There were, however, literally dozens of “Saint Valentines.” The name was awarded to martyrs by the early Catholic Church, meaning very simply, that the man was worthy to be a saint.

Arguments have been made that Valentine’s Day was never a holiday of any sort, until the writings of Geoffry Chaucer, after which, it began to appear in many works of fiction.

Valentine is generally regarded as the patron saint of lovers, thus the holiday.

So there you have it. A very brief, and fairly uninformative generalization about this day’s festivities. Either way, if you’ve got someone, hold on to them. But, what do I know? I just listen.

Jack.
I Listen.
Saint Valentine

Way off-topic.

We had another full week, with posts every day. I’m gonna try to keep making this happen.

My friend, Pete, turned me on to this great acoustic solo act, Matt Nathanson. Check his site out. Freakin’ awesome.

The novel that I am serializing here at Loki Listens, started on Saturday. Check out the first section.

Twitter. I am apparently back in business. Check out my tweetstats.

After several recommendations, I moved from Pidgin to Digsby for my Instant Messaging client. Main thing is that digsby takes care of my email, myspace, and facebook.  It also crashes less than Pidgin.

With that said, let’s talk about Squidoo. I reached my target of 10 Lenses. With that target goal, I will not make another lens until I believe these 10 are very, very good. Check them out.

• Seth Godin’s Tribes
• Loki Listens to You
• Who is Jack Lhasa
• Jack Lhasa’s Lensography
• Richard Bach’s Illusions
• Fable 2 Review
• Saint’s Row Review
• Xbox 360 Review and Hub
• Herbal Remedies: Echinacea
• Herbal Remedies: Ginkgo Biloba

And lastly, I’d like to talk about Daily Mugshot. Come and join in on this fun.  I have set a goal to wear a different hat every day.  Or atleast wear it in a way that I have not before.  Check it out below.

Jack.
I Listen.
Monday Updates
December 8, 2008

This week in Jack-News!

• 3 New Squidoo Lenses:  Saint’s Row, Ginkgo Biloba, The Xbox 360
• First draft of Developmental Theology 089 finished.  Working with some collaborators now.
• Mailed out 5 postcards.  More to come.
• Broke out Tiger Wood regalia, because it is cold.
• Began a workout regimen.
• Actively recording 12seconds videos.
• Added a few thousands words to my short story, The Cost of Magic.

I think that about covers it for the week.  I’ve got some really cool stuff coming up, so visit often!

Jack.
I Listen.

“And who is left?” asked Brother Raven.

We stood in the forest, as the rain fell in sheets. Odin grabbed me firmly by the arm. “They still do not live by the basics! Why do you continue to teach further?”

“All-Father, I cannot make the people listen. I can only give them the light to see the way. I am but a torch in the darkness. I cannot be more.”

“You can be more, and you are more! You have sacrificed yourself on Yggdrasil! Pluck an eye, and give it to my Ravens, and we are one. But I understand. There is a reason the people do not listen. You are trying to break at that core. I see. Let us hope you can. Let us hope together that Fenrir does not have to be raised.”

Odin turned and walked away fro me, in the pouring rain.

**

So, today we are going to take ideology a little further. We are going to talk about the nature of ideology itself. You see, much like the shamanic ideas I talked about in the Developmental Theology series, ideology varies from person to person. It is individual. You decide what is real and what is not. You decide what can happen and what cannot. This makes things very interesting.

Having read that, you may wonder why I would even try to teach a class on ideology, if it is something that each person decides on their own. Well, that reason would be to help you fully develop an ideology that is still individual, but is in a healthy agreement with what we need as a functional world. I don’t think there are many people that could look at our world as a whole, and call it functional, or healthy. We have to change things. And we have to do it fast.

How can we change the world? By changing ourselves. If we become more healthy and responsible people, the world gains. So, to do that, we must first try to understand the mind. The hardest thing man has ever faced. And the way we are going to do that is by learning about ideas, and how to develop them into a working ideology.

We’ve talked about examining our thoughts and actions. We’ve seen that even Saint Augustine believed that if rational thought contradicted scripture, it was normal and reasonable. It is important to pay attention to our thoughts and actions and examine the why. It is also important to not be tied down by books or teachings.

