Juggling Show from SGA Graduation 2009

This is the 'Assorted Nuts Juggling Troupe' from St. Gregory's Academy performing "The Clown of God" at last May's graduation.  It is quite a good show, I found it on YouTube and thought I might share it.  P.S. - I've heard that Sercer might be leading these Jugglers through the mountains of Spain on the Camino de Santiago.
Enjoy.

St. Gregory's Academy is a small all-boys Catholic Liberal Arts Boarding School in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Blue Ridge Mountains by the Fleet Foxes

Blue Ridge Mountains by Fleet Foxes

In my opinion the beginning of the song lightly and effortlessly sets the scene, taking you far off to another place. The verses are more concrete until the drums start, at which point you leave society and enter the "quivering forest." The outro mirrors again the beginning as if to close the story.

This song is a delight. It haunts, and without trying, it falls into a tradition of folk: the song tells a story. This song means a lot to me, being from Virginia, through which the Blue Ridge Mountains pass. Fleet Foxes' aspirant vocals and driving beat coupled with fantastic lyrics create a compelling song.

Enjoy.

-PB

Plus Royaliste que le Roi

Phoenix.  My thoughts on Phoenix.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time. 

The desert is a heat without warmth, a flame without bite.  There are no seasons here, it's unnatural.  The heat will eventually beat you down.  The sun is an enemy.  Or as we say, a nuclear explosion in your face every second.

It's been several months here, and is now been an iron home--sometimes it seems somewhat sterile.  I have fears that there is no culture here already established.  This truckstop town, so cut off from what one could call polite society or class, is nevertheless, full of festivity and celebration, but not culture or leisure.  Many people here know festivity and celebration, and yet it seems to be without this idea of true leisure or purposeful celebration.  Everything I say is a half-truth.  If, however, one had to choose between festivity and sophistication I would choose to have festivity without class, rather than class without festivity.

Love: a word seldom uttered in the desert, though happy folk are bred here.  Vague, much too much vague.  I guess what I mean is that people here are generally happy, but I feel personally a lack of love in their joy.

It's been a sort of vague existence; many times I'm in a sort of sedated ecstatic state (mostly in my commutes), and I've forgotten the feeling of being torn between two things: the taste of bitterness is only a numb distant sensation.  Idleness consumes my off days, and my thoughts are slow and concenter'd.  The books grown dusty, the water filtered, and food is not even good to taste--except my brownies that I just made, those are delicious.

On the contrary:


I play a lot of music and I am getting better.
I'm learning more songs and forgetting a lot too.
I've been practicing MacPherson's Rant most recently.



I love what I do during the week: teach art to 6th, 7th, and 10th graders.  I feel at rest and fulfilled in my work.  The school culture is genuine; although the work is profoundly time consuming, it is meaningful.  My artistic ability is at an all time high, due to having to know exactly what's going on, how and why, and being forced to articulate that has helped me see things that I never understood completely.  For now this is what I am being sustained by.

Please pray for me, as I try to make the best of this life out here in the desert.

Farewell, all my dearest,

Peter Bloch

Podcast on Cultural Gadfly

So basically I listened to this podcast on Cultural Gadfly, it's pretty awesome.  I mostly just love the side comments and idiosyncrasies of the various speakers.

http://www.culturalgadfly.com/?p=2287

My First Student Drawing of Me

I confiscated this drawing in class.
It's two drawings of me.  One in a Picasso-like profile, and the other...well in the other I guess I'm wearing a Roman Centurian Helmet or something.

click on the picture to take a closer look.

In response to your questions on the Jan van Eyck painting post

In response to your questions on the Jan van Eyck painting post:




His name is Tim Jones. He's a friend and fellow teacher (history) at the charter school we're at north of Boston (ibktim@gmail.com):



Come on, take a stab at it. You can, no doubt, answer question number #1!



1.) She's way preggos!



2.) He's meant to be seen as a more serious type. Look at the expression on his face as well as all of the dark colors he is dressed in, especially in juxtaposition with his wife in the bright green. They are also clearly well off given the richness of the fabrics they are both wearing and the and the amount of jewelry they each have on.



3.) Given that I cannot read Latin, I have no idea what this means and can't guess why it's there . . .



