Musical Ramblings

I am now officially a college graduate...

2008-05-03T18:44:00.003-05:00

Scary thought, no?
Top is my family, next to last photo is my (good Lutheran) organ teacher.

Tagged

2008-01-30T19:55:00.000-05:00

Pastor Weedon has tagged me for a meme...

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!)
Find Page 123.
Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences.
Tag 5 people.

The nearest book is a collection of writings by St. Augustine. Pg. 123 is in the middle of the Confessions.

Here are the next 3 sentences after the first 5:

"For if there be as many contrary natures as there are conflicting wills, whether he should go to their conventicle, or to the theatre, those men at once cry out, "Behold, here are two natures - one good, drawing this way, another bad, drawing back that way; for whence else is this indecision between conflicting wills?" But I reply that both are bad - that which draws to them, and that which draws back to the theatre. But they believe not that will to be other than good which draws to them."

Very long sentences. ;-)

And just to be contrary, I'm not going to specifically tag anyone, but if you feel like doing this, consider yourself tagged.

I still live.

2008-01-30T19:53:00.000-05:00

I'm graduating this semester, and my honors thesis will be on the Te Deum. An actual blog post will be forthcoming as I get further along in my research and analysis. Have dug up some interesting information on Lutheran use of the Te Deum thus far.

Junior Recital

2007-04-24T19:52:00.000-05:00

Recording of my junior recital. Listen at your own risk.

Frescobaldi - Toccata Prima

4 Settings of Christ lag in Todesbanden
Christ lag in Todesbanden (I) - Boehm
Christ lag in Todesbanden (II) - Boehm
Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 718) - Bach [b](lots of mistakes.)
Christ lag in Todesbanden - Pachelbel

Langlais - Suite Medievale
I. Prelude
II. Tiento
V. Acclamations

Mozart - Andante

Messiaen - Dieu parmi nous (from La Nativite)

Christ is Risen!

2007-04-08T16:59:00.000-05:00

Χριστος ανεστι!
Христос воскрес!

And now, to make you all chuckle, a video from this morning. :)

New Photoshop Piece

2006-12-21T09:43:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd try my hand at some non-abstract stuff. I think it came out pretty decent.

More Photoshop stuff

2006-11-24T13:53:00.000-05:00

This was a really quick picture. It took me about half an hour.

The Stoning of the Organist

2006-11-23T09:41:00.000-05:00

I got this in an email forward and couldn't resist:

ACTS 29
1 A ND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN PAUL WAS AT
Corinth, he and certain disciples came upon a
mob that was stoning an organist. 2 And Paul
said unto them, "What then hath he done unto thee that his
head should be bruised?" 3 And the people cried with one
voice, "He hath played too loud. 4 Yea, in the singing of
psalms, he maketh our heads to ring as if they were beaten
with hammers. 5 Behold, he sitteth up high in the loft, and
mighty are the pipes and mighty is the noise thereof, and tho'
there be few of us below, he nonetheless playeth with all the
stops, the Assyrian trumpet stop and the stop of the ram's horn
and the stop that soundeth like the sawing of stone, and we
cannot hear the words that cometh out of our own mouths.
6 He always tosseth in the variations that confuse us mightily
and playeth loud and discordant and always in a militant
tempo, so that we have not time to breathe as we sing. 7 Lo,
he is a plague upon the faith and should be chastised. 8 Paul,
hearing this, had himself picked up a small stone, and was about
to cast it, but he set it down and bade the organist come forward.
9 He was a narrow man, pale of complexion, dry, flaking thin of
hair. 10 And Paul said unto him, "Why hath thou so abused thy
brethren?" 11 And the organist replied, "I could not hear them
singing from where I sat, and therefore played the louder so
as to enourage them." 12 And Paul turned round to the mob
and said loudly, "Let him who has never played an organ cast
the first stone." 13 And they cast stones for awhile until their
arms were tired and Paul bade the organist repent and he did.
14 And Paul said unto him, "Thou shalt take up the flute and
play it for thirty days, to cleanse thy spirit." 15 And afterward,
they returned to Corinth and sang psalms unaccompanied and
then had coffee and were refreshed in the faith.

The Stoning of the Organist
GARRISON KEILLOR

Where's Maria?

2006-11-15T21:52:00.000-05:00

Where's Maria these days? Maria is writing a long paper on the Cantatas of J.S. Bach, learning two programs full of organ music, studying for the MCAT, and brushing up on her Latin. Her brain has turned to mush and she cannot think of any good blog posts.

For Holy Cross Day...

2006-09-14T19:22:00.000-05:00

...I am reminded of the Dream of the Rood.

Apparently I'm well-adjusted.

2006-08-22T14:18:00.000-05:00

You have a 8% chance of going postal!

Congrats! You're not going to shoot up a strip mall anytime soon. You're so well-adjusted, it's creepy.

How Likely Are You to Go Postal?
Create Your Own Quiz

I'm a bad Lutheran....

2006-08-13T17:45:00.000-05:00

You scored as Luther. You are Martin Luther. You'll stick with the words of Scripture, and defend this with earthy expressions. You believe in an orthodox Christology. You believe that the bread and wine are the Body and Blood of Christ, but aren't too sure about where he goes after the meal, and so you don't accept reservation of the Blessed Sacrament or Eucharistic devotions.

Luther

88%

Calvin

63%

Catholic

63%

Zwingli

25%

Unitarian

Eucharistic theology
created with QuizFarm.com

Only 88% Luther.

hey wait...church isn't about republican politics?

2006-07-31T11:01:00.000-05:00

Interesting news story:

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/disowning-conservative-politics-is/20060729195809990004

I've been tagged...

2006-07-28T11:21:00.000-05:00

Gack Sean, I hate these things...

Anyway, here goes.

1. One book that changed your life:
The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
The Silmarillion

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
Is there a combination Bible-and-Hymnal?

4. One book that made you laugh:
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

5. One book that made you cry:
Books don't make me cry.

6. One book that you wish had been written:
How to get your annoying little brothers to shut up

7. One book that you wish had never been written
The Purpose Driven Life

8. The book you are currently reading:
The Shape of the Liturgy by Dom Gregory Dix

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read
The Brothers Karamazov. I keep forgetting to get it when I go to the library.

10. Now tag five people:
I don't know who to tag. If you see this and want to do it, pretend I tagged you. :-P

The Feast of Prince St. Volodymyr, Baptizer of Kyiv

2006-07-15T10:06:00.000-05:00

To commemorate this occasion, I give you the account of the Baptism of Kyiv from the Primary Chronicle, translated from my Ukrainian copy: [my editorial insertions from other sources will be in brackets]

"After this Volodymyr took his queen and Anastasius, and said farewell to the people of Korsun. With him, he took church vestments and Greek icons....When he arrived in Kyiv, he began to fell all of the idols - some he chopped down, and others he burned. He ordered Perun to be tied to the tail of a horse and to pull it down from the hill to the river Pochaina. And he placed 12 of his men on the way, that they might whip the idol on its way down. He did this not because the wood feels anything, but to humiliate the demon which had kept the people in this bondage, that he might now receive his punishment from the people.

"Great are you, O Lord, and wondrous are your works! Yesterday you were shunned by the people, and today you are praised!

"While they were pulling Perun to the Pochaina, the unbelieving people wept for him; all of those who were not yet baptized. And, arriving at the shore, they threw him into the Dnieper...[and some of the people jumped into the water and swam after him, crying: 'Vydubai, Bozhe! - Save yourself, O God!' These men all drowned. And on the place where the idol washed ashore, there was later built a monastery, by the name of Vydubytsky.]

"And Volodymyr sent his men to announce to the entire city:

If somebody does not show up at the river tomorrow - whether he be rich or poor, free or slave - he shall be my enemy.

Hearing this, the people came to the river, rejoicing and saying:

If this was not a good thing, then the Prince and the Boyars would not have adopted it.

[However, those who did not want to be baptized escaped from the city and hid in the forests.]

