Hey I just had lunch with 2 new friends and afterwards we went to the bookstore next door. 

I found Prayer by O. Hallesby which I have been looking for.  Extra bonus...it was only $2.40.  I also got William Barclay's "The Gospel of Mark" and The Genesee Diary: a Report from a Trappist Monastery by Henri Nouwen.  I got all of these books from a bookstore called Archives in Pasadena. http://www.archivesbookshop.com/

Anyways, I've found that lately I am much less interested in understanding God than living with God.  If evangelicalism is going to say that the special thing about Christianity is that in this religion people can have a personal, loving relationship with God, I fail to see how excessive disecting of Christianity achieves that.  However, that has long been my push.  And I'm not discrediting the pursuit of understanding entirely, but I'm at a point where I feel there has to be more.  Much more.  I went into the bookstore looking for books about people who mused about God, mystics who were experiencing God, not doctrine or theology or apologetics.  Perhaps those will have their own time.

But for now I want to be with God.  To simply be, to stop the frenetic pace of life that tends to lock me up.  I'm looking foward to these books because I'm hoping that they won't tell me about God but will encourage me to be with God and give me insight into how that is done.

We'll see.

3:11:53 PM    

The Flute Case That Fell Apart
Ruling on Sampling Has Composers Rattled

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47321-2002Aug21.html

I know, 2 days in a row.  But I promise I'm not a music industry freak, just a curious bystander. 

The issue here is that the Beasie Boys whom I've listened to a little but not much sampled (took 6 notes and looped it) from a jazz flutist James Newton. 

Newton sued and lost.  BB got permission from the record label if I understand properly, but not from Newton.  He says that he would never have said yes. 

The judge made a distinction between a recording and a composition saying that for the recording BB had already compensated.  Since this little sample didn't count as a composition there was nothing further to discuss.

Yesterday, I promoted the idea that the record industry needed to flex and innovate with MP3 CD-R technology and subsequent phonomenon.  Today, I have the opportunity to side with Newton and say that yes he should have control over his creation.  Call me a hypocrite if you want to.  Here's the difference that I see.  The record industry is a business out to make money.  It doesn't necessarily have to stick with one medium.  (See the switch from LP to cassette to CD to MP3.)  On the other hand, Newton and all other creative artists are laying themselves on the line.  Sometimes they are truly only interested in the bottom line too.  However, they have the status of creators and not marketer/producers.  One principle that I think is foundational to the America I know is that you give credit where credit is due and creators get a large amount of control over what they created.  [I realize this isn't the most coherent argument, but I'll stew on it a little longer.]

Finally, the following quote from the article bugs me:

"It sounds racist to me," Taylor said. "Pure English. Here's a [judge] who's saying if it's not written in the old European form that I may have heard about from someone who studied Mozart," it's not a legitimate composition.

I don't know exactly what the judge said, but there really isn't anything in the article that would make me draw this conclusion.  I see it as an seriously inflammatory remark.  I hope that wasn't flippantly spoken.  I also wish that the Post would have bothered to flesh that out or toss it.

8:00:58 AM    

We had a great talent show last night.

I happened to be the chief judge which was nice because I got a front row seat.

These things are really interesting in the sense that the humor is highly contextualized.  Pretty much if you haven't been with us these past 4 weeks, you don't get most of the catch phrases.  Definitely loaded with inside jokes.  At the same time, I appreciate this sense of community.  It's not thus far highly exclusive and in reality won't be as in a week these 70-80 odd people will be sent off to the four corners of the world to teach English. 

Many of the jokes were directed at one training coordinator.  This is the result of having many contact hours with her and her general role as our TEFL Nazi.  The wonderful thing people find out at the talent show is that in reality she doesn't take herself that seriously and the attitude is part of the job.  It's great.

6:29:38 AM