Now we have talked about the importance of the individual, even on the global level.

Remember, each man must find his own path.

Jack.
I Listen.

Basic Ideology 101

Battle #3
Odin Appears and Individuality is Examined.

“It not infrequently happens that something about the earth, about the sky, about other elements of this world, about the motion and rotation or even the magnitude and distances of the stars, about definite eclipses of the sun and moon, about the passage of years and seasons, about the nature of animals, of fruits, of stones, and of other such things, may be known with the greatest certainty by reasoning or by experience, even by one who is not a Christian. It is too disgraceful and ruinous, though, and greatly to be avoided, that he [the non-Christian] should hear a Christian speaking so idiotically on these matters, and as if in accord with Christian writings, that he might say that he could scarcely keep from laughing when he saw how totally in error they are. In view of this and in keeping it in mind constantly while dealing with the book of Genesis, I have, insofar as I was able, explained in detail and set forth for consideration the meanings of obscure passages, taking care not to affirm rashly some one meaning to the prejudice of another and perhaps better explanation.”

– Saint Augustine of Hippo: The Literal Interpretation of Genesis 1:19–20, Chapt. 19 [AD 408]

Saint Augustine’s ideas on the nature of truth and science are essential to modern understanding and have influenced many great teachers and philosophers of all ilks.

-Jack
I Listen.
I do that Travel thing sometimes, too.

Basic Ideology 101

Lesson #2
Saint Augustine and the Reconciliation of Science and Scripture

—————–

Jack was a mean old blacksmith in this small town, in the Smokie Mountains. This was a different time, mind you, when people still rode horses mostly, and blacksmiths were really important.

Jack was the meanest man anyone had every met. He hated the men, women, and children of the town. And they were scared of him. The only time anyone ever talked to Jack, it was to buy horse shoes, or plows, or the like.

Jack was so mean, if children ran into his shop, he’d throw hot coals at them. Yeah, he was that mean.

So one day Jack was hammering away at a horse shoe, or a plow, he really wasn’t that sure, and he up and died.

So mean-old Jack floating up, towards Heaven. And there he saw the pearly gates of Heaven, and Saint Peter holding a book.

“Hmmmm…. Jack! Oh, my no!” says Saint Peter. “You were much too mean. Just wait here.”

So Saint Peter calls his old buddy Lucifer, and tells him he’s got the meanest, baddest man that ever lived just waiting right here at the Gates.

Lucifer gets very excited. He calls up his two eldest, strongest, meanest sons, and tells them they have to go to the Gates of Heaven and get old Jack for him.

A few days later, Lucifer has not seen his sons or Jack. There’s a knocking at the Gates of Hell. Lucifer hears all kinds of crazy noise outside, I mean all of Hell was breaking loose!

So he runs outside, and about that time, Jack is walking up the steps to his castle.

Jack had beaten the devil’s sons and then crashed down the Gates, madder and meaner than ever.

No one much knows what happened after that, there’s a few different endings, some say Jack beat the devil and left. Other’s say that Lucifer had to chase Jack out of Hell with a hickory switch!

All we really know is that Jack was hammering horse shoes in that village again in just a day or two. Some say Jack is still in that place, hammering away, and since he’s so mean, and no one talks to him, and they all know Heaven wouldn’t take him, no one knows how long it’s been.

———-

- Loki

(Jack and the Devil, a Folk Tale, as told by me, in the tradition of Jack Tales)

Where was I? Why, how nice of you to ask.

The wife and I headed over to The Local Performance Hall to celebrate with a lot of friends. My great friends, The Molly Maguires, were playing the party that night.

This was sort of a big deal for the Mollys, it marked the release of their second EP, A Quick Pint. What follows is a review of first the EP, and then the concert.

The Molly Maguires
A Quick Pint
Release Date : March 17, 2007
5 Song EP
Click Here to Order this album

Rating : A-

Excellent work by the Molly Maguires. Their 2nd EP also features many traditional songs. Including crowd favorites “Johnny Go Easy” and “The Molly Maguires.” Both songs are very true to the live performances. Michael Walters’ mandolin style is truly an inspiration. Marc Michael’s vocals are