The next day, Volodymyr went out to the river with the priests from Korsun, and the people gathered around him. They went into the water, so that some were standing up to their necks, and others to their chest. Some were carrying children, and the youth stood in the shallows. The priests stood on the shore and said the prayers. The people, having been baptized, went out to their homes. And Volodymyr began to build churches, raising them on those places where once had stood the wooden idols. He placed the church of St. Basil on that hill where once had stood Perun and other gods, and where the Prince and people had bowed down to them. In other towns, they also began to build churches and baptize the people - in all the cities and villages. [according to other historical sources, as well as oral traditions ;-), the conversion of the other cities wasn't quite as peaceful as that of Kyiv, and they were said to have been baptized with "the cross and the sword".]

"The Prince sent out his men to collect the brightest children and give them to the priests, to be educated, and the mothers of the children cried for them, as for the dead. And this saying arose among the Rus:

The old has died and withered, now everything is becoming new.

"And Volodymyr shone among the pagans, as did his sons and his land."

Linguistic rant

2006-07-04T14:26:00.000-05:00

I'm getting tired of people saying that Ukrainian is descended from/related to Russian. It isn't. The two languages are related by virtue of being in the same family, but they're not even cousins.

European Russia was originally populated by Finnish-Hungarian tribes.
Russian came about when one of the sons of a Kyivan prince ran away from home, met up with a local chief, who gave him his daughter, and founded Moscow, complete with a church and priest. The language of the church was Church Slavonic. Russian is basically a mixture of Church Slavonic, spoken by the church and aristocracy, and local Finnish-Hungarian dialects, spoken by the commoners. The integration eventually brought about Russian.

Ukrainian is a descendant of the common language spoken by the Rus under the Kyivan princedom. Church Slavonic was the language of the church and the literary language, rather like ecclesiastical Latin, but did not particularly influence the vulgar language. This is actually evidenced in the Slavic chronicles, which are written in Church Slavonic, but with unavoidable traces of the vulgar language mixed in.

Russian does have some Ukrainian influence though - during the days of the Russian empire, they brought in Ukrainian tutors and educated elite, who taught in the Ukrainian language.

Photoshop Stuff

2006-06-14T18:39:00.000-05:00

Here's some stuff that's been building up for a while. You can tell me how bad it is now. :P

A Dictionary to Understanding Pop Evangelicals

2006-06-02T21:14:00.000-05:00

Saw this on a message board, and couldn't resist passing it along...

BROTHERLY BANALITIES

Share—Christians do not tell. They share. They do not criticize, give, testify, talk, or harangue. They share.

Share Together—As contrasted with sharing by yourself.

Partake—What sharees do when sharers are sharing something.

One-on-One relationship—As opposed to two-on-two relationships, three-on-three relationships, etc. (And who said basketball never contributed anything substantial to Christianity?)

Give Us Your Testimony—And be sure to leave in all the rotten, sordid details.

Share What’s on Your Heart—Unless, of course, it’s heartburn.

Heartwarming—One degree below hemtburn.

Grieved in My Heart—You tick me off.

Losing the Victory—As compared to winning the defeat.

Praise the Lord—A person’s true spirituality can be quickly ascertained by counting the number of times per day he or she uses this phrase. 400 + = Saint; 300–400 = Graduate of the School of Praise; 200–300 = Vibrant Christian; 50–200 = Lukewarm; Under 50 = Backslider.

Vibrant Christian—See Praise the Lord.

That’s Beautiful—May be substituted for Praise the Lord, provided the sharer is grinning in a mellow, nonjudgmental way at the sharee. Scores same as Praise the Lord.

When I Was in the World—O’boy. Now we get to the good part of the testimony

Love of the Lord—What you love someone with when the pastor tells you to turn to the stranger on your left and tell them, “I love you.”

PULPIT PLATITUDES

Heart and Life—The average pastor will use this term often during the average Sermon.

The World in Which We Live—As contrasted with the world in which television’s alien Mork lives.

The Lord Said to Me—I had a feeling. (Also a good phrase to beef up a poorly prepared sermon. If they won’t listen to you, maybe they’ll listen to God.)

Today’s World—Those of you living in tomorrow’s world may be excused.

Lift Up in Prayer to the Throne of Grace—You eight guys here in the front lift George up, and you four over there…

Lay Hold Of—What you do to the Throne of Grace while lifting someone up in prayer.

Deep Truths—Up till now I’ve just been dishing up shallow truths.

Burdened with the Cares of This World—Fed up.

Burning on My Heart—My doctor told me never to eat pizza before I preach.

Amen?—Preacher’s wake-’em-up phrase, usually followed by dull silence from congregation.

I Said ‘AMEN?’—Proper homiletical follow-up for above phrase. Executed while leaning over pulpit, hand cupped to ear.

Touch People’s Lives (and Hearts)—Then get out as soon as possible.

Outreach—What we have when we are trying to touch people’s lives (and hearts).

Extend the Right Hand of Fellowship—The world in which we live calls it “shaking hands.”

Dear Lord God and Precious Heavenly Father—Public prayers must be thus prefaced or they will be sent to the wrong address.

Declare His Word—Shout your doctrine

Plugged into the Spirit—How did the church ever manage to talk about spiritual power before the discovery of electricity?

At the Present Time—Or were you wanting to know about the future?

The Bottom Line—What do you mean the church is too finance-conscious?

EVANGELISTIC EPITHETS

Accept Jesus into Your Heart—Okay, if you won’t give him your heart, he’ll just have to come in and get it.

Open Heart—What you must have before Jesus can come in. Bring your own scalpel.

Get to Know God Personally—Just drop by anytime.

PROMOTIONAL PUFFERY

Internationally–Known Evangelist (Singer)—He preached (sang) in Tijuana once, and his mother lives in Toronto.

Vital Message of the Hour—We will be delivering 24 of these each day, 168 each week, 8,736 per year…

Multi-Media Production—Two-projector slide show.

Scriptural Keys for Living—Pat formulas to help you obtain success, abundance, and prosperity.

Dynamic—It is against the law to run any kind of church or evangelistic ad without using this term at least twice.

Exciting, Excited—Almost every ad for a Christian book, ministry, movie, magazine, church, evangelist, minister, teacher, or project must contain the phrase “It’s Exciting” or “I’m Excited.” That’s protection against a dull image.

Food, Fun, and Fellowship—It is believed the Apostle Paul invented this phrase, and it has been used in church bulletins ever since.

Time of Fellowship—A period of stiff socializing following a worship service.

The Public Is Invited—If they aren’t, why bother to print this announcement

Come Together—As opposed to coming apart

!—Main form of punctuation for dynamic, exciting Christian acts and books.

MOTIVATIONAL MIASMAS

Catch the Vision—Get with the program, Jack.

Trust That…—I hope to God you’ll be sensible enough to…

Join with Us in…—See Catch the Vision.

Build Your Faith—Assert yourself to the proper level of enthusiasm. (And all this time you thought God parceled out the faith.)

Let’s Believe Together for…—What you do after you’ve built your faith.

Dear Friend—Radio preacher talk for “People I’ve never seen or met, but who are potential donors.”

Opportunity to Have a Part—What a radio preacher is giving you when he asks for an offering.

As the Lord Leads—As your guilt becomes unbearable. (Usually precedes a “sacrificial” offering.)

We Encourage (Challenge) You to…—See Catch the Vision and As the Lord Leads.

Rise to the Challenge—Perhaps we could take care of this while we’re lifting things to the Throne of Grace. (See also Catch the Vision.)

Further the Ministry—Keep this thing afloat.

Love Offering—As opposed to a Hate Dffering. The proceeds are usually the same, but a love offering is used to Further the Ministry, while a hate offering Is used to say, “The further this ministry gets away from us, the better.”

Let Us Work Together to…—Why don’t you…

And so, dear friends, let us work together in our day-to-day lives to abolish the bromides which daily burden us. Not only these we have mentioned, but others, such as: “Total Commitment,” “Come Expecting a Miracle,” “Moving in a Powerful Way,” and “Growing in the Lord.” The concepts, dear friends, are dynamic and exciting, but in terms of the vital message of the hour, the hackneyed phrases we use will no longer touch people’s lives (and hearts) in the world in which we live. I trust you will lay hold of the deep truths which I have shared, a message that has been burning on my heart. As the Lord leads, let us rise to the challenge declared in his Word. Let’s build our faith and believe together that it can be done. Praise the Lord! I don’t know about you, but I’m excited about the dynamic opportunities of outreach in today’s world, and the bottom line is that we’ve got to start using some new platitudes. That’s art exciting challenge, amen? I said, ‘AMEN?’

