken aback. So it was said of Odysseus:

One might have taken him for a mere churl or simpleton; but when he raised his voice, and the words came driving from his deep chest like winter snow before the wind, then there was none to touch him.

Happy Halloween:

How about a little Irish legendry appropriate to the Feast of Samhain?

Fionn decided that he was ready to become a warrior and he went to the High King Cormac Mac Art at his hall in Tara, Co. Meath and announced that he was Fionn son of Cumhail and that he had come to take his place among the Fianna and to serve Cormac. Cormac took Fionn into the Fianna although Goll Mac Morna and his brothers murmured against this particularly Goll who was now the captain of the Fianna having helped to kill Cumhail, Fionn's father.

It was nearing Samhain and every year for the past nine years a warrior from the Sidhe Finnachaidh of the Tuatha De Danann by the name of Aillen Mac Midhna came to Tara to cause havoc among the Fianna. He had burned the roof of Tara with his magic and had caused all the warriors to fall into a deep sleep with his Faery music.

When he heard this Fionn went before Cormac Mac Art and promised to rid him of this nuisance providing that his right of inheritance to the title of captain be honoured. Cormac swore to fulfill this request on the surety of all the tributary kings of Ireland and all his royal Druids.

The night before the warrior of the sidhe was going to appear, one of Cormac's men Fiacha Mac Conga, who had served with Fionn's father and was therefore protective towards him, came to Fionn and offered his help. He gave Fionn a magical spear which made the sound of battle when it was unsheathed and when it was laid on the forehead of the warrior who carried it he would be protected from evil magic.

So Fionn took the magical spear and went out against Aillen Mac Midhna and killed him. He struck off his head and carried it back to Tara and put it up on a pole for all to see.

When dawn broke and the High King and all his retinue awoke from their enchanted sleep, Cormac called Fionn before him and invested him with the captaincy of the Fianna in accordance with his promise.

Not every encounter with the faery is reported to have gone badly. Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene was the lady who held St. George's service and fealty; and she did well by him, the poet tells us.

A Propos Absolutely Nothing

My wife and I were walking this morning (being in Plano, it was a city walk and not a proper walk), and she commented that the sun felt good, but it wasn't warm enough to suit her. Being a lizard (some have said snake) myself, I agreed with her. Then my grasshopper mind leapt into action. "Behold," I said, "the power of 2."

"Huh?" she sneered. You might wonder about sneering that word, but if you've ever heard my wife disagree with one of my pronouncements, you'd understand.

So I explained. It's that time of year. As the sun approaches, the intensity of its light grows stronger directly with the lessening distance. But that same energy, due to the tilt of our axis, now is spread out over a larger area, according to the square of the area's radius, thereby lessening in intensity by that power.

Hop.

"My strength is as the strength of two,

Because my heart it tilted."

We spent the rest of our walk in reflective silence.

Eric Hines

A Relic

A Relic of A Bygone Era:

By the way, who's playing that game this year?

Project VALOUR-IT

Project VALOUR-IT Annual Fundraiser:

It's time again. This year Carrie is the Marine Corps team leader. You can read her thoughts on the value of this project here.

I'm terrible at fundraising, and every year I warn people that I don't know how much help I could possibly be. Nevertheless, I always agree to help because the program does so much that is good, for those we as a nation owe the very most.

All of you know what Project VALOUR-IT is, and how much difference it has made to injured servicemembers. It helps them in those most difficult hours when they are separated from family, and coming to grips with the reality of their injury.

I trust you'll do what you can.

More on Language

Unacceptable

Conduct Not Befitting a Gentleman:

Or, even, any man worthy of the name.

Lizard sleeps

The Lizard Sleeps Tonight:

Winter is coming, though it has warmed in the last few days: wet air from the Caribbean. Still, the animals know, and have begun to work harder than ever to feed up for the long slumber.

Especially the lizards. We have lots of them. The big skinks are spending their days chasing the smaller anoles, trying to eat them up.

It's a hard day's work. At the end, the survivors are downright bushed. They don't even try to get away from a man with a camera.

After all, I don't eat lizards. Not as a habit, you know.

Priorities

Priorities:

This man has them wrong.

The Washington state man who's on a 60-day all-potato diet wishes he had set a goal of one month instead of two.

Chris Voigt told the Tri-City Herald that — as good and healthy as potatoes are — there's only so many ways they can be prepared. And, about halfway through his tuber diet, which began Oct. 1, he's had them boiled, baked, steamed, grilled, fried, marinated and mashed...

"Tuesday was a rough day for me," he told the Herald "I really, really wanted a pickle."

We all know the proper answer to that, I assume?

The underlying tune to that, by the way, is the same as the theme to Sesame Street. It's even clearer in this version.

How Plebe Are You?

How Plebe Are You?

Mixed results, in my case. The Daily Caller linked to this article, which itself was a reaction to a Ricochet article, about elitism. My results on the “How Plebe are You?” quiz:

1. Can you talk about “Mad Men?” No.

2. Can you talk about the “The Sopranos?” Sure.

3. Do you know who replaced Bob Barker on “The Price Is Right?” Not even.

4. Have you watched an Oprah show from beginning to end? No.

5. Can you hold forth animatedly about yoga? Not animatedly or in any other way.

5. How about pilates? No.

5. How about skiing? No.

6. Mountain biking? No.

7. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is? No.

8. Does the acronym MMA mean nothing to you? Nothing at all.

9. Can you talk about books endlessly? Sure.

10. Have you ever read a “Left Behind” novel? No.

11. How about a Harlequin romance? No, but do I get partial credit for Diana Gabaldon and "Out of Africa"?

12. Do you take interesting vacations? I don't take any vacations. I like it here.

13. Do you know a great backpacking spot in the Sierra Nevada? Nope.

14. What about an exquisite B&B overlooking Boothbay Harbor? Where?

15. Would you be caught dead in an RV? We lived in ours for the better part of a year while building this place, with three big dogs, yet.

16. Would you be caught dead on a cruise ship? No (crowds).

17. Have you ever heard of of Branson, Mo.? Yes, but I wouldn't go there (crowds).

18. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club? No.

19. How about the Rotary Club? No.

20. Have you lived for at least a year in a small town? Does living outside one count?

21. Have you lived for a year in an urban neighborhood in which most of your neighbors did not have college degrees? If this includes "suburban neighborhood," I'd guess some did and some didn't; the subject rarely came up.

22. Have you spent at least a year with a family income less than twice the poverty line? Not as far as I know, since school.

23. Do you have a close friend who is an evangelical Christian? Yes.

24. Have you ever visited a factory floor? Yes, but only as bankruptcy counsel.

25. Have you worked on one? No.

Yeesh. I'm afraid I may be at least partly an elitist. In my defense, I love Sarah Palin, nearly all my clothing comes from WalMart, I enjoy pork rinds, I own guns, and I'm an avid NCIS watcher. Oh, and I'm a knuckle-dragging Tea Partier. Speaking of which, who's looking forward to next Tuesday?

I suspect there should be a third category: neither elitist nor plebeian but just sort of "out of it."

Magic Carpets

Magic Carpets

Another plug for the Bing search engine. Yesterday's home picture was an arresting shot, similar to the one here, of something right out of Lothlorien. I can't figure out how to download a high-quality version, but I can do these two links. First, a website belonging to the photographer, Louie Psihoyos (which will give you a finer-grained version of the picture on the right), and second, go to Bing, move your cursor to the little icons in the bottom right of the screen, and choose "previous image" (which will give you something similar by the same photographer).

These are not some kind of fairy habitat but a camping system known as "portaledges," developed for climbers on multi-day rock-wall ascents. I don't think the guys who market portaledges are fully tuned into the visual possibilities of their product. Their website provides admirable detail about cost and construction but misses the chance to show portaledges in all their beautiful heart-stopping context.

I've always wanted one of those romantic mosquito-netted beds that evoke colonial Africa, but I'm afraid they wouldn't last two minutes in my doggified household.

This looks like a useful hammock with a mosquito net and fly.

War & Conservatives

War & Conservatives:

I have a piece at BLACKFIVE, on a not-very-impressive piece of philosophy that somehow got published by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

American Brass Quintet 50th Anniversary Performance

Speaking of music, I had the pleasure of attending this most wonderful event. The husband of a good friend is one of the performers. I've never heard an exclusively brass performance. I tend to love the strings or a full orchestra but this was amazing. I particularly was taken with the Gabrieli piece that culminated the event. Wow! It was an orchestra of brass instruments, broken into five groups of five, all with one of the professionals from the American Brass Quintet accompanying four Julliard School student performers. What a truly special evening.

Of course I thought of all of you, especially when the Three Fantasias in Church Modes started. It was lovely.

My friend met her husband later in life, after they were each already divorced and had children from previous marriage. Her son, a horn player himself, bought her a private lesson from one of the horn players in this quintet, because he's kind of a big deal (they both play French horn). And voila! Both of them: hook, line, and sinker.

She plays in the best amateur orchestra in New York City, the Park Avenue Orchestra, which has four performances in their season that cost $20 a piece, and they take place in an old church! That's a nice New York moment.

New York Premiere for Fixated Nights:

New York Premiere for Chants and Flourishes. I happened to be standing in line for drinks at intermission wtih this composer. Together we lamented the lack of adequate student help behind the bar!

The last piece, Gabrieli, was just tremendous!

A Knight's Tale

A Knight's Tale:

Venus in an instant:

A new meta-analysis study conducted by Syracuse University Professor Stephanie Ortigue reveals falling in love can elicit not only the same euphoric feeling as using cocaine, but also affects intellectual areas of the brain. Researchers also found falling in love only takes about a fifth of a second.

Results from Ortigue's team revealed when a person falls in love, 12 areas of the brain work in tandem to release euphoria-inducing chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline and vasopression. The love feeling also affects sophisticated cognitive functions, such as mental representation, metaphors and body image.
The findings raise the question: "Does the heart fall in love, or the brain?"
"That's a tricky question always," says Ortigue. "I would say the brain, but the heart is also related because the complex concept of love is formed by both bottom-up and top-down processes from the brain to the heart and vice versa.

Interesting from a perspective of what they used to call 'phenomenology.' It doesn't answer the question of whether you can know enough about the other person to truly love them, of course. This study only treats the sensory experience.

Playing Catch

Playing Catch:

I'm sure you've all read the latest from Bill, but if you missed it, he's been juggling rockets again.

Keep your head down, Bill. We need you to generate clever puns in the comments.

Student suspended for riding horse to school

Various pics