[See also How to Watch Werckmeister Harmonies]

And so continues a period of whale-watching at Spectacular Attractions. Having finally made the time to read Moby Dick over the summer, along with Philip Hoare’s Leviathan (a personal account of his fascination with whales, retracing the influences on Melville’s book), I got a bit interested in whales. I’m about to watch Lloyd Bacon’s mad, fast and loose adaptation from 1930, and then I’ll have a go at the other versions, some of which I’ve seen before, none of them recently. There are currently two (count them!) new adaptations of Moby Dick in production, the first a TV mini-series due for broadcast next year. It’s a German production with a British director, Mike Barker, and an American cast including William Hurt as Ahab and Ethan Hawke as Starbuck. The second is one of those “re-imaginings” that can bode so badly for all concerned, but it might just be crazy enough to work. It’s to be directed, alarmingly (but tellingly) by Timur Bekmambetov, director of gun-fetish gravity-mocking action movies like Wanted, and has no cast attached as yet. I’ll offer some updates as and when I can find them.

All this whalery was reawakened in my brain while rewatching Bela Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies recently. In it, a Hungarian town is visited by The Prince, a mysterious (and never seen) demagogue concealed in the trailer that houses the main attraction – an enormous embalmed whale. Local postman and cosmic thinker János is fascinated by its presence:

A giant whale has arrived. This mysterious creature from the sea has come from the far-off oceans. … Just see what a gigantic animal the Lord can create! How mysterious is the Lord that he amuses Himself with such strange creatures.

Tarr always grumpily resists allegorical readings of his work, but the whale, so momentously large and incongruous in its surroundings seems like one giant, stolid symbol dropped into the heart of the film. The temptation to decode it is irresistible, but it seems to defy easy interpretation, pushing one instead towards descriptions of its monstrosity, or its moving displacement from its home.

Jonathan Romney wonders about the whale, too:

From the very start rumours are rife about the universal disruption heralded by the anticipated eclipse. But is any of it really caused by the arrival of the whale, or is the huge dead creature, with its glassy eye, simply the impotent witness to human destructiveness?

The whale and the prince arrive as one, occulted in the same container. The whale is the diversion, a sideshow that hides the malevolent force of the prince (although it is never conclusively proved that the prince is directly instigating unrest in the town, rather than merely watching it happen and revelling in the chaos). The Prince, we learn, was himself an exhibit that got out of hand to become an independent demagogue. The whale might be associated with the arrival of chaos, but it has no malevolence of its own.

It might seem like the stuffed whale is a surrealist incongruity, a giant symbol of death that cancels out the concrete realism of the setting and cues the viewer to find allegorical significance in the situation of this Hungarian town. But Philip Hoare’s wonderful book Leviathan, or The Whale includes mention of travelling shows of embalmed whale carcasses touring from town to town in the first half of the 20th century. The film replays a form of spectacular entertainment that is clearly out of date – it’s a sad and joyless image, notable for its aura of decay rather than any sense of achievement over the feat of capturing, landing and parading the monster.

Try and imagine that the animal at the core of the film is a big stuffed bear, or a giant hippo. Would it be the same? I doubt it. Whales, the largest creatures on Earth, are also rarely seen, and certainly very few people ever get to see them. Even television footage of some species is rare. Try and find underwater footage of a blue whale – even the combined fisheries of Google and YouTube will pull up empty (inter)nets. For centuries, the only views people got of whales was when they were impaled, slaughtered and carved up on the decks of shapes or beached, hideously distorted like (as Hoare puts it) deflated inner tubes. The only way to show them off in their original shape was to stuff them, stripping them of their majestic grace and reducing their visual impact to the single category of massive scale.

This may be the reason for the remarkably over-dramatic representations of these creatures, which give them the hyperbolic, nightmarish aggression they surely possess only in the feverish recollections of seafarers’ tales.

Melville’s Moby Dick must be literature’s most sustained attempt to grasp and describe the mysteries of the whale. For the most part, this means that the author described the mechanics and traditions of whaling in painstaking detail, cataloguing the means by which the whale progresses is reduced from feared monster to slabs of meat and barrels of oil. The White Whale’s refusal to be captured and so reduced, its body seemingly impervious to attack, is what sets it apart: it is a symbol that won’t be tamed, an idea that won’t submit to the fantasies of mastery projected onto it by Ahab. And yet, even as the narrator’s descriptions soberly record the anatomical deconstruction of the whales, there is still space to sing to its majesty:

Oh, man! admire and model thyself after the whale! Do thou, too, remain warm among ice. Do thou, too, live in this world without being of it. Be cool at the equator; keep thy blood fluid at the Pole. Like the great dome of St. Peter’s, and like the great whale, retain, O man! in all seasons a temperature of thine own. But how easy and how hopeless to teach these fine things! Of erections, how few are domed like St. Peter’s ! of creatures, how few vast as the whale!

Werckmeister Harmonies compiles centuries of mythology and musing about whales into a single sad stuffed carcass. When I first saw the film, I wondered if it was a real whale that Tarr had acquired for use on the film. Like Janos, I inspected its body for clues about its true nature; ascertaining whether or not it was a fake might have an impact on the film’s meaning, that the Prince had used an extra layer of deception in order to mesmerise the townsfolk. He compels them to become a mob, to conglomerate their physical power by joining their bodies into a mono-brained monster – it is only the sight of a feeble-bodied individual that shatters their frenzy and sends them away in shards. Now, I don’t know or care whether it was ever a real whale or not – whatever it is, it has fallen into disrepair and has had so many taxidermist’s make-overs that it is a world away from its vivid oceanic origins. Its skin peels away like torn fabric, the baleen in its mouth is sparse and cage-like. When Janos sees it in the dark of the trailer, it seems more magical, hidden away in the darkness that was once its home, but when Eszter returns to the square in the aftermath of the riot, all of its power has gone. The Prince vanished with it, but the Prince is really just an abstract evil – it made sense for him to hide behind something so utterly, lumpenly concrete.

]]> http://hcgambrell.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/leviathan/ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:35:42 +0000 Haley http://hcgambrell.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/leviathan/

According to Wikipedia (the root of all knowledge, as we know):

steampunk: (noun) “a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction [ . . . ] set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used–usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England–but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the world of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.”

* * *

Scott Westerfeld is a writer of young adult fiction whose work I generally respect, if not thoroughly admire. His dystopian series, Uglies, was marvelous, and even his contemporary spin on vampire lore  in Peeps and Last Days was intriguing and thought-provoking.

I was, therefore, extremely excited when I discovered that he released a new book in October. The display in B&N featuring this book and others was my first introduction to steampunk, and my interest was piqued.

First, the novel is gloriously beautiful in appearance. The cover depicts really fantastic steampunk art, with rich reds and golds. Inside the covers is a map depicting the setting of the novel–Westerfeld’s revised Europe on the brink of WWI:

Furthermore, the illustrations in the novel are beautiful, and even the font is pleasing.

The basic plot: Europe is divided into factions. The Darwinists (England, Russia, etc.) have built their armies on fabricated beasts composed of parts of living animals. Their shining glory is an airship called the Leviathan, which is composed of the body of a whale, as well as multiple other animals.