I'm a nerd. Big surprise.

2006-05-20T13:33:00.000-05:00

Pure Nerd
86 % Nerd, 26% Geek, 30% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!

THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

rant on technology

2006-05-20T09:45:00.000-05:00

It's time for America to join the rest of the world. So I can't watch my Ukrainian videos because American TVs don't accept PAL/SECAM input. European made TV's, on the other hand, can toggle between PAL/SECAM and NTSC. Currently working on finding an RF adapter so I can hook the VCR up to the computer. (The European made VCR can also play any type of video. It's just the TV that won't accept it.)

It shouldn't have to be so difficult.

w00t!

2006-05-18T16:33:00.000-05:00

Ukraine made it into the Eurovision finals, yay! I have to admit though, my favorite contestant by far is Finland.

yayness

2006-05-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

I got an A in Organic Chemistry 2! :D And here I was fully expecting a B+.

In other news, somebody slap me upside the head, because I'm reading a history of Kievan-Rus, and every time I do that I start feeling the urge to go Orthodox. :P

Some ramblings about music

2006-05-05T21:01:00.000-05:00

It's about time I lived up to the title of this blog. ;-) So here you are, in no particular order, my [somewhat disjointed] ramblings, unedited, straight from my mind to the paper. Keep in mind that it's quite late right now, and don't throw too many rocks.

- One of these days, while the congregation is happily singing for Jesus to Shine and the River to Flow, I'm going to scream. Especially if it's during communion. I simply fail to understand how that piece of drivel can be played in the same service as good old hits such as Gaudeamus Pariter. Don't even get me started on the things I'm likely to hear once the blessed reprieve of the Paschal season is over.

- I will admit it, I'm somewhat of an Orthophile. I study while listening to Byzantine and Znameny chant. I have had periods where I have seriously considered converting. When I think about it, I don't know why, because I'm uncomfortable with several of their hymns. However, I have come to somewhat of a conclusion.

Lex orandi, lex credendi. We can confess the Confessions until we're blue in the face, but does it really matter if we then turn around and sing songs not fit to be heard within 1 mile of a good Lutheran church? If it sings like an evanjellyfish...

What really drove my conversion to the Church of the Augsburg Confession was not the theology as an abstract confessional concept, though that certainly played a role in it, but the hymnody as an expression of that theology. A great deal of my organ study has consisted of the music of Bach, and it was my teacher who introduced me to the Lutheran church.

There is great beauty and a true focus on Christ in the historic liturgy and hymnody of the Lutheran church. Why anyone would want to replace it with pop-evanjelly fluff is beyond me. Fix the hymns, and you will have gone a long way toward fixing the church.

There are a few other subsets of this thought, not having to do with hymnody. These are two inventions. One being the movable liturgy. Let's change the liturgy a bit with every change in church season to keep people from getting bored. We wouldn't want people so simply memorize the liturgy now, would we? Printed orders of service are SO much more fun. Another being the skeletal liturgy. How much can we cut out while still calling it a liturgy? Creed, confession, sermon, prayers, throw in a few hymns and communion every few weeks. We certainly don't want the service to go over one hour.

Christian freedom does not mean you need to change for the sake of change. If the older version says it better...

The sermons I hear at my parish are excellent, and the teachings are for the most part doctrinally sound. Am I asking too much when I want the service to feel like we really are in the presence of the angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven? And I'm not talking about style, but about words.

jumps up and down

2006-05-04T19:51:00.000-05:00

Finals are over, oh happy day! Now I have 2 weeks to sleep until I start my undergrad research project, which will be in the neurology institute.

plug for tabletalk

2006-04-30T20:04:00.000-05:00

The IRC channel #tabletalk has been pretty quiet lately, so I'm plugging it here. For confessional Lutheran chat (ie., watch me and Sean go on about organs), go here and follow the directions.

books

2006-04-28T19:33:00.000-05:00

I've decided to steal the idea of the library feature from Kepler. This'll just show my books written in English though; a good portion of my shelf is in Ukrainian. :P

New Lutheran Blogger

2006-04-20T15:08:00.000-05:00

*Maria pokes Kepler*

While I'm updating blogrolls, do I need to add anybody? (Do you even care?)

Contemporary Worship? Um, no...

2006-04-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

This was recently posted on a message board in regards to a discussion on contemporary worship in the Lutheran church:

I like classical music, too. I like organ, handbells, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, too. I don't have a need to rid the church of these things or people. But a church that refuses to understand that people of this generation have different ears than those of a previous generation will be a church that will connect less and less to the people of this generation.

It is mindsets like this one that is part of the cause of the continual draining away of liturgical tradition. Yes, maybe people of my generation listen to different popular music, but that doesn't mean we want to carry that over into the church. Speaking from experience in my parish, at least, the majority of the people in the campus group would love to have more "traditional" hymnody and liturgy. It is more often the older, baby boomer generation that wants to have more modern stuff.

Let's at least be honest. If a church wants to have contemporary services, don't pretend you're doing it for the younger generation. Call it what it is: a desire to abandon the traditional, time-tested forms in order to feel good and "connected".

This doesn't mean that all hymns written in recent times are bad; quite the opposite. It does mean that a better criteria has to be used in choosing hymns than whether they have a nice beat.

Happy Easter

2006-04-16T11:56:00.000-05:00

Xpictos Avecti!

Христос Воскрес!

Christ is Risen!

Alleluia!

Yet another hymn.

2006-04-15T23:09:00.000-05:00

Christ Jesus lay in death's strong bands
For our offenses given;
But now at God's right hand he stands
And brings us life from heaven.
Therefore let us joyful be
And sing to God right thankfully
Loud songs of alleluia. Alleluia!

It was a strange and dreadful strife
When life and death contended;
The victory remained with life,
The reign of death was ended.
Holy Scripture plainly says
That death is swallowed up by death,
Its sting is lost forever. Alleluia!

Here the true Paschal Lamb we see,
Whom God so freely gave us;
He died on the accursed tree -
So strong his love to save us.
See, his blood now marks our door;
Faith points to it; death passes o'er,
And Satan cannot harm us. Alleluia!

So let us keep the festival
To which the Lord invites us;
Christ is himself the joy of all,
The sun that warms and lights us.
Now his grace to us imparts
Eternal sunshine to our heart;
The night of sin is ended. Alleluia!

Then let us feast this Easter Day
On Christ, the bread of heaven;
The Word of grace has purged away
The old and evil leaven.
Christ alone our souls will feed;
He is our meat and drink indeed.
Faith lives upon no other! Alleluia!

Hymn of the Randomly Changing Period of Time

2006-04-13T19:59:00.000-05:00

Ah, holy Jesus, how has thou offended
That man to judge thee hath in haste pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee.
Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee;
I crucified thee.

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
For ma's atonement, while he nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.

For me, kind Jesus, was thine incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation;
Thy death of anguish and thy bitter Passion,
For my salvation.

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee;
Think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.

You know, that's the nice thing about the chorales...they're simply enough that a small congregation can sing them in harmony, and they sound amazing.

complacency?

2006-03-26T12:38:00.000-05:00

So pastor scolded us in church this morning. He said that he doesn't understand why, when he announced the absolution, most of us just mumbled the response. Which got me to thinking, is it really so easy to become so complacent that the forgiveness of sins is just another everyday thing?

summer plans

2006-03-23T18:10:00.000-05:00

My application for summer research in the Neurology department has been approved. I bet that in a couple of months I'll be wondering why I ever let myself get into this. :P

In other news, I am now beginning to prepare for my pre-professional jury, as well as trying to dig up more pieces for the Lenten recitals. Current thoughts:

Holy Faith Catholic: 2 pieces from the Ave Maris Stella suite by Dupre
First Methodist: Ich ruf zu dir by Bach, as well as a couple more that I need suggestions for...

