Half Past Noon

Chris and I were talking about localism, and some of the opposition we’ve encountered locally to some new avenues of inquiry (a lil’ agrarianism, a dash o’ distributism, a big chunk of ‘true religion’, higher liturgy, etc. – trust me, they’re all related).

Anywho, he was talking to someone else who’s coming from a different direction (probably not a Co-op shopper, for instance) and the charge was raised that localism is marked by ungratefulness. “We hate corporations, banks are robbing us, WinCo is evil”

Chris made the argument that he’s doing all this precisely in order to be grateful, to know how the food gets from the ground to his mouth. We must always be doing this out of gratefulness and love, emphasizing the positive side of the case. Having a negative case makes it reactionary, a passing fad, and makes it easy to swing all the way to the other side. “We want to explore the benefits of this thing right here, we think it might be good, and growing our own food is healthy and good for our souls and we can maybe share it if we get good at it,” as Chris put it.

All good points, but I think the original objection radically misses the point. I think I might even own that objection. Every new movement is based on discontent, and populated my malcontents. We started our own Classical Christian schools because we were dissatisfied by the available options. All the standard cautions against being reactionary apply, but this community shouldn’t have any problems with movements.

It reminded me of a post by Dr. Leithart on malcontents and church plants. 

In the end, this is tempest in a teakettle… we’re pursuing this stuff out of gratitude and divine discontent at the same time, and we’re attempting to be productive in all. I’m not an ivory tower kinda guy, so I test every new idea by attempting to do it and see if it works.

No offense intended to anyone, but I’m very grateful for WinCo, but there’s something off about it at the same time. I’m grateful for capitalism, but usury is evil. “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” y’know?

Okay, so it’s only 500 posts, but I still think it’s worth noting. I’ve collected my Top 10 HPN moments to celebrate. Enjoy, and may there be 500 more.

10. Surprisingly near the beginning, Austin introduced the word “underwhelming” to our blog. (It was banned not long after.)

9. The first time that Austin crapped up the blog (or at least, the first time that Chris publicly complained.)

8. Arguably our biggest hit on Google.

7. For whatever reason, search engines also like Austin’s “the killers suck” post.

6. My favorite David Dark video.

5. And I’ll never forget Chris’s dedication. Thanks, bro.

4. Austin’s moment of internet celebrity.

3. Have we forgotten Paris Hilton’s pre-election moment of brilliance?

2. Austin reviewed Crunchy Cons over six months ago, and he still hasn’t read the book.

1. David Dalbey declared that this video justified the existence of the internet. How could it not be #1?

And as an aside, post statistics for our six faithful authors:

A – 139 posts
B – 22 posts
C – 88 posts
D – 118 posts
F – 126 posts
G – 6 posts

I know we’re all always reading books, watching movies, and listening to movies. I also know that we’re often on the look-out for new such things to engage and enjoy. Which naturally leads to the following suggestion: why don’t we make a concerted effort to post more about the said things?

This is more for everyone else besides me: I already talk a lot on here about what I’m reading, watching, listening to, etc. I would love to hear, for example, what Gabe thinks of The Dubliners, what Davey is learning about economics, why documentaries fascinate Austin (and others), what Rush and country music are currently doing to Brian, and, well, just any random comment that Chris might be able to offer about whatever it is he’s grooving to these days.

Just a thought. Feel free to be enthused or disregard as the spirit moves you.

I’ve been pretty disappointed by this TV season (looking at you, Fringe and Pushing Daisies!), which has me rooting all the more for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. There’s a new trailer and it looks pretty good, as TV trailers go.

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While looking at that trailer, I saw a preview for another mid-season Fox skein called Lie to Me. The show looks pretty bad, but has a song Frank and I have been listening to quite a bit the past few months. The title also reminds me of one of the most amazing and angsty Joss Whedon penned Buffy episodes. At the end of a harrowing day Buffy and Giles wait over the grave of their friend, who has been turned into a vampire. Buffy asks Giles if life ever gets easy. Her friend emerges from the grave and Buffy summarily kills him.

Giles: What do you want me to say?

Buffy: Lie to me.