The Clankers (Germany, Austrio-Hungary, etc.) are the Darwinists’ enemies. Their machines are larger-than-life, as well, but these machines are just that…machines. The prime example of this is the Stormwalker.

The story has two main characters. Alek (a Clanker) is the son of the Archduke Ferdinand. When his parents are killed (in chapter 1), Alek and four of his men escape in a Stormwalker because the Germans are looking to kill him, too.

Deryn is a sixteen-year-old girl who loves to fly with her father in balloons. She poses as a boy named Dylan in order to join the British Navy as a midshipman. She successfully joins and, through an accident, winds up on the Leviathan.

The story is told from a third-person omnisicent perspective, but it switches back-and-forth between Alek and Deryn’s stories. They each get two chapters before Westerfeld switches back. Usually, this kind of narrative intrigues me, but this time, it gave me whiplash. Their stories don’t interconnect until well past halfway through the novel. I found it frustrating that Westerfeld would build up to a climactic moment, then make me sit through two more chapters of another story.

Also, the book just didn’t interest me as much as I anticipated. Westerfeld always creates his own jargon, and usually I appreciate that and catch on pretty quickly. This time, I was confused about some of the terms throughout most of the book, and I never really did figure out what other words meant.

Even the characterization annoyed me. Honestly, Westerfeld has yet to create a really strong lead character that I thoroughly support. Tally, the protagonist of Uglies, was annoying at times in her indecisiveness. The vamps in Peeps and Last Days were intriguing, but not characters I really related to. I like Alek okay in this novel, but Deryn was just ridiculous.

Also, Deryn is a girl pretending to be a guy to get in on some military action. Hasn’t this plot been overdone? And Westerfeld never gives resolution. Throughout 400 pages, no one ever officially confirms that Deryn is a girl. One of the scientists suspects, but no one else does. That was frustrating, especially when the end of the book arrives. Westerfeld, of course, leaves it wide open for the sequel (and who knows when that will be released?). I definitely won’t buy that book in hardcover. I’ll probably just check it out from the library at some point.

Finally, Westerfeld is an evolutionist. Now, I firmly believe that one can enjoy a book and disagree with the author’s viewpoint. However, Westerfeld is more extreme in this than in any of his other books, and I found that it got in the way of the story. For example, Alek (the Clanker) uses the adjective “godless” probably 5 or 6 times in the novel to refer to the Darwinists’ evolutionary beasts. “Godless” is a strong word, one that should be used sparingly, lest it lose its power. When Westerfeld creates a character who directly opposes his own worldview, and that character starts overusing emotionally charged words, it hinders the narrative.

All this to say, steampunk has the potential to be aweseme, and I’m sad that my first literary venture into the subgenre was disappointing. If you’re interested in the genre, or in machinery, or in revised history, or Westerfeld, maybe you’ll enjoy it more than I did. But I won’t exactly be recommending this novel anytime soon.

Damn Hobbes and his Leviathan. Clearly he and other related political thinkers have been pervading my mind.

Yup, it’s that time of the year my friends. And nope, I’m not talking about holidays. I’m talking about the dreaded time that comes right before then…exam season. Dun, dun, dun! The past week has been absolute madness and this week will be even worse with two papers and three finals to write. So right now, I’ve been in my own little bubble dealing with matters of sovereignty, NGOs, IOs, MNCs, inequality, globalization, Hobbes, Locke, Marx, Veblen, Nietzsche, Weber, ICTs, dadadada the list never seems to end. I’ve been living in cafes all week and I’ve seriously considered moving into one and living there for the time being. It’s been brutal, I tell you. So brutal that in the past week I’ve had to line up to get into a library. A library. That’s when you know you’ve reached the peak of your cool. And I know that this struggle of mine is a plight shared by many others. Makes me question whether Hobbes was actually talking more about studentkind than all of mankind when he said that life was solitary, poor (oh so very, very poor!), nasty, brutish, and (thankfully!) short.

So for all of my fellow students out there finding themselves sleep-deprived, overly-caffeinated, and losing your mind, I feel your pain. Just gotta keep on keepin’ on and I’ll see you all on the flip side!

Wisconsin seems to be a leader in the race for becoming a full fledged police state. Earlier this year I posted on the fact that in Wisconsin police can attach a GPS device on citizens’ cars without a warrant.

Now we learn from the LaCrosse Tribune that police apparently used deceit to friend students on Facebook then, based on photos in their Facebook network, cited them for underage drinking.  One can’t help but wonder if this was a fishing expedition for increased municipal revenue.

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student Adam Bauer has nearly 400 friends on Facebook. He got an offer for a new one about a month ago. “She was a good-looking girl. I usually don’t accept friends I don’t know, but I randomly accepted this one for some reason,” the 19-year-old said.

He thinks that led to his invitation to come down to the La Crosse police station, where an officer laid out photos from Facebook of Bauer holding a beer — and then ticketed him for underage drinking.

The police report said Bauer admitted drinking, which he denies. But he did plead no contest in municipal court Wednesday and will pay a $227 fine.

He was among at least eight people who said Wednesday they had been cited for underage drinking based on photos on social networking sites.

Hopefully these students have learned some valuable lessons:

• The role of police officers is not to protect.  They are law enforcement officers.
• The police can and will lie.  (One of Wisconsin’s finest is quoted here as having aspirations of getting better at it.)
• Never talk to the police.  Let your lawyer do the talking.

(HT to David Kramer and Southern Bread)

For many years young-earth creationists have pointed to the book of Job, chapters 40-41, as evidence that dinosaurs lived recently. In order to set the record straight, letย’s examine this passage of scripture, and see what the possibilities are. I may surprise a few old-earth creationists by my conclusions with this one. First, letย’s read the portion of Job 40 that, job, is in question, in the King James Version.

Job 40:15-24 ย- Behemoth

15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.

16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.

17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.

19 He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.

20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.

21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.

22 The shady trees cover him, job, with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.

23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.

24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.

What are the possible interpretations for this passage? There are two mainstream interpretations for this passage (I will give two other possibilities later in the article.)

Interpretation #1

First, behemoth represents a dinosaur. This is the, job, view of the young-earth theorists. They claim the ย”moveth his tail like a cedarย” is referring to a sauropod dinosaur (a ย”saurapodย” is a plant-eating dinosaur, such as Apatosaurus, Diplodicus, etc.) However, it is not without problems.

I see three problems with this interpretation. First, while most of the passage could be attributed to a sauropod, verse 23, in which he ย”drinketh up a riverย”, does not sound like a sauropod. The New, job, American Standard version states ย”If a river rages, he is not alarmed; He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth. Given the smallness of the sauropodย’s mouth, this is unlikely.

The second problem with the sauropod interpretation is verse 21. The KJV is good, but a more literal translation is better here. The NASB says, ย”Under the lotus plants he lies down, The willows(reeds) of the brook surround him.ย” It is difficult to imagine the Argentinosaurus, at 100 feet long, and a height of 70 feet when standing (sitting, probably 20 feet), resting, job, under the limbs of a lotus plant (or, tree), nor would he be able to take cover in reeds only a few feet tall.

