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Archive for September, 2007

managing the information explosion: Old Testament Abstracts

Posted in denkschrift, reseña, tagged on September 25, 2007| Leave a Comment »

A peculiar joy mixes with the horror of realizing how daunting it is to keep up in the field of biblical studies as one peruses the thrice-yearly publication called Old Testament Abstracts. Published by the Catholic Biblical Association, Abstracts is a very handy tool for keeping abreast of the literature in a highly specialized field and making decisions about which abstracted publications to pursue and which dogs are better left to sleep. (more…)

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what they died of: The Lady Killers (The Sunday Times Music Collection DVD)

Posted in reseña, tagged , , on September 25, 2007| Leave a Comment »

Back in the 90s, London’s Sunday Times flogged a music collection on a week-by-week-delivery basis at a ridiculous loss leader price. The results were magnificent overall.

One of the disks in the collection’s ‘Contemporary’ genre was titled The Lady Killers. It is an uproariously eclectic collection of tunes, held together that they’re all sung by blokes. Fronted by a photo of the bare-chested and youthful Rod Stewart, rarely was there ever a strong argument for obligatory waistcoats. The Victorian Age seldom seemed so allluring. (more…)

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exasperation: Isaiah 4-6

Posted in textures, tagged , , on September 25, 2007| Leave a Comment »

In spite of its structural intricacy, the Song of the Vineyard in the book of Isaiah’s fifth chapter comes across with formidable blunt force. As parables go, it is brief. One surmises that the prophet led his listeners along the path of a well-told tale, then hit them in the gut with its damning burden. (more…)

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startin’ to learn: Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Greatest Hits 2

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , on September 25, 2007| 2 Comments »

Ah, Bob, Bob, Bob, you do it so well.

Rock-and-roll troubadour of the male soul, there is nobody quite like Bob Seger for a night at home after some manly task has been accomplished. (more…)

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pure grace: Point of Grace (1993)

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , on September 24, 2007| Leave a Comment »

This oddly named female band opened their Big Career with this eponymous 1993 release. It was of course not all that they would become, but it was an audacious start. (more…)

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here and there: Isaiah 2-3

Posted in textures, tagged , , on September 24, 2007| Leave a Comment »

Isaiah’s complex journey will celebrate beloved Zion even as it works out a deep, genetic yearning for distant nations to know and serve Israel’s God. The book releases its energy in both centripetal and centrifugal form without denying either motion, as though gathering opposing forces into one insistent, polychromatic song. The book of Isaiah is not simple. Neither is it complicated. Instead, it is complex, a careful gathering of layers into one coherent statement that stretches the imagination while nourishing the reader’s capacity to allow multiple plates to spin. Attention to any one does not cancel out the rotation of the others. (more…)

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self-identity issues: Galatians 1

Posted in textures, tagged , , on September 23, 2007| 4 Comments »

Lots of people don’t like Paul.

This Christian apostle seems too pushy, too assured of his own authority, even too misogynist for admiration. We’ve known too many like him, some readers conclude. Indeed, his model has produced a heap of ornery practitioners of his religion.

Thanks, but no thanks. (more…)

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Zion become Gomorrah: Isaiah 1

Posted in reseña, tagged , , on September 23, 2007| Leave a Comment »

The first chapter of the book called Isaiah is best seen as an anthology of words of the prophet, collected here to lend the reader some glimpse of the tone and plot of the long, diverse book that follows. The book as such begins with the ‘second’ heading at chapter two, verse one. (more…)

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entre sombra y luz: Luz Casal, Como la flor prometida

Posted in reseña, tagged , , on September 22, 2007| Leave a Comment »

It would be possible for music lovers who do not know this Spanish diva-of-sorts to mistake Como la flor prometida as just another B-class Iberian cd whose best moments ought probably not fly too far from the Iberian peninsula. That would be dead wrong.

Luz Casal virtually stuns with an eclectic zig-zag from track that could almost be considered bizarre but which succeeds at every moment in revealing yet another facet of the lady’s artistry. Luz is a force to reckoned with. (more…)

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mais que palavras bonitas: Ricardo Arjona, 12 Grandes Éxitos

Posted in reseña, tagged , , , on September 22, 2007| Leave a Comment »

This superb collection of the Guatemalan singer’s hits does justice to a musician whose fiercely loyal fan base considers that he sings more than just pretty words. Arjona’s presentation is often spare, which makes it all the more powerful when his orchestration pulls in the big guns (‘Si el norte fuera el sur’). (more…)

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