An old piece of folk wisdom says that if you don’t want to offend, there are two topics you never mention in polite company: politics and religion. Rock music has never much worried about polite company, and giving offense is often its raison d’etre. However, historically rock has far more often tread on the toes [...]
Just moments ago a friend sent me this recording of my name being read from the podium of Westminster Theological Seminary’s commencement for the awarding of my Master of Arts in Religion (Biblical Studies) degree:
“Mark Traphagen, in absentia”
UPDATE: My daughter took the following video of all the M.A.R. graduates receiving their diplomas. My name being [...]
Tonight I joined the Scene of the Crime Rovers, Durham’s own honk band.
“Joined” might be putting it a little too formally. Basically, I showed up at a practice and at the end mentioned that I would definitely be coming back. There was much rejoicing. “Most people leave during the break,” one [...]
On this Resurrection Day (Easter, to those who prefer gods with long ears made out of chocolate), I want to welcome the resurrection of one of my favorite blogs: Sibboleth by my dear friend, Fuller Seminary professor J. R. Daniel Kirk. He is just back online after a Lenten Internet fast.
Daniel is one of the [...]
In honor of National Poetry Month my friend author Mindy Withrow is posting a poem a day. Today it’s Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago.” Sandburg’s poem acknowledges that Chicago is indeed a wicked, crooked, brutal place; and yet, he slugs back at anyone who would make that the whole picture of his city. Chicago, he says, “like [...]
This entry is part of a series, Flying Club Cup Videos by Beirut»
I’m blogging through the series of videos made to accompany the album Flying Club Cup by Beirut (aka Zach Condon and band). Song #7 is “Forks and Knives (La Fete)”. Here’s the video:
The game room of a Brooklyn bar is the [...]
According to Margie Haack, this is more than a recipe for her Lemon Dilled Rice:
Lemon Dilled Rice (Serves 3-4)
1 cup rice
4 T. butter
1 small onion, diced
1 t. salt
2 t. dill weed (or 2 T. fresh dill, chopped)
2 c. water or chicken broth
1 lemon, juiced
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add rice and onion. Sautee for 4 [...]
[WARNING: Vain and perhaps foolish attempt ahead to try to justify promoting a friend's blog as a worthy post given the theme and focus of his blog.]
I like What Chris Likes. Chris Martin (no, not that Chris Martin, let’s get that out of the way) was one of our housemates in Philadelphia for all too [...]
This must be why mystics and poets record /
The slender incursions of splintered light, /
Echoes, fragments, odd words and phrases /
Like flashes through darkened hallways. - Rod Jellema