This has become one of my go-to albums, especially on Fridays. Nite Owls by JD McPherson. A rockin' and rollin' album of great vitality. No skips on this disc. I bought this on vinyl about a year ago. McPherson's masterpiece. I got tickets to his December concert in Dallas. Can't wait.
I was a sophomore in high school when the controversy surrounding Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses exploded in the media. I was a neophyte when it came to literature and I had never heard of Rushdie before.
We, young students, obviously were against Khomeini's fatwa. Anything the Ayatollah did was bad, evil, against freedom and so on. Putting a death sentence because of a book? Utterly ridiculous.
But we were also being hit with voices on the right criticizing Rushdie saying "he knew what he was doing." The younger Rushdie did have a certain sinister look about him in those days: drooping eyelids, dark angular eyebrows, a faintly devilish appearance. So we didn't like him either. Plus, he had the name Satan in his book's title.
I grew up in the evangelical world in the late 80's and early 90's and it's hard to describe the fear and paranoia evangelicals had about the outside secular world in those days. Christianity was constantly under assault. We had to always be vigilant against the crafty wiles of The Devil lest he lure us into temptation and away from the faith. The Evangelical-Industrial Complex worked overtime to keep us scared.
I remember seeing video productions in youth group meetings of teens making bad decisions and waking up at the gates of Hell. People played Zeppelin records backwards to listen for secret satanic messaging. My freshman year at a small Christian college I remember a guy knocking on our dorm room door saying they were going to burn a bunch of evil CDs and wondered if we had any discs to contribute and would we like to join in. My roommate and I politely declined.
Frank Peretti's books about demons and the Left Behind series about the End Times left generations of young Christians traumatized. Fortunately my family never went to that extreme. I never read Peretti and my Dad completely rejected the false theology of the Left Behind books. My family was conservative but we still celebrated Halloween and went trick or treating.
However, anything with the word Satan in it was be looked on with fear and suspicion. There was no way I would ever consider reading something called The Satanic Verses.
By the way, evangelicals still continue to use fear tactics to keep their herd in line. They demonize the LGBTQ community. They excoriate immigrants. Islam and Sharia Law cause them great consternation. They've gone full Christian Nationalist. For decades they warned about the anti-Christ and when a real anti-Christ took over their movement not only did they not reject him, they embraced him enthusiastically.
About twenty years ago I heard an NPR interview with Rushdie. I didn't find anything particularly satanic or sinister about him. He seemed kind, humble and brilliantly insightful. A few weeks after that I stumbled across his Midnight's Children at a used bookshop. I still hesitated to buy it remembering the great Fatwa controversy even though that was about a completely different book. But I bought it, began reading and was immediately captivated. It became clear to me that Salman Rushdie was a literary genius. I began to buy more and more of his books over the years and was always inspired by his poetic prowess. He was as gifted a writer I had ever come across. Yet still, I avoided reading the work that had made him infamous. I guess evangelical PTSD lingers deep in the recesses of one's mind.
But this Evangelical-Industrial Complex had lost all credibility with me. They ostracized Rob Bell over his book Love Wins. Yet when I read it I found nothing that CS Lewis hadn't already discussed decades earlier. They told me the importance of family values yet idolize a proud philanderer and got him elected to the presidency. They talk about protecting children yet revere a man who's best friend was one of the most horrific traffickers in modern history. So, they have no purchase with me.
A few years ago Rushdie was attacked by an extremist at an event celebrating the importance of free speech. Rushdie came close to death but eventually recovered. He wrote about his experience in a powerful memoir called Knife. Once again he found himself one of the leading lights speaking out for the freedom of speech and against religious extremism.
All this to say, a few months ago I saw The Satanic Verses at another used book shop. By this time I had read nine of his books. This time I bought the Verses. I'm only a few chapters in and once again I find his prose astounding. I will keep you up to date if Satan actually emerges from this work.
I received a new Moleskine in the mail yesterday. I’m not quite through with my current one but it’s always nice to have a new one ready in the queue.
