http://www.oldroads.org/ Comments on life, texts, and places Society & Culture Personal Journals en Copyright 2007 martyn.smith@lawrence.edu (Martyn Smith) martyn.smith@lawrence.edu Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:15:08 GMT Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:15:08 GMT RSS DreamFeeder v 2.2.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/http://creativecommons.org/images/public/somerights20.gif One of the most intriguing things about Of God and Gods by Jan Assmann is his discussion of the emergence of what we know as religion. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/SL7UM7aMG8I/the_beginning_of_religion.htm Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:14:00 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1257488108647:9662546086742032:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/the_beginning_of_religion.htm Rest in Peace Steven Strange from Emory University. I was saddened to learn of his death. I would count him as one of the bright spots of my time at Emory University. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/HzFS_bLYD9s/Steven_Strange.htm Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:41:28 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1257316947949:31912108402783724:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Steven_Strange.htm The Criterion box set "Mizoguchi's Fallen Women" includes the 1946 film Women of the Night. This film with its Christian imagery and "issue" orientation presents a contrast to the kind of dramas that Yasujiro Ozu would be interested in. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/XEqbM-LkN9M/morality_of_debt.htm Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:27 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1257224575960:8645009172121366:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/morality_of_debt.htm Is it possible to be both a good American citizen and a Communist? You wouldn't think so from current media talk, but there is nothing too different about being a Communist citizen of the US than being a Christian citizen of the US. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/INWMR0PSW8o/communist_and_American.htm Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:50:47 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1257141130966:5072209961809989:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/communist_and_American.htm Errol Morris in his recent series "The Case of the Inappropriate Alarm Clock" looks at issues related to authenticity and realism in documentary photogaphy. I try to supply some theory for thinking about the issue. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/PKxaYObRsMs/narratives_and_photographs.htm Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:49:37 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1256881876278:544039864998896:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/narratives_and_photographs.htm Al-Maqrizi in his Khitat writes about the Mausoleum of Imam Shafi'i in Cairo. One feature for which this mausoleum was known is the copper boat at its top. Al-Maqrizi cites a string of poems trying to explain the boat. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/-WuYjI_yYqc/the_boat_at_the_top_of_the_dome.htm Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:10:04 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1256706710169:15376:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/the_boat_at_the_top_of_the_dome.htm Sufjan Stevens latest work, BQE, should be considered as a complete package. The audio, visual, and other materials are part of a distinct view of the modern world. Sufjan finds redemptive value in Hula Hoops and Viewfinders.. as a way to fight back the modernity of a project like the BQE. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/9ShRcq6iYvU/redeeming_an_expressway_Sufjan_Stevens.htm Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:22:19 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1256448257656:9493602956240564:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/redeeming_an_expressway_Sufjan_Stevens.htm Saul Bellow's Herzog presents a character that seems to be going through some of the crises that we might expect Augie March to go through if we could follow him for another 15 years. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/6jLO67Uujqg/flexibility_and_life_in_Bellow.htm Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:15:01 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1256271365011:6138013659800208:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/flexibility_and_life_in_Bellow.htm At the entrance to the Mosque of Shaykhu in Cairo is the clearest and most positive use of an ancient Egyptian design that I have yet seen in a medieval structure. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/9ONG20IO20Q/ancient_Egypt_at_the_entrance.htm Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:49:18 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1256100609527:6924166164322281:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/ancient_Egypt_at_the_entrance.htm One benefit from reading ancient books is that they provide models for thinking about new creative work in the present. Usama ibn Munqidh's Book of Contemplation is an example of how a book of blogs could be put together. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/CYcaIf7dgG4/organizing_a_new_book.htm Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:47:46 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1256100547214:6692468479348986:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/organizing_a_new_book.htm The new translation of Usama ibn Munqidh's Book of Contemplation is full of odd facts about the life of a warrior during the Crusades. The new translation of Usama ibn Munqidh's Book of Contemplation is full of odd facts about the life of a warrior during the Crusades. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:17:45 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1255929517300:4754228971244471:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss A review of Bob Dylan's album Christmas in the Heart that looks at three Christmas album precursors to place Dylan's work. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/JZHD3Q7xvag/a_sentimental_Christmas_Bob_Dylan.htm Sat, 17 Oct 2009 06:19:45 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1255760443973:7650606249601132:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/a_sentimental_Christmas_Bob_Dylan.htm Al-Maqrizi in his section on al-Aqmar Mosque speaks in the first person in two interesting passages. One is a passage that has been problematically imported into the text by the editor. The second is yet another example of the humor employed by al-Maqrizi. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/A0rUUJKmKfo/editing_your_rough_draft.htm Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:21:41 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1255670647512:4355451912150601:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/editing_your_rough_draft.htm One commitment to my daughter has been to emphasize books.. not just reading and school work, but actual books. Lots of things about visual culture will come automatically, but bookishness needs to be learned. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/60sXxnM3tO0/raising_a_book_lover.htm Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:24:00 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1255411506368:8750931390716304:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/raising_a_book_lover.htm The website Hypercities is making an ambitious effort to serve as a platform for spatial scholarship. It is most impressive for a handful of cities like LA, New York, and Berlin, where it offers map layers and historical markers. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/KDpHIOwCqmQ/Hypercities.htm Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:39:16 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1255326038943:19416668389996390:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Hypercities.htm This series of lectures by scholar of Islam Josef Van Ess traces out the windings of early Islamic theology. The pleasure in reading it comes from the historical surprises that creep up as ideas get turned over and transformed as they pass through the first few centuries of Islam. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/XTuM2hV15uE/the_days_of_choices_in_Islam.htm Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:15:38 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1255151832683:90885686461617:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/the_days_of_choices_in_Islam.htm In the same week that Rio got the 2016 Olympics, The New Yorker ran an article about the gangs in Rio by Jon Lee Anderson. One man that is interviewed makes a comparison of these gangs to the attraction of al-Qaeda in the Middle East.. a comparison which I think is off. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/S8FucUWYp2k/favelas_in_Rio.htm Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:10:27 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1255068705090:377652549609342:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/favelas_in_Rio.htm Walking into the Mosque of al-Maridini I enjoyed the sight of a medieval wooden screen that secluded the prayer hall from the courtyard. Modern mosques employ screens as well, but for a totally different reason. Now that set off an area for women to pray. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/G6wJTYDgpgQ/a_beautiful_screen.htm Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:21:31 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1254892976894:4396045427862525:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/a_beautiful_screen.htm A taxi driver in Cairo posed a series of questions about teaching Islam and religion if I am not a Muslim nor even religious. Here is the way I would answer that question. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/RBqB_3f2wvw/teaching_religion.htm Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:03:23 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1254845083423:0:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/teaching_religion.htm Looking at photos from Cairo I am most impressed with the details that are carved above a window or entrance. I give five examples of beauty in details.. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/AxFINjCUNkU/Cairo_in_the_details.htm Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:12:42 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1254719631359:9037728997309232:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Cairo_in_the_details.htm Chicago was home to Jane Addams, whose brand of progrssive and idealistic activism would be useful to bring up more today in our debates about health care. Most useful is her insistence that helping a neighbor is not a private matter of charity. ]]> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oldroads/QIug/~3/wcUOuIvu9_g/Chicago_city_of_big_ideals.htm Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:27:16 GMT Martyn Smith manual:1254461331038:0:http://www.oldroads.org/feeds.rss http://www.oldroads.org/pastblogs/pastsingles2009/Chicago_city_of_big_ideals.htm