For the jury:

Canzona Prima by Frescobaldi
Fantasia and Fugue in c minor by Bach
Nun danket alle Gott by Karg-Elert
Les Anges by Messiaen

Add that to papers and tests...ugh.

Hymn of the randomly changing very long period of time

2006-03-15T10:01:00.000-05:00

I played Bach's ornamented chorale of this hymn yesterday at a Lenten recital. Interestingly, though it's in my Orgelbuchlein, it's not in either of my hymnals. Does anyone else have it?

O Mensch, Bewein' Dein' Sunde Gross

O man, bewail thy grievous fall
For which Christ left His Father's hall
And came to earth from heaven.

He of a virgin maiden pure
Was born of man the Saviour sure
And came earth's ills to leaven.

The dead He raised again to life
The sick He loosed from pain and strife
Until the time appointed

That He for us should shed His blood
And take on Him our sins' dark load
Stretched on the cross accursed

I'm off...

2006-03-15T09:34:00.000-05:00

...to DC for the weekend. Don't miss me everyone. (Not that I've been around much lately...I'm trying to think up good blog posts, I swear. ;-) )

Happy birthday to me.

2006-03-10T14:12:00.000-05:00

Yet another year I have been terrorizing the planet.

Feel free to send me stuff. ;-)

What we amuse ourselves with on campus.

2006-02-11T19:23:00.000-05:00

Well, other than the street preachers, there are the guys handing out random fliers. This particular one, we had quite a bit of fun with at Bible study Wednesday night. (Compounded by the fact that there was Mountain Dew, and it was read aloud by one of the theatre students...). It seems to be written by a group that looks like a mixture of hyper-Calvinism and some dispensational group. At any rate, we all cracked up over this entry:

Should I attend a church?

Definitely NOT! The Bible tells us that for almost 2000 years after Jesus died on the cross those who believe in Jesus, if possible, were to be members of a church. But now we learn from the Bible that god is no longer saving people through the ministry of the churches. The Church age has come to an end.

Fact is God commmands in His Lawbook, the Bible, that the true believers are to leave their church. This is because God's righteous Judgment is upon all local congregations as God is preparing the world for Judgment Day which is almost here.

"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him understand, Then let them which be in Judaea (the local churches) flee in the mountains:(to Christ)." - Matthew 24:15,16
"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God (the local churches): and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" - 1 Peter 4:17

We must remember we cannot be saved by a church or by a Pastor or by a Priest, or by water baptism or by the Communion Service. Only the Lord Jesus Christ who is God Himself can save us. The Bible teaches that at this present time that it is outside the churches that God is saving a great multitude of people.

"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;" - Revelation 7:9

Now, that is some rather interesting eisegesis...

I'm shocked

2006-02-06T15:40:00.000-05:00

There's a preacher in the Plaza today who's actually good. In fact, he comes pretty close to teaching proper Law & Gospel. Needless to say, I'm shocked. ;-)

something that I haven't done in a long time...

2006-02-04T20:02:00.000-05:00

A combination of boredom and Bach's Magnificat has sparked my creative mood, and I have resumed my experimentation with Photoshop:

Reflections

2006-01-31T20:49:00.000-05:00

I recently received a comment on my photographs. It was quite interesting, but I though I would choose this fragment to expound further upon:

"Icons above the archway. Sunlight is shining directly
on them, making the halos glow."

I found her selection of words fascinating, insightful and
even "illuminating" by making the connection between
Sunlight and the "Glowing Halo". Her words are reflective
of the origin of Ukrainian iconography and its connection
to the Halo as a symbolic representation of divine authority
in ancient times...

While the comment focused on the symbolism behind the use of the sun as a symbol of Divine authority, I though I would focus more on the icons, and why they were glowing: they were not shining with their own light. Quite the opposite in fact; when the sun set further, they were quite drab. The halos were glowing because they were reflecting the light of the sun, making for a breathtaking sight.

Now, those icons depict the Saints. Likewise, they are not remembered for their own light, their own righteousness, but because they reflected the light of the Son. Without Christ, we are nothing; it is His light that makes us glow.

Photo Tour of Kyiv

2006-01-29T17:17:00.000-05:00

Got most of my pictures sorted out. Still got a few more, but you can see a bunch of pretty churches and stuff now. :-P

http://plaza.ufl.edu/mikrav

Happy Birthday to...

2006-01-27T12:29:00.000-05:00

Today is Mozart's 250th birthday. In his short lifespan, he wrote numerous symphonies, operas, concertos, and a great amount of chamber and keyboard music. Although these works are lesser known, he also wrote a great amount of religious music, including masses and his famous Requiem. Mozart's music is known for clarity, balance, and simplicity which still portrays a great amount of emotion.

This sounds like a bad joke...

2006-01-18T21:20:00.000-05:00

What do six organists going on a field trip listen to in the van?

Hymns (just the organ part, no choir ;) ). We sing the first verse, and then, for the remainder, critique the organist's style and choice of registration...

computer

2006-01-14T19:31:00.000-05:00

Got a new computer. Hooking up the old one to it in order to transfer my files is not providing any results, however. They simply refuse to recognize one another. As a result, I'm rather annoyed at the things right now.

fun fun

2006-01-08T15:48:00.000-05:00

Classes start up again tomorrow. This semester has me whining about:

Music Theory 4
Organ
Accompanying
Organic Chemistry 2
Organic Chemistry Lab
Biology 2
Biology Lab 2

umm...

2006-01-04T16:00:00.000-05:00

Do I really look like Jennifer Lopez in this picture? That face recognition site Bunnie posted seems to think so...

more thoughts

2006-01-04T14:41:00.000-05:00

There's an American mission project in Ukraine that American churches donate millions of dollars to. The local people, for the most part, despise them. We went and talked to them while we were in Kyiv. On the cover, they look really great. Feed widows, establish churches, visit orphanages, etc. However, I can understand why the locals hate them. Their policy is to, for example, visit an orphanage, give out candy and clothes, put on some evangelistic program, and leave. Meanwhile, the building can have a leaky bathroom or whatever, but you just can't put money into the hands of locals because you can't trust them. I get the feeling that they'll give you a plate of soup and watch you eat it. I'm sorry, but you aren't going to reach the people by treating them like "You don't know any better, so I'll teach you how to do everything." Very arrogant. Living in an upscale apartment in the center of the city doesn't help either, or obviously spending lots of money on advertising, youth choruses and orchestras, and the like. (These are the same people who founded Holy Trinity Presbyterian in Kyiv, although the board of directors also has Lutherans and Baptists on it.)

On the other hand, the person who struck me as a true evangelist was the somewhat annoying Pentecostalish local minister who could have emigrated to Germany, and almost did, but chose instead to stay in a dying village taking care of the people who hate him and his Christianity, and living off of providence. He was practically begging for outside help though...he told us that he can talk about Jesus all he can, but until the old widow with 6 kids gets her roof fixed, or some means to support herself, the Gospel will mean nothing to her.

ick

2006-01-04T08:40:00.000-05:00

It's too hot here. Silly Florida having 75 degree weather in January. Give me back my snow.

merry christmas

2005-12-27T13:40:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it's a few days late, but merry christmas anyway.

completely random thoughts

2005-12-20T13:48:00.000-05:00

Okay, let's see how much I can type in 10 minutes until my uncle will make me get off and get back to the apartment.

I made a B in organic chemistry. I also made a B+ in music theory. Yucky. There goes my 4.0.

We arrived in Kyiv Sunday evening, after being delayed one day in Paris. More on that later, because it's a very long story, but yes, I got to see the Eiffel Tower at night. :-)

Sunday

Vespers at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox. Part of it at least. We didn't arrive for the beginning, and we didn't stay until the end, but it's the type of service where everyone is constantly going in and out and moving around. Pretty church, and the choir was magnificent. Chanting AND choral music. We managed to catch the prayers of the people, and the cantors were obviously well trained as singers. Grandma has been talking my ear off ever since we arrived. She's also a terrific cook.

