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[MUSIC: end of organ introduction to the hymn tune Merton. "Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding./"Christ is nigh," it seems to say;/"Cast away the works of darkness,/O ye children of the . . ."]

Collect for Proper 16: the Sunday closest to August 24. Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Labels: hymn

"The organ is in truth the grandest, the most daring, the most magnificent of all instruments invented by human genius. It is a whole orchestra in itself. It can express anything in response to a skilled touch. Surely it is, in some sort, a pedestal on which the soul poises for a flight forth into space, essaying on her course to draw picture after picture in an endless series, to paint human life, to cross the Infinite that separates Heaven from Earth! And the longer a dreamer listens to those giant harmonies, the better he realizes that nothing save this hundred-voiced choir on earth can fill all the space between kneeling men and a God hidden by the blinding light of sanctuary. Out of the dim daylight, out of the dim silence broken by the chanting of a choir in response to the thunder of the organ, a veil is woven for God and the brightness of His attributes shone through it."

-Honoré de Balzac

(I am looking at your Balzac right now.)

What's your choir director up to this summer?

Mine is halfway through a run of Monica! The Musical in New York.

Yes, that Monica.

Everyone's talking about political overtones in Star Wars Episode III.

But aren't they overlooking something obvious?

(Answer: Yes! The dichotomy of lightsaber flavors colors and their correlation with 2004 election maps.)

Tangent: Embarrassing things that might happen to you while using a lightsaber at McSweeney's.

Look over there! It's an exploding flower!

Only at Oberlin.

Labels: Oberlin

Dylan's Pentecost post got me thinking (among other things) about Star Wars release dates in connection to the liturgical year, specifically Pentecost.

Also, I was reminded about improvising my 2002 Presbyterian Pentecost postlude by combining Veni creator with the Star Wars theme.

Film and year	US Release Date	Day of Pentecost	Pentecost is
Episode IV (1977)	25 May	29 May	4 days after
Episode V (1980)	21 May	25 May	4 days after
Episode VI (1983)	25 May	22 May	3 days before
Episode I (1999)	19 May	23 May	4 days after
Episode II (2002)	16 May	19 May	3 days after
Episode III (2005)	19 May	15 May	4 days before

Comparing the two trilogies, both include Pentecost differences of 3, 4 and 4. Also, in both series of releases, the final release occurs after Pentecost.

What does it all mean? I don't know, but may the Force be with you. (And with thy spirit).

I liked this anecdote about what it means to be the "real church."

The morning after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Rev. Lyndon Harris, an associate of St. Paul's [Chapel, New York, NY] at that time, walked to the chapel assuming that it had been demolished as the towers fell. When he saw the spire rising through the dust and discovered that the chapel had not suffered any damage, he knew he had a mission.

Over the next eight months St. Paul's operated full time as a relief site for emergency workers, keeping its doors open around the clock in order to provide food, respite and sanctuary.

When asked at the time when St. Paul's would get back to being a real church, Harris responded, "I don't think we've ever been, nor will ever be, any closer to a 'real church' than we are right now."

Davies, Matthew. Symbolic sculpture honors Trinity-St. Paul's 9/11 response." Episcopal News Service (ENS 050905-1) 9 May 2005.

And, it seems that musicians have a place in this real church.

For eight months, hundreds of volunteers worked 12 hour shifts around the clock, serving meals, making beds, counseling and praying with fire fighters, construction workers, police and others. Massage therapists, chiropractors, podiatrists and musicians also tended to their needs.

http://www.saintpaulschapel.org/about_us 9 May 2005

This is not pretend, but it is Make Believe, Weezer's newest album (due to be released in stores Tuesday 10 May):

I just listened to streaming audio of the whole album.

Forthcoming: Long overdue is some theoretical analysis of the previous four albums and their unification harmonic relationships and technical features. I guess I'll have to come up with an analysis of this one too. Weezer's, like, the only band I listen to, and I feel like I owe it to them, myself and the general population, or something.

Tangent: Okay I haven't actually listened to the whole album yet, but I am listening to it now, and I'm not leaving until I hear the whole thing. Incidentally, the time travel convention in Boston is covered in the NYTimes this plaque in Perth seems way cooler.

Now I've done it. I've gone and read the most inappropriate review of Messiaen ever. It's from Amazon's page for Hans-Ola Ericsson's Volume 6:

He builds the anticipation to such a high degree that by the end of this movement you will be dizzy and salivating, begging him to release you... and he wont [sic]... until... the very end. The end is so magnificent, almost orgasmic. I have personally passed out after listening to this piece due to hyperventillation [sic]! It is the most beautiful thing Ive [sic] ever heard since Barber's Requiem [sic].

This is not for the uninitiated. Do not play it for your girlfriend, that is unless she likes dense and intense music. In which case watch out cause I may steal her from you. If you are a girl... how YOU doin'? (wink wink :)

Howells maybe, but not Messiaen.

Incidentally, why is this particular CD so expensive? $41.98?! The other CD's in this set are around $20 on Amazon. Yes, it's a two CD set, but come on. Suddenly Olivier Latry's complete Messiaen seems like a bargain.

Labels: Howells, Messiaen

Do crows have ears? I'm sure they do, but would the Pope carry one?

Tucked under his left arm was the silver staff, called the crow's ear, that he had carried in public.

Fisher, Ian. "A public end for an extraordinary papacy." International Herald Tribune 4 April 2005.

I think Ian meant crosier.

Crow's Ear organist tangent: This reminds me of one of my favorite organists: Catherine Crow's Ear?

Bird-organists tangent: Frederick Swan? Gordon Turkey? Stefan Eagles?

bona fide bird organist: Olivier Messiaen

Labels: Messiaen

McSweeney's Lists are usually entertaining, and Jason Tellett's "Titles of Sermons to Which Congregants Might Actually Pay Attention" is no exception.