The whole mess with Paula Deen has me thinking about a lot of people I knew when I lived in the South. Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia were all places I spent a lot of time. And the more I think about it, the more I think the image problem the South has in regards to much of the rest of the country (and even the world, to some extent) is this:
The South (as a region) still hasn’t come to grips with slavery, even now, some 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Collectively, the South thinks that it has, but really it hasn’t. I am saying this as someone who was born there and lived there for decades who also happens to be a specialist in the area of 19th century American history.
For some 75 years or so people have wondered what happened to Amelia Earhart. There have been all sorts of theories about what happened to her and Fred Noonan, but many of them were based on secondhand information, old recollections. or weird conspiracy theories. Now we have some possible archaeological evidence near the island of Nikumaroro. Over the years there have been a variety of clues that indicated a possible landing of the aircraft near this island. Now, these clues are circumstantial, but the cumulative effects seems to have been to encourage further development of the sites near the island. Last year a team thought they may have found landing gear from her aircraft. And now a recent analysis of a sonar scan may indicate the possible location of an aircraft in the area where they have been looking for it.
It would be great if we were finally able to solve this open-ended question of history, not to mention put to rest some of the more absurd theories about what happened.
It’s not often I get to talk about three of my favorite subjects in a single post: cetaceans; 19th century technology; and maritime archaeology. But it seems an exceedingly rare Howell torpedo has been found off the coast of Coronado, California – by dolphins trained by the U.S. Navy.
Honestly, this is amazing. There was only one of these that was known to exist, and now another has been found in the ocean… by dolphins. It just boggles the mind. It makes me wonder if anyone has ever tried using dolphins to deliberately search for shipwrecks.
HRC summarizes reasonably well what we’re waiting for when Godot The Supreme Court comes down with their ruling on Prop 8 and on DOMA. Check it out and share it (below the cut). Everyone needs to understand that this is about Civil Rights, not The Homosexual Agenda.
How today’s announcement by NBA player Jason Collins will affect the general atmosphere around the ruling is unclear. He came out and admitted that he is gay. He’s the first pro sports player in one of the four major sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL) to do this while still playing.
Now that I have had some time to sort of process the events of the past week, I think I have managed to sort it all out inside my head. And so yesterday when a friend and parishioner asked me how I was doing and what I made of all this, I told him what I thought.
I said “This is Boston. We’ll bounce back. We always do.”
This is a quick post to let people who have been calling and emailing from near and far know that we’re OK. We were driving back from Boston when the bombing happened. The Cambridge EMS, Fire, and Hazmat were screaming past in the other direction and I casually wondered if there’d been a bomb threat. Oops.
We’ve heard from one friend who ran today and he finished and cleared the area before the bombs went off.
I’m sure there will be more information and more to post about later. Stay safe, everyone.
I wish I’d received this information before I sent out my email blast and did my prior post. But, I didn’t . I got it today. So I’m posting it now so you can all see the details I didn’t have before. Enjoy. And please come, this will be a really good concert.
A celebration of the resilience of the human spirit through the centuries, in music by Messiaen, Shostakovich, Poulenc, Penderecki, Tippett, and more.
Sunday, April 21, 3pm
Mission Church
1545 Tremont St.
Mission Hill, Boston
With Eliko Akahori (piano), Lilit Hartunian (violin), Rafael Popper-Keizer (cello), Amy Avocat (clarinet)
Tickets: $20 general admission / $15 for students and seniors available at the door)
Sunday, April 28, 3pm
First Parish (UU)
75 The Great Road, Bedford
With Lilut Hartunian (violin), Elizabeth Connors (clarinet), Bradford Conner (piano)
Suggested donation: $20 / $15 students & seniors (a portion of proceeds will benefit UUSC-UUA Haiti Relief Fund)
Music composed in times of oppression and persecution often possesses a singular resilience that inspires and gives witness to the courageous dimension of the human spirit. In this concert The Seraphim Singers presents choral and instrumental works composed under conditions of religious persecution in Renaissance England, slavery in 18th and 19th century America, the Holocaust during World War II, and totalitarianism in the Soviet era.
While both Geoff and I have spent a ton of time at work lately (this is my first day off in 11 days I think) I’m in the middle of a fascinating book and I’ve been emailed some really fascinating blog links. Now it’s my turn to share them with you.
Easter is a special time of year at King’s Chapel, as it is the only time that the stained glass window is visible. So Saturday night I opened up the shutters, and then Easter morning I got a picture when the morning sun was shining through it.
The window dates from 1863, so not as old as the building itself.
I took some pictures of all the Easter flowers too. You can see them below the cut.
The Books are Taking Over... 