Michael Hopcroft

Genesis carries two self-contradictory accounts of the creation of Humanity -- the founding of the species in the first chapter ("Male and female he created them"), and the explanation of "why are humans evil?" in the second and onward. Neither is scientifically literal. There are a lot of things in Genesis that make no sense as literal statements, but are perfectly sensible if taken in the sense of "everything that is is the result of the actions of a single, superior being we call God, and He views the Universe as essentially sacred and good. We have been placed as stewards of that universe, and given the task of taking care of that sacred, good creation."
 
The main point of the Adam and Eve story seems to be not so much that God created two perfect beings and expected them to populate the earth from just their genetic base (which is absurd), but "Humans were basically good, but have free will and as such are capable of making bad choices. They need the ability to make bad choices, but sometimes those choices are VERY bad and lead to unbearable consequences." There are questions about that account (did Cain feel remorse?), but it is interesting that rather than strike him down God chose to make Cain live with the consequences of having killed his brother.

Army - Navy.

Accepting parts of the old testament as literal has always been problematic at best, for me.  There has always been self-righteousness, ignorance, hypocrisy and 'doing evil in the name of....'
 
Faith is a choice.

Researchers have found chemicals in living brains that may be linked to CTE that is found when the brain is examined postmortem. Previously the only diagnoses of the ailment have been postmortem, frequently after suicides.
 
If this leads anywhere, the ability to detect the condition while the patient is still alive leaves open the possibility that CTE might well become treatable, even if only in a palliative sense.

Give Lonzo Ball a break.  He is (possibly) Jason Kidd.  Kidd had a 36% shooting percentage his first 3 years in the league.  When he started he was a year and a half older than Lonzo ( who is surprisingly mature despite his idiot father).  Kidd had a hall of fame career and developed a shot several years into his career.  Also, he developed a dangerous 3 point range with the last few years of his career.

Franz Joseph Haydn was the last person in the world you would think would spark a revolution. Deeply religious, patriotic, and politically conservative, he spent much of his life as the private music director/composer-in-residence for one of the richest noble families in Europe (the Esterhazy family, who owned much of modern Hungary). He lived on their country estate and for the most part didn't get to travel much until he retired, meaning he didn't get to hear what his contemporaries were doing. He would claim this "forced him to be original", and his contemporaries were definitely listening to him. When he finally got to travel, in the late 1780s, Europe embraced him and he got to see and hear some of the things he had been missing and got to meet some of the people he had only heard rumor of. He became "Papa Haydn" -- beloved mentor to classical music's greatest talents. He was almost a second father to Mozart, and tried vainly to curb the roguish tendencies of the young, brash Beethoven while his music showed them both directions they would take -- directions that would alter the way music was written and performed in fundamental ways.
 
And he was writing his own music, and that was often transcendent. On his visit to London in 1790, he was so impressed by a performance of Handel's Messiah that he was inspired to write his own religious oratorio. He chose as his subject the Creation, taking his text from the KJV account in Genesis and Milton's Paradise Lost, and keeping the text in English (which Haydn had learned to speak fluently in his travels). If one work can be said to be the clear bridge between the height of the Classical movement and the beginning embers of what would become the Romantic, you can find it in the Creation oratorio. It's clearly Classical, even bearing some stamps of the Baroque, yet hints of the music Beethoven and his successors would write are there as well.
 
So I've been really impressed with the Creation oratorio. I've been hard pressed to find the short segment thaty would best illustrate exactly what I had in mind to show. The best I can do is suggest anyone with that esoteric interest do a little Google exploration themselves.
 

I'd put Hassan Whiteside, the Stifle Tower (Rudy Gobert),  and Andre Drummond as old school centers. Neither strays to the 3 point line with anything resembling regularity, they are defense minded but can score in the post or throw down a dunk or two. 
 
But the game moved back outside (The big men used to shoot 30% and never stayed in the lanes until George Mikan)  the athletic wing scorers have been been with us since the 60's and the 3 point shooting became the major weapon 4 decades after it was introduced in the ABA.
 
the Number of truly dominant Centers has been - what 25 over nearly 100 years of basketball? The fact of the matter is that in the NBA size matters  - which is why 7'5'' stiffs have multi year careers. Olajuwon didn't have the 3 point shooting stroke of say Karl Anthony Towns or Boogie Cousins but he could force centers away from basket to open lanes. Ewing hit a few 3s in his day too. Being able to shoot from outside the lane has been important for the 5 forever - with exceptions being Wilt, Shaq, Moses, and Kareem (the former three who just bullied their way in to the paint (though Wilt and Moses could do so with finesse as well), Kareem developed an unbeatable weapon based on his length and Bill Russell was just a bad shot. 
 
The main post innovators were guys like McHale, Hawkins, etc who were smaller or less bouncy. 
 
As for shooting well "anymore" shooting has only gotten better looking back into the golden age and seeing just how crappy shooters were. Lonzo Ball's horrific start would have been pretty normal in the 50's
 
 

In honor of tonight's World Series game:
Rime of the Ancient Seattle Mariner

Former President Barack Obama has been summoned for jury duty in Chicago. His primary residence is currently in Washington, but he still keeps a second home in Chicago.
 
The report indicates he does in fact plan to report. Other former Presidents have reported for jury duty (George W. Bush went in 2015), but while Obama has a good understanding of the law (he has a degree from Harvard and has taught Constitutional Law -- and of course there's the little matter of eight years in the Presidency) I sincerely doubt an attorney would want him on their panel.  Especially not if the case is at all political. But it would be amusing if this conversation took place in the "charm school" at Joliet.
 
'Damn Obama for sending me to prison!"
"But you were convicted in 2017!"
"I know!"
'And you're here for bank robbery...."
"It's still his fault I'm here!"
"Why was it his fault? He wasn't even in office. And he didn't sign an executive order making it illegal to rob banks."
"The bastard was on the jury!"

Waiting for Gal Gadot.

Former President Barack Obama has been summoned for jury duty in Chicago. His primary residence is currently in Washington, but he still keeps a second home in Chicago.
 
The report indicates he does in fact plan to report. Other former Presidents have reported for jury duty (George W. Bush went in 2015), but while Obama has a good understanding of the law (he has a degree from Harvard and has taught Constitutional Law -- and of course there's the little matter of eight years in the Presidency) I sincerely doubt an attorney would want him on their panel.  Especially not if the case is at all political. But it would be amusing if this conversation took place in the "charm school" at Joliet.
 
'Damn Obama for sending me to prison!"
"But you were convicted in 2017!"
"I know!"
'And you're here for bank robbery...."
"It's still his fault I'm here!"
"Why was it his fault? He wasn't even in office. And he didn't sign an executive order making it illegal to rob banks."
"The bastard was on the jury!"

I'll have to look up whether he's done any Marvel roles -- as prolific as he's been as a VA I'd be astonished if he hasn't.

J.S. Bach's "Toccata in D Minor", played on the magnificent Mormon Tabernacle organ
 

I'm not going to say anything more myself, because it would put me in an awkward position re Moderation, but can someone suggest anything -- anything at all -- the NFL can do to persuade me to come back after that epic display of racial jackassery Bob McNair (owner of the Houston Texans) just pulled?
 
I'm a sportsgamer. I watched Bradshaw and Staubach duel growing up. I was there for Joe Montana, for the '85 Bears, I rooted for the Seahawks through mediocrity to the heights and finally the title. I used to love football.
 
But not now. Not after this. After what Bob McNair just said, the league will have to do one heck of a lot to win me back. And it doesn;t sound like they care.
 
Fine with me. I'm done.

DeShone Kizer, because he's so good at giving things away.

Right now I'm listening to pianist Lang Lang performing Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and Chopin at the BBC Proms from 2008. It's far too long a video to post, or to break apart into smaller chunks that do him credit. But the joyous expression on his face as he plays is priceless, and his fingerwork is so amazing to watch that I can;t tell how he does it with human hands.
 
Usually when I watch a classical pianist it is when they are playing with an orchestra in a concerto or other orchestral work (like Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue or Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini) where there are some sixty other musicians. To use a more modern example. Elton John (who trained as a classical pianist before finding his calling in rock and roll) has a band behind him (sometimes even a full orchestra). Lots of distractions. In a recital like this one, though, it's just one man and one piano, commanding my undivided attention. And that's a very special experience.

Right now I'm listening to pianist Lang Lang performing Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and Chopin at the BBC Proms from 2008. It's far too long a video to post, or to break apart into smaller chunks that do him credit. But the joyous expression on his face as he plays is priceless, and his fingerwork is so amazing to watch that I can;t tell how he does it with human hands.
 
Usually when I watch a classical pianist it is when they are playing with an orchestra in a concerto or other orchestral work (like Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue or Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini) where there are some sixty other musicians. To use a more modern example. Elton John (who trained as a classical pianist before finding his calling in rock and roll) has a band behind him (sometimes even a full orchestra). Lots of distractions. In a recital like this one, though, it's just one man and one piano, commanding my undivided attention. And that's a very special experience.

I'll raise you one,
 


[ 
The plot of Chess, the one collaboration of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA with lyricist Tim Rice (who had worked on Jesus Christ Superstar and would go on to write the lyrics to The Lion King) is rooted so deeply in the dying embers of the Cold War that many modern viewers would find it almost incomprehensible, and those that do understand would find it obsolete or quaint. It ran for three years on the West End but a reworked version failed miserably on Broadway.

YES! Then we might have a National Team that can compete!

That's not quite right. The dumpster is not on fire.

Victor Hugo didn't so happy endings. He just didn't. In his day they were actually looked down upon as "melodramatic". Alexandre Dumas was initially despised by "more serious" authors for not always writing outright tragedies,
 
Even Les Miserables had an incredibly unpleasant ending by modern standards
 
 
You don't want to be the lead character in a Victor Hugo novel. You just don't.

Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, and Patty Jenkins for Wonder Woman. Obviously.

Sometime before Halloween I need to see all of that movie.

Inspiration for the Joker?