4.) The painting might say something about the artist's role in portraying the world while keeping mostly out of view; since we can actually see the artist (vaguely) in the mirror in the background between them. He appears in front of them and as a sort of blue mass in the middle of the mirror.



That's my guess as a completely untrained viewer of art . . .



October 16, 2009 2:36 PM

Another Marathon

Here's the latest from Scranton: I finished the Steamtown Marathon last Sunday. I think my training plan is getting more and more solidified--no running, continual carcinogination of the lungs, lots of late nights, and a gun time of about 3:55:30. No walk breaks this time; I ran consistent nine-minute miles the entire race, lowering my personal record by a minute and a half. Let's see: if I cut out cigabooze nights, I can cut a minute per mile off my pace, and if I train, maybe I can cut off another minute per mile! Boston qualifying, here I come!
http://www.runphotos.com/race_dir/Steam_09/63D/1809-63D_9894.JPG
http://www.runphotos.com/race_dir/Steam_09/finish/60_4379.JPG

In Memoriam: Bloch-style

Here lies Peter Bloch

A giant man with a tiny smock

that he uses to cover his shirt when he paints

and hangs on the hook when he ain’t

Peter visited us in Irving

but drove away (the car was swerving)

Now we miss him very much

I hope to see him again, and such

Fall Break IV

From Phoenix:
Jonny Rivs showed me some music over the break: The Felice Brothers have an album out now called "Yonder is the Clock."
Read about it here on their website.

It's good American music straight out the Catskills.

Fall Break is officially over.  It was a good week in Dallas and I got to see a bunch of good friends.
The Bar is still The Bar, in case anyone wants to know.

Fall Break III

From Irving Texas:

You are here in Irving Texas at UD in
2009.  No, you are here in
the jail.  No no no you are in
the illustirious capbar...just a min?
No, all day.  And old mill.
Not mutually exclusive sir.
Is Joyce drunk? (yes sir)
'Ineluctable modality of the visible.'

Jason Sorley

Jason Sorley is a dear friend and an excellent artist.  He is based out of Waco Texas and works in the genre of Classical Religious Art.  Jason's muse is a total babe: Check him out and enjoy.

Jason Sorley Gallery: Art Guild

Saint Jerome at Study

Update from Chris Wolfe

I recently got an e-mail from Chris Wolfe and I thought that I would share a few snippets from his e-mail.  I am glad to know that Mr. Wolfe is still kicking it old-school in Cali.

"I'm doin' great Peter! Just wrote a paper on Progressivism, been reading Plato's Laws, and learning Greek. Other than that, I've got a job a burger joint similar to the Rathskeller, and I've been gradually meeting some cool people here (aka the ones who aren't wacko liberals). I got to meet Harry Jaffa the other day, it was awesome; that guy is one of the smartest f-ing guys I've ever met. Oh, and my roommates and I threw a kick-ass Constitution day party; well, it was going pretty good, but got busted by the cops."

God Bless Texas

Just read this.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,559103,00.html?test=latestnews

Fall Break II

From downtown Phoenix:

He was evangelized last night on the street.  This street evangelist was pretty smug and all-around uneducated--it seems there's some kind of biblical relativism going around.  He told him to read the Song of Songs and Augustine's Confessions.  He asked if it was biblically derived, or something to that effect.  Then he tried to explain to him that he would enjoy it for its own sake, because it's a beautiful story about a real person that all humanity can relate to.  The evangelist looked at him as if I was trying to "pull one over on him," or that somehow he had gotten the upper hand in the argument, and he decided to compromise.  Now he has to read Romans.
"I don't believe we've formally--"
"--David."
"I'm Peter, as in the first pope," he said waving his lit cigarette.
"Pleasure."

Fall Break I

From Phoenix:
So, today I taught my 10th grade art class how to sing John Kanackanacka; then we went over to the other 10th grade section, in a warlike manner, flung open the door to their peaceful literature class and sang/screamed to them.  It was awesome.

Then I recited "Everything Depends on a Red Wheel Barrow" and "This is Just to Say" by W.C. Dubbs to my 6th graders; they all laughed a lot and most didn't believe they were real poems and one of them actually called Red Wheel Barrow "evil."  :)

Also, I'm going to be in Dallas for a few days next week.

I remain yours,

Peter Bloch