Merry Christmas

A wonderful reminder of the meaning of Christmas.

- Joel

Maps

© Joel Thomason

I'm a sucker for maps. I took this in a gas station on the drive from Austin to Kansas City. Speaking of maps, I should have asked for the map below, from Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co., for Christmas.

- Joel

Photographer of the Day

© Akos Major

Akos Major.

© Akos Major

Yukon Blonde

I'm digging this song from Canadian trio Yukon Blonde.

- Joel

Yukon Blonde - "Choices"

Goldmund

Last year I stumbled upon composer Keith Kenniff, aka Goldmund. His album Famous Places, an instrumental piano album, became a fixture in my headphones. Goldmund released a new album this year, All Will Prosper, a collection of Civil-war era folk songs. After a few listens, it sounds pretty good. Check out a few tracks below.

- Joel

Goldmund - "Amazing Grace"

Goldmund - "Shenandoah"

Balmorhea

My sister and I were talking about Balmorhea tonight, so I decided to check out their website. Little did I know they had recently recorded a performance for SerialBox. Check it out a video or download the audio below.

- Joel

Quote of the Day

I watched a documentary about Mike Tyson over the weekend and found myself struck by something his long-time trainer, Cus D'Amato, said. D'Amato was speaking about his passion for identifying the strengths of young boxers. Yet his approach seems like a good disposition of the heart towards people in everyday life.

- Joel

"What I do is discover and uncover."

- Cus D'Amato

The Beatles on iTunes

What an incredible advertisement. Whoever did the animation deserves a lot of money.

- Joel

JT

Remember when Justin Timberlake was the coolest guy on the planet? This song is providing the soundtrack for my last day of studying this semester. Hopefully the people around me at Austin Java don't mind my feet tapping to the beat.

- Joel

Young Whale Design

© Young Whale Design

I saw this print yesterday from Craig Moan, aka Young Whale Design, of Nashville. It made me think of the protection I need during law school finals.

- Joel

© Young Whale Design

Andrew Ripp

Another performance from Andrew Ripp. The guy can sing.

- Joel

Klosterman on Tebow

As usual, Chuck Klosterman brings intellect and nuance to a popular culture phenomenon. Tim Tebow is 6-1 as a starting quarterback this season and has led the Denver Broncos to five straight wins. He is also the most polarizing figure in professional sports, even more polarizing than LeBron James. The issue here, and the subject of Klosterman's most recent piece, is why Tebow is so polarizing. He seems to be a genuinely nice guy who rubs a lot of people the wrong way. If I'm honest, it's only been in the last month that I've given up my skepticism of Tebow and taken him at face value. On what grounds do I have to question him? I know nothing about him. What I appreciate about Klosterman's article is his ability to decipher the root of the issue. Klosterman writes:

The crux here, the issue driving this whole "Tebow Thing," is the matter of faith. It's the ongoing choice between embracing a warm feeling that makes no sense or a cold pragmatism that's probably true. And with Tebow, that illogical warm feeling keeps working out. It pays off. The upside to secular thinking is that — in theory — your skepticism will prove correct. Your rightness might be emotionally unsatisfying, but it confirms a stable understanding of the universe.

Though I sincerely disagree with his ultimate conclusion about secularism, I sincerely agree that Tebow is the personification of the battle between faith and reason. (I'd still argue that faith and reason are not antonyms) Check out the article at the link below.

- Joel

Chuck Klosterman - "The People Who Hate Tim Tebow"

Marcel the Shell

Here's some comic relief in honor of completing my very first law school exam.

- Joel

Sufjan Stevens - "Sister Winter"

Here's one of my favorite Sufjan Christmas originals from his collection of Christmas albums. It starts out low-key but builds up to full holiday cheer. Christmas has me thinking about Kansas City and The Plaza lights. I'm not sure who painted the picture above, but it looks similar to a picture I have hanging on my wall here in Austin.

- Joel

Sufjan Stevens - "Sister Winter"

Andrew Ripp - "Joy to the World"

It's pretty bad that I've let law school get in the way of blogging. I need to get my priorities straight. But now that it's finals season, I'll let blogging be my study break. I saw this guy - Andrew Ripp - in Austin a month ago. He's got legit vocal ability. I'm normally not a fan of non-traditional takes on Christmas carols, but I'll give Andrew Ripp a pass because of his mad pipes.

Enjoy.

- Joel