A really cool project in the UK: The Woodland Trust | Ancient Tree Hunt
Help us to find and map all the old, fat trees across the UK.
Encountering the Living God
Well, I’ve cherry-picked the best part of Paul’s post: Showers of Blessings: La Natividad: Year 2
The most touching part for me happens at St. Paul’s when, through a nice bit of stagecraft, the masked José y Maria are replaced with a flesh-and-blood couple holding a real baby. The switcheroo can’t be seen by the audience until the right moment when the adoring animals and wise men part, and when they realize what’s happened and see the living actors and baby there’s a spontaneous “ohhhh” that fills the church. I tear up every time. I realized tonight that this is what happens whenever we are able to break through the masquerade of religion and illusion and encounter the Living God on the other side.
But how better to note his beautiful image of breaking through illusion to the Living God.
Saying goodbye to Barsetshire
I’ve just finished the last two Anthony Trollope novels set in the ecclesiastical environs of Barsetshire: The Small House at Allington and The Last Chronicle of Barset. Repeating the pattern I found in earlier volumes, these two novels complement one another, although the Last Chronicle, as befits a novel by that name, does bring back some beloved (and not so beloved) characters from earlier tales. I shed a tear or two as I discovered heroes in unexpected places, felt for dashed hopes, and said goodbye to what felt like old friends.
I find myself quite satisfied with the experience of reading these books, and intend to continue with Trollope’s Palliser novels.
Lippmann and the News
The Nation has a review of Liberty and the News by Walter Lippmann. It (the book!) was written in 1920, but it sounds like it has a lot to say for today.
“There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and shame the devil.”
Radio Riel: From the Library . . . Luciafest
One of the engaging things about Second Life is meeting people and learning new things. Somewhat to my surprise, I am part of a radio station, for which I serve as an event host and occasional music presenter. At about midnight tonight I will begin broadcasting Radio Riel: From the Library . . . Luciafest on http://music.radioriel.org. You can listen in iTunes or any other streaming audio player. The broadcast includes about nine hours of music, set on shuffle, and will conclude early tomorrow evening.
cross-posted from Tenth Life
The most recent blog meme has been going through Second Life like a wildfire, and I was tagged earlier today at Tenth Life. I thought it was potentially interesting enough to cross-post here.
Tag, I’m it! I’m it! I’m it!
First, it was the Defender of Murdann; then my web-friend Marion Rickenbacker, whose photography I love; and now I’ve discovered that Lady Edwina Heron has joined the fray. (And I suppose I should also count Miss Achariya Maktoum, who tagged “all of Caledon”).
The rules of tagging are simple, and as follows.
- Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
- At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
- Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog
- I was in a modern dance collective that performed The Shakers (1931) by Doris Humphrey by being coached with Labanotation. The collective also performed a dance I choreographed.
- I worked on a dairy farm in Blokzijl, Netherlands, for three months in 1976 through a program of the Future Farmers of America.
- I’m descended on my mother’s side from Anne Hutchinson, one of the founders of Rhode Island; John and Priscilla Alden, Pilgrims made famous by a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; John Middleton Hester, who served in the army of the Confederate States of America; and Preston Tinsley Henderson, whose 1854 will includes specific mention of “a negro boy at five hundred dollars” and “a negro girl at three hundred dollars”. Such is the stuff of American ancestry.
- I have a Bacon number of two, in two different ways: I have a friend who was at a dinner party with him, and one of the members of my clearness committee when I became a Quaker is his cousin.
- I prefer strong black tea with milk and sugar.
- I’ve broken bones in both my feet, on three different occasions.
- I have been thrown by a horse.
- I own eight Hoya species: H. australis, H. carnosa, H. caudata, H. curtisii, H. lanceolata bella, H. longifolia, H. multiflora, H. serpens.
Now, really, who’s left to tag? This thing has spread faster than any noxious blog meme I’ve ever seen, so I refuse to check to see if I’m repeating people: nox Pinion, and via Twitter, cala, Kirakitty, Lactose, rikomatic, Gloire, SinTrenton, ZoeConnolly.
Comment period on DHS HIV travel restrictions
The GayCityNews has information on how to register a comment on proposed regulations concerning the entry of people who are HIV-positive into the United States (comments close December 6):
Individuals who wish to protest the harsh new DHS regs on HIV-positive travel may submit comments online . . . — but to do so you must include the docket number of the proposed regs, USCBP-2007–0084.
Select the pull-down for Department of Homeland Security-All, and at the bottom, select Docket ID and paste in the number. You can read the proposed regulation as well as previous comments (which include such sentiments as “i oppose giving any visas for aliens with hiv. none should be given. the law as it stands keeping them out is a good, sound, healthful one. there is no reason to change it.” and “I OPPOSE ANY CONSIDERATION OF CASE BY CASE BASIS. KEEP ALL WITH HIV OUT OF THIS COUNTRY.” Such are our fellow citizens.)
(Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan for keeping this before us.)
Quakers and privilege
Via QuakerQuaker and Martin Kelley, I found Jeanne’s Social Class & Quakers blog and her blog game on class. As she says,
It’s based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. . . . The exercise developers hold the copyright but have given me permission to post it here and ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright.
Go on over to Jeanne’s blog for a link to the creators, in addition to wonderful comments and links (in the comments) to others who have done the exercise.
Bold items are advantages I received.
- Father went to college
- Father finished college
- Mother went to college
- Mother finished college
- Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
- Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers (my father owned a business)
- Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
- Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
- Were read children’s books by a parent
- Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (oil painting)
- Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
- The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
- Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
- Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
- Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs (to put it in context, I went to a land-grant institution with no tuition for in-state students)
- Went to a private high school
- Went to summer camp
- Had a private tutor before you turned 18
- Family vacations involved staying at hotels (the first family vacation we took was the summer before I started college)
- Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
- Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
- There was original art in your house when you were a child (painted by my Grandma Sutton)
- Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
- You and your family lived in a single family house
- Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
- You had your own room as a child (eventually)
- Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course (not to brag, but I was my class valedictorian; if I had needed such a prep course, I could and would have taken one)
- Had your own TV in your room in High School
- Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
- Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 (my mother, sister, and I flew to the East Coast to visit D.C., Philadelphia, and my Aunt Martha in N.Y. state the summer I turned 13; and I flew to Europe for a FFA program the summer I turned 16)
- Went on a cruise with your family
- Went on more than one cruise with your family
- Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
- You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family (more to the point, I was unaware of cooling costs)
Jeanne adds:
To participate in this blog game, copy and paste the above list into your blog, and bold the items that are true for you. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to post your responses in the comments. Once enough people participate in this little game, I’ll do a Part II post about what all this has to do with Friends. (And you can, in your blog post, ponder what it means to Friends).
Go on over to Jeanne’s blog if you do this exercise, and let her know.
Neighborly pressure on Burma
Al Jazeera reports Indonesia presses for Myanmar talks:
Indonesia’s president is calling on Myanmar’s ruling military to speed up the process of democratisation and hold talks with Aung San Suu Kyi.
Al Jazeera also have a report that Aung San Suu Kyi has met with members of the political party she leads.
Al Jazeera reports on meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi
Article with photos: Al Jazeera English — News — Gambari Meets Aung San Suu Kyi
The United Nations special envoy has met Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s detained opposition leader, in the city of Yangon, a government official has said.