Alexander

From the above cited text: "Many Christian apologists attempt to extricate themselves from their lack of evidence, claim that if we cannot rely on the post chronicle exegesis of Jesus, then we cannot establish a historical foundation for other figures such as Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Socrates, etc. However, there sits a vast difference between historical figures and Jesus. There occurs either artifacts, writings, or eyewitness accounts for historical people, whereas, for Jesus we have nothing. Alexander, for example, left a wake of destroyed and created cities behind. We have buildings, libraries and cities, such as Alexandria, left in his name. We have treaties, and even a letter from Alexander to the people of Chios, engraved in stone, dated at 332 B.C.E. For Socrates, we have the eyewitness writings of Plato that depicts his philosophy and life. Napoleon left behind artifacts, eyewitness accounts and letters. We can establish some historicity to these people because we have evidence that occurred during their life times. Yet even with the contemporary artifacts, historians have become wary of stories of many of these historical people. For example, some of the stories of Alexander or Nero starting the fire in Rome always get questioned or doubted because they contain inconsistencies or come from authors who wrote years after the alleged facts. In qualifying the history of Alexander, Pierre Briant writes, "Although more than twenty of his contemporaries chronicled Alexander's life and campaigns, none of these texts survive in original form. Many letters and speeches attributed to Alexander are ancient forgeries or reconstructions inspired by imagination or political motives. The little solid documentation we possess from Alexander's own time is mainly to be found in stone inscriptions from the Greek cities of Europe and Asia." [briant] Inventing histories out of whole cloth or embellished from a seed of an actual historical event appears common throughout the chronicle of human thought. Robert Price observes, "Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, Cyrus, King Arthur, and others have nearly suffered this fate. What keeps historians from dismissing them as mere myths, like Paul Bunyan, is that there is some residue. We know at least a bit of mundane information about them, perhaps quite a bit, that does not form part of any legend cycle." [Price, p. 260-261] Interestingly, almost all important historical people have descriptions of what they looked like. Plato described what Socrates looked like, we have busts of Greek and Roman aristocrats, artwork of Napoleon, etc. We have descriptions of facial qualities, height, weight, hair length & color, age and even portraits of most important historical figures. But for Jesus, we have nothing. Nowhere in the Bible do we have a description of the human shape of Jesus. How can we rely on the Gospels as the word of Jesus when no one even describes what he looked like? How odd that none of the disciple characters record what he looked like, yet believers attribute them to know exactly what he said. Indeed, this gives us a clue that Jesus came to the gospel writers and indirect and through myth. Not until hundreds of years after the alleged Jesus did pictures emerge as to what he looked like from cult Christians, and these widely differed from a blond clean shaven, curly haired Apollonian youth (found in the Roman catacombs) to a long-bearded Italian as depicted to this day. This mimics the pattern of Greek mythological figures as their believers constructed various images of what their gods looked like according to their own cultural image. Historial people leave us with contemporary evidence, but for Jesus we have nothing. If we wanted to present a fair comparison of the type of information about Jesus to another example of equal historical value, we could do no better than to compare Jesus with the mythical figure of Hercules." Again, an excellent point. How, how, HOW is it possible for someone as famous in both his alleged lifetime and afterwards as Jesus is said to have been to have NO eyewitness accounts? No mention in letters or municiple documents? There is absolutely NO evidence that a man named Yeshua lived in Nazereth (a city that did not exist), that he was born in a manger in Bethlehem, that he inspired hordes of followers, and that he was put to death by crucifixion. We ASSUME because this story is SO well-known (we repeat it every Christmas and Easter, and millions of people discuss his alleged life, words and deeds every single day) that it must have SOME basis in fact. Yet there is nothing. I've said this before: 33 AD is NOT prehistory. It is IMPOSSIBLE for someone as well-known and as contraversial as Jesus was said to live and die without leaving a single trace of his existence save several highly questionable documents written decades after his death. Something doesn't add up. Don't people see that it is pointless to ask questions like "What would Jesus do?", "What did Jesus really think?", or "How did Jesus really feel?" when you can't even establish that such a person ever lived? I looked at several of those links about the historical search for Jesus and, what a surprise, not one of them seemed even remotely credible. An historian is interested only in what can be proven. The study of the life of Christ is not history: It is mythology, and that's a completely different discipline.

Based on what?

Yes, I own this particular WB cartoon on a VHS collection I bought back in the early 90s. It's very, very cute. WB cartoons always had great music!

If you're looking for the performance that inspired Matt Damon's version of "My Funny Valentine" in "The Talented Mr. Ripley," you definitely want Chet Baker. Chet was a trumpet player and vocalist who epitomized the West Coast or Cool school of jazz. Chet made tons of great music over the years (despite horrendous drug addiction and failing health) before he died in the late 1980s. Check out "Chet Baker Sings," where you'll find his classic rendition of "My Funny Valentine." If you're into cool sounds, I'd also recommend Stan Getz (pretty much everything he did was fantastic), Shelly Manne (especially his recordings at the Blackhawk), Bill Evans (the album "Waltz for Debbie" is a great place to start) and Gerry Mulligan. Also, if you're just starting out with jazz you need a copy of "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis, "My Favorite Things" by John Coltrane, and "Something Else" by Cannonball Adderley. Trust me. You NEED these. It's in the Constitution, I think...