The last problem I see with this interpretation is verse 18. The NASB says, ย”His bones are tubes of bronze, His limbs are like bars of iron.ย” No dinosaur has ever had metal bones.

However, these, job, three problems donย’t prove conclusive enough to claim that behemoth was not a dinosaur, so the possibility remains that the sauropod interpretation is correct. With that said, there is one final thought to ponderย…since there is no physical evidence (fossils) of dinosaurs that lived in the past 6,000 years, this interpretation cannot possibly be correct.1

Interpretation #2

Second, many modern scholars interpret behemoth to be a hippopotamus. This appears to be the most likely explanation. The hippo theory solves the problem with verse 23, and drawing up the Jordan into his mouth. The gaping mouth, job, of the hippo provides adequate credence to this verse. And in verse 21, the hippo can easily rest under shade trees, and hide in the reeds. However, there are two problems with this theory. First, back to verse 17 and the tail like a cedarย…this is not at all like the tail of a hippopotamus. Second, the same problem exists with verse 18, and the bronze bones.

This interpretation is favored by the old earth progressive creationist Dr. Hugh Ross, and by well-known Christian, job, apologist Gleason L. Archer.2

You can see from these two interpretations, that neither of them is perfect. Before we give the other two possibilities, lets look at leviathan (Job 41:1-34);

1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?

3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?

4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?

5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?

6 Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?

7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?

8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.

9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?

10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?

11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.

12 I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion.

13 Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?

14 Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.

15 His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.

16 One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.

17 They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.

18 By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.

20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.

21 His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.

22 In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.

23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved.

24 His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.

25 When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves.

26 The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.

27 He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

28 The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned with him into stubble.

29 Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear.

30 Sharp stones are under him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire.

31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.

32 He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.

33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear.

34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.

As before, there are two main theories concerning leviathan.

Interpretation #1

First, according to some young-earth believers, leviathan is one of the sea dinosaurs. Ken Ham, in his book The Answers Book, states that it may have been something like Kronosaurus or Liopleurodon (Page 243). The Institute for Creation Research calls Leviathan a dragon, and equates it to other passages in Isaiah and Revelation.3

What are the problems with this interpretation? First, verses 19-21 describe leviathan as breathing fire like a dragon. There are, job, no known dinosaurs, sea-going or otherwise, that had the ability to breathe fire. Using this interpretation, it is not possible to take this passage literally. In addition, verse 31 says he makes the deep to boil like a pot. Is he so hot from breathing fire that he evaporates the water around him??? No dinosaurs had this capability.

Interpretation #2

The second theory, put forth by modern Bible scholars, is that leviathan represents a crocodile. This belief is held by Gleason Archer, in his book Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, and by Dr. Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe. Archer makes a good case for the crocodile, however, using a literal translation, there is no possibility that this interpretation is correct. Iย’ve never seen, nor heard of, a fire-breathing crocodile.

New Theories

I propose two possible theories concerning behemoth and leviathan.

New Theory #1

We have seen that the dinosaur interpretation has problems. Nevertheless, Behemoth and Leviathan could represent dinosaurs, just as the young-earth theorists believe. However, there is no proof in the geologic record that man and dinosaurs lived together. With that, job, said, I believe it is possible that God used the extinct dinosaur as an example for Job. He may have shown him an image, or created one on the spot, or merely talked about the dinosaurย…nobody knows. One thing is for certainย…the conversation between God and Job was one-wayย…with Job on the receiving end. Since he was receiving this scolding, he would not have interrupted God and asked him what a behemoth was. More than likely, he was trembling in fear, merely listening to God speak.

It is not out of the question that God could have used a pre-existing species as an example of his creative power. There is no doubt that God created the dinosaurs. They are a great testimony to his power, whether alive or dead. This option sounds very good, considering that there is no proof of dinosaurs living only 6,000 years ago.

New Theory #2

Behemoth and Leviathan represent angelic creations of God, on the same level as the Seraphim and Cherubim. They were never intended to live on earth, but merely served as Godย’s example in this, job, story. As such, we have no clue what their role is in Godย’s creation. Given the impossible literal interpretation of leviathan, this is an attractive theory. However, it is not without problems. In Psalm 74, Leviathan was killed and given to the beasts of the field for meat. You could not do this for an angelic being!

Conclusion

I agree with Ken Ham of Answers in Genesisย…there simply isnย’t enough evidence to decide conclusively. However, there is one certainty about Job 40-41ย…they are not dinosaurs that lived 6,000 years ago. With the possibilities presented, I leave it up to the reader to decide for themselves what the correct answer is. We probably wonย’t know for certain until we get to heaven.

What do I believe? I lean toward the dinosaur theory. You may say, ย”How can Bible writers, such as David in Psalm 74, write about a dinosaur if it lived 65 million years ago?ย” This is simple. There were certainly dinosaur fossils available in Bible times. They are in the rocks now, so they must have been in the rocks then. David, and others, probably saw these fossils, and wrote about them). This interpretation does not, job, harm the inerrancy of the Scriptures.

—

1 Dinosaur Evidences for an Old Earth, Answers In Creation website, http://www.answersincreation.org/poop.htm

2 Archer, Gleason, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, page 239-240

3 icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-241.htm

From the moment I saw Stephen Asma’s On Monsters summarized in the Chronicle of Higher Education, I knew I had to read it. Having been fascinated by monsters as a child, and then having grown out of that fascination, this book is a respectable way to indulge my juvenile interests while learning something. The book’s subtitle, An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears, reveals perhaps why I was so compelled by this particular volume. Those of you who follow this blog know that I contend that religion and fear are very closely related, well nigh inseparable even. As Asma delves into the origins of our monsters, he pauses for a while on the Bible.

The Bible hosts its share of monsters. From lengthy descriptions of Leviathan and Behemoth to tantalizingly creepy references to Azazel and the night hag, the writers of holy writ were as aware of monsters as we are. Asma focuses on the fantastic beasts described in the apocalyptic material, Daniel and Revelation. Obviously not intended to be taken literally, the descriptions of these fantastical beasts represent various ancient empires that threatened the early Jews and Christians respectively. Their monstrosity rests in their intent to destroy, not their hideous physical form. To quote from our host, “monsters are not creatures of natural history but symbolic warnings of a horrifying life without the Abrahamic God (or, in the case of Christians, without his son).”

The ancient fascination with monsters very likely has religious roots. These beings appear to stand outside the rationally created order and lurk in places where the divine is not. The fear they engender leads to the very religion that shuns them. Vampires fear a crucifix, demons are banished at the name of Jesus, and even the headless horseman shuns a church. People run to their faith to protect them from monsters, and monsters, in their turn, provided early believers with a rationale for their faith.

