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Category Archives: Religion
Turn the radio on—Get in touch with God
Thayer Magic Manufacturing Company, Los Angeles, Spirito, 1932. The Spirito radio’s exterior appeared to offer cutting-edge technology in the 1930s. The inside, though, was completely empty apart from a hidden coil that allowed the voice of an assistant offstage to be broadcast as “the spirit.” Magicians played off the connections between science and the spirit world with their own devices such as Spirito. Thayer Magic, a company that produced equipment for magicians from 1907 to the 1930s, claimed “nothing supernatural for Spirito” apart from being “the master scientific marvel of the age!” The radio that tunes in on the mysterious unknown.
Today, we accomplished our main goal for returning home. Eight new windows were installed. A crew of 4-5 men showed up on time, went right to work and installed our replacement windows. The look nice, so nice in fact the few remaining windows now standout like sore thumbs. We’ll have to get their replacement scheduled ASAP. Watching them work was exhausting. So much so that it might takes a day or two to put things back the way they were.
Alvin Ailey II
Last night, Anne was still not feeling well, so I took her ticket and went with Joanie to see Alvin Ailey II perform at UMSL’s Touhill. The evening’s dance concert was preceded by a rock concert performed in the auditorium’s Terrace lobby. The rock concert was a tribute to Saint Louis’s own Chuck Berry. The tribute band What the Chuck! was led by Berry’s son and includes his grandsons.
Ailey II is the company’s JV squad or as Anne likes to call them the farm team. Even so, they are still quite professional and based on the size of the house, much respected in Saint Louis. They opened their show with a hat tip to Berry and Saint Louis in a continuation of the lobby’s concert with Berry Dreamin’, a dance that featured Chuck Berry’s music.
The second act’s dance, Down the Rabbit Hole continues choreographer Houston Thomas’s earlier work and expands on its themes of examining the relationship between humans and technology. Inspired by The Matrix films, this dance explores how technology weaves itself into the fabric of our life, transforming how we as humans interact and function. Set to a techno music score, this high-powered piece asks the question: Technological change—are we powering it or is it powering us?
The final act featured Revelations, Alvin Ailey’s signature work from 1960. Inspired by the spirituals of his youth, this work features traditional gospel music. This dance is divided into three sections.
The first section, “Pilgrim of Sorrow”, begins in total stillness. When the stage is illuminated, the earthy colors of the costumes appear as drab earthtones. Ailey’s intention was to portray people attempting to rise up from the ground. The motions of these dancers also add to this portrayal. This dance has arms reaching up, as people reach skyward as they rise.
The next dance section, “Take me to the Water”, is set to the spiritual “Wade in the Water”. Which was used by slaves as a euphonism for riverbank escapes. This dance portrays a baptism, symbolizing another pathway to freedom. Bolts of fabric were waved behind the dancers to represent the water.
The final section, “Move, Members, Move” celebrates the liberating power of gospel music. It is also the most positive and uplifting section. A rousing church service is enacted complete with Sunday hats, fans and stools. The entire cast appears onstage, conveying a huge celebration.
As with any good performance in town, at its finally, this Saint Louis audience rose like a herd of clapping seals and earned an encore for its trouble.
A Trifecta of Lunar Holidays
Today, we are on the cusp of a trifecta of lunar holidays. Through the vagaries of lunar calendars superimposed upon our regular Julean one, today we celebrate three different holidays. The Lunar New Year, Ramadan and Mardi Gras, the gateway to Lent and eventually Easter all begin today. While all three holidays occur annually, having them all start simultaneously is a rare trifecta.
The pictured 39¢ US postage was first issued in 2006, a year of the dog. This year, 2026, is the year of the horse and is celebrated throughout the world as the beginning of a new year. Today, begins a major celebration marked by family reunions, cleaning to sweep away bad luck, decorating with red, and setting off fireworks to deter evil spirits. While still valid postage, one of these stamps is no longer enough to mail a letter. These stamps were first collected by my father, who was a lifelong philatelist.
In the photograph of the Ka’ba (cube), we see some of the multitude of nearly three million Muslims that come to Mecca every year to pray around it. Circling it in a dense crowd, sweeping by in an almost impossible, undulating wave, they recite their invocations to Allah, their voices become as one as they speak the supreme supplication, “Here I am, O God, at Thy command. Here I am!” It is an overwhelming reminder of the unifying principles of the Hajj. While the Hajj is not Ramadan per se, Ramadan does serve as preparation for it.
Saint Louis as its name implies is a very Catholic town. Consequently, we boast the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in this country, second only to New Orleans. Fat Tuesday is followed by Ash Wednesday, Lent and eventually Easter. I was raised Catholic and I remember being asked to give something up for Lent. This is a bleak time of year. One that easily lends itself to self-sacrifice, but for today, let us celebrate. We can always repent tomorrow.
Statue of Liberty Hanukkah Menorah
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Da Pope
Da Bears! Da Bulls! Da Pope! Pop a cork, because Chicago is celebrating its good fortune, having sired America’s first pope. It must take some broad shoulders to pull off this feat. Today’s Chicago paper crowed the headline, “Da Pope,” and the memes have flowed freely ever since. This includes silly TikTok videos of cats wearing bras on their heads like they are some sort of Mitre.
Meanwhile back here on the ranch, the sound of race cars can be heard from across the valley. Laguna Seca is hosting a Weathertech sponsored race this weekend. The cars arrived earlier this week in a line of semis that Anne mistook for a train. On our way west last week, we passed train after train full of shipping containers and these trucks parked on the ridgeline looked like them. It is warm enough now that some venting feels good.