Let me tell you a little story 'bout a man named Jed...

I have a copy of the soundtrack to "Anatomy of a Murder" that has the "Special Products" label. Don't know what it means, though.

I had a BIG problem with an undeletable .exe file a little while back, and I finally managed to get rid of it by using something called "Hijack This." It scours the harddrive and brings up everything that's not supposed to be there. Then you can fix and/or delete the offending files. But be careful, because it will also bring up anything you've installed, so read the filenames and choose carefully so you won't accidentally delete something you want. The big thing I've learned is this: DON'T use Internet Explorer. Keeping unwanted viruses, trojans, adware, etc off your system with IE is like trying to keep cynide gas out with a screen door. I switched to Mozilla Firefox, and I haven't had a problem since.

Yes. Buying the whole album is usually $9.99.

What she did was wrong, and she deserved to be jailed. It is also only right and proper that she be a registered sex offender and barred from contact with minors. But what is the point of forbidding contact with her now 21-year-old former lover/victim/father of her children? The guy is no longer a child. I think he has the right to see her if he wants, forgive her if he wants, and have a relationship with her if he wants. If he doesn't want to see her, of course, that's a different story. Here's a question: could the courts prevent this woman from having a sexual relationship with *other* 18 to 21-year-old men? Of course not. I'm not talking about her crime here. I find what she did to be deplorable. It was an unconscionable abuse of power and a disgrace to the teaching profession. But what happens to her AFTER she has paid her debt to society is another matter.

I've noticed that there are UK, French, and German iTunes sites, in addition to the U.S. version.

This is an EXTRAORDINARY program. I've already bought the O'Day and the Desmond, and both are out of this world! Any other recommendations of the titles they currently have for sale? For those concerned about sound quality, I think iTunes tracks sound very good when burned to disc.

I do HATE that ugly FBI logo. Such an eyesore.

I've only seen him with Branford, but what I've seen I've liked. I'll probably check this one out at some point...

I don't know. And it's ANDY White.

What do you mean a minor? That chick's fifty if she's a day!

Most of my post wasn't aimed at you, Lon. Your comment just led to a rant that responded to thing's I've heard and read elsewhere (including the threads that Bright Moments just cited. I know those threads exist, it's just that my thread is "up" and the others aren't).

Incidentally, Rolling Stone reports that Ms. Stone has an album in the works possibly due out in September. It was already in the works when "The Soul Sessions" was recorded, and features original compositions. So we'll see if she has what it takes soon enough! Is that the sound of a gauntlet being thrown?

I've heard the Janis Joplin comparison elsewhere, and I have to say that I don't hear it at all on this album. She reminds me more of a cross between Fiona Apple and Dusty Springfield (think of Dusty's phrasing on "Dusty in Memphis" combined with Apple's GREAT BIG voice). Listening to "The Soul Sessions" all the way through, she really seems like more than a one trick pony. All of the tracks on this album BURN. I freely admit that this has at least as much to do with the exceptional instrumental backing and back-up singing as it does with Stone's vocals, but it seems to me that all the soulful production in the world couldn't disguise a serious lack of talent (think of the American Idol alumni). This chick is the real deal, as far as I'm concerned. As for the age question, which has also been brought up elsewhere, I should mention that there is a precident for underage soul singers. Both Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder showed amazing interpretive abilities before they were old enough to shave. Just because there hasn't been a real prodigy since then (hello, Hanson brothers) doesn't mean that there won't be one again. Stone might just be the ONE (why do I feel like Laurence Fishburne in "The Matrix?"). Know what I mean?

I agree. Her singing is a bit mannered. Still, she's 16! She'll improve! I mean, you've got to admit, this kid has potential out the wazoo. Whether she lives up to it is another matter. She could be the Wynton Marsalis of soul (and I mean that in a bad way).

16 years old. White. British. Sings like a 40 year-old black woman. She's unreal! Check her out! AMG has sound clips. AMG Entry: Joss Stone

I'm waiting for VH1 to start doing the inevitable "I Love the 60s," "I Love the 50s," etc. Can you imagine "I Love the 20s?" Hal Sparks: What was up with that whole stock-market crash? It's like everybody was doing the Charleston one minute, and the next minute they were all standing in line for a bowl of soup. "I Love The Forties:" Traci Lords: I'm Traci Elizibeth Lords with the Hunks of 1943. Winston Churchill: Blood, sweat, tears, and toil hunk. Franklin Roosevelt: Nothing to fear hunk. Adolf Hitler: Uber-hunk.

I got both CDs, and both are highly recommended. Well worth the cost.

Another excellent Joe sideman date worth seeking out is "49th Parallel" by Neil Swainson. Not only does it have Joe in fine fighting fettle, but it contains one of the last recorded appearences by Woody Shaw!

I always liked Woody Shaw's version.

Incidentally, Frank Miller used the Question in his recent Dark Knight sequel "DK2: The Dark Knight Strikes Again." The Question is shown debating with Green Arrow, which is pretty funny.