Books and Music

Well my summer was really busy, which didn't allow for a lot of reading time. I hope to change this in the fall, these are some of the books I am working through at the Culleton-Koebel household.

Books:

Mission Al Jazeera by Josh Rushing - Follows Josh Rushing an ex-Marine turned Al Jazeera reporter. I am not one to find war books/movies as intriguing or interesting for that matter. However, Rushing does a good job showing how truth is subverted to support various political agendas. Rushing got his '15 minutes of fame' as he was unknowingly the star of Control Room, a documentary on the war in Iraq - I am hoping to watch Control Room in the next week.

The Last Word by N.T. Wright - In the last year Wright has become someone who I've turned to more in what it means to say the Bible is authoritative. I hope this book give insights in how a christian is to take the Bible as being authoritative with all we know about how the Bible's authors.

The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie - Early this summer I read my first Rushdie book, I was blown away by the beauty of his storytelling. I hope that my second run is equally fulfilling. So far the words spring off the page and paint a mosaic of experiences and worldviews. I must say I have never read anyone who writes with the beauty of Rushdie.

A song from last night...

This is the song for communion.

Come to me by Mike Koop

I am weary
I am weak
I am thirsty
All you said was
Come to me
Come to me (3x)
All you siad was come to me

I am haunted
I am so vain
I am so filthy
All you said was
Come to me Come to me...

I said you're nothing
I said no, I'm right
I said I hate you
All you said was
Come to me
Come to me..

Going to see Bright Eyes

The last little while I've had a bit of bad luck with going to concerts. We we're gonna go to the Wilco show, but then the guitarist got sick. So I have been eagerly waiting for a concert to attend then the Kanye West show became known, but I work that night and the tickets are really pricey (the cheapest are $70.00). I was actually pretty irritated that due to my working evening I was going to miss Kanye, but my love for concerts will be fulfilled soon as Bright Eyes is coming to town. I have been a huge fan of Bright Eyes, which is a indie-rock/folk band. The lead singer Conner Oberst grew up catholic, but now questions his parents faith. His questions have helped and challenged my faith a lot. Anyways to make matters better our tickets are 12 rows back from the stage. This will be my second Bright Eyes show..so I am really pumped!

Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

I'm not sure what is about me when I hear about a Canadian doing thing I respect that makes me proud to be Canadian. I don't think its that I am not unpatriotic, but maybe being Canadian isn't a defying thing for me as a person. Nonetheless whenever I encounter the work of Naomi Klein in the little portions that I've read -- I am proud to say I am a Canadian. Here is a little video that introduces her new book - Shock Doctrine - enjoy.

9/11

Well I guess its that time of year again. I imagine it will sound trite whatever I say about 9/11, but every year it seems this day sticks out. I think the more I think about it all I can say is that I pray for those who've lost love ones through this tragic event. I include all those in my prayers: Americans, Iraqis, and all those other countries that have been attacked under the 'war on terrorism'. I think my only solace in thinking about the vast amount of tragedies in the world is a prayer for peace. Not praying to understand how God 'uses' tragedy to bring about redemption, because a God that uses violence is not a God I care to know.

All I can do is pray that those hurt turn to peace, not vengeance. I listen to Road to Peace by Tom Waits and prayer for peace. Peace for those suffering that they have people who will sit Shiva with them and not try to explain away the reason this and that happened. Mostly, because any answer fails to help and only creates perverse understanding of the way God works.

I watched a video a couple months ago sent to me by a friend posted on Juan Cole's Blog about an Iraqis response to the Americans bombing Iraq and her response hit me. She basically asked for God to repay these evil deeds. Maybe God responds this way, much like the Old Testament describes them(if that is the case I'm not sure how Jesus fits in with this God). It struck me that the Iraqis response is similar to many Americans response to being attack that God would seek revenge for their loss. Just wondering if there is a difference between and American/Iraqis plea....

Cranberry-Port Conserve

Well on my days off I try to cook dinner for Trisha and myself. Since, we bought some cranberries at the farmer's market a couple weeks back we wanted to try a cranberry sauce-chicken dinner. So last night I made a Cranberry-Port Conserve. I wasn't sure the conserve would turn out, but when all was said and done it was a success. So we had the conserve with grilled chicken and spaghetti squash. I imagine we will try this menu again and to end the evening I watch Monday Night Football with a couple of glasses of Sheperds Ridge Pinot Noir 2004, which went really well with the dinner. This was a bit of a surprise. This was a shocking because I hadn't really tasted a Pinot Noir that I enjoyed, but ever since watching Sideways Pinot Noir has a mystic that cannot be explained. Well hope everyone has time to try something new for dinner with some friends and family.

100 Mile diet....

Well Trisha and I are 11 days into our 100 mile diet, which will go till early December. It has been fun finding locally produced products, but some things such as soy milk does not have a local alternative. Thankfully, soy milk is really the only thing that doesn't fit into the diet, we found eggs, butter, bread, veggies, fruit, etc that is made locally.

The farmer's market has been a treat every time we can make it Saturday morning. I think the bread made locally is incredible, while the taste can be savoured through the weeks, it has been fun meeting the people as well. This week we bought a couple loafs and chatted with the producer, she shared how her week was rough so her co-worker would have count our money. Part of the reason to participating in the diet is to be more connected to the products. We often talk about the importance of relationships. I think by buying locally brings us in relationship to the product and the community that produces our food. David Morris notes this is the reason why eating locally is important, "community, which, to me, is the most important reason to prefer local food. Distance kills community."

I feel that the lack of pesticides and hormones in our food is a move in the right direction. It is also fun to try new things, we are able to get bison burger that have significantly less fat than the leanest burgers at Superstore, bread that is amazing(this week we got a Cranberry Pumpkin Seed Bread..yummy), great jams from lock port, Mexican sausages. Well the list would go one.....for a further theological discussion on eating locally and becoming Green download some sermons from Mars Hill Bible Church - the series is called 'God is Green. Well hope everyone has a good work, and are at work at redeeming the world.

Rap = Rape

In a class at college a prof made the statement 'Rap equals Rape.' At the time I wondered if this was true, as a person who grew up with rap/hip-hop/R&B. I think this statement has stuck with me as I continue to listen to rap, but definitely more aware of the lyrics. I think this is a struggle because I believe some rap/hip-hop is very prophetic, which I hope to blog about in a couple days.

This topic has been creeping into my thoughts with my work at BHF in Selkirk. Most of these boys are indoctrinated in Rap worldview from a very young age, through family members, music, music videos, etc. I think for most of these boys to view women as anything else than a sex-object is long task of reorientation. So this statement is very true, whenever we drive they are compelled to 'holler' at every female that is innocently walking the streets.

In my many talks with the boys about their interactions with females, the truth that glares back at me is that the girls I got to know during adolescents is not the girls these boys know. While their Sex Ed is probably learnt through porn and rap music, this creates a problem for their social interaction with females beyond their limited understanding of females. One boy keeps on sharing a story of how he encountered a married women at a baseball game and from my estimation she was merely being polite. However, this woman's politeness is communicated to the boy as a willingness for sex.

This view naturally leads to my professors statement. Not sure where this rant is going just a few thoughts....

Who is Josh Ritter?

The music industry is in a peculiar state. I find it hard to find artist who continually impress. Such is the case this past week with Ben Harper's new CD Lifeline, I have been a fan of Harper for 3 years now. While Harper is a brilliant artist, this last CD I got the feeling of 'I've heard this before'. While the CD is good, I expected more. I guess once you've found your niche in the market you stick to it.

One the other hand a new artist to me Josh Ritter was a pleasant surprise. I've been playing his CD The Historical Conquest of Josh Ritter nonstop. I find his songs meeting some deeper meaning that was missing from Harper's outing. The entire CD is great, particularly good for a road trip. So if your in a mood for something original give Ritter a listen.