The following book reviews will be appearing on the BookBanter site with the new episode which will be up on December 1st:

Depraved by Bryan Smith

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Book Two City of Night by Dean Koontz

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Book Three Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

For many years young-earth creationists have pointed to the book
of Job, chapters 40-41, as evidence that dinosaurs lived
recently. In order to set the record straight, let’s examine
this passage of scripture, and see what the possibilities are. I
may surprise a few old-earth creationists, job, by my conclusions with
this one. First, let’s read the portion of Job 40 that is in
question, in the King James Version. Job 40:15-24 – Behemoth 15
Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as
an ox. 16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is
in the navel of his belly. 17 He moveth his tail like a cedar:
the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. 18 His bones are
as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. 19
He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make
his sword to approach unto him. 20 Surely the mountains bring
him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. 21 He
lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and
fens. 22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the
willows of the brook compass him about. 23 Behold, he drinketh
up, job, a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up
Jordan into his mouth. 24 He taketh, job, it with his eyes: his nose
pierceth through snares. What are the possible interpretations
for this passage? There are two mainstream interpretations for
this passage (I will give two other possibilities later in the
article.) Interpretation #1 First, behemoth represents a
dinosaur. This is the view of the young-earth theorists. They
claim the “moveth his tail like a cedar” is referring to a
sauropod dinosaur (a “saurapod” is a plant-eating dinosaur, such
as Apatosaurus, Diplodicus, etc.) However,, job, it is not without
problems.

I see three problems with this interpretation. First, while most
of the passage could be attributed to a sauropod, verse 23, in
which he “drinketh up a river”, does not sound like a sauropod.
The New American Standard version states “If a river rages, he
is not alarmed; He is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his
mouth. Given the smallness of the sauropod’s, job, mouth, this is
unlikely.

The second problem with the sauropod interpretation is verse 21.
The KJV is good, but a more literal translation is better here.
The NASB says, “Under the lotus plants he lies down, The
willows(reeds) of the brook surround him.” It is difficult to
imagine the Argentinosaurus, at 100 feet long, and a height of
70 feet when standing (sitting, probably 20 feet), resting under
the limbs of a lotus plant (or, tree), nor would he be able to
take cover in reeds only a few feet tall.

The last problem I see with this interpretation is verse 18. The
NASB says, “His bones are tubes of bronze, His limbs are like
bars of iron.” No dinosaur has ever had metal bones.

However, these three problems don’t prove conclusive enough to
claim that behemoth was not a dinosaur, so the possibility
remains that the sauropod interpretation is correct. With that
said, there is one final thought to ponder…since there is no
physical evidence (fossils) of dinosaurs that lived in the past
6,000 years, this interpretation cannot possibly be correct.1
Interpretation #2 Second, many modern scholars interpret
behemoth to be a hippopotamus. This appears to be the most
likely explanation. The hippo theory solves the problem with
verse 23, and drawing up the Jordan into his mouth. The gaping
mouth of the hippo provides adequate credence to this verse. And
in verse 21, the hippo can easily rest under shade trees, and
hide in the reeds. However, there are two problems with this
theory. First, back to verse 17 and the tail like a cedar…this
is not at all like the tail of a hippopotamus. Second, the same
problem exists with verse 18, and the bronze bones. This
interpretation is favored by the old earth progressive
creationist Dr. Hugh Ross, and by well-known Christian apologist
Gleason L. Archer.2 You can see from these two interpretations,
that neither of them is perfect. Before we give the other two
possibilities, lets look at leviathan (Job 41:1-34);

1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with
a cord which thou lettest down? 2 Canst thou put an hook into
his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? 3 Will he make
many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto
thee? 4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him
for a servant for ever? 5 Wilt thou play with him as with a
bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? 6 Shall the
companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the
merchants? 7 Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his
head with fish spears? 8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the
battle, do no more. 9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall
not one be cast down even at the sight of him?, job, 10 None is, job, so
fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before
me? 11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him?
whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. 12 I will not
conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. 13
Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him
with his double bridle? 14 Who can open, job, the doors of his face?
his teeth are terrible round about. 15 His scales are his pride,
shut up together as with a close seal. 16 One is so near to
another, that no air can come between them. 17 They are joined
one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be
sundered. 18 By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes
are like the eyelids of the morning. 19 Out of his mouth go
burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. 20 Out of his
nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. 21
His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.
22 In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy
before him. 23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they
are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved. 24 His heart is as
firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether
millstone. 25 When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid:
by reason of breakings they purify themselves. 26 The sword of
him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the
habergeon. 27 He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten
wood. 28 The arrow cannot make him flee: slingstones are turned
with him into stubble. 29 Darts are counted as stubble: he
laugheth at the shaking of a spear. 30 Sharp stones are under
him: he spreadeth sharp pointed things upon the mire. 31 He
maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot
of ointment. 32 He maketh a path to shine after him; one would
think, job, the deep to be hoary. 33 Upon earth there is not his like,
who is made without fear. 34 He beholdeth all high things: he is
a king over all the children of pride.

As before, there are two main theories concerning leviathan.
Interpretation #1 First, according to some young-earth
believers, leviathan is one of the sea dinosaurs. Ken Ham, in
his book The Answers Book, states that it may have been
something like Kronosaurus or Liopleurodon (Page 243). The
Institute for Creation Research calls Leviathan a dragon, and
equates it to other passages in Isaiah and Revelation.3

What are the problems with this interpretation? First, verses
19-21 describe leviathan as breathing fire like a dragon. There
are no known dinosaurs, sea-going or otherwise, that had the
ability to breathe fire. Using this interpretation, it is not
possible to take this passage literally. In addition, verse 31
says he makes the deep to boil like a pot. Is he so hot from
breathing fire that he evaporates the water around him??? No
dinosaurs had this capability. Interpretation #2 The second
theory, put forth by modern Bible scholars, is that leviathan
represents a crocodile. This belief is held by Gleason Archer,
in his book Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, and by Dr. Hugh
Ross of Reasons to Believe. Archer makes a good case for the
crocodile, however, using a literal translation, there is no
possibility that this interpretation is correct. I’ve never
seen, nor heard of, a fire-breathing crocodile. New Theories I
propose two possible theories concerning behemoth and leviathan.
New Theory #1 We have seen that the dinosaur interpretation has
problems. Nevertheless, Behemoth and Leviathan could represent
dinosaurs, just as the young-earth theorists believe. However,
there is no proof in the geologic record that man and dinosaurs
lived together. With that said, I believe it is possible that
God used the extinct dinosaur as an example for Job. He may have
shown him an image, or created one on the spot, or merely talked
about the dinosaur…nobody knows. One thing is for
certain…the conversation between God and Job was
one-way…with Job on the receiving end. Since he was receiving
this scolding, he would not have interrupted God and asked him
what a behemoth was. More than likely, he was trembling in fear,
merely listening to God speak.

