Posted in denkschrift, reseña on August 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.
An English friend musician of mine from Cambridge days used to sigh with ineffable poignance and say, ‘Ah, the French …’ (more…)
Posted in paterfamilias, reseña on August 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.
I shaved off my beard for this razor, shelved the electric razor, and find myself passing my hands over my chin in amazement several times in the course of the day. The five-blade Fusion is that good. (more…)
Posted in textures on August 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »
It is easy to grow too comfortable with Paul’s body metaphor of the Christian community.
We are all unique. Each has his own gift, every one her individual perspective. Let each go his own way without fussing about or—more conveniently—being messed with for the individual slant of the ego one adds to the mob.
If these are Paul’s words, they are not his meaning. Only an intoxication with four centuries of individualism in the West allows us to slouch to the conclusion that this is the apostle’s teaching. (more…)
Posted in textures on August 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »
It ain’t easy gettin’ smart.
Nor does wisdom come gently to the passive. On the contrary, moving from naiveté or even foolishness to wisdom is, from the perspective of the Bible’s wisdom tradition, an athletic accomplishment. It requires the same consistent, self-denying discipline that takes an athlete to the competition level. (more…)
Posted in clarity, denkschrift on August 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »
During a recent visit to the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cairo (Presbyterian), I was invited to share some extemporaneous thoughts with the faculty on the topic of ‘excellence in theological education’. The gist of my remarks follows.
When we speak of achieving excellence in theological education, we must take ourselves and our alleged competencies out of the center. I have often said—first to myself and then to anyone who should ask—that I will leave the pastoral vocation of theological education only when it ceases to become a disciple-making enterprise. Making disciples embraces a critical role for the mentor whose life is offered with trembling hands as a model. Yet it is not fundamentally about me. Or about you. (more…)
Posted in reseña on August 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »
The worst thing about Sennheiser headphones are the fact that I left my PXC-25s on an airplane and never saw them again. I replaced them with a serviceable pair of Panasonic RP-HC70s as a temporary remedy for the silence.
But at 37,000 feet en route on British Air from Vancouver to London and a dozen Middle Eastern stops after that, it was clearly time to move up to some bona fide sound. Enter the Sennheiser HD-280’s, a set of noise-canceling headphones for people who want some serious sound and are prepared to pay a premium for it.
The beauty of these upscale Senneisers is the way the ear muffs wrap around the user’s ears. Not only does this block out ambient noise more effectively–airplanes are very noisy–but it allows me turn up the volume of my music to my preferred level without worrying about bad-neighborly sound leakage that annoys a man’s fellow travelers.
This set of Sennheisers has a talk-through function that allegedly allows one to let a flight attendant’s or neighboring traveler’s voice get through. I have yet to find this effective, but am still experimenting.
I get very strong bass tones and the upper register is almost as impressive. It would be hard to exaggerate what a set of quality noise-cancelers does for the ears and brains on a long trip. By my lights, it’s standard equipment for the frequent business traveler since you arrive at your all-too-task-oriented destination with more of your brain cells still functioning.
These are not nearly as small and convenient as the smaller PXC-25’s, but giving up a little convenience is a reasonable price to pay for the improved sound quality. To limit the damage, the HD-280 comes with a very nice semi-hard carrying case with a functional little carrying strap that makes it easy to juggle when climbing off a plane with a computer case, books, tickets, and passport jostling for attention among a limited number of fingers.
A fine product at the better-known Bose price point. Just don’t leave it on the plane.
Posted in reseña on August 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.
Public radio, that soft target of pundits and ideologues, will be written up by cultural historians as one of the small candles of sanity that under the rhetorical swagger lent its soft glow to the quiet and the commuter. (more…)
Posted in denkschrift, reseña on August 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »
In this lightly retouched doctoral 1990 University of Michigan doctoral dissertation carried out under the supervision of D.N. Freedman, Andrew Bartelt seeks to bring together rhetorical criticism and poetic stylistics and then to apply both fields to the first twelve chapters of Isaiah. (more…)
Posted in reseña on August 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.
Those of us who came of musical age with Gloria have always known she can sing to shape our souls, even without the full-throated power of other pop divas. Only recently have we become aware how well she can write. (more…)
Posted in reseña on August 19, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Full product information for this item, together with my review, my ranking of the product, and any reader comments, can be found at http://www.amazon.com.
For a while back in the 1980s, the Bangles—fronted by the inimitable Susanna Hoffs—practically defined the upbeat Girl Band phenomenon. Lightly packaged female angst about men, relationships, and getting to work late again combine with one of the all-time most memorable tunes (‘Walk Like an Egyptian’) to make Different Light an eminently own-able album, one that repays regular listening. The latter song also generated one of the best early music videos. (more…)
Canter Bridge 