And, so it begins. . . the Twelve Days of Christmas
At sundown tonight. Merry Christmas, one and all!
Lobby of the Hotel Boulderado.
News From Big Big Train
This came today from Big Big Train:
Apologies from the band for a recent lack of email updates. Over the summer, the mailing list grew too large to manage using our Outlook email client and we were no longer able to send updates. We have now moved the mailing list onto purpose-built software and will be able to provide more regular updates.
Unfortunately, the failure of our mailing list coincided with the announcement of three Big Big Train gigs at Kings Place in London next year. All the tickets for these shows have sold out but we will be playing further gigs in future years and will ensure early warning via the mailing list and social media.
Big Big Train filmed live performances of a number of songs at Real World studios in August 2014. These performances will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD in the autumn of 2015. At Real World, the band were joined by Rachel Hall on violin and vocals and Rikard Sjöblom on guitars, keyboards and vocals. We are pleased to announce that Rachel and Rikard have now joined both the live and recording line-up of the band.
The band has written around two hours of new songs. Recording of these will be completed for album releases in 2016 and 2017. An EP, featuring three new songs, will be released in April 2015.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Andy, Danny, Dave, David, Greg, Nick, Rachel and Rikard
Big Big TrainFollow BBT on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bigbigtrain
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Russell Kirk on George Gissing, 1950
Source: Russell Kirk, “Who Knows George Gissing,” WESTERN HUMANITIES REVIEW 4 (Summer 1950): 213-222.
Russell Kirk, “The Moral Conservatism of Hawthorne,” 1952.
Source: Russell Kirk, “The Moral Conservatism of Hawthorne,” CONTEMPORARY REVIEW 182 (1952): 361-366.
Russell Kirk, “The Conservative Mind of Newman,” 1952
Source: Russell Kirk, “The Conservative Mind of Newman,” SEWANEE REVIEW 60 (1952): 659-676.
With apologies–the binding was so tight on the volume, that I had a really hard time photocopying this. Hence, the distorted left-handed pages. Still, very readable.
Russell Kirk, “Hung with Spanish Leather,” 1950
Source: Russell Kirk, “Hung With Spanish Leather,” PRARIE SCHOONER 24 (1950): 308-314.
Russell Kirk, “Beyond the Dreams of Avarice,” 1950
A definitive young Russell Kirk piece, “Beyond the Dreams of Avarice,” MEASURE 2 (December 1950): 17-33.
Note, the article appears immediately after a T.S. Eliot article. This is probably the cause of Kirk changing his mind on Eliot. In 1949, he still considered the poet a “fraud.” By 1951, Kirk considered him one of the greatest living thinkers. Two years later, in 1953, the two would meet in person and become close friends and allies.
Also note, the final piece, a short story by Stefan Andres, “We are God’s Utopia.” It would be impossible to exaggerate the influence of this piece on the young Kirk.
Jean Danielou, “Marxist History and Sacred History,” 1951.
A fascinating 1951 article on Christian and ideological historical philosophies.
Source: Jean Danielou, S.J., “Marxist History and Sacred History,” THE REVIEW OF POLITICS (October 1951): 503-513.
Maritain, “Truth and Human Fellowship,” (3 parts, 1957-1958)
Another Maritain, a three-parter from Peter Stanlis’s journal, NEWMAN REVIEW. Source: Jacques Maritain, “Truth and Human Fellowship,” NEWMAN REVIEW 9-10 (1957-1958).
Jacques Maritain, “The End of Machiavellianism,” 1942
And excellent piece by Maritain. Of course, what by Maritain isn’t excellent?
Source: Jacques Maritain, “The End of Machiavellianism,” REVIEW OF POLITICS 4 (1942).
Peter Stanlis, “Augustinian Passion and Thomist Reasoning,” 1953.
Unsung for the most part, Peter Stanlis co-led the Burkean revival of the twentieth century (along with Russell Kirk). A devout Roman Catholic, he wrote frequently on the application of theological concepts to politics and culture.
This is a vital piece exploring the difference between two major schools of Christian Humanism: the Augustinian and the Thomist.
Stormfields 