It is not out of the question that God could have used a
pre-existing species as an example of his creative power, job, . There
is no doubt that God created the dinosaurs. They are a great
testimony to his power, whether alive or dead. This option
sounds very good, considering, job, that there is no proof of
dinosaurs living only 6,000 years ago. New Theory #2 Behemoth
and Leviathan represent angelic creations of God, on the same
level as the Seraphim and Cherubim. They were never intended to
live on earth, but merely served as God’s example in this story.
As such, we have no clue what their role is in God’s creation.
Given the impossible literal interpretation of leviathan, this
is an attractive theory. However, it is not without problems. In
Psalm 74, Leviathan was killed and given to the beasts of the
field for meat. You could not do this, job, for an angelic being!
Conclusion I agree with Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis…there
simply isn’t enough evidence to decide conclusively. However,
there is one certainty about Job 40-41…they are not dinosaurs
that lived 6,000 years ago. With the possibilities presented, I
leave it up to the reader to decide for themselves what the
correct answer is. We probably won’t know for certain until we
get to heaven. What do I believe? I lean toward the dinosaur
theory. You may say, “How can Bible writers, such as David in
Psalm 74, write about a dinosaur if it lived 65 million years
ago?” This is simple. There were certainly dinosaur fossils
available in Bible times. They are in the rocks now, so they
must have been in the rocks then. David, and others, probably
saw these fossils, and wrote about them). This interpretation
does not harm the inerrancy of the Scriptures.

— 1 Dinosaur Evidences for an Old Earth, Answers In Creation
website, http://www.answers
increation.org/poop.htm

2 Archer, Gleason, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, page
239-240

3 icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-241.htm

Tomorrow I’ll be working on my review for Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, before I begin putting the next episode of BookBanter together, so I wanted to get a few thoughts down about it before I write the review, plus I’ll add a few thoughts and ideas that likely won’t make it into the review.  It’s why there’s a blog.

Levithan is an alternate history set during the beginning of World War I, kicking the book off with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, leaving Prince Aleksander on his own.  He lives in a strange world of Clankers: giant mechanical machines of varying sizes.  Back in jolly old Britain is Deryn Sharp, who is training to be an airman in the British Air Service.  Yep, that’s right, airman; only men are allowed in the service, so Deryn cuts her hair short and keeps herself disguised.  Britain is on the side of the Darwinists, who have giant beast that are a genetic amalgamation of different creatures.  The Leviathan of the title is in fact a giant gene-crossed sperm whale upon which Deryn is an airman.  The Levithan finds itself caught in an impressive air battle with the German Clankers, causing it to flee into the alps where it conveniently crashes not too far from Prince Aleksander, which is how the two main characters meet.

The book reminded me in a number of ways Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, no surprise really with the alternate history/fantasy world.  And my main complaint with the book would be while the setting was epic and impressive like Pullman’s world, the complex undertone and storyline wasn’t there, if anything the story seemed a little too simple.  But at the moment I’m putting this down to Leviathan being the first book in the series, where the second will open up the stage to something epic and mind-blowing like His Dark Materials.  Leviathan also reminded me of Naomi Novik’s successful Temeraire series also.  With how much story and set-up Westerfeld has done, the next few books in the series — I think — are really going to blow this whole thing out of the water, so to speak.

The other great thing about Leviathan is the work and care that has gone on with the book design, with the eye-catching Steampunkish cover, the type layout, the beautiful illustrations, the inlay design.  It’s a work of art that anyone would appreciate on their bookshelf.

“Long live Christ the King!”  The last words of Father Miguel Pro, S.J. before being executed by firing squad for his faith.

One day after the Feast of Christ the King Catholics celebrate today the Memorial of Blessed Miguel Pro, Jesuit priest and Christian martyr, executed November 23, 1927, on the orders of Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles.  Falsely accused and convicted without trial, his crime was his refusal to submit to the laws outlawing the practice of his Catholic faith.

A master of disguise, the photograph above shows him disguised as a mechanic, his attire for a conference with cab and bus drivers.

The president’s desire to make a spectacle of his execution has given us a treasure of photographs from that day.  Below Fr. Pro walks towards his execution.  Center, he prays before his execution.  At bottom, barely moments before the executioners’ bullets hit.

Leviatán;
cerámica de alta temperatura, engobe y vidrio. C. 2006

Un po’ per obblighi istituzionali, un po’ perchè sono curiosa, ho messo le grinfie su Leviathan di Scott Westerfeld, pubblicato un mesetto fa da Simon&Schuster nella collana Simon Pulse (destinata ai titoli per giovani adulti e compagnia) e illustrato da Keith Thompson, super concept artist di videogiochi e disegnatore fantasy.  La versione italiana, edita da Einaudi, debutterà nel 2010, mentre il secondo capitolo della saga, Behemot, sarà in libreria il prossimo ottobre per i fortunati lettori anglofoni.

Leviathan è il primo capitolo di quella che diventerà una trilogia (ma va!) dedicata alla rivisitazione storica, in chiave avventura-cyberpunk, degli eventi della prima guerra mondiale. Il genere è di difficile definizione, ma un utile punto fermo è rappresentato dalla contrapposizione di base tra Clangers (gli austro-ungarici, costruttori di macchine da guerra a metà tra i Transformers e la tradizione dei mecha orientali) e  Darwinists (britannici, creatori di armi “biologiche”, ibridi del mondo animale, allevati dall’uomo per diventare fortezze volanti o mezzi d’assalto). L’ambizione di costruire un universo è chiara, così come era stato per la Rowling e la realtà alternativa di Hogwarts. Dopo un centinaio di pagine, non posso certo dirmi delusa e c’è già chi vede in Leviathan il prossimo Twilight…

This has to be one of the best best best book trailers I’ve seen in a long time. Absolutely brilliant. And this new steam-punk series, LEVIATHAN, by Scott Westerfeld looks fascinating…wonder if it’s been optioned yet?

“Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.”

Check it out here…

LEVIATHAN

Carl recently read Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, and for once, I was able to sweet talk him into doing a question and answer review for me.  Here’s what he had to say:

Why did you decide to read this book?

I decided to read Leviathan because I had recently read the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld and really enjoyed it.  This made me have high hopes for his latest book.

What’s the book about?

Leviathan is about the inevitable meeting and joining of forces between Alek and Dylan (who is not what he appears to be).  They eventually team up to become allies in a fight against an evil force looking for world domination.  All of this was intermixed with a splash of technology; mechanical on one side, biological on the other.

What did you like about Leviathan?

Being a geek, I like technology.  Even though the book is set during the beginning of World War I, it contains elements of technology that, of course, didn’t exist then, with an element of fantasy thrown in for good measure.

The illustrations by Keith Thompson are great!

Was there anything you didn’t like?

The book was a little slow for the first half while the parallel stories of Alek and Dylan (before their meeting) developed.  Their meeting became mutually beneficial.

Who would you recommend this book to?

I would recommend Leviathan to anyone who likes YA with elements of fantasy.

What else would you like readers to know about this book?

Even though, I found the Uglies series more captivating, I enjoyed this book.  I am definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.

I’d like to thank my sweet husband for taking the time to answer these questions for me.

Review copy provided by Amazon Vine.   I am an Amazon Associate.

I’ve been doing too much reading and not enough writing lately.  SOO here are some books and records I have read/listened-to in the past week or so!

Picked Richard Lange’s short story collection up last weekend at Green Apple and literally could not stop reading it. I stayed up super late Sunday night, read it on trains etc and then all night Monday too. I would say that this is “the best” short story collection I have ever read. At least personally I would prefer this even to Dubliners (haha).

But seriously. The stories are about LA, they’re extremely depressing and hardcore, and each one grabs the reader in a strangle-hold and doesn’t let go. Read the reviews and believe the hype. Lange even references the band The Dead Boys in some end notes.