Monday

Visited a couple of mom's friends, as well as the government sponsored orphanage that they help out with. Getting there was quite fun - first to their apartment on the outskirts of town - took about an hour, what with subway, and then bus, and then locating the apartment. They then drove us to the orphanage, which is about 30 km from Kyiv. I'll go in more detail when I have time, but my first impression is that having things look pretty is very important. You can have your toilet broken and not enough food, but everything has to look very pretty - paintings and embroidery everywhere.

Today

Spent the morning going around the tourist sites - monuments to St. Vladimir and St. Olga [separate], walked around St. Michael's but didn't have time to go in. Had a couple of lunches...even with all the walking I'm doing, I won't be losing any weight soon. Hospitality demands that people feed their guests, and it also demands that I eat the food. Of course, the food is far better than American food, so I'm not complaining. ;-)

Met with another one of my mom's friends, who are working with a well-known and established organization, also in charge of orphanages, which my parents' organization has decided to sponsor. This is a privately run organization, not run by the government. These people are doing excellent work. The orphanage is far nicer than most private schools in America, and the children are talented and very lively. The impressive thing is, I talked to some of these kids, and most of them were on the streets 6 months ago. Initially headed by a local church [nondenom], the board has expanded and includes Christians from all circles, Orthodox and Pentecostal alike. Their goal in the long run is to have the kids spend as little time in the orphanage proper as possible, enough to get them through psychiatric rehab and the like, and then to get them placed in foster homes [volunteers], who will be continue to be sponsored by this organization. Their goal is about 10 kids per family.

Final Random Thoughts:

Some things are exactly as I remember them, such as my grandparents' apartment and the like, and other things have changed greatly. The economy is growing in leaps and bounds. The food is far better - artificial processed food has yet to catch on here, even in the supermarkets. Some things are cheaper, others rival American prices. We were able to have a nice lunch in a cafe for the equivalent of $5, for 5 people.

I got to see a pipe organ today, in the Roman Catholic Church of St. Alexander [Polish]. In fact, it has 2 - a large, 3 manual one, and a small, wooden, antiphonal in the front. Was able to get some close up shots, but no wide ones, as I would have to do it from the front of the church, and it was currently open for prayer. They'll have a concert next week, and I'll be allowed to mess around with it afterwards.

Even with all the dirt and grime and traffic and stuff, the city is far prettier than any I've seen so far, so there. (Paris maybe rivals it.) Tis also huge. The temperature is normal, about -5*C. Finally, some decent weather. :-P I'll have pictures later, and I'll need to return and get proper pictures of St. Michael's at a similar time of day (around lunch). The sun shining on all the gold highlights on the exterior icons is a magnificent sight. I'm still trying to get used to the sun setting around 4:30 pm. I really need to get the marketplace sometime and buy proper gifts for people. It's 21:15 now, so I need to get off, get back to the apartment, try to make an excuse not to eat dinner ;), and get to bed.

I don't think so...

2005-12-15T17:40:00.000-05:00

For More Teens, Jesus is 'Way Cool'

While this is nothing new, here's what really ticked me off about this article:

But the push to fit religion into the culture at large is nothing new.

"It goes back to the roots of Christianity … how to make faith relevant within the context of capitalism," said Lynn Schofield-Clark, an assistant research professor at the University of Colorado's School of Journalism and Mass Communication who studies youth culture, marketing and religion.

*raises eyebrow* Christianity? Capitalism?

I'm FREE!!!

2005-12-14T18:13:00.000-05:00

Finals are done! *nervously anticipates final grades*

New Lutheran Blogger

2005-12-08T19:05:00.000-05:00

*Maria pokes Scott*

blargh

2005-12-07T22:03:00.000-05:00

Final exams start Friday. In addition, I'm playing in several organ recitals and singing in a choir concert, all in the next week. *watches brain melt*

You have a 67% chance of surviving a T-Rex Attack

You have an above average chance of surviving a T-Rex attack. You are able to recognize what the real dangers are as opposed to the imaginary ones. Go team!

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

hmmm...now what are the chances of my actually being athletic enough to outrun a T-rex?

...

2005-12-01T12:11:00.000-05:00

Well, my uncle's gotten himself, and ergo, my grandparents hooked up to Skype. Which means I shall now have no peace. ;-) I got a nice long rant from my grandmother on how she can't wait to see me, and how she's going to enculture me by taking me to see the organ concert in the Ukrainian Conservatory (along with a bit on how we need to go shopping for warm clothes, because living in Florida has made me soft, etcetc). Which is certainly fine with me, since my uncle then told me that that particular organ has 8 manuals. 8. Oh what fun I could have with that...mwahaha. Ahem.

watch out...

2005-11-29T16:51:00.000-05:00

I got my learner's permit today. Stay off the roads. ;-)

bored again

2005-11-25T18:45:00.000-05:00

The Prioress
You scored 15% Cardinal, 61% Monk, 52% Lady, and 43% Knight!

You are a moral person and are also highly intellectual. You like your
solitude but are also kind and helpful to those around you. Guided by a
belief in the goodness of mankind you will likely be christened a saint
after your life is over.

You scored high as both the Lady and the Monk. You can try again to
get a more precise description of either the Monk or the lady, or you
can be happy that you're an individual.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 7% on Cardinal
You scored higher than 86% on Monk
You scored higher than 84% on Lady
You scored higher than 33% on Knight

Link: The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test written by KnightlyKnave on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Nun Danket Alle Gott...

2005-11-24T17:01:00.000-05:00

Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices
Who wondrous things has done
For whom the world rejoices
Who from our mother's arms
Has kept us on our way
And wondrous things has done...

That's all I remember, and I'm too lazy to get up and find the hymnal. ;-)
It's really a pity that I haven't quite learned Karg-Elert's "March on Nun Danket" yet...it would be very fitting. Fun piece to play as well.

I got about 15 hours of sleep last night...went to bed really early since I felt like crap, and got up in time for thankgiving brunch. Yep, we eat our thanksgiving dinner for breakfast. Saves the need for food later on in the day. Got about 1/3 of my 10 page paper on Mozart's Requiem done as well. Let's see how long I can keep the bullshit up...going on and on about how Mozart was a genius, and his magnificent use of the Doctrine of Affections, etc.

This may sound a bit pitiful, but right now I'm most thankful that there is no school for 4 days, giving me ample time to get my homework done AND procrastinate a bit. Make that a lot. Maybe I'll think of something really deep later. Or not. Pretty much all my deep thinking has gone into the Requiem paper, which is starting to have vestiges of a theological treatise as well.

Random thought of the day

2005-11-22T11:42:00.000-05:00

1 Corinthians 1:27 - but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

Amazing how us mighty advanced humans couldn't survive without bacteria.

There goes my day...

2005-11-20T14:16:00.000-05:00

I got a 69 on my chemistry test. So according to my calculations, if I want a B in the class, I need to get at least an 88 on the next test. Grraargh.

music

2005-11-19T11:29:00.000-05:00

Listen to this. It's great.

la la la

2005-11-17T11:41:00.000-05:00

Dan: not particularly, but I was very pressed for time and didn't have time to check my answers.

Web: find me some.

Numenorean

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

R.I.P

2005-11-16T11:38:00.000-05:00

My brain is dead. Don't expect any meaningful posts for a while. (Not that I've ever had any of those...)

sigh

2005-11-13T18:11:00.000-05:00

I can't seem to shake the feeling that one day I'll end up in the Eastern Orthodox church (this is far from being a recent occurence)...and that's a tough case, considering that I'm getting a degree in organ and church music, and for the most part, they don't use organs. ;-) Guess I'll wait and see what happens...I bet tomorrow the pendulum will swing the other way, and I'll have posters of Bach everywhere. :P

I'm...

2005-11-10T09:02:00.000-05:00

HT: Chaz

All-Around Smart

You are all-around smart. Essentially, that means that you are a good combination of your own knowledge and experience, along with having learned through instruction - and you are equally as good with theoretical things as you are with real-world, applied things. You have a well-rounded brain.

0% applied intelligence
20% natural intelligence

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Maria needs...

