third world county

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

I’ve never liked any of the tunes I’ve heard the Christina Rossetti poem set to and sung in churches. OK, one I’ve NOT heard it sung to is KING’S WESTON (link is a midi file—the Ralph Vaughan-Williams adaptation of the old tune). Its minor key sound fits nicely with the “bleak midwinter” imagry, I think. With minor vocal and rhythmic elisions (made for other texts it is often mated to, as well), it can be made to fit the natural rhythms of the words nicely enough… except for that last verse, which has a very different feel… and focus, changing from third person observer to participant.

So, several years ago, I wrote the little tune below as a standalone, one-verse song, using only the last verse of “In the Bleak Midwinter”.

Linked at Jo’s Cafe’s “TGIF Specials” and Bloggin’ Outloud’s “Search String OP”

Romeocat has her Daily Advent Meditation up, based on the lyrics of the carol below. She links to a beautiful and powerful Michael W. Smith musical interpretation of the lyrics, but I still “hear’ in my mind’s ear the old Gaelic tune BUNESSAN (which you may think of as “Morning Has Broken”). Be sure to read the neditation at Cathouse Chat and listen to the Michael W. Smith interpretation. below are the lyrics and a midi file of the gaelic tune I associate with them.

Child in the Manger

Child in the manger, infant of Mary,
Outcast and Stranger, Lord of us all,
Child Who inherits all our transgressions,
All our demerits upon Him fall.

Once the most holy Child of salvation
Gently and lowly lived here below.
Now as our glorious mighty Redeemer,
See Him victorious over each foe.

Prophets foretold Him, Infant of wonder;
Angels behold Him, King on His throne.
Worthy our Savior of all our praises;
Happy forever are all His own.

Here’s a snippet of BUNESSAN in a semi-familiar form:

Romeocat has her Daily Advent Meditation up, based on the lyrics of the carol below. She links to a beautiful and powerful Michael W. Smith musical interpretation of the lyrics, but I still “hear’ in my mind’s ear the old Gaelic tune BUNESSAN (which you may think of as “Morning Has Broken”). Be sure to read the neditation at Cathouse Chat and listen to the Michael W. Smith interpretation. below are the lyrics and a midi file of the gaelic tune I associate with them.

Child in the Manger

Child in the manger, infant of Mary,
Outcast and Stranger, Lord of us all,
Child Who inherits all our transgressions,
All our demerits upon Him fall.

Once the most holy Child of salvation
Gently and lowly lived here below.
Now as our glorious mighty Redeemer,
See Him victorious over each foe.

Prophets foretold Him, Infant of wonder;
Angels behold Him, King on His throne.
Worthy our Savior of all our praises;
Happy forever are all His own.

Here’s a snippet of BUNESSAN in a semi-familiar form:

Yeh, yeh. Well, they’re too small to be “pet peeves”. Just have to be petty peeves.

What is it with subliterates-especially professional subliterates in colonies of Mass Media Podpeople-who refuse to pronouce words, easily pronounced words, properly? February, for example. Every time I hear some talking head, you know, someone who is paid real money for talking, pronounce it “Feb YOU ary”-completely dropping the easily-pronounced first “r”-I wanna dock his pay. After slapping him upside the head with a dead fish. Or something harder. Much harder. With sharp, pointy protrusions.

And what’s with the idiot newsreader I heard the other night pronouncing “united” (as in “United States”) “You-NINE-ted”? Where did the extra “n” come from? The alternate reality where all the unwanted “r”s in FebRuary go?

Yeh, I know they can’t really read. They’re going by what they have misheard for years because they can’t hear or think, either.

Back to regularly scheduled whatever…

Yeh, yeh. Well, they’re too small to be “pet peeves”. Just have to be petty peeves.

What is it with subliterates-especially professional subliterates in colonies of Mass Media Podpeople-who refuse to pronouce words, easily pronounced words, properly? February, for example. Every time I hear some talking head, you know, someone who is paid real money for talking, pronounce it “Feb YOU ary”-completely dropping the easily-pronounced first “r”-I wanna dock his pay. After slapping him upside the head with a dead fish. Or something harder. Much harder. With sharp, pointy protrusions.

And what’s with the idiot newsreader I heard the other night pronouncing “united” (as in “United States”) “You-NINE-ted”? Where did the extra “n” come from? The alternate reality where all the unwanted “r”s in FebRuary go?

