Previous William Thomas Sherman Info Page postings, quotes, observations, etc.
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["Larry Chance & The Earls - Remenber Then" - live from the PBS reunion] and ["The Platters - Only You" - live with a later incarantion of the group] and ["Little Anthony & The Imperials - Hit Medley" - live]
I had an awful time trying to find a live version of a good Enya song that wasn't lip synced. Oh well, here's at least a nice studio cut of hers.
["Enya- China Roses"]
"The classic drama had died before the Middle Ages began, for it
had degenerated into mime and farce, and had been replaced by
hippodrome spectacles. The plays of Seneca and Hroswitha were literary
exercises, which apparently never reached the stage. Two lines of
active continuity remained: the mimetic rituals of agricultural
festivals, and the farces played by wandering minstrels and clowns
in castle hall or village square.
"But in the Middle Ages, as in ancient Greece, the main
fountainhead of drama was in religious liturgy. The Mass itself was
a dramatic spectacle; the sanctuary was a sacred stage; the celebrants
wore symbolic costumes; priest and acolytes engaged in dialogue; and
the antiphonal responses of priest and choir, and of choir to choir,
suggested precisely that same evolution of drama from dialogue that
had generated the sacred Dionysian play. In the ceremonies of
certain holydays the dramatic element was explicitly developed. At
Christmas, in some religious rites of the eleventh century, men
dressed as shepherds entered the church, were greeted with 'glad
tidings' by a choirboy 'angel,' and worshiped a wax or plaster babe in
a manger; from an eastern door three 'kings' entered, and were
guided to the manger by a star pulled along a wire. On the
28th of December certain churches represented the 'slaughter of the
innocents': boy choristers marched up nave and aisles, fell as if
murdered by Herod, rose, and walked up into the sanctuary as a
symbol of mounting into heaven. On Good Friday many churches
removed the crucifix from the altar, and carried it to a receptacle
representing the Holy Sepulcher, from which on Easter morning it was
solemnly restored to the altar in token of resurrection. As
far back as 380 the story of Christ's Passion had been written as a
Euripidean drama by Gregory Nazianzen, Patriarch of
Constantinople; and from that time to this the Passion Play
has kept its hold upon Christian peoples. The first such play recorded
as having been performed was presented at Siena about 1200; probably
there had been many such representations long before...
"Adam and Eve, dressed in white tunics, are shown playing in an
Eden represented by shrubs and flowers in front of the church.
Devils appear, in those red tights that have clung to them ever
since in the theater; they run through the audience, twisting their
bodies and making horrible grimaces. They offer the forbidden fruit to
Adam, who refuses it, then to Eve, who takes it; and Eve persuades
Adam. So convicted of a desire for knowledge, Adam and Eve are
fettered with irons and are dragged off by the devils to hell -- a
hole in the ground, from which comes an infernal noise of rejoicing.
In a second act Cain prepares to murder Abel. 'Abel,' he announces,
'you are a dead man.' Abel: 'Why am I a dead man?' Cain: 'Do you
wish to hear why I want to kill you?...I will tell you. Because you
ingratiate yourself too much with God.' Cain flings himself upon Abel,
and beats him to death. But the author is merciful: 'Abel,' reads
the rubric [i.e. the stage directions], 'shall have a saucepan beneath his clothes.'"
~ Durant, The Age of Faith, pp. 1027-1029.
It is I think somewhat misleading to speak of the Word of itself as being sacred; rather, according to his view, it is the heart or inner spirit from whence the Word stems that is more properly deemed sacred, and the Word, as we know it, is merely the dress, frame, or vehicle into which the sacred (heart or spirit) is placed or cast. For words are divisible and the inner heart and spirit (when it resides in Truth and Love) is infinite; and it is this heart and spirit that moves or inspire us, and less so mere words or notes, etc., when we read or listen to scripture, philosophy, poetry, and or music.
["Diana Ross on stage at Radio City Music Hall 3" -- "I Will Survive"]
Not untypically the historian decries the rabid superstition of the Dark and Middle Ages while perhaps simultaneously insinuating that the ascendancy and Christianity brought about the disdain of and indifference to science in the West. But what if such distorted ideas and notions (regarding the "supernatural") were and had (in large degree) been encouraged, inculcated, and provided by spirit people (and such who listen to and confided in them?) Durant observes that in Augustus' time people were more light hearted about superstition, yet has already quickly forgotten the numerous and important benefits he himself admitted Christianity as having conferred. Was then the heightened superstition possibly a result of (or in effect) certain powerful spirit people's reaction to the success of Christianity?
Oh boy! Just in time for Christmas (saw this advertised at Costco the other day)...
The performance here could have been better but still a great song (based, btw, on Beethoven's piano Sonata no. 8, 2nd mv., in C minor.)
["My Choice 299 - Louise Tucker: Midnight Blue"]
Who can stop America's fascination with comic book super heroes? (See what a billion dollar movie career can buy you, all you poor saps that work for a living?)
["Iron Man 2 Trailer (OFFICIAL)" -- Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, aka the super hero Iron Man in this sequel to the 2008 blockbuster. RDJ, Paltrow, Cheadle and Rockwell are joined by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Mickey Rourke as Whiplash. Jon Favreau once again takes up the directorial reins for Marvel's armored avenger.]
Later Note. Questions some of our more thoughtful readers will be asking:
1. How and by exactly what means has Tony Stark been able to insure world peace?
2. Why is he overtly evasive and mocking in dealing with the congressman? (Does he possibly know and understand something the congressman doesn't?)
3. How is it that Iron Man's suit is also himself?
4. In what way is this version of Iron Man not dissimilar to the recent movie versions of Spiderman and Batman (the Dark Knight?)
5. Why is Stark (our bringer of world peace) described as having sprung from a line of "thieves and butchers?"
And for further explication, see: "The Ghost of the Traitor," A Stage Play (.rtf, zipped)