Contrapposto is Dave Egger's latest novel and one of his best. I did not want it to end. When I finished the last page I wanted the book to keep going. Yet the ending nicely tied up a story that took place over seven decades. So I guess it had to end. Powerful and epic in scale despite not being centered in epic events. How to make two people's lives seem larger than worlds is a real trick. Eggers is one of the few who can pull it off.
Today woulda been John Coltrane’s 100th birthday. Start your day right and dial up the song Blue Train on your preferred streaming service for your morning commute. End the day with a nice relaxing dose of Naima. You won't regret it.
I had this parking spot for six years until a teacher arrived three years ago and nabbed it. They get here obscenely early so it's not worth it for me to get up that early just for a parking spot. But today I had to drop my daughter off for a field trip and I got my spot back, for a day. A colleague walking in snapped this photo with this other teacher's front bumper over the line. Passive aggressive much? Ha! My pettiness knows no bounds.
| just completed reading Wives, Slaves and Concubines: A History of the Female Underclass in Dutch Asia by Dr. Eric Jones who was gracious enough to email me a copy of his enlightening book. Dr. Jones and I met through the AP Readings over the years and this year I was fortunate enough to sit next to him at our work stations. Eric teaches at Northern Illinois University specializing in Southeast Asian Studies.
This book greatly enhanced my understanding of the VOC's (Dutch East India Company) trade network in Indonesia and the personal costs of a demographic that is often underreported in history books. Using primary source legal cases, Jones shows the heart wrenching experiences of many women in 16th-18th century Indonesia as they were brought to court for running away from horrendous situations or committing other various
"crimes."
I was not aware of how the VOC, which had almost full governmental and judicial authority over much of Southeast Asia, determined social standing. Often standing was based on VOC employment rather than race or ethnicity due to the difficulties of creating long standing Dutch communities without large numbers of Europeans in the region. Pragmatism often led to somewhat illusory enlightened policies. But most women still fell victim to patriarchal oppression. I learned a lot from this work. Academic yet with a compelling narrative. I hope to discuss some of this work with Dr. Jones if we both make it back to Louisville this next summer.
Finished the third book in Kim Stanley Robinson's Three Californias Trilogy. Pacific Edge. This one was equally captivating but the last quarter of the book was very depressing. I didn't like how it ended for some of the characters. I guess that makes it more realistic. Each volume envisions a different reality for a future California. One, post-apocalyptic. The second, if things continued to proceed the way they are now. The final volume, Pacific Edge, a realistic version of Utopia, societies successfully wrestling with the great issues of our day: economic inequality, climate change, evolving social structures etc. But I found the Utopia volume the saddest. Not for the structural changes described but for the personal sacrifices made in the endeavor for a better society. The main character deserved better!
The Commodore by Patrick O'Brian. Seventeenth in the Aubrey-Maturin series of 21 volumes of sea-faring tales. I've been reading these off and on for over 20 years and each book never disappoints. The Commodore is another great sea-yarn from the early 19th century. I only have four more left! Must not rush through them!
I've seen this in several places in the deep recesses of the internet. Apparently this is a distillation of Camus's thoughts on the conditions which lead to happiness.
Sounds right and I'm inclined to agree on all these points.
For some inexplicable reason, our school made two sets of ID badges for us this year. We were told we could choose which one to use. I'm having trouble deciding.
Another record I picked up a few months back: a white vinyl edition of Peaches by The Black Keys. I had tickets to their July concert but couldn't go due to a family vacation. This is one of their best albums in awhile. Old school rock and blues. This is what The Black Keys are best at in my opinion. I like the title too as it matches my Peaches Records album crate where I store my albums.
The other day I picked up a used copy of Phosphorescent Blues by Punch Brothers at Josey Records in Garland. The cover features a 1928 painting by Rene Magritte. This painting hangs in the MOMA in New York. This double record is very nice and was the most recent Punch Brothers release when we saw Chris Thile host Live From Here in Austin almost a decade ago so it brings back some nice memories. This is a great set of songs.
This past Saturday Jackson and I went to Josey Records in Garland for a Weezer Listening Party. They were playing the new album, presumably called The Gold Album, which comes out next week. We got some nice swag and the record was good. Unlike the Jack White Listening Party they did not have the record available to purchase yet. Seemed kind of strange to me. Still it was fun. Weez on.