Lords of Chaos, the outrageously exhaustive, dense, and textbook-like history of Norwegian black metal is another book that was very hard to put down.  Packed with stories and interview quotes that are too insane to be fictional, this is an extremely interesting read for anyone (like me) who is fascinated with youth subcultures, “underground” music, occultist groups, and other topics mentioned in this other awesome cultural analysis book on subcultures.

And some music!  Click the albums if you’re interested.  Apparently this week’s themes include jangly folk by Bon Iver’s old bandmates, bands who are featured prominently in Lords of Chaos, chillwave pop, and West Coast drug/art/ambient/atmospheric/pure-genius/how-is-Leviathan-AKA-Lurker-of-Chalice-AKA-Wrest-so-talented-and-all-of-his-releases-and-related-projects-are-so-awesome metal.

I’m convinced more than ever that we live in a lawless land.  The only law being that of the whims and power of those in positions of authority.

In 1850 Frédéric Bastiat wrote The Law to warn of the detrimental effects of perverting the law and using it to plunder your neighbor, that is use the law to do to your neighbor what you yourself could not legitimately do.  Although written in the context of 19th century French socialism it still applies today.  Here’s a bit of what Bastiat had to say:

It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.

What are the consequences of such a perversion? It would require volumes to describe them all. Thus we must content ourselves with pointing out the most striking.

In the first place, it erases from everyone’s conscience the distinction between justice and injustice.

No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree. The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law. These two evils are of equal consequence, and it would be difficult for a person to choose between them.

The nature of law is to maintain justice. This is so much the case that, in the minds of the people, law and justice are one and the same thing. There is in all of us a strong disposition to believe that anything lawful is also legitimate. This belief is so widespread that many persons have erroneously held that things are “just” because law makes them so. Thus, in order to make plunder appear just and sacred to many consciences, it is only necessary for the law to decree and sanction it.

I’m convinced of another thing too.  Our acceptance of  this idea of plunder has opened the way for the law to be used, not only against our neighbor to redistribute his wealth, but also against our neighbor and ourselves to fund the state in ever more unjust and evil ways.

This past week the Detroit News ran a three part series on the increase use of asset forfeiture laws by local jurisdictions (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).  Apparently, these laws are becoming an effective way to replace lost tax revenue in a down economy.  Despicable on many levels, one of the worst is that officials are preying on the very people they claim to serve and protect.

The way Krista Vaughn sees it, Wayne County fined her $1,400 even though police and prosecutors admit she broke no laws.

Vaughn, who has no criminal record, was required to pay for the return of her car, which was seized by police after they mistook Vaughn’s co-worker for a prostitute. Even though prosecutors later dropped the case, Vaughn still had to pay.

Vaughn, who works in an American Red Cross supply warehouse, dropped off her co-worker, Amanda Odom, at a Detroit bank the afternoon of Feb. 11, 2004. Both women were still wearing their Red Cross badges.

Officers from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Morality Unit accused Odom of solicitation after they saw her make eye contact with passing motorists while waiting for Vaughn to pick her up from the bank. On the strength of that observation, officers ticketed Odom and seized Vaughn’s 2002 Chrysler Sebring.

“We obviously weren’t doing anything wrong, but the cops wouldn’t listen,” Vaughn said.

The charges against Odom were eventually dropped, but Vaughn still was out $900, the usual fee prosecutors require to return seized vehicles. She also had to pay another $500 in towing and storage fees, because it was several days before she could raise the money to get her car back — plus another $400 to repair an oil pan she said was damaged when her car was towed.

In the report some officials spoke against the practice.  Now a defense attorney, former Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga said, “Forfeiture laws are being abused by police and prosecutors who see only dollar signs.  It’s a money grab, pure and simple; a sneaky way of getting a penalty on something prosecutors can’t prove. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”   Fraser Public Safety Director George Rouhib likened it to “legalized extortion.”

Other officials were unrepentant:

“We’re trying to fight crime,” said Police Chief Mike Pachla of Roseville, where the money raised from forfeitures jumped more than tenfold, from $33,890 to $393,014.  “We would be just as aggressive even if there wasn’t any money involved.”

And another:

When Romulus saw a 118 percent jump in forfeiture revenues from 2003-07, the increase was not the result of more criminal activity, Chief Michael St. Andre said.  “It’s because our forfeiture efforts have ramped up in the past few years,” he said.

This is what happens when you criminalize immoral behavior and legalize criminal behavior.  Lord, have mercy!

Pulvrisera allt. Allt som finns. Mal ner alla våra städer, våra kläder och kamréer till fint damm. Gör det. Sen kan vi konstruera en ny fin värld. En värld utan svält, världsdelar och nationsgränser, förbränningsmotorer och könsroller. Låt oss börja om från början, utan Leviathor och Caesars, Hitlers och Moderata partiledare. Vi kan väl börja om. Försöka vara lite snälla. Snälla?

As you may have gathered from my previous post, last night was a cause for great excitement and anticipation to me.  I was finally going to see Mastodon, one of my favorite bands and one that I have been listening to from the release of their first album.  Converge (a more recently-discovered favorite), High On Fire (one of the better bands on my obscure-music radar) and Dethklok (watch Metalocalypse if you don’t know who they are) are currently on tour with Mastodon and shared the stage with them last night at Austin City Music Hall.

Yesterday afternoon, after finishing an unavoidable, unfortunate in-class writing assignment, my compatriots and I (roommate Andrew, friends Justin and Jimmy) loaded up in my humble but dependable Dodge Neon and hit the road for Austin.  We made pretty good time (until we actually got into town, that is) and grabbed a bite to eat at my aunt’s house before heading over to the concert, earplugs in hand and hearts steeled for the musical onslaught to come.

Due to the delay in departure caused by the aforementioned writing assignment, we didn’t arrive at Austin City Music Hall until 7:30 or so (the doors opened at 6 and High On Fire had been scheduled to start at 6:30).  I was a little disappointed at missing High On Fire, but as we entered and I heard the opening strains of Converge’s “Worms Will Feed/Rats Will Feast” I knew that we were in for an incredible night.

Converge, in a word, are intense.  Jacob Bannon flung himself around the stage with abandon, swinging the mic wildly by its cord and catching it with a tattooed hand just in time to deliver one of his guttural near-shrieks that seemed to issue forth from some kind of possessed beast rather than a man.  From time to time he would bang his head wildly along to the cacophony behind him, releasing a spray of sweat and water in a vicious arc that shone in the stage lights like a liquid halo.  Kurt Ballou and Nate Newton were in perfect sync with madman drummer Ben Koller, as if the six arms playing the guitar, bass and drum kit belonged to the same man rather than three.

