December 2009
36 posts
No One is Primitive
“Whenever your read someone making reference to the Whorfian perspective on language, whoever the writer picked it up from has never had occasion to address just why Modern English speakers are not rather troglodytic creatures compared to Anglo-Saxon-speaking warriors.
In general, there is curiously little interest among people fascinated by the Whorfian paradigm in examining whether a given...
You Can’t Plug All the Holes
“Which brings us to an idea some might have that even if all languages to date leak, there isn’t anything wrong with trying to make English the first exception. We, after all, do have things like coffee and broccoli and electricity. We had the Enlightenment. Far be it from us to accept the natural as the inevitable, one might say.
But to plug up all of English’s holes, you’d have to get rid of a...
Not Normal
“English is not normal. It is a mixed language not only in its words, but in its grammar. Every time we say something like Did you see what he’s doing?, we are structuring our utterance the way a Welsh or Cornish person would in their own native tongue. … Celtic grammar is underneath all of those utterly ordinary utterances in Modern English. Our language is a magnificent bastard.”
[John...
Typefoundry: Eric Gill’s R: the Italian connection →
A very interesting article describing the possible historical inspiration of the great designer’s capital R. “Gill’s mature letter forms are powerfully stamped with his own character, but they are a fusion of material from many sources. In the Florentine R, however he discovered it, Gill found a form that would serve him for the rest of his life.”
REMEMBER TOMORROW:
portraitoftheartistasayoungman:
Starting point for search: It no longer avails to start with creatures and prove God. Yet it is impossible to rule God out. The only possible starting point: the strange fact of one’s own invincible apathy—that if the proofs were proved and God presented himself, nothing would be changed. Here is the strangest fact of all. Abraham saw signs of God and believed. ...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-12-20) →
Vince Guaraldi Trio (46)
The Beatles (42)
Amy Grant (40)
Bing Crosby (27)
Tycho (26)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Court rejects appeal by MEP Mitro Repo over... →
This is happy that the court ruled such, sad that the priest is now appealing it to the ECHR in Strasbourg: “The Supreme Administrative Court has rejected an action brought by Mitro Repo, a Finnish Social Democratic Member of the European Parliament, against the Finnish Orthodox Church.
Repo, an ordained priest in the church, brought legal action against a ruling by the bishops of the church, who...
A Slight Alteration of Values
I hereby propose a change to a uniting “priority” or value that is used often in my circles, the phrase “undistracting excellence.” It seems, at this point, that a better phrase—for all involved—would be “undistracting mediocrity.” I’ll hopefully expand on this later, when Hebrew is not bludgeoning my skull with its tedious three-letter permutations of characters they call “words.”
Agree or...
Motion Denied Because You're An Idiot - TSG March... →
In denying a motion due to it being “incomprehensible,” Texas bankruptcy court Judge Leif Clark explains his ruling in a footnote by citing Billy Madison: “What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I’ve ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response was there anything that could even be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for...
“The problem with perfectionistic pietism is that it is generally the royal road...”
– » Douglas Wilson, “The Case Against Distance Learning”
Collective Spiritual Property of All Readers
“The influences of writing instruments, then, have to be added to the basic elements [of writing]: the effects of pens with broad or pointed tips. These can still be seen everywhere in our modern types. They have become fixed because each generation has passed on its habituation to these characteristics, generation after generation., each overlapping the next.
The fact that punchcutters in the...
Crossover Help
“We should reject the modern egalitarian nonsense that obliterates the different roles of men and women. As we have already discussed, women have a central role in running the operations of the home, and this includes the preparations of the kitchen. But once this is said, we need to remember that part of the reason for the distinction is that it makes gift-giving possible. In other words,...
“If I ever find those who write TV series and books about the Mafia which give...”
– » Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, heard on NPR today
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-12-13) →
Amy Grant (33)
Vince Guaraldi Trio (25)
George Winston (24)
Bing Crosby (22)
Jewel (19)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
“Kick Start” » The New Republic →
“But there are hotels all over sprawling Johannesburg. The city itself needs to be navigable; soccer fans don’t just move back and forth along pre-set axes like foosball dolls. Any tourist would be impressed with the Rea Vaya, but with months to go to kickoff, it took us eight additional taxi rides to get where a tourist might reasonably want to go. And anticipating the patterns of public...
“…O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love...”
– » W. H. Auden (via Abraham at 22 Words)
Reformed Forum » The 100th Episode →
This podcast episode contains one of the best discussions of the difference between Reformed paedobaptism and Reformed credobaptism that I have heard. Some great, great points made by Reformed Baptist Bob LaRocca that have immensely helped me to formulate a better reason for believing what I do. Scroll to about 1:05:00 to hear the beginning of that segment.
Ommwriter →
My new favorite writing tool on the Mac. No formatting, but for getting thoughts out of my head, I haven’t been this happy in a long time.
“I’m not a Graphic Designer but I redesiged your brochure in MS Publisher. This...”
– » clientsfromhell
He Has Therefore Brought Them Hope
“One last point. Thomas Merton wrote once that the history of the world is led by great saints and great sinners. Let all the young people glancing at this post take heed. I am not young anymore, and it has taken me many years just to acquire sufficient wisdom to appreciate, as from afar, the goodness and the saintly courage of that young quarterback. Imagine, just imagine, if there were a...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-12-6) →
Vince Guaraldi Trio (68)
Bing Crosby (55)
Amy Grant (48)
The Avett Brothers (36)
Jewel (27)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
“The highest authority is Scripture alone, but not a Scripture that is alone....”
– » Timothy Ward, Words of Life, 147
“Discipleship is no exception to the rule that in all things Christ is...”
– » John Webster, ‘Discipleship and Obedience,’ SBET 24, no. 1 (2006), 6. [HT: Per Crucem ad Lucem]
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-11-29) →
Vince Guaraldi (46)
Vince Guaraldi Trio (41)
Rich Mullins (38)
Amy Grant (32)
Bing Crosby (30)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz