Well I decided to finish the book last night. It ended up having very little to do with singing, and was designed to be read by clergy rather than laity.
After all my ranting from yesterday, the second half of the book turned out to be rather good. One could easily skip the first half and not know the author is crazy. The final chapters outline the role of the church in the ministry of the funeral. How to deal with certain inevitable situations. How to remain focused on the worship aspect without neglecting the expectations of others.
How do I rate a book like this. Quite simply, I wouldn't recommend it to most anyone, but I did still gain a few insights.
2
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Accompany Them With Singing Part 1
I have so much to say about this book, that it'll have to be split up in parts. Accompany Them With Singing: The Christian Funeral by Thomas G. Long is like one giant argument.
Long describes Platonism as the belief that the body is just a shell. He is so firm against this belief that he glorifies the body beyond it's importance and claims that this is the only Christian way to view things. He believes that funerals are a sort of baptism journey into heaven, but then says that we are not immortal. "Since we are not immortal, when the body dies, the whole person dies, period. We don't have deathless souls, spirits, or anything else. Only God is immortal." He then moves on to talk about us receiving new imperishable bodies as if he is in no way contradicting himself.
He makes a wide difference between "death" and "Death", natural death and Death, the final enemy. He speaks as if natural death was ALWAYS a part of man instead of tying it in with consequences of the fall of Adam and Eve. He's VERY critical of anyone who may hold different views, calling them "well-meaning Christians" and "overoptimistic".
He's so convinced that we cannot exist without bodies that he spends way too much time arguing with himself about when the switchover happens and we get our new bodies. We can't have gone on immediately when we die cuz our bodies are still there. Do we get our new bodies while the old ones are rotting away under ground? According to him, we are raised from the dead and given new bodies immediately. Thereby, Death has no victory.
Further into the book... "While the biblical evidence is mixed, the overall thrust of the biblical witness seems to encourage a hope for the redemption of all humanity...The notion that the eternal fate of people swings on whether they decide to allow Jesus Christ into their hearts is ruthlessly individualistic and runs counter to the biblical hope of a new creation...Moreover, such a view of salvation puts God's will at the mercy of human decision making." No wonder the jacket describes the author as "one of the most popular preachers in the United States today."
There are some positive elements so far. I appreciate learning about Christian funeral rites through the ages. I also agree that the funeral shouldn't lose the concept that we are accompanying the deceased on their last journey to Christ. Why cremation would hinder that, I'm not sure. Chapter 5, entitled "The Funeral As Worshipful Drama" is very good if a little long winded.
I'm halfway through and not sure when I'll finish the book. I'm leaving for Estonia tomorrow and won't have much time for reading. Will keep you posted when I return!
Long describes Platonism as the belief that the body is just a shell. He is so firm against this belief that he glorifies the body beyond it's importance and claims that this is the only Christian way to view things. He believes that funerals are a sort of baptism journey into heaven, but then says that we are not immortal. "Since we are not immortal, when the body dies, the whole person dies, period. We don't have deathless souls, spirits, or anything else. Only God is immortal." He then moves on to talk about us receiving new imperishable bodies as if he is in no way contradicting himself.
He makes a wide difference between "death" and "Death", natural death and Death, the final enemy. He speaks as if natural death was ALWAYS a part of man instead of tying it in with consequences of the fall of Adam and Eve. He's VERY critical of anyone who may hold different views, calling them "well-meaning Christians" and "overoptimistic".
He's so convinced that we cannot exist without bodies that he spends way too much time arguing with himself about when the switchover happens and we get our new bodies. We can't have gone on immediately when we die cuz our bodies are still there. Do we get our new bodies while the old ones are rotting away under ground? According to him, we are raised from the dead and given new bodies immediately. Thereby, Death has no victory.
Further into the book... "While the biblical evidence is mixed, the overall thrust of the biblical witness seems to encourage a hope for the redemption of all humanity...The notion that the eternal fate of people swings on whether they decide to allow Jesus Christ into their hearts is ruthlessly individualistic and runs counter to the biblical hope of a new creation...Moreover, such a view of salvation puts God's will at the mercy of human decision making." No wonder the jacket describes the author as "one of the most popular preachers in the United States today."
There are some positive elements so far. I appreciate learning about Christian funeral rites through the ages. I also agree that the funeral shouldn't lose the concept that we are accompanying the deceased on their last journey to Christ. Why cremation would hinder that, I'm not sure. Chapter 5, entitled "The Funeral As Worshipful Drama" is very good if a little long winded.
I'm halfway through and not sure when I'll finish the book. I'm leaving for Estonia tomorrow and won't have much time for reading. Will keep you posted when I return!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Accompaniment Method for Guitar
I'm out of Accidents!! yay! Took me long enough
Well Mel Bay wrote this method book for guitar accompaniment, complete with CD for demonstration. I played through it, and it looks like a really great book for anyone aspiring to learn guitar. Most guitar books I see move too quickly through techniques, but this spends a good deal on various strumming and picking styles, which seems to be where most new learners struggle. There's no plucking through "Little Brown Jug" or banging your head with scales, but the book includes all the basics needed to start accompanying yourself or someone else on guitar. It even includes various 7th and barre chords, and, of course, appendices to cover what they've left out.
This comes with high recommendation from me! 3
Well Mel Bay wrote this method book for guitar accompaniment, complete with CD for demonstration. I played through it, and it looks like a really great book for anyone aspiring to learn guitar. Most guitar books I see move too quickly through techniques, but this spends a good deal on various strumming and picking styles, which seems to be where most new learners struggle. There's no plucking through "Little Brown Jug" or banging your head with scales, but the book includes all the basics needed to start accompanying yourself or someone else on guitar. It even includes various 7th and barre chords, and, of course, appendices to cover what they've left out.
This comes with high recommendation from me! 3
Accidents In the Home
= smut.
I got 20 pages into this novel by Tessa Hadley before giving up. Now I know what to expect from an author who teaches creative writing at a place called Bath Spa University College
I got 20 pages into this novel by Tessa Hadley before giving up. Now I know what to expect from an author who teaches creative writing at a place called Bath Spa University College
Accidentally On Purpose
Well this was different than I thought it'd be. Accidentally On Purpose by Mary F. Pols sums itself up in the tag line: A one-night stand, my unplanned parenthood, and loving the best mistake I ever made.
As one might guess, this isn't a novel but rather a true story. It is told in story format and is very engaging. Mary is nothing like me and her life is nothing like mine, but she kept me interested the whole way through. Well, most of the way through. She's a Bay Area journalist. 'Nuff said. Near the end of the book, her story takes a completely different turn as she talks about grieving the loss of her father. Suddenly the book about her son, starts feeling like *cough* memoirs and I lost interest for a couple chapters till she brought it back around to the parts I cared about. No offense, but her relationship with her dad was not the part of her life that I was interested in.
The book is unnecessarily vulgar at times, but still well written. I feel like I've walked away from this book unchanged and indifferent, however. I may have approached it with my hopes too high, but it has earned a 2 on my scale.
As one might guess, this isn't a novel but rather a true story. It is told in story format and is very engaging. Mary is nothing like me and her life is nothing like mine, but she kept me interested the whole way through. Well, most of the way through. She's a Bay Area journalist. 'Nuff said. Near the end of the book, her story takes a completely different turn as she talks about grieving the loss of her father. Suddenly the book about her son, starts feeling like *cough* memoirs and I lost interest for a couple chapters till she brought it back around to the parts I cared about. No offense, but her relationship with her dad was not the part of her life that I was interested in.
The book is unnecessarily vulgar at times, but still well written. I feel like I've walked away from this book unchanged and indifferent, however. I may have approached it with my hopes too high, but it has earned a 2 on my scale.
Accidental Vegan
Another cookbook already! I'm thankful that this one was so short. I'm still cooking my way through the last one.
Sometimes it's good to read the introduction to a book. Devra Gartenstein immediately won me over by letting me know that she isn't vegan. Whew. Maybe I COULD read this book. Most of the first recipes sounded delicious because they were appetizers, and most of them didn't require any modification to make them vegan. Who doesn't like hummus or egg rolls?! Ok, some of you don't, but you're weird.
It all went downhill for me in the middle, when she'd moved on to main courses and they all seemed to have tofu or seitan as meat substitutes. I have nothing against tofu and I've never tried seitan, but these types of foods always seem to sound worse than they actually taste. If I were turning vegan, this book would come in very handy because most of the recipes seem quite simple to make.
In the meantime, I'll just keep eating what I'm eating. Cookbooks are hard to rate, but I'll give this one a 2.
Sometimes it's good to read the introduction to a book. Devra Gartenstein immediately won me over by letting me know that she isn't vegan. Whew. Maybe I COULD read this book. Most of the first recipes sounded delicious because they were appetizers, and most of them didn't require any modification to make them vegan. Who doesn't like hummus or egg rolls?! Ok, some of you don't, but you're weird.
It all went downhill for me in the middle, when she'd moved on to main courses and they all seemed to have tofu or seitan as meat substitutes. I have nothing against tofu and I've never tried seitan, but these types of foods always seem to sound worse than they actually taste. If I were turning vegan, this book would come in very handy because most of the recipes seem quite simple to make.
In the meantime, I'll just keep eating what I'm eating. Cookbooks are hard to rate, but I'll give this one a 2.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Accidental Time Machine
I did NOT know where this one was going the whole time I read it. The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman is a Sci-Fi novel including a fairly rational amount of physics, mystery, and flirtation.
The main character, Matt, has accidentally created a time machine while doing a simple project for his boss in the MIT physics department. The novel is set about 50 years in the future, but as he travels (only forward in time) he gets around 30,000 years ahead. From the Second Coming of Jesus (a conspiracy) to Dinosaurs in Indonesia to a colony on the moon, the book keeps the reader wondering how Matt will find his way out of the next crisis.
Like most modern novelists, Haldeman can't seem to avoid smut. He sneaks it in near the end, but it's there nonetheless. The book had potential, but the ending seemed hurried and a bit pointless. Unfortunately, it only gets a 2
The main character, Matt, has accidentally created a time machine while doing a simple project for his boss in the MIT physics department. The novel is set about 50 years in the future, but as he travels (only forward in time) he gets around 30,000 years ahead. From the Second Coming of Jesus (a conspiracy) to Dinosaurs in Indonesia to a colony on the moon, the book keeps the reader wondering how Matt will find his way out of the next crisis.
Like most modern novelists, Haldeman can't seem to avoid smut. He sneaks it in near the end, but it's there nonetheless. The book had potential, but the ending seemed hurried and a bit pointless. Unfortunately, it only gets a 2
Accidental Masterpiece: The Art of Life and Vice Versa
After my last attempt at reading a book about art, I was a bit hesitant to open this one by Michael Kimmelman. Although Kimmelman is an art critic, he seems to be able to speak to the art novice quite easily. No translation necessary.
The book takes a look at art from a different perspective: life. What motivates us? Why do we collect things? Why do we become more creative in times of great struggle and tragedy? I didn't feel like less of a person if I didn't know the artists he was talking about, because I learned about them through the book, and it wasn't all about what significant pieces they created. It was about their drive and passion, their struggles with the world around them, and most of all, Kimmelman found a way to connect each of us to these artists by revealing the similarities in all of us.
I can highly recommend it. 3
The book takes a look at art from a different perspective: life. What motivates us? Why do we collect things? Why do we become more creative in times of great struggle and tragedy? I didn't feel like less of a person if I didn't know the artists he was talking about, because I learned about them through the book, and it wasn't all about what significant pieces they created. It was about their drive and passion, their struggles with the world around them, and most of all, Kimmelman found a way to connect each of us to these artists by revealing the similarities in all of us.
I can highly recommend it. 3
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The Accidental Housewife
Julie Edelman is the self-professed "Accidental Housewife". As much as I love reading, the one problem with this book is that there is a much better, more accessible, up-to-date webpage instead.
There are a gajillion books about homemaking, but Edelman is kooky and cynical, and the book is short. The combination is magic. I won't recommend reading the book, but I will definitely recommend checking out her website at www.theaccidentalhousewife.com WARNING: She is VERY girly. Be prepared.
The book itself earns a 2
There are a gajillion books about homemaking, but Edelman is kooky and cynical, and the book is short. The combination is magic. I won't recommend reading the book, but I will definitely recommend checking out her website at www.theaccidentalhousewife.com WARNING: She is VERY girly. Be prepared.
The book itself earns a 2
Accidental Guerilla
Long, but intelligent, this book by Dr. David Kilcullen is worth stumbling through. I never thought I'd read a book all about modern counterinsurgency techniques without feeling bored or stupid, but here we are.
