Music Box 11-30-4

 U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb came out recently. I am excited about the new U2 cd, i listened to a lowbandwidth preview version and liked it, so I added it to my list to send off to Santa Claus. It certainly hearkened back to pre-Achtung Baby days. You can really see the Edge working his Edge type guitar method, from what I heard. The shape of the total ablum reminded me of Joshua tree, and the way the songs felt with one another. It was interesting to hear Bono wanting broken hearts.On a completely different level, I love Baroque Organ Music. I hate contemporary piano music, but I love Organ Music. Such as the likes of Purcell, Clarke, and Bach. Today, a friend let me borrow some Buxtehude, which I am happy about, and after previewing it, am impressed by some of the good stuff therein other news, i was thinking the best band of all time was: the beatlesthe best album of all time was:U2 - Achtung Babymy favorite solo artist of all time is:Phil Keaggy

Squirrel Melt

When i was in junior high they grilled these hamburger patties to look like road kill squirrels.  I am totally not joking.  to illustrate, i attached a picture to illustrate as best as i can remember. it was pretty funny, thinking you were eating ran over squirrel instead of grilled beef. 

Is There MEANING in This TEXT?

     If you've read any books about hermeneutics in the last few years, you've probably encountered a fair ammount of philosophy. Philosophical systems influence the way we think, the way we measure, and the way we act. One of the most recent philosophical climes to work itself over to the biblical realm is postmodernism. The effects of postmodernism can be felt everywhere in our post-modern culture. The lack of absolute authorities, the breakdown of objective meaning, and the pluralistic attitudes to life, logic, and reality. D.A. Carson wrote a rather large tome on the current theological trends called, The Gagging of God. I would recomend it to anyone who is interested in postmodern hermeneutics. However, that book only deals with the problems, and really does not point a way out of the miasma.

However, Carson states about book by Kevin Vanhoozer:

What starts off as a contemporary hermeneutics to justify the move from the biblical text to systematic theology becomes a full-blown, highly sofisticated, theological hermeneutics. Vanhoozer is one of the few contemporary scholars who take a balanced measure of postmodern thought within an unflinching Christian confessionalism. Here you will find neither mere traditionalism nor faddishness. This book points the way forward-the Christian way forward- out of the contemporary hermeneutical morass.    

Bruneau

I've been wanting to take a trip down to the Bruneau sand dunes for quite some time.The dunes at Bruneau Dunes State Park are unique in the Western Hemisphere. Others in the Americas form at the edges of natural basins; these form near the center. They include the largest single-structured sand dune in North America, with a peak 470 feet above the lakes. In addition, there are some local hot springs to explore also. Such as the Indian Bathtub. Anyway, hopefully I'll get this all organized and underway soon. It would be nice to have a camera, so I could chronicle the exploits, too.

Reading Rainbow 11-20-4

     I picked up the Histories by Herodotus. It's been a good read so far. I'm about two thirds done with the Vanhoozer book, and over halfway done with the works of Jonathan Edwards, vol.1 (of 2) . So that's been keeping me busy. I've been switching back and forth to keep it all interesting.

Reading Update 11-10-4

     I started reading Is There Meaning in This Text?: The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge by Kevin Vanhoozer. It's a pretty heavy book, very technical and full of the latest philosophy. Very good read though. It seems to be a good sucessor to the Gagging of God by D.A. Carson.      Finally finished reading The story of civilization: Louis XIV. It was great. And that along with Jonathan Edwards has given me some fun stuff to think about, and new stuff to ponder.

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft comes out later this month!
Currently I am a beta tester for it, and it is really quite fun. I am enjoying it immensely. You can play on Player versus Player servers (PvP) and the server pits the four good races against the four bad races, so that the PvP action is more global. There are pets and fun things of all sorts. Not to mention the game is astoundingly beautiful!

Kirkham

Went to Kirkham hot springs today!On the way there, we found a truck overturned in the road (Amazingly, no one was really hurt). So we stopped and directed traffic in the canyon until the police took over (around 40 minutes). It was pretty cool standing out in the middle of the road. Then we got there, and we were the only ones there for the whole duration. Although there were people across the river, on the scenic highway. The temperature was excellent. The sky was crystal clear, and it was a beautiful sunny day. After lounging around for a bit, I started jumping in the river for the shock therapy of it. Everyone decided to do it. Then, I swam across the river. Then of course, everyone had to do that, which was really great fun. However, it was brrrrrr. There were pools with ice on top of them. Kindof crazy! It was complete and total awesomeness. A great day of super-relaxing Idaho fun.