2005-11-08T12:34:00.000-05:00

HT: Intolerant Elle

Here is what the Almighty Google tells me I need:

1. Maria needs to forward LPC meeting minutes to Marc to be posted on the webpage.
2. Maria needs to write a letter to Sandra, inviting her to the August meeting.
3. Maria needs to learn to let go.
4. Maria needs 24/7 care today. (Alright, a personal maid!)
5. Maria needs one or two good performances in the coming weeks. (But I have no chance to perform until Advent!>
6. Maria needs help with her damp chimney.

thoughts

2005-11-07T12:01:00.000-05:00

Last night I was in the choir that provided backup to a trio of Italian tenors. Thoughts from the concert:

- Italian guys sing really well
- Italian guys are hott
- They get very dramatic when they sing
- They like giving encores

Top 100

2005-11-04T17:13:00.000-05:00

HT: Aardvark Alley

Yes, I am procrastinating. No, I haven't started my paper yet. At any rate, here is what I have read from Time Magazine's Top 100 list:

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Rings
To Kill A Mockingbird

Reformation Over? Quiz

2005-11-04T12:10:00.000-05:00

From Amor et Labor

E = issue to die for
BE = divide church
A = adiaphora

Trinity - E
Divinity of Jesus - E
Literal Resurrection - E
Full Humanity of Jesus - E
Nature of the Lords Supper - BE
Common Cup- A
Justification - E
Sanctification - BE
Intinction - A
Disposable Cups at Communion - To be avoided whenever possible.
Nature of Baptism - BE
Age of Baptism - BE
Mode of Baptism (sprinkling or dunking) - A
Necessity of Holy Spirit Baptism - BE
Ordination of Women - BE
Ordination of Homosexual people - BE
Sacramental Marriage - A
Virgin birth - E
Perpetual virginity of Mary - A
Authority of Scripture - E
Authority of Tradition - BE
Inerrancy of Scripture - BE
Use of Images in worship - A
Contemporary music in worship - BE ;-)
Specific translation of Scripture - A
Baptismal Regeneration - BE
Decisional Regeneration - BE
Supralapsarianism/Infralapsariansim (order of decrees) - I am too lazy to remember what this means.
Human nature after the Fall - BE
Nature of the Atonement - BE
One Person, two Natures - E
The Filioque - A
Church Membership for Practicing Homosexual people - BE
Rapture - A
Millennium - A
Primacy of the Word - BE
Beer - A
Dancing - A
Playing Cards - A
Swearing - A
Premarital Sex - BE
Postmarital Sex - I don't get the question.
Healing continues - A
Tongues continue - A
Literal Hell - BE
Literal Devil - BE
The Rapture - Wasn't this already asked?
Apocrypha (inclusion in Canon) - A
James (inclusion in Canon) - BE
Revelation (inclusion in Canon) - BE
Private Confession - BE
Burial versus Cremation - A
Divorce - BE
Entire Sanctification - BE

The Aardvark institutes...

2005-10-30T08:14:00.000-05:00

...the Golden Aardvark Award.

movies

2005-10-29T18:45:00.000-05:00

scroll to bottom to copy the html

IMDB's Top 100 Best Movies of All Time
generate this HTML for your own page at ObeytheFist.com

Rank	Movie	Didn't See It/ Started It/ Finished It/ Hated It!
1	Godfather, The (1972)
2	Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)
3	Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
4	Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)	Finished It
5	Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)	Finished It
6	Casablanca (1942)
7	Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)	Finished It
8	Schindler's List (1993)
9	Shichinin No Samurai [Seven Samurai] (1954)
10	Star Wars (1977)	Finished It
11	Citizen Kane (1941)
12	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
13	Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
14	Rear Window (1954)
15	Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
16	Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)	Finished It
17	Memento (2000)
18	Usual Suspects, The (1995)
19	Pulp Fiction (1994)
20	North by Northwest (1959)
21	12 Angry Men (1957)
22	Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le [Amelie] (2001)
23	Psycho (1960)
24	Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
25	Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il [The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly] (1966)
26	Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
27	It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
28	Goodfellas (1990)
29	American Beauty (1999)
30	Vertigo (1958)
31	Sunset Blvd. (1950)
32	Matrix, The (1999)	Started It
33	Apocalypse Now (1979)
34	Pianist, The (2002)	Finished It
35	To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
36	C'era una volta il West [Once Upon a Time in the West] (1968)
37	Some Like It Hot (1959)
38	Third Man, The (1949)
39	Taxi Driver (1976)
40	Paths of Glory (1957)
41	Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi [Spirited Away] (2001)
42	Fight Club (1999)
43	Boot, Das (1981)
44	Double Indemnity (1944)
45	L.A. Confidential (1997)
46	Chinatown (1974)
47	Singin' in the Rain (1952)
48	Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
49	M (1931)
50	Requiem for a Dream (2000)
51	Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)
52	All About Eve (1950)
53	Se7en (1995)
54	Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)	Finished It
55	Saving Private Ryan (1998)
56	Cidade de Deus [City of God] (2002)
57	Raging Bull (1980)
58	Rashômon (1950)
59	Wizard of Oz, The (1939)	Finished It
60	Sting, The (1973)
61	Alien (1979)
62	American History X (1998)
63	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
64	Léon (1994)
65	Vita è bella, La [Life is Beautiful] (1997)
66	Touch of Evil (1958)
67	Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)
68	2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
69	Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
70	Great Escape, The (1963)
71	Wo hu cang long [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon] (2000)
72	Reservoir Dogs (1992)
73	Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
74	Amadeus (1984)	Finished It
75	Modern Times (1936)	Finished It
76	Ran (1985)
77	Annie Hall (1977)
78	Jaws (1975)
79	On the Waterfront (1954)
80	Braveheart (1995)
81	High Noon (1952)
82	Apartment, The (1960)
83	Fargo (1996)
84	Sixth Sense, The (1999)
85	Aliens (1986)
86	Shining, The (1980)
87	Strangers on a Train (1951)
88	Blade Runner (1982)
89	Metropolis (1927)
90	Duck Soup (1933)	Finished It
91	Finding Nemo (2003)	Finished It
92	Donnie Darko (2001)
93	General, The (1927)
94	City Lights (1931)	Finished It
95	Princess Bride, The (1987)	Finished It
96	Toy Story 2 (1999)	Finished It
97	Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
98	Great Dictator, The (1940)	Finished It
99	Sjunde inseglet, Det [The Seventh Seal] (1957)
100	Lola rennt [Run Lola Run] (1998)

Which movies have you seen?

You know it's fall when...

2005-10-28T17:03:00.000-05:00

...the hellfire preachers show up in the Plaza. You know the time...they carry a big wooden cross with a sign nailed to it, showing all the people who are going to hell. This includes Catholics, Democrats, Mormons, Masons, etc. There were two of them today. Since I had the afternoon off, I decided to relax a little. I walked up to them. There was a Catholic (friend of my friend) in a heated argument about whether or not he was the devil's tool and apostate. I decided to join the fray. It was quite fun, one minute we're both yelling at the preacher guys, next I'm yelling at the friend that no the Catholic church is not infallible. We decided we were on the same side, both going to hell, when I managed to ask a direct question and determine that yes, Lutherans are apostate too, since we don't hold altar calls. (Well, to be fair, one of the guys wasn't condemning at all, and we managed to hold a nice conversation. It was the other that caused all the sparks and fun.) It gathered quite a crowd...me yelling that the Church Fathers said this, the hellfire guy yelling that Catholics are devil-worshiping idolaters, and the Catholic dude getting quite red, shouting out for God to give him patience, Mary to pray for him, and even prostrating once.

It's a nice way to relax after a strenuous week, and more fun than debating over the internet. I'm not being sarcastic.

ha!

2005-10-26T19:45:00.000-05:00

You Should Get a MD (Doctor of Medicine)

You're both compassionate and brilliant - a rare combination.

You were born to be a doctor.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

HT: Aardvark Alley

#4 is a bad question...pretty much all the answers apply to me.

ER

2005-10-25T17:17:00.000-05:00

There was a patient in the ER today whose description was "goat attack". It made me laugh.

In other news, my grade on the last Organic Chemistry test sucked, so I'll need to work on that.

hahaha

2005-10-21T11:26:00.000-05:00

I found this somewhat amusing. In the Daily Lectionary, yesterday's Epistle reading had some verses marked "optional". You know what those verses were? The ones in 1 Corinthians about women wearing head coverings and being silent in church.