If you have no interest in modern warfare, don't read this book. If you have at any point been involved in Iraqi Freedom or the War on Terrorism, it's a must-read. Dr. Kilcullen is certainly the expert on counterinsurgency, having served as Special Advisor for Counterinsurgency to the Secretary of State, among other things.
I think the reason I enjoyed this book so much was because he focuses on the people, not the "problem". The chapters are VERY long and hard to get through in one sitting, but they're worth a look.
3
If you have no interest in modern warfare, don't read this book. If you have at any point been involved in Iraqi Freedom or the War on Terrorism, it's a must-read. Dr. Kilcullen is certainly the expert on counterinsurgency, having served as Special Advisor for Counterinsurgency to the Secretary of State, among other things.
I think the reason I enjoyed this book so much was because he focuses on the people, not the "problem". The chapters are VERY long and hard to get through in one sitting, but they're worth a look.
3
The Accidental Gourmet
I could spend a considerable amount of time focusing on the modern misuse of the word "gourmet", but that soap box will have to wait. I have finally reached a new genre: the cookbook.
I'm sure you've all been poised on the edges of your seats for my next installment in this ever-so-viral blog of mine. Well I apologize. You see, in order to properly judge a cookbook, one must sample some of its claims to greatness. Sally Sondheim and Suzannah Sloan have taken every weeknight of the year and created a full meal plan for a family of 4.
Each day includes an entrée, salad, and dessert, and some starch somewhere. This is obviously written for someone like me who survives on order and lists, because each meal also has a list of equipment needed AND a countdown with ordered steps, telling the "gourmet" how to complete the full meal so everything comes out just at the right time for eating.
Sounds wonderful, right? Well I've tried 4 of these meals so far. Two were good. Two were so-so. The part that bothers me about this book is not the quality of the meals, however. It's this need that cookbook "authors" feel they have to find cute names for their dishes. Lets face it. There are only so many ingredients in the world and only so many ways to combine them into edible form. So in order to make the recipes their own, Sondheim and Sloan give us themed meals like You're Egging Me On, Yes I Yam, Bluffin' Muffins, and Tomfool Tapioca. Having run out of creativity, they depend on each state for inspiration. For Iowa we have Hawkeyed Sausage, State Fair Salad, and Ames to Be Pudding. However clever you may feel this is, it does pose a problem. The names have VERY LITTLE to do with the dish itself. If I want to search for a pasta dish with shrimp, I have to search through 300 recipes to find one.
I will most likely be consulting this book again, but as a disclaimer, I must recommend NOT getting caught up in the structure of the book. Rather, if something looks good, try it. I give it a 4
I'm sure you've all been poised on the edges of your seats for my next installment in this ever-so-viral blog of mine. Well I apologize. You see, in order to properly judge a cookbook, one must sample some of its claims to greatness. Sally Sondheim and Suzannah Sloan have taken every weeknight of the year and created a full meal plan for a family of 4.
Each day includes an entrée, salad, and dessert, and some starch somewhere. This is obviously written for someone like me who survives on order and lists, because each meal also has a list of equipment needed AND a countdown with ordered steps, telling the "gourmet" how to complete the full meal so everything comes out just at the right time for eating.
Sounds wonderful, right? Well I've tried 4 of these meals so far. Two were good. Two were so-so. The part that bothers me about this book is not the quality of the meals, however. It's this need that cookbook "authors" feel they have to find cute names for their dishes. Lets face it. There are only so many ingredients in the world and only so many ways to combine them into edible form. So in order to make the recipes their own, Sondheim and Sloan give us themed meals like You're Egging Me On, Yes I Yam, Bluffin' Muffins, and Tomfool Tapioca. Having run out of creativity, they depend on each state for inspiration. For Iowa we have Hawkeyed Sausage, State Fair Salad, and Ames to Be Pudding. However clever you may feel this is, it does pose a problem. The names have VERY LITTLE to do with the dish itself. If I want to search for a pasta dish with shrimp, I have to search through 300 recipes to find one.
I will most likely be consulting this book again, but as a disclaimer, I must recommend NOT getting caught up in the structure of the book. Rather, if something looks good, try it. I give it a 4
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