Yeh, I know they can’t really read. They’re going by what they have misheard for years because they can’t hear or think, either.

Back to regularly scheduled whatever…

As is so often the case, ditching newspeak and “political correctness” almost compels good sense. Such is the case with Fred Reed’s column this week talking common sense about “diversity”—for example:

“Diversity causes nothing but trouble. Think about it. Do old people want to hang around young people? No. Do young people want to hang around old people? Generally they would rather take poison. Do liberals and conservatives want to get within rifle range of each other? No. Except conservatives, because they have rifles.”

And, I might add, know how and when to use ’em. More at the link. Print it out and annoy a moonbat with it.

h.t. to Hugh. I know I’ll never miss a Fred column cos you’ll remind me, Hugh. Thanks.

Served up for Breakfast at Basil’s

As is so often the case, ditching newspeak and “political correctness” almost compels good sense. Such is the case with Fred Reed’s column this week talking common sense about “diversity”—for example:

“Diversity causes nothing but trouble. Think about it. Do old people want to hang around young people? No. Do young people want to hang around old people? Generally they would rather take poison. Do liberals and conservatives want to get within rifle range of each other? No. Except conservatives, because they have rifles.”

And, I might add, know how and when to use ’em. More at the link. Print it out and annoy a moonbat with it.

h.t. to Hugh. I know I’ll never miss a Fred column cos you’ll remind me, Hugh. Thanks.

Served up for Breakfast at Basil’s

Well, almost…

University of Floriday scientists have developed a neural network using rat brain cells and taught it how to fly a plane. Assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida, Dr Thomas DeMarse, used 25,000 neural cells from a rat embryo to grow a neural network he then connected to an F-22 flight simulator. Although it had a steep learning curve and tended to crash a lot, the bio-computer eventually got its wings.

“When we first hooked them up, the plane ‘crashed’ all the time,” Dr DeMarse. “But over time, the neural network slowly adapts as the brain learns to control the pitch and roll of the aircraft. After a while, it produces a nice straight and level trajectory.”

DeMarse hopes to build hybrid computers for work situations, like unmanned space probes, that will be more fault-tolerant than all-inorganic computers.

I’m a little unsure about his “fault-tolerant” organic computer model. I don’t see evidence of Mass Media Podpeople’s and Loony Left Moonbats’ brains developing alternate pathways as their brains waste away… and what of the typical congresscritter? Hmmm, they all seem to give lie to Jerry Pournelle’s comment about how smart morons are… Wouldn’t trust any of ’em to fly a plane (or even a simulator) I was in given their track record on other matters. I’d rather trust a rat’s brain grown in a dish.

h.t. Roland Dobbins commenting at Chaos Manor

Well, almost…

University of Floriday scientists have developed a neural network using rat brain cells and taught it how to fly a plane. Assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida, Dr Thomas DeMarse, used 25,000 neural cells from a rat embryo to grow a neural network he then connected to an F-22 flight simulator. Although it had a steep learning curve and tended to crash a lot, the bio-computer eventually got its wings.

“When we first hooked them up, the plane ‘crashed’ all the time,” Dr DeMarse. “But over time, the neural network slowly adapts as the brain learns to control the pitch and roll of the aircraft. After a while, it produces a nice straight and level trajectory.”

DeMarse hopes to build hybrid computers for work situations, like unmanned space probes, that will be more fault-tolerant than all-inorganic computers.

I’m a little unsure about his “fault-tolerant” organic computer model. I don’t see evidence of Mass Media Podpeople’s and Loony Left Moonbats’ brains developing alternate pathways as their brains waste away… and what of the typical congresscritter? Hmmm, they all seem to give lie to Jerry Pournelle’s comment about how smart morons are… Wouldn’t trust any of ’em to fly a plane (or even a simulator) I was in given their track record on other matters. I’d rather trust a rat’s brain grown in a dish.

h.t. Roland Dobbins commenting at Chaos Manor

“You never appreciate how smart a moron is until you try to program a robot — but robots do get programmed.” –Jerry Pournelle

Which compels the question: “Which are Mass Media Podpeople? Morons or robots?”

Talk amongst yourselves…

Noted at bRight and Early’s Overnigt News Open Post