Heresy just keeps getting more outrageous

2005-10-20T07:21:00.000-05:00

There is a poster on a message board I frequent. He has been suggesting heretical doctrines. For example, original sin is a myth, and that Jesus' death was not a sacrifice. He claims to support these teachings by quoting ONLY the words of Jesus. Paul is apparently a false prophet. No matter that the writers of the Gospels were like influenced by Paul, and definitely did not record all of Jesus' words.

It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

St. Luke the Evangelist

2005-10-18T07:07:00.000-05:00

Today is the day ofSt. Luke the Evangelist, writer of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, and companion of Paul on his journeys. He was also a physician, and held to be a Syrian by birth. The Gospel is on the longer side, providing most of the information about Jesus' birth.

On an interesting note, the Orthodox church holds him to be the first iconographer.

church architecture

2005-10-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

What is with the modern trend in church architecture? It's either a box with a steeple stuck on top, a gymnasium, or a reposessed office building. It's not inspiring. It's not even pretty. I'm not asking that all churches be like gothic cathedrals (though it would be quite nice if they were all like Orthodox ones ;) ), but please, at least some taste. PowerPoint screen, stacking chairs, and artifical plants isn't pretty. It would be nice if all churches were a place you would feel comfortable praying in, not someplace that looks like the basketball team is about to barge in.

Organists are a strange bunch

2005-10-11T20:23:00.000-05:00

Here's a breakdown of the organ studio at school:

3 Lutherans (1 ELCA [the teacher], 1 LCMS, and me)
2 Methodist
1 Baptist
1 Catholic
1 Agnostic

And several more that I'm not sure about.

Now, the Baptist plays at a Catholic church. One of the Methodists plays at an Episcopal church. The agnostic is learning hymns and chorale preludes as part of the curriculum and has to listen to us discussing the theology of hymn playing in church.

Yep, organists are an odd bunch. The whole music department says so.

I don't get it

2005-10-04T11:58:00.000-05:00

Last night in choir we were learning the words for a Russian opera piece (Coronation Scene from Boris Godunov, by Moussorgsky). Overall, the pronunciation wasn't TOO bad, but it could have been far better. So, here's my question. Why does it seem to be so difficult to either string several consonants together (zdr) or to use the "soft mark", effectivelly adding a consonant "y" after a t, s, or r?

Hmmm.....runs and hides

2005-09-30T16:27:00.000-05:00

You are a
Social Liberal
(65% permissive)

and an...
Economic Liberal
(28% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Democrat

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

nerdy organ ramblings

2005-09-29T08:44:00.000-05:00

The organ tuner finally got called in today, and I have a feeling he'll be occupying the auditorium for quite a while. The instrument was beginning to sound quite horrendous.

Now, at 99 ranks and 5 manuals, this particular instrument is quite large. As a result of its size, whenever the weather changes, it gets thrown out. Of course, the loud reeds which are necessary for my French Baroque organ pieces went out first. Ever heard an out of tune Krummhorn? It's not pretty. When the mixtures don't match the Principals, that's not pretty either. When the Trompette goes out, it's positively hell-like.

Maybe it'll ruin my hearing, but I like to play with full registrations, and when those full registrations make you cringe, the tuner seems like a god.

In the words of the Psalmist...

2005-09-25T19:21:00.000-05:00

Meaningless, meaningless, it is all meaningless....a chasing after the wind.

Don't ask.

Moses with horns

2005-09-22T19:10:00.000-05:00

When St. Jerome was translating the Bible into Latin, he got to the part where Moses descends from the mountain shining with God's light. Looking at the Hebrew texts and finding that "light" and "horns" were spelled the same way, he figured it was unbecoming for a mortal to be shining with Divine Light, and therefore the passage is translated "horns". As a result, for your viewing pleasure:

History repeats itself...

2005-09-21T19:24:00.000-05:00

Today, a person from the organ studio, a member of the LCMS, gave a presentation to us organists on church music and the worship wars. (This presentation will also be given at the LCMS gathering in Orlando.) As a result of this information, I've come to the conclusion that it's Orthodoxy vs. Pietism all over again. There is nothing new under the sun...

(Kill the pietists! Burn em!)

rant

2005-09-18T12:18:00.000-05:00

I guess I've been lucky enough to avoid it until now. The church service had gone quite well until we reached the closing hymn. Shine Jesus Shine played on the pipe organ. As if the choice of that particular song wasn't enough, it had to be played on the least suitable instrument for it, making it sound like a herd of elephants. Rest assured, I raised quite a fuss.

I never thought I'd see the day...

2005-09-09T18:11:00.000-05:00

Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine, has been fired over a scandal with the privatization of companies. So have the rest of the cabinet. She's now been pushed into Yushchenko's opposition, and she's working independently, not in cahoots with the Russians. I'd say that as the people's sweetheart, she has a likely chance of winning the next election.

Medieval Chant

2005-09-01T14:38:00.000-05:00

Chant was the preferred form of music during the Middle Ages, an era spanning roughly 482 - 1497 AD. The most popularized form of this chant is Gregorian Chant, which was standardized in the 11th century.

Early Chant

During the 9th and 10th centuries, there were as many variations in styles of chant as there were regions. Each region of Europe had its own standard. During this era, a musician had a rather hard time learning his stuff, as the staff had not yet been developed. Instead, they used a system similar to that of the Ancient Greeks, in that directions called nuemes were written above the text. These nuemes would indicate what direction to go in, but not what interval. As a result, this notation was only used to aid the memory, but the actual music was passed down orally. Each region, in addition to having its own chants, also had its own set of nuemes. For example:

- Milan: Ambrosian
- Italy: Beneventen
- Germany: St. Gallen
- England: Sarum (Salisbury Chant)
- France: Gallican
- Spain: Visigothic

11th Century

By the 11th century, the style known as Gregorian Chant had become the standard in the western Church. The origin of it is not truly known, but it is attributed by legend to Pope Gregory, who reigned from 590 - 604. Every single prayer, office, and text of the Mass had been set to the chant, and was collected in a huge volume known as the Liber Visualis. This was made possible by the development of notation, specifically, the four line staff. The origin of this staff is held by legend to have come from the Guidonian Hand.

The Guidonian Hand was developed by Guido of Arezzo. This (in)famous monk was the bloke who developed the system of solfegge, which is the bane of music students today. Solfegge assigns a syllable to each note. Thus, the first note of the scale is "ut", second is "re", and so on. There was no "ti", as this note participate in the interval known as a tritone (also known as Devil's Tone), which was the bane of medieval composers. He would thus tell his singer which tone to sing by pointing to one of his fingers, each of which had a syllable assigned to it. Four fingers = four lines in the staff, or so the story goes.

Technical Stuff

All of these thousands of chants are based on 8 Church Modes, or scales. (follow image link)

-Dorian
-Phrygian
-Lydian
-Mixolydian
-Hypodorian
-Hypophrygian
-Hypolydian
-Hypomixolydian

In the absence of rhythmic notation, the rhythm is completely based on the text. The 3 main types of rhythmic chant are interwoven in one piece.

- Syllabic: One syllable per note
- Neumatic: 5 - 6 notes per syllable
- Melismatic: many notes per syllable

The Melisma is a very technical subset of chant, usually placed on the last syllable of an "Alleluia", and was a chance for the scribes to show their prowess in composition. To act as a memory aid for remembering these Melismas, the scribes wrote religious poetry, extraliturgical, which was sung to the same notes. These poems were commonly used as additions to the liturgy. The use of the Melisma was abolished in the Council of Trent, because all the poetry was obscuring the message of the Service.

Daily Office

The Daily Office was sung only in monasteries and convents. Each office consists of an Antiphon and several Psalms. The Antiphon was sung to standard chant settings, while the Psalms were recited using a Psalm tone. In a Psalm tone, or reciting tone, the main text is sung on one note only, while the end of the phrase uses a cadence, very similar to the settings in Lutheran hymnals.

Liturgical Dramas

Liturgical dramas, or morality plays, were exactly what they sound like. They were incorporated into the liturgy to teach a moral to the common rabble. Being almost completely sung (except for the devil, who just drones, being tainted and unable to comprehend the purity of music), liturgical dramas were the precursor of opera.