Giles: It’s terribly simple. The good-guys are stalwart and true. The bad-guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats and we always defeat them and save the day. Nobody ever dies… and everybody lives happily ever after.

Buffy: Liar.

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Remembering Michael Crichton: The first Michael Crichton book I read was Sphere, and immediately after chewed through his entire bibliography. The conclusion was at the same time startling and satisfying, like no other novel with a ‘twist’ ending that I had read. I’m sure he had his duds (I’ve deliberately skipped a number of his movies, including the movie version of Sphere and Congo) but Michael Crichton clearly had a rare mastery of storytelling with books, movies, and television. My boss at the library told me that when she finished Andromeda Strain she couldn’t sleep for days afterwards. Everyone seems to have at least one story of a Michael Crichton story really affecting them.

Michael Crichton had his personal problems, and I noticed that his novels began to read more and more like movies in recent years. But perhaps I was just getting older, and the quality of his output remained the same? If so, thank goodness I discovered him early! His books stand with Robert Louis Stevenson and the best genre writers, and I certainly hope that after he has been dead for a sufficient period of time he will enter the literary canon. He was not a Christian, but like Dickens he was damned smart. It will be interesting to see if his common-sense objections to anthropocentric global warming will be vindicated by history.

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While looking for a decent Michael Crichton obituary (the search continues), I was surprised to see an obituary for Yma Sumac. More surprised to see that she had died so recently – her persona was so larger-than-life that I assumed her to be from another time. She was a sensation in the US in the 1950s, a novelty act perhaps comparable to Josh Groban in our time. She had a reported 5 octave range, the largest in the world. I’ve posted a song to the music player so that you can experience it.

The number one argument for Sarah Palin (in response to this): A month ago our choice was Obama/Biden or McCain/___, and McCain looked like he didn’t have a chance anyway. Now it’s Obama/Biden or McCain/Palin, and either one could win.

Of course Palin isn’t going to disagree with McCain, or have a comprehensive understanding of our foreign policy – she was the governor of Alaska. She still makes voting for McCain much, much easier.

PS: Chris, you are the gold standard of rhetorical arch-nemesis.

Davey and Chris have weighed in on the Palin / Couric interview. Davey has also called me out because of my Palin enthusiasm. This is a response to all that… and more. This blog post comes with a guarantee: Everyone who reaches the end of this post will be transformed into an ardent Palin supporter. » Read the rest of this entry «

Not to play the middle man or anything, but I share neither Austin’s Palindramatic love, nor Chris’ strangely Sullivanesque disgust of the GOP VP pick. But I do endorse Daniel Larison’s skepticism of the wild abandon with which conservatives have thrown themselves at Mrs. Palin. Read it now.

<begin junior high taunt> If you love her so much, why don’t you marry her? <end junior high taunt>

UPDATE: Btw, I deliberately overstated A and C’s responses to Palin. Read their actual posts to get the real substance of things.

So, we’ve all (well, Chris and I) been waiting for the Microsoft Crispin Porter + Bogusky ads. How do you spend $300 million on an ad campaign? Apparently it helps to get high-paid pitchman Jerry Seinfeld at $10 million a spot. It’s a bit… random for me, but Bogusky’s ads have always been hipper than I. The tech crowd is summarily underwhelmed, but it will certainly go viral / “start a conversation” as the marketing world puts it. Watch / discuss after the jump: » Read the rest of this entry «

So, Chris proposed watching the Obama acceptance speech in some random person’s living room. I’m suggesting we watch it at the Kenworthy in Moscow, tomorrow at 6. That will make us fashionably late. And remember: Barack Obama Picked You Up at the Airport.

@Chris: I was wondering if you would comment on Cameron Strang (of Relevant Media Group) and Donald Miller (also emergent, author of Blue Like Jazz) and their decisions regarding praying at the DNC:

Cameron Strang was initially asked to pray, but withdrew after having second thoughts. Donald Miller didn’t even have first thoughts: “When someone asks you to pray, you do it.”

My question is not, “Would you pray?” as interesting a discussion as that might be. My question is actually whether or not Chris sympathizes with Donald Miller’s rhetoric in the interview linked above. As I read it, it sounded more than a little like my favorite Obama-booster. Comparison after the jump: » Read the rest of this entry «