grand culture

Friday night April 21 I went to a concert at Wheaton College.  The 50-member Mens Glee Club (which includes Jerry Woehr and Sam Diaz) was joined by the brass/woodwinds/percussion sections of the Wheaton College Symphony.  The concert began with some high-brow heavy-classical music (performed in blue blazers), continued with the premiere of a what?-brow postmodern (read: confoundingly intricately confusing) creation of a Wheaton grad (performed in tuxes), and concluded with sixties-brow doo-wop and Beach Boys stuff (performed in t-shirts and blue jeans).  Superb!  And fun to watch, that last part...choreographed by Jerry and Sam based on their experiences in Vocal at the Alliance Academy.

Saturday night April 22 I returned for another high-brow concert by the Wheaton College Symphony.  It's large, and quite professional...hardly heard a missed note.  And with a bazillion violins, thats hard to do.  Again, superb.

Sunday morning April 23 I drove into Chicago for the morning service at the Moody Church, pastored by one of my favorite speakers/authors, Dr Erwin Lutzer.  The music was inspiring!  Fifty-voice choir, grand piano, massive pipe organ, handbells...inspiring because [a] the congregation sang with enthusiasm, and [b] we sang strong theological truth without mindless repetition.  (What a concept...)  How rich...I sang with tears of joy at times.  The message on Jonah by Dr Lutzer was first-rate; I learned and profited from it, for which I am grateful.  And not surprised.

I have soaked in rare excellence these past few days.

Postmodern Prose

The angle massaged by true repose
gave apples under their character.
For altruism of kind magenta
were thicker than abstract spaniels.

If magnets can think of sticks who fret,
straightforward scepters are lawful.
But undertakers which crumbs attack
may obfuscate fondly your cattle.

Currently Listening On An Island By David Gilmour see related

the brain

The sun is barely penetrating the clouds west of Portland...but at least it's not raining.  Winter in the PNW is usually a trial for those of us who like warm weather...yet out at Cannon Beach, on the Oregon coast last weekend, it was actually SUNNY.  In March!  Amazing...

Today has been completely relaxing.  I'm at Sawyers' in Vancouver WA...they all went to work or school, so I slept in.

Late morning I drove to Portland's Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) which I'd not seen before...interactive exhibits about various sciences, plus a special section on animation sponsored by the Cartoon Network.  Just my mentality.

Actually, the whole museum is designed so that little kids can play with and enjoy the displays...as I say, just my mentality.

Also there is a great Omnimax movie called "Wired to Win", on the development of the brain, using the Tour de France cyclists as illustrations.  79-foot screen.  I always enjoy those theaters.

PLUS:  Jazz laser light show in the OMSI Planetarium...old things like "In the Mood", something very recent called "Sequencer" by Al Di Meola...didn't know he did electronic stuff.  BEST and MOST CREATIVE was a fuzzy light performance to "Unforgettable" by Natalie and Nat King Cole...wondrous.

Nice to have a couple days completely free.  Just wish I had a good friend to spend those days with...

voicelessness

I have become a mute.

After speaking three times yesterday (Sunday) in two churches--IMMEDIATELY after I was done with the third message--my voice went away.  Totally.  Completely.

As the cows say, udderly.

Can't make a sound.

Was going to stay with long-lost friends these two nights...really was looking forward to that.  But here I am in a Motel 6 in Tacoma WA instead, trying to heal.

Being voiceless is a frustrating discipline...at least for a talker like me.  I must write messages to convey information...point to menu items...gesture vaguely until the other persons "gets it".

And the phone is useless.

I'm supposed to stay overnight at Sawyers' place in Vancouver WA tomorrow night...maybe I'll just be a listener this time?

My next message is scheduled for Wednesday evening, in southern Oregon.  Will my voice return by then?  If not...well...I do have PowerPoint.

And they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

What is the meaning of this?

I polished a brass door opener today.  Partially.

It's on the entry door of an old church in the Seattle area...it's clear-lacquer-over-brass, which was supposed to be maintenance-free, so it's apparently a replacement, somewhat newer than the old church.

But over the years the lacquer chipped and peeled away, so that the exposed brass tarnished.  Of course that means that the edges of the lacquered parts have tarnished, too, as the corrosion worked its way under the lacquer.  I could not polish those parts.

The exposed parts are now brilliantly shiny...but the door handle doesn't look great, because the lacquer is in the way.  The very thing that was supposed to be an asset to the brass (a brasset?) is now its greatest liability.

There has to be a spiritual application there somewhere.