Converge dish out an inimitable blend of hardcore punk, thrash metal, and grind that’s intricately technical yet rippingly raw and elemental, and is a little difficult to come to grips with at first. In fact, the Austin crowd seemed to be unsure about how to react to the audio assault taking place onstage before them, and most people stood around trying to figure out just what to think about it.  Meanwhile, I threw myself into the experience as Bannon warned the crowd (in a disarming normal tone that was so completely opposite the raging harbinger of doom that we had just seen) that they had four more songs to throw at us.  Starting with “Dark Horse” from their latest record Axe To Fall, Converge tore into the last part of their set with ferocious energy, wrapping up with the impossibly raw “Concubine” from their seminal album Jane Doe.  The whole thing might have taken six minutes – that may give you an idea about their speed.

We were given a brief respite from more musical attack while Mastodon set up.  There appeared to be some problem with the video screen on the stage, and a technician spent a good 15 minutes trying to fix it back up again while crowd cheered him on when a section of the screen popped back into view.

Then the lights dimmed and Mastodon strode forth onto the stage.

The intro to “Oblivion” began, and the dynamic buildup of the song whipped the crowd (whose mosh pit had coalesced directly in front of where we were standing – how lucky) into a furor that crashed down in a wave of bodies when the first bars of the verse hit.  “I flew beyond the sun before it was time,” drummer Brann Dailor sang, and we sang with him.  Each successive track from Crack the Skye caused a greater and greater reaction, and I was sucked into the circle of headbanging, shoving fans more than once.

Behind the band, up on the video screen, a series of video clips played that correlated with each song, mirroring the spacey concept story of the album and upping the atmospheric factor of the show tenfold.  Each track was played flawlessly, each complex arrangement (including two tracks exceeding ten minutes in length) executed with energy and dedication.  Hearing the songs on CD is awesome, but hearing Mastodon unleash them live was something else entirely.  The heavier tracks (like “Ghosts of Karelia” and “Crack the Skye”) were so much heavier at the show, I could hardly believe it.

After somehow playing through all 50 minutes of Crack the Skye without missing a note or faltering in their vocal delivery, Mastodon exited the stage for a brief but moody keyboard interlude while they got their gear set up for the older tracks that I knew were coming.  I was probably looking forward to hearing those even more than I had been the new album, especially with the element of surprise – which songs will they play?

The band stepped back out on stage to a roaring crowd that wasn’t ready for them to leave, and then Brent Hinds kicked out the frenzied opening guitar lick to “Circle of Cysquatch” from Blood Mountain as that album’s three-faced demon-deer artwork appeared onscreen.  The change of pace to the older, more aggressive Mastodon instigated even more madness in the mosh pit.  When the weighty breakdown at the end of the song was over, there was a moment of anticipation before a great white whale filled the screen and Brent floored the crowd with the incredibly technical intro to “Aqua Dementia” from Leviathan.  I was once again astounded at the effortless manner in which they performed these complex songs at breakneck speed and reminded again why I like Mastodon so much.

After “Aqua Dementia” was over, everyone knew what was coming.  Mastodon would delve deep into their oldest debut-album material and absolutely flatten everyone with its sheer dirty Southern-metal brutality – and sure enough, as the exploding horse artwork from their 2002 release Remission faded onto the screen, they dropped “Where Strides the Behemoth” (one of my favorite tracks from that record) on us like a ten-ton hammer.  After shouting along to the closing lines of the song, I turned to Andrew and voiced my hope about the next track – would they?  Could the possibly play it?  Would I be so lucky?

I was so lucky.  The gristly, rust-covered guitar intro to “Mother Puncher” started and I jumped up and down like a little girl who just got told that yes, she really was getting a pony for her birthday.  The lengthy instrumental opening to the song gave way to the raw, sludgy verses that I knew every shouted syllable of and ended like a knockout blow in the dirtiest MMA fight you’ve ever seen.  Over 80 minutes of Mastodon.  This is definitely what I had paid for, and so much more.

I’ll spare you such detail about Dethklok (though they were hilarious and blindingly proficient on their instruments) even though most of you have probably stopped reading already.  They were certainly entertaining, and the crowd was nearly as responsive as they had been during Mastodon’s set.  They ripped through the most brutal tracks in the universe (as they would say) like “Murmaider”, “Thunderhorse” and “Pull the Plug” while animated music videos for the cartoon band played behind, ending with the fan-hating death metal anthem, “Fansong.”  There were several funny interludes, and the whole set kind of came off as one really long episode of the show, which is in no way a bad thing.

We left the venue with ears brutalized, our necks sore from headbanging, and our throats raw from cheering and shouting along.  This was, far and away, the best concert I’ve enjoyed to date.  My only regrets are missing High On Fire and part of Converge’s set (both unavoidable – thanks a lot, ENGR 482) and not having a camera, though being without one was probably wise given the moshy nature of the crowd around us.

I know this is an incredibly long post, so if you’ve made it here to the end, I congratulate and thank you.  I hope that I’ve given you an idea of how intense, how fun, and how metal last night’s concert really was.  There is no doubt in my mind – it was the metallest of them all.

Jugando a Team Fortress 2 en una guerra de 90 minutos, en el escenario Hydro, me superé a mí mismo con un nuevo record personal. Nada menos que 361 puntos, quedando primero en toda la partida. El segundo quedó con 279 puntos y el primero de su equipo. Cierto que solo tengo dos dominados y dos némesis, porque la cosa se fastidió bastante casi por el final, pero ahí están los puntos, y todos conseguidos con el Demoman sin cambiar. Me alegro bastante de la forma que he mejorado en el videojuego. Temed, mortales.

Saludos

LeviathanDominator

BROTHER, CAN YOU GIVE ME YOUR WORDS?

Tonight begins the first night of the Dwayne Morgan’s spoken word showcase “When Brothers Speak” that is going at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Dowtown Toronto for tonight and tomorrow Saturday, November 14th 2009. WBS, is major extravaganza which brings out sooo many people to witness sharpshooting lyrical madness from talented artists handpicked by Dwayne all around the North America. If you never been to a spoken word event then this is the ideal one that will make you fiend for more. No doubt.

When I began doing spoken word in January, I had three goals.

1. Get the girls 2. Get the money 3. Perform at When Brothers Speak

Ok, honestly the first two are false to perform at When Brothers Speak was a MAJOR GOAL. I didn’t happen this year and its all good. During my first year of poetry I have accomplished alot but I realized these things don’t come easy so right now I am building for a strong second year in which I will give my all behind the mic and pen. When Brothers Speak will not be a goal of mines but hopefully it would be a result the stuff I put out next year. This year has a banging line-up including my homie Leviathan, Cleveland’s William Evan (Who’s “Beautiful Biology” is probably one of the best pieces that I ever heard) and HBO Def Jam Poet Mike Ellison amongst others.

PERFORMERS

• Leviathan, Toronto
• Marcus Jameel, Ottawa
• William Evans, Cleveland Ohio
• Michael Ellison, Detroit Michigan
• Future, Flint Michigan
• Andrew Abraham, Halifax

AFTERPARTY

I will definitely be mingling at the after parties possibly on both nights at the Harlem Restaurant (which has ya boi’s favorite jerk chicken quesadillas). Friday night will feature sounds provided by DJ Sean Sax and Saturday will have Montreal’s amazing Kalmunity Vibe Collective

Job 41:1-3 (NKJV)

1 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?

