Best Christmas Ever?
December 7, 2023 | Jim Angehr
“Jim, did you get anything good for Christmas?” I was asked by friends after returning to school after Christmas break. “Nope.” But yes. It was like this. In third grade, I figured that it was time to go big or go home...
Who Put This Pontifex in my Maximus?
November 30, 2023 | Jim Angehr
Within the next month or so, each of my sons will be heading abroad, one to Iceland and another to Turkey. The travel bug strikes again! If I were given a sightseeing version of the "one last meal" proposition, I'd make my final...
NBC: The Loudest Silence
November 24, 2023 | Jim Angehr
Yes, the short span of silence before God says, “Let there be light,” in the creation story is stunning. Still, there’s another caesura in the scriptures that constitutes an immeasurably louder moment of quiet. As hushed as a...
SBC: Magic of the Silences
November 16, 2023 | Jim Angehr
As I wrote about last week, can there be anything better than the sliver of silence on side 2 of Bruce Springsteen’s The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle? In it, we listen to the ascending piano figure that concludes the...
BC: When Symposiums Sing
November 9, 2023 | Jim Angehr
In the days long before music services and social media, music fans inhabited message boards, listservs, and tape trading circles. Compared to our everything-at-your-fingertips present, musical gratification was much delayed for said fans, but it...