The Hollow Men

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Posted on April 7th, 2008 by Tobias
Filed under: Music | No Comments »

…this new Devotchka album is fantastic, amongst many of Ned’s rightnesses.  Here’s three tracks I enjoyed in the time I’ve had to listen.

01 Devotchka | The Clockwise Witness
02 Devotchka | Transliterator
03 Devotchka | New World

On with the Ned theme.  Here’s another artist I heard this week and it totally sounded like an artist Ned would enjoy the most of all of us.  I enjoy it quite a bit too, but Ned can surpass us and all of our enthusiasms….

04 Akron/Family | Ed Is A Portal
05 Akron/Family | Lake Song/New Ceremonial Music For Moms
06 Akron/Family | There’s So Many Colors

Posted on April 3rd, 2008 by Tobias
Filed under: Hollow Men, Music | 2 Comments »

Good afternoon, gents (and ladies).  Hope all is going well for everyone and that Spring is finally arriving. Maybe Summer for Texas?  Work has been really busy for me in the month of March, and I anticipate it continuing through May.  I think about you all often….

Here’s a few tunes that have accompanied me during the long hours the past week.  As I was listening I thought about jumping back into Music Thursday and sharing these with everyone.

Next stop, Devotkcha.  Which I haven’t grabbed yet — thanks for the heads-up, Ned!

01 Alberta Cross | Old Man Chicago
02 Basia Bulat | Before I Knew (Live on Radio K)
03 Fleet Foxes | Blue Ridge Mountains
04 Fujiya & Miyagi | Ankle Injuries
05 The Long Blondes | Nostalgia
06 Mitchell London | Mammal Reenactment
07 Nick Drake | Pink Moon
08 Sam Cooke | Bring It On Home To Me
09 Silent Years | Sharks
10 Sun Kil Moon | Ocean Breathes Salty
11 Vampire Weekend | Oxford Comma

Posted on March 27th, 2008 by Tobias
Filed under: Music, Spring | No Comments »

You guys might have heard, the first Indiana Jones movie in 19 years is coming out this Memorial Day weekend.  So, Steph and I have devised an equation.

Memorial Day + Kansas City + HM and their wives + Indiana Jones + (optional beer & pipes) = a Memorable Weekend

Are you in or are you out?  Let us know.  Discuss below.

Posted on March 14th, 2008 by Tobias
Filed under: Holidays, Hollow Men, Travel | 23 Comments »

I have to say, it has been about as quiet as it has ever been on the HM site. J.E. and I seem to be keeping some nominal chatter, but I haven’t seen Toby or Peters here for quite a while. That seems surprising considering all that has been going on the last few weeks: the Democratic primaries and a seeming turn this last week for Hilary Clinton; John McCain clinching the Republican nomination and so quickly seeking Bush’s endorsement; the Academy Awards, with No Country for Old Men as Best Picture; a new trailer out for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; the intriguing basketball rivalry between Kansas and Kansas State and high hopes going into the NCAA tournament; Ned has a new painting posted; there’s a U2 movie out in 3D; a Graywolf poetry title (Mary Jo Bang’s Elegy) just won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry; Jen and I had a great experience with our first ultrasound this past week, with everything looking good and healthy so far; making some plans for the spring or summer; and just about anything and everything else that might be going on.In any case, I hope the silence means you’re all doing well. 

Posted on March 8th, 2008 by Shotts
Filed under: Hollow Men | 4 Comments »

I have a new painting up on my website under “For Walls” called Reclamation about the connection of science to art through curiosity and play. I suppose it is also about scale and the imagination. Check it out www.nedgannon.com

Posted on February 26th, 2008 by Ned
Filed under: Hollow Men | 2 Comments »

Posted on February 24th, 2008 by J.E.
Filed under: Hollow Men | 2 Comments »

Posted on February 16th, 2008 by Shotts
Filed under: Art, Ethics & Morality, Movies | Enter your password to view comments

I will be fasting for thirty hours again to raise money for hunger relief next weekend. If you want to contribute to this cause you can send a check made out to World Vision to my home address. Any gesture is appreciated and will be put to good use.