The most famous of these plays is the Ordo virtutum, written by Hildegard von Bingen, a German mystic, in 1151. This play was, in fact, an extraliturgical work, written to commemorate the founding of her convent in 1150. There are two sets of characters, the Virtues, which were usually associate with women and were played by women:

- Humility
- Love
- Obedience
- Faith
- Hope
- Chastity
- Innocence
- Mercy

And the acting roles:

- Happy soul
- Unhappy soul
- Devil
- Militant Christ

This set of characters was very common in morality plays. Probably the most identifying feature of the music in this particular one is the drone behind the chant, which was causes by a sort of organ, which had 2 pedals connect to 2 pipes, in tone a Perfect 5th apart.

In a nutshell, Gregorian Chant rocks and you should all listen to it. Now children, who wants to learn about polyphony? ;-)

persecution complex

2005-08-31T19:59:00.000-05:00

http://www.macon.com/mld/telegraph/living/religion/12486522.htm

If the evanjellies ARE being persecuted, they deserve it. But really, I think the whole complex is ridiculous. Being ridiculed for being stupid isn't really persecution...it's being exposed for what you are.

Sola Scriptura

2005-08-26T17:30:00.000-05:00

Sola Scriptura is probably the most misunderstood of the Reformation doctrines. One one side you have the papists, who denounce this doctrine with disdain, putting Tradition on a level above Scripture. On the other hand, there are the modern evanjelly churches, who have twisted this doctrine to such an extent that it is unrecognizable. In effect, the modern view of Sola Scriptura, on both sides of the argument, is that the doctrine allows each person to formulate his own views. This is one of the main reasons why there are so many sects today.

This is not, however, the classic understanding, and it is not what the Reformers promoted. The witness and authority of Scripture is to be placed above all other sources, but it is not to be interpreted by each man individually. Scripture is to be interpreted by the collective witness of the Church and the Traditional doctrines passed down through the Fathers and Ecumenical Councils. To do otherwise is to abandon all tradition, which is sadly becoming more common today. Relevance can go to hell. Scripture and the traditional understanding of it must be upheld.

Choir

2005-08-23T16:07:00.000-05:00

Since I can't think of anything interesting to write about, you all can read about my life instead. ;-) I auditioned into the civic chorus, as an alto. First rehearsal, the conductor had us learning Mozart's Requiem, as well as one of Bach's Christmas cantatas. (Being able to read music well is a prerequisite for the choir.) That was fun. Also, a trip to DC to sing opera choruses with the National Philharmonic is scheduled over spring break. Now I just have to convince my parents to let me go...

Stamps

2005-08-22T12:51:00.000-05:00

Yay! I have internet again. I survived an entire weekend without it. Unbelievable. In the meantime, I decided to use my hours of free time to finish organizing all the loose stamps I had lying in a shoebox under my bed for who knows how long, ever since a friend of my dad's gave me a huge grocery bag of them. I found some awfully old ones. In fact, they looked so old that I checked them against my catalog. One, kind of faded, is from 1894. Another, in excellent condition, is from 1915. w00t.

Picture to go with previous post...

2005-08-16T18:33:00.000-05:00

...because I was absent-minded and forgot.

Mary, Mother of God

2005-08-15T20:51:00.000-05:00

The Theotokos Mary is probably one of the most controversial saint in the Church. From the Romans who bow down to statues of her, to the Jack Chick types who condemn her as some type of false goddess. Whatever the responses though, she is given an important position in Scripture, beginning with the angel (Hail Mary...). However, we are not to focus on her for her own sake, but that she points to Christ. In Scripture, the few mentions we have of Mary, she is always pointing to her Son. In this way, the most common icon of Mary shows her holding the infant Jesus on her lap, and pointing to Him.

That is what the title "Mother of God" is all about. It is not to elevate Mary to a position higher than God, but to point to Christ Himself, showing that He was indeed a man, and not simply a spirit appearing as a man. It is unfortunate today that so many today have so little respect for Mary, and so little knowledge of the reasons behind her titles. (The utter disrespect of tradition in the modern church is frightening.)

Honor Mary. But above all, honor her Son.

School

2005-08-13T20:27:00.000-05:00

Classes start up again next week. I'm ready - summer is getting boring. Class list:

- Organic Chemistry 1
- Biology 1
- Bio Lab 1
- Music Theory 3
- Musical Styles
- Organ
- Accompanying
- Recital Attendance

I'm also going to be trying out for the Civic Chorus.

Another reason I want school to start up again - I'm curious to see what my organ teacher (ELCA) thinks of the new ELCA hymnal that's being proposed. She's just as much a stickler for traditional liturgy and hymns as I am.

ELCA and Gays

2005-08-12T21:12:00.000-05:00

Well, the proposition to ordain gay clergy failed. The vote was almost 50-50 though, so it doesn't look like it's the end of the issue. :-(

The resolution on blessing same-sex couples also failed, but in a round-about way. The wording was changed to affirm current practice, and expresses "trust" in pastors ministering to gays and lesbians.

Why can't we just leave this whole stupid issue alone and go on to more important things? Like making sure they don't butcher the hymnal.

Photoshop

2005-08-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

I've been fooling around with Photoshop again. :-) (Click on image to see it full size.)

Paradise Lost

2005-08-08T21:44:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Paradise Lost. It's an excellent piece of literature, that everyone should read. If the title isn't obvious, it's a narrative (a very long one) about the fall of Adam and Eve.

The narrative starts in the classic style, in the middle of the action. The first scene in the poem shows Satan and his angels waking up to find themselves in hell, and how they establish a kingdom there, and vow revenge on God. There are flashbacks later that relate the events up to that time. Satan himself is a very three dimensional character, cast in an almost sympathetic light.

It's rather hard to say from what persective Milton is writing from; some parts are very Lutheran, while other parts are more Catholic. Overall, if you can stand poetry and funky spelling, it's a good read.

ELCA Churchwide Assembly

2005-08-07T16:07:00.000-05:00

The ELCA Churchwide Assembly is meeting in Orlando this week, beginning tomorrow. Daily updates will be posted on their website. Pray that they will make the right decisions (for once). And maybe also that they'll decide the hymnal they're working on is crap and that they need to start over on it. ;-)

Lutheran Carnival

2005-08-05T22:35:00.000-05:00

Lutheran Carnival.

Musical Ramblings

I am now officially a college graduate...

Tagged

I still live.

Junior Recital

Christ is Risen!

New Photoshop Piece

More Photoshop stuff

The Stoning of the Organist

Where's Maria?

For Holy Cross Day...

Apparently I'm well-adjusted.

I'm a bad Lutheran....

hey wait...church isn't about republican politics?

I've been tagged...

The Feast of Prince St. Volodymyr, Baptizer of Kyiv

Linguistic rant

Photoshop Stuff

A Dictionary to Understanding Pop Evangelicals

I'm a nerd. Big surprise.

rant on technology

w00t!

yayness

Some ramblings about music

*jumps up and down*

plug for tabletalk

books

New Lutheran Blogger

Contemporary Worship? Um, no...

Happy Easter

Yet another hymn.

Hymn of the Randomly Changing Period of Time

complacency?

summer plans

Hymn of the randomly changing very long period of time

I'm off...

Happy birthday to me.

What we amuse ourselves with on campus.

I'm shocked

something that I haven't done in a long time...

Reflections

Photo Tour of Kyiv

Happy Birthday to...

This sounds like a bad joke...

computer

fun fun

umm...

more thoughts

ick

merry christmas

completely random thoughts

I don't think so...

I'm FREE!!!

New Lutheran Blogger

blargh

...

watch out...

bored again

Nun Danket Alle Gott...

Random thought of the day

There goes my day...

music

la la la

R.I.P

*sigh*

I'm...

Maria needs...

thoughts

Top 100

Reformation Over? Quiz

The Aardvark institutes...

movies

You know it's fall when...

ha!

ER

hahaha

Heresy just keeps getting more outrageous

St. Luke the Evangelist

church architecture

Organists are a strange bunch

jumps up and down

sigh

Hmmm.....runs and hides