2 Can you put a reed through his nose, Or pierce his jaw with a hook?

3 Will he make many supplications to you?  Will he speak softly to you?

Click on the link below for the story of a recent finding of a fossilized skull of a pliosaur.  It reminded me of the passage above.  The variety of creatures that God made is truly remarkable.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/biology_evolution/article6891676.ece

01. Leviathan – Crusted, Blackened
02. Leviathan – To A Grotesque Of Swollen Flesh
03. Leviathan – Tentacle Over Tentacle
04. Leviathan – Secret Skulls

05. Acherontas – Tymvos
06. Acherontas – Velvet Aurora
07. Acherontas – Kornugia
08. Acherontas – Silentio Est Aurum

Total playing time 45:46

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September 7th, 2009

The dust has settled and this morning our adventurous jaunt to Ireland’s premier festival, Electric Picnic, is sinking in.

We were to play in the area known as the Mindfield . As a more intelluctual (some might say pretentious) side of the festival, it was peppered with a theatre tent offering abridged Shakespeare and comedy; a spoken word / poetry tent (which I had vacate almost immediately because I didn’t want to piss myself laughing at some ‘oul one reading some god awful verse with about as much enthusiasm as a corpse) and our own Leviathan tent – hosting “Political Cabaret”.

…..

Yeah, I know. That’s what I thought.

Anyway it was actually quite entertaining – economists battled politician battling socialist battling every fucking irate / drunken punter going.

Lots of swearing and accusations, but that’s pretty much how Irish people have been handling the recession anyway.

So business as usual except with microphones.

We had picked up Danny our manager (legend) from Dublin airport around 1ish and got to the festival site  around 3ish.

We discovered we were way too early-ish.

We were scheduled to go on at 6.15, so we gave ourselves a little bit of time to wander into a couple of the larger tents and caught a great set by Dublin band Jape and then Billy Bragg giving the crowd shit (quite rightly) over the Lisbon vote; to which, oddly, some people whooped and applauded to.

Trying to be as professionally punctual as possible (try saying that drunk), we trudged over to the Leviathan tent. Here we discovered the debate was still raging on.

And on.

And on.

And on.

Once the shouting had died down and the drunken, fist waving polemists had finally admitted that they were way too hammered to remember their original point (s) – it was game time.

And what a game.

Aided by a great sound (thanks Evin) and some enthused dancing, we pretty much played our best show ever.

Odd seeing that written down, but it’s true.

Crowd was fantastic – like a sea of Bez’s – and anyone who stuck a curious head in, not only stayed but joined in.

Yeah, that qualifies it, alright.

Pulling that off in a periphery tent whilst Bat For Lashes, Klaxons and fucking Brian Wilson were kicking off, is pretty damn impressive (editor’s note : Bat For Lashes never showed up, Klaxons are shit and Brian Wilson just smiled and drooled, apparently).

Smiles all round and we swiftly made our way back to Doug’s motor to get Danny back for his red eye flight on Sunday morning (the trip back was a little less swift than planned after a nearly fruitless attempt to find an open petrol station in the wilds of  County Laois. However, thanks, to Chris’ GPS on his Blackberry it was a lot swifter than it could have been).

The next day we were untethered from our manager and decided to travel a little later as to avoid the hanging around. We didn’t count on the All Ireland Hurling Final providing a 2 kilometer tail- back on the motorway, but as before, things were running late and we had loads of time to spare.

We arrived to catch the end of a lecture / presentation by legendary rock and roll photographer Bob Gruen. Bob’s been in the business 40 years and it was pretty amazing seeing his snaps of everyone from the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Dylan, Springsteen to Bon Jovi (!) and Green Day.

Showtime was upon us again but, due to my ever present genius, I had forgotten my bag of leads and pedals, as well as Niall and mine’s guitar straps. Leads were found and Niall myself looked quite punk rock as we improvised by using duct tape to fashion straps for ourselves.

We knew we probably couldn’t top the previous night and were a little nervous when we saw that the tent filled out and we only had about a dozen people in front of us. The main stage was in full final night swing and we had lost a lot of people due to our unintentional later stage time.

In a testament to the band’s attitude we played our asses off and, thanks in no small part to Niall’s talent at audience interaction, we managed to end up with the tent, at the very least, three quaters full.

We felt like winners again and after a barnstorming encore we ended up with the crowd on their feet and bopping away.

After loading the gear into our van, we then legged it back to Doug’s car once more to gleefully return to Dublin for some much deserved rest.

All in all a triumphant weekend.

Back to work in the studio this week - but not without the small matter of going to see Fleet Foxes tonight…!

See y’all soon!

Disko

X

Soundtrack : Smokestack Lightning – Howlin’ Wolf

Il s’agit de ne pas prêter une trop grande importance au premier article, du coup je me lance dans le premier sujet qui me vient à l’esprit.

Dans Le Léviathan de Hobbes ; que je n’ai pas lu dans son intégralité, mais ça viendra ; il est question du contrat social établi entre le peuple et le souverain, lequel délivre à ce dernier un pouvoir décisionnel absolu. Enfin à vrai dire je ne suis pas certain que ce soit l’objet exact de l’oeuvre mais c’est en tout cas ce que j’en ai retenu, et puis ça n’a pas vraiment d’importance pour la suite de mon développement.

Bon, après cette introduction fastidieuse, il faut que j’explique mon point de vue. Pour moi, cette “théorie du Léviathan” ; ou plutôt son application ; consiste en fait à offrir un pouvoir de décision absolu à un objet. En l’occurrence une pièce de 100 francs Pacifique.
Une fois le Léviathan invoqué, la pièce devient seul juge pour des choix à solution binaire. Mais, comme dans tout gouvernement, la contestation de la loi – la décision de la pièce – est un délit. On considère alors que si nous n’appliquons pas la loi directement, une milice peut venir nous arrêter et nous mettre en prison.
Ainsi, acceptant toutes ces conditions, notre Léviathan nous permet de nous libérer de toutes sortes de décisions difficiles à prendre, en général celles avec un pour et contre impossible à peser: ” pile je sors faire un tour avec toi, face je continue à bosser”, “pile je descends les poubelles, face c’est toi qui y vas” , “pile je la rappelle, face j’attends que ce soit elle qui le fasse”.
Il y a aussi les décisions difficiles à prendre, on transforme alors le Léviathan, soit en outil de motivation – par son côté irrévocable – soit en porte de sortie inespérée: “pile je me mets au boulot, face je procrastine” , “pile je mets du nutella, face de la confiture” , “pile je quitte facebook, face …” etc etc etc.
Et puis, le Léviathan est alors seul responsable de la décision, d’où une certaine liberté d’esprit à exécuter les ordres de notre souverain. Et, autre avantage certain, la possibilité d’invoquer le Léviathan à tout instant nous autorise encore une certaine liberté – même si à ce niveau là, on s’éloigne de la réelle souveraineté, dans la mesure où elle n’est plus intemporelle.

Toute une histoire compliquée pour expliquer quelque chose de simple, mais il fallait en parler, alors allons-y invoquons le Léviathan en toute occasion !

Nota: Celui-ci n’a pas été consulté pour la rédaction de cet article, le peuple a droit à son propre jugement.