Posted on February 13th, 2008 by Ned
Filed under: Hollow Men | No Comments »

Sara and I managed to get out for a brief evening for my birthday (my Jesus year is over). We had a nice dinner and went to see Atonement.

Things I liked about the film:
1) It is really quite subtle and actually relies entirely at certain points on the actors ability to communicate simply through expressions and body language.
2) The visuals are strong, both beautiful and repelling.
3) The chronology and storytelling are engaging (though even I haven’t read the book it is obvious there was some chopping of details).
4) Its ending makes you think and reflect about its themes quite effectively, forgiveness, judgment, the imagination, class, etc.

Things I wonder about:
1) I am familiar with only one other story by McEwan, Black Dogs. I like Atonement better. Both stories rely on a rape as a central part of the plot. Even though this may even have metaphorical implications beyond traditional plot devices, it struck me as a bit strange.

Maybe those of you who have read more McEwan can comment. I wondered about this because Atonement seems to be about reality versus fiction and the power of fiction to redeem real life mistakes. Any thoughts on this?

I will say that we both thought the movie was a powerful and dramatic story. Just that one thing came up in our discussion.

Posted on February 9th, 2008 by Ned
Filed under: Hollow Men | 4 Comments »

If you haven’t yet seen U2-3D, I highly recommend getting to your closest IMAX theater to take it in. It gives a whole new experience to “Vertigo.” There are some amazing shots, and the 3D quality of it is such that you feel you could reach out and take Bono’s glasses right off his face. It also gives you some of the little details of what goes on up on stage–Larry Mullen’s orange Fanta, for example. The set list is very good, and while it can’t quite capture actually being at the concert, it’s the closest thing available. Even just some of the shots over the crowd are remarkable, and the whole film gives you the virtual experience of what it must be like to be walking out on those catwalks in front of thousands of people. I think the film is in limited release now, but supposed to be wider in the next few weeks. I’m not sure it will be coming to the Hutchinson Cosmosphere, however…

Posted on February 4th, 2008 by Shotts
Filed under: Informational, Movies, Music | No Comments »

I’ll just let the title to this post say, and ask, it all. 

Posted on January 22nd, 2008 by Shotts
Filed under: Hollow Men | 13 Comments »

Jen and I had our twelve-week appointment this morning, and everything is looking good and healthy, I’m happy to report. We heard the baby’s heartbeat for the first time–a sound I have kept hearing since.We’re very excited, and glad to be beginning the second trimester, and enjoying this time of anticipation and what it means for us.I appreciated talking with each of you earlier this month with the news–your support, your stories. Thank you.  

Posted on January 18th, 2008 by Shotts
Filed under: Family, Love, News | 6 Comments »

Pinker has a quite good article in the NY Times.

There isn’t too much new there, but it offers a good overview of some of the ideas of Moral Psychology and relates them to issues of the environment at the end.

I’m glad that he brings up Peter Singer’s idea of the expanding circle of reciprocal trust and action. He once again dismisses religion by saying that Plato did away with it 2,400 years ago, which again, seems a bit odd, but the article has a lot of good info.

It does seem funny that these guys keep insisting that “love thy neighbor as thy self” is the ultimate moral concept, but keep dismissing religion. Oh well.

Here’s the link if you guys get a chance. It’s about eight pages; so probably takes about fifteen minutes to read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/magazine/13Psychology-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Posted on January 15th, 2008 by Ned
Filed under: Books, Ethics & Morality, Philosophical | 3 Comments »

I just finished the book Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. I know, Shotts, you had recommended it to me a while ago, and my mother had suggested it before that even. It seems you both know what I will appreciate, certainly in this case.

It really is difficult for me to describe how much reading that book meant to me. It kind of seared me. It succeeds on so many levels that at times it was difficult for me to think of it as fiction, and yet that sounds as if the fact that it is fiction is somehow a detraction. What a miracle that something imagined can emanate into the minds of others so entirely.

Of course, I’m sure that all of this sounds like blathering, and perhaps others would not have the same experience I had with the novel as they have not had the same experience with life, but I am deeply grateful for having had the opportunity to experience it.

Posted on January 12th, 2008 by Ned
Filed under: Art, Books | 2 Comments »