Sunday, May 9, 2021
Saturday, February 6, 2021
The Hornet Song ("Gospel Quintet Songs," Thoro Harris, pub.)
Lee
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
He Will Set Your Fields on Fire (1925)
Date:[1925]
Place of Publication:Asheville, NC
Info from Middle Tennessee State Univ. Center for Popular Music
Info from Middle Tennessee State Univ. Center for Popular Music
Thursday, August 27, 2020
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Monday, September 23, 2019
Monday, February 4, 2019
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Repost: Carl Sagan, the great science popularizer, vs. 1846 Sunday School text
Carl Sagan's famous essay, "Pale Blue Dot," is quoted and praised all across the cyber-galaxy, but just how original is it? Ever wondered that? How does it stack up, quotation-wise, against the 1846 American Sunday School Union text, The Starry Heavens (The Solar System, Part II)? Let's find out by comparing select passages between the two texts. Let's discover what 19th century children were learning about astronomy in Sunday School class in the days before the Civil War.
Sagan quotes are followed by select passages from The Starry Heavens:
Sagan: "The Earth is a small stage in a vast cosmic arena." And, "Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark."
The Starry Heavens: "What is the whole of this globe on which we dwell compared with the solar system, which contains a mass of matter so many millions of times greater? What is it in comparison with the hundred millions of suns and worlds which, by the telescope, have been descried through the starry regions?"
Sagan: "Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one other, how fervent their hatreds. Thinks of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.”
The Starry Heavens: "What, then, is a kingdom, a province, or a baronial territory, of which we are as proud as if we were the lords of the universe, and for which we engage in so much devastation and carnage? What are they, when set in competition with the glories of the sky?"
Sagan: "Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light."
The Starry Heavens: "(The objects connected with astronomy) show us what an insignificant being--what a mere atom, indeed, man appears amidst the immensity of creation!"
Sagan: “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience.”
The Starry Heavens: "We have reason to believe that the most exalted beings in the universe--those who are furnished with the most capacious powers, and who have arrived at the greatest perfection in knowledge--are distinguished by a proportional share of humility."
We close with a highly ironic Sagan quote: "A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths." Do those "conventional faiths" include 19th century American Christianity?
Lee
Sagan quotes are followed by select passages from The Starry Heavens:
Sagan: "The Earth is a small stage in a vast cosmic arena." And, "Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark."
The Starry Heavens: "What is the whole of this globe on which we dwell compared with the solar system, which contains a mass of matter so many millions of times greater? What is it in comparison with the hundred millions of suns and worlds which, by the telescope, have been descried through the starry regions?"
Sagan: "Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one other, how fervent their hatreds. Thinks of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.”
The Starry Heavens: "What, then, is a kingdom, a province, or a baronial territory, of which we are as proud as if we were the lords of the universe, and for which we engage in so much devastation and carnage? What are they, when set in competition with the glories of the sky?"
Sagan: "Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light."
The Starry Heavens: "(The objects connected with astronomy) show us what an insignificant being--what a mere atom, indeed, man appears amidst the immensity of creation!"
Sagan: “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience.”
The Starry Heavens: "We have reason to believe that the most exalted beings in the universe--those who are furnished with the most capacious powers, and who have arrived at the greatest perfection in knowledge--are distinguished by a proportional share of humility."
We close with a highly ironic Sagan quote: "A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths." Do those "conventional faiths" include 19th century American Christianity?
Lee
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Twitter, home of sophisticated utterances
Fidalgo, of course, is the communications director for the Center for Inquiry. I guess they hired him for his eloquence....
Monday, January 23, 2017
Carl Sagan, the great science popularizer, vs. 1846 Sunday School text
Carl Sagan's famous essay, "Pale Blue Dot," is quoted and praised all across the cyber-galaxy, but just how original is it? Ever wondered that? How does it stack up, quotation-wise, against the 1846 American Sunday School Union text, The Starry Heavens (The Solar System, Part II)? Let's find out by comparing select passages between the two texts. Let's discover what 19th century children were learning about astronomy in Sunday School class in the days before the Civil War.
Sagan quotes are followed by select passages from The Starry Heavens:
Sagan: "The Earth is a small stage in a vast cosmic arena." And, "Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark."
The Starry Heavens: "What is the whole of this globe on which we dwell compared with the solar system, which contains a mass of matter so many millions of times greater? What is it in comparison with the hundred millions of suns and worlds which, by the telescope, have been descried through the starry regions?"
Sagan: "Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one other, how fervent their hatreds. Thinks of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.”
The Starry Heavens: "What, then, is a kingdom, a province, or a baronial territory, of which we are as proud as if we were the lords of the universe, and for which we engage in so much devastation and carnage? What are they, when set in competition with the glories of the sky?"
Sagan: "Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light."
The Starry Heavens: "(The objects connected with astronomy) show us what an insignificant being--what a mere atom, indeed, man appears amidst the immensity of creation!"
Sagan: “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience.”
The Starry Heavens: "We have reason to believe that the most exalted beings in the universe--those who are furnished with the most capacious powers, and who have arrived at the greatest perfection in knowledge--are distinguished by a proportional share of humility."
We close with a highly ironic Sagan quote: "A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths." Do those "conventional faiths" include 19th century American Christianity?
Lee
Sagan quotes are followed by select passages from The Starry Heavens:
Sagan: "The Earth is a small stage in a vast cosmic arena." And, "Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark."
The Starry Heavens: "What is the whole of this globe on which we dwell compared with the solar system, which contains a mass of matter so many millions of times greater? What is it in comparison with the hundred millions of suns and worlds which, by the telescope, have been descried through the starry regions?"
Sagan: "Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one other, how fervent their hatreds. Thinks of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.”
The Starry Heavens: "What, then, is a kingdom, a province, or a baronial territory, of which we are as proud as if we were the lords of the universe, and for which we engage in so much devastation and carnage? What are they, when set in competition with the glories of the sky?"
Sagan: "Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light."
The Starry Heavens: "(The objects connected with astronomy) show us what an insignificant being--what a mere atom, indeed, man appears amidst the immensity of creation!"
Sagan: “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience.”
The Starry Heavens: "We have reason to believe that the most exalted beings in the universe--those who are furnished with the most capacious powers, and who have arrived at the greatest perfection in knowledge--are distinguished by a proportional share of humility."
We close with a highly ironic Sagan quote: "A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths." Do those "conventional faiths" include 19th century American Christianity?
Lee
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Turd in the pool
Bill Maher always says to his religious friends, "If a pool had even one turd in it, would you jump in?"
My answer: "No, I'd wait for you to get out."
Cha-dunk, crash!!
Lee
My answer: "No, I'd wait for you to get out."
Cha-dunk, crash!!
Lee
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
HuffPo shows integrity by not doing its part to hype Trump, Trump, and nothing but Trump
At least HuffPo isn't going the way of the rest of the media by focusing endlessly on Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump....
Lee
Lee
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Happy Easter from Google!!
What a pleasant surprise! Not only has Google featured an Easter doodle for 2016, they've featured a religious one!
Glue fumes getting to me? Er, why do you ask?
Lee
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Monday, June 9, 2014
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