Written by Robert, a Christian, aspiring minimalist, inveterate notetaker, software dev manager and paper airplane mechanic. This project is an effort to celebrate the earlier days of blogging.
This article from Today highlights the growing trend of influencers in the space of frugal cooking. As uncertainty about the economy becomes more prevalent, this kind of content is taking off.
And so, according to TikTok, the hashtag #budgetmeals has seen a 20% increase in posts over the last month, from March 23 to April 22.
One of the creators started doing the videos when her job prospects after completing her doctorate were squashed by cuts to the government. The rise in her followers looks like a hockey stick curve over the last couple of months.
There’s a heaping helping of irony in the fact that D. Trump promised the strongest economy we’ve ever seen to get elected and a couple of months into his presidency many people are investigating how to eat like the masses did during the Great Depression. I guess when life hands you beans, make bean loaf.
Featuring a heavy dose of Nippon by way of Berlin, Germany, Mitsune brings their blend of traditional folk sounds with a proggy psychedelic flair to KEXP. The songs center around the shamisen playing of Shiomi Kawaguchi and Youka Snell but have the rhythm backing of bass and drums. Colorful traditional costumes enhance the power of the music in what is almost as much of a visual as audio delight.
I’ve been coming back to this video quite a bit. I’m not sure anything could be farther from the Byzantine chants that will accompany the Pascha celebration at my Orthodox Church tonight, but I’m enjoying the thought of the contrast.
John Semley writes for Defector about the drawbacks of Record Store Day. He hones in on the problem of quantity over quality that has grown in the last few years.
Take this year’s slate. From a modest collection of 10 specially pressed singles, Record Store Day’s annual catalog of releases has bloated to hundreds of titles. Among them: a single from the children’s television program Bluey, and an “unreleased collection” of tunes performed by Rock-afire Explosion, which was the in-house animatronic band for ShowBiz Pizza Place, longtime rival to the Charles Entertainment Cheese empire of pizza, arcade games, and all-around family fun. There’s also Sword of Rage, an album by Anthrax frontman Scott Ian that was originally composed for a pinball machine. What’s next? A limited-edition-of-400 Nokia ringtone single? A “Neighbour’s Dog Barking (Woof-Woof-Woof Remix)” 12-inch?
I read about the new animated film Flow recently and was sufficiently intrigued to rent it from Amazon when my youngest son and I were home by ourselves one night. I was impressed by the visuals and the well, flow, of the story, as a group of animals navigate their way through a mostly drowned world. I was drawn in to the main character, a black cat that reminded me of my own cat, Jonah. The film has no dialog, and you never learn the protagonist’s name, but my son and I kept calling him Jonah. He moved like Jonah, he displayed the same emotions as Jonah and he sounded exactly like Jonah.
I know some of you are probably thinking that these traits are common to cats but I’m here to tell you that’s not so. I have another cat, Snickers (a long haired tortie) and she has a completely different personality and presence.
Based on the buzz, I expected an engrossing and innovative experience with Flow, but what I was not expecting was how much Jonah himself would enjoy the movie. He became enraptured about halfway through and perched himself on the edge of the bed to watch. Before long, he felt he needed to get closer to the action, and jumped on the dresser to get a better look. His interest led to him pawing at the screen to see if he could interact with his doppleganger and the rest of the animals.
Jonah and the lemurs
Jonah never ceases to surprise and delight me. A couple of weekends ago, my wife and I watched A Man Called Otto. I had read the corresponding book and knew that the movie was a well regarded adaptation. Plus, you can’t go wrong with Tom Hanks. I had heard the film was a bit of a tearjerker, but since I had read the book, I reasoned that I was going to be mostly immune to the emotional moments. I knew what was coming, after all.
What I hadn’t counted on was a soundtrack that would lend some significant emotional heft to the proceedings. It would be wrong to go into detail and spoil the plot. However, I can sketch around a particularly tragic scene. I knew what was going to happen, but when the Kate Bush song, “The Woman’s Work” from The Sensual World came on, I literally said, “oh, no.” I was all too familiar with the song, which has been used to great effect in other movies, such as 1988’s She’s Having A Baby and had made appearances on some of my playlists. Seconds later, I burst into tears. I just lost it. Jonah saw me sitting on the edge of the bed weeping and ran over, concerned. I didn’t have much lap to access, but he jumped up into it anyway. He started licking my hands and face and then reached out to touch my face with his paw. His actions were so touching and that made me even more emotional. Jonah wouldn’t leave until I had settled down, though. His empathy was startling.
The Souls of Animals
The various interpretations of the Christian faith make different provisions for the souls of animals. I have read Orthodox writings that speculate that animals do indeed have souls, the same as people. This is intuitive to those of us who have been close to their pets. Those relationships feel transcendent in some ways and seem to go beyond our material existence. When I see the friendship that animals can bring, I can’t help but think of the support that God has given to us through their presence.
