Blogging

 

_______________________

(Thanks Chachi)

Review of Snow Patrol’s New Album

I’ve never been a huge fan of Snow Patrol, but have for the last few weeks been enjoying their 2006 release ‘Eyes Open’, which has a bit more complexity and is a little more interesting than I first gave it credit for. On the wave of this new-found enthusiasm for the Northern Irish band, I decided to get their new album ‘A Hundred Million Suns’, which was released on Monday, while it was still nice and cheap in HMV.

It is another good release from Snow Patrol which I can see myself listening to for a few weeks yet. There are at least five or six songs on the album which are very pleasant to listen to; which make you feel all warm and fuzzy and reflective. And I suppose that is what Snow Patrol do best, warm, fuzzy pop rock – and fair play to them. If you’re looking for something groundbreaking or out of the ordinary look elsewhere, because A Hundred Million Suns is not all that groundbreaking or out of the ordinary, but then it doesn’t pretend to be. What it does, it does well. Out of 5? …3.617

Seven Sisters Road

For those interested, I’ve started a collaborative football blog called ‘Seven Sisters Road’ with a friend, James Pearson, in which we will discuss all football related issues. James is an Arsenal fan, and I’m a Tottenham fan, so we should get some interesting dialogue. We’re still getting it set up, but there are some initial posts on there already.

You can find the blog here: http://sevensistersroad.wordpress.com

And here is the blurb:

^{“Seven Sisters Road is a collaborative blog between James Pearson, an Arsenal fan, and Simon Ravenscroft, a Tottenham Hotspur fan. Traditional enemies in footballing matters, Misters Pearson and Ravenscroft are putting aside their differences to engage in a public, international and ground-breakingly pointless online conversation about the ins and outs of top-flight English football. “It is doomed”, I hear you say. Well, perhaps… doomed to be a fantastic success!!!}

^{(Seven Sisters Road is in North London. It is famous as the road which runs between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur football clubs, separating the two fierce rivals by a mere four miles [according to Google Maps]).”}

Kierkegaard on the Double Movement to Faith

Those who’ve glanced at Meine Vorlesungsliste will know that part of my reading over the last few weeks has been a section from Søren Kierkegaard’s pseudonymous work Fear and Trembling, authored by one ‘Johannes de Silentio’. The book is centred on the story of Abraham’s testing in Genesis 22, when he is told by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. Anyone who knows the story will remember that God eventually spares Isaac, and that Abraham sacrifices a ram in his place. According to Johannes de Silentio, however, prior knowledge of this happy conclusion often drains the story of its true weight and difficulty when it is read or preached from the pulpit. It is quickly forgotten, he argues, that a father was seemingly ready to murder his son simply because God had told him to, and, even more, that this man is celebrated in the Bible as the supreme example of faith:

“We recite the whole story in clichés: ‘The great thing was that he loved God in such a way the he was willing to offer him the best’ … If a person lacks the courage to think his thought all the way through and say that Abraham was a murderer [at least by intention], then it is certainly better to attain this courage than to waste time on unmerited eulogies” (FT:29-30).

Much of the remainder of Fear and Trembling is concerned with a discussion of the nature of Abraham’s faith; that he would be prepared to step over the greatest ethical obligation he held as a father (to protect his son from harm) because of a divine command, all the while still believing that God’s promise (that he would through Isaac father a great nation) would be fulfilled. Probably the hardest question here concerns whether there is a ‘teleological suspension of the ethical’ (FT:54-67) i.e. whether one can argue for instances where it is valid to transcend ethical values for some religious reason (e.g. a divine command), or for some greater purpose (telos). This is far too heavy for a blog post, however, so instead we will have short look at what de Silentio describes as the ‘double movement’ to faith.

338 days and counting…

338 days ago, on 27th October 2007, Juande Ramos replaced Martin Jol as manager of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

§

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES

…then:

Sir Alan Sugar on Spurs’ disastrous start

Tottenham Hotspur have had their worst start to a football league season for 53 years, a state of affairs which is nothing short of disastrous following a summer of ambitious spending and general optimism that this season would see them challenge the top four for a Champions League spot. The sales of Berbatov and Keane, not forgetting Defoe last January, have left Spurs rather short up front. And although they have spent large amounts of money bringing in the likes of Bentley, Modric, Pavlyuchenko and several others, these players have yet to gel and look far from a cohesive unit.

The management team of Ramos and Poyet have also come under fire, and I think it’s fair to say that some of Ramos’ selections have been nothing short of mystifying (for example, picking Gilberto for the game at Portsmouth). Poyet’s comments earlier this week suggesting that Bent and Pavlyuchenko cannot play together because they are too similar also seem a little off, given that the two players have had very little time to even get to know each other. There have even been rumours that the Spurs’ board had offered Mark Hughes Ramos’ job as manager, although these have been vehemently denied.

Nevertheless, Sir Alan Sugar, former Spurs’ chairman and star of BBC show ‘The Apprentice’ (and thus the British equivalent of Donald Trump!), waded into the debate this weekend with some wise words in an interview for ‘Football Focus’. He had this to say:

Meine Vorlesungsliste

I had my first proper class at the University of Nottingham on Monday, the first in my ‘Continental Philosophy of Religion’ module, and we were given a rather extensive reading list (see below) which we will work through from now until December. I am going to try (!) and keep this blog updated somewhat regularly with my ongoing thoughts as I work through the list, although I am a little sceptical as to whether I will actually do that.

Now, Winston Churchill once observed that it was “good for an uneducated man to read books of quotations”. A few years ago, I took him at his word and bought two. As such, by the side of each work listed, you will also find a witty remark about reading, books or education to make you laugh!

§

Week 1

Søren Kierkegaard

Excerpts from:

Philosophical Fragments (Johannes Climacus)

Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments (Johannes Climacus)

“The covers of this book are far too far apart” (Ambrose Bierce).

§

Week 2

Søren Kierkegaard (again)

Excerpts from:

Fear and Trembling (Johannes de Silentio)

Repetition (Constantin Constantius)

“I hate books; they only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about” (Jean-Jacques Rousseau).