Morrissey Questioned by FBI
Matthew Solarski of Pitchfork Media reports:
While he’d rather be famous than righteous or holy (any day, any day, any day), a certain Federal Bureau of Investigation has branded Stephen Patrick Morrissey with a rather infamous tag: potential threat to national security.
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Thinking that I have made a decision, I again find myself at a crossroads. I say this in reference to my belief that I should be headed off to seminary in the Fall of 2006, but doubting that now is the time for me to do so. Previous changes in my life have been borne of the necessity that I come to grips with the negative realities of my current situation and do what I can to change where I am and what I am doing.
I have made many changes of direction in my journey through life. I have decided to move far away from home for college to separate myself from an unhealthy High School & church environment. I transferred colleges to escape paying increased tuition (even though I loved Southwestern University). I left the Pentecostal church (and the UPC specifically) to pursue & live out a more balanced, Jesus-centered, and holistic expression of the Gospel. In all of these, I have made the necessary adaptations and shifts in my life in order to better my life and to better my interactions with the world around me.
So, why do I feel conflicted about choosing between The Harvest (or teaching at a Waldorf school in general) and attending seminary for 2 or 3 years so that I can serve the Kingdom of God “better”? Read the rest of this entry »
Details, Details, Details –
(Which is Exactly What Abra(ha)m Wants)
Or
Mama’s Got a Brand New Name (Act Three)
“And God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’†(Genesis 17:15-16, ESV)
And with that proclamation, God modifies his words from verses 5 and 6 of chapter 17 to apply directly to Abraham’s wife. Some commentaries specifically mention that the name change that Abraham and Sarah both experienced was one of God’s ways of solidifying the covenant. (The Jewish Study Bible, p37-38) Granted, in Abraham’s case, the name change reflected his status as the father of many people, where Sarah’s name change wasn’t an adaptation of meaning, since both Sarai and Sarah are both variations of “princess.†(The Torah: A Modern Commentary, p117) However, what is important with these two verses is not that Sarah’s new name wasn’t as revelatory a change as was Abram’s, but that she too was included and deemed equal to Abraham in terms of their roles in creating the Jewish people. (The Jewish Study Bible, p38)
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Yes, this too comes from Pitchfork. What can I say? I wish I could find a forum for MY smart and sassy writing.
Best Buy to Indies: Drop Dead
Mairead Case reports:
On January 24, Best Buy announced its latest promotion: a sale on a handful of albums from “left of the dial indie heroes,” such as the Arcade Fire, Cat Power, Danger Doom, Antony & the Johnsons, Atmosphere, New Pornographers, and Broken Social Scene– all listed at the obscenely low price of $7.99. Yes, that’s cheaper than every other store on the planet, including iTunes. In fact, it’s cheaper than distribution wholesale.
How can Best Buy get away with that? Isn’t that illegal or something? Well, no. Read the rest of this entry »
Once again, music and culture news via my hipster site of choice Pitchfork. After awhile, I hope, you’ll just all start reading their site and stop worrying about what I post from them. At least, that’s my hope…. Unless i can get hired by them…. Anyway, read with me!
Devendra, Bright Eyes, Stipe Rock Against War
Kati Llewellyn reports:
The anti-war movement just got a whole lot cooler. Billboard.com reported yesterday that R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe, Bright Eyes, Devendra Banhart, Rufus Wainwright, Fischerspooner, Public Enemy’s Chuck D, and Peaches have signed on for the “Bring ‘Em Home Now” benefit concert, which will take place at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom on March 20. It will commemorate the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and will raise funds for Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace.
Activist mom Cindy Sheehan will speak at the show, setting the stage for her 15-date April speaking tour with authors yet to be announced. Jaeane Garofalo’s Air America Radio show “The Majority Report” will broadcast live from the concert and will run interviews with its artists.
Fischerspooner’s Casey Spooner told Billboard, “We have been at war for three years. One desperately feels the need for someone to speak some sort of truth, either poetic or factual.”
Whether or not performing electroclash songs while dressed up as extras from the musical Cats will bring about such truth remains to be seen.
* Iraq Veterans Against the War: http://www.ivaw.net/
* Veterans for Peace: http://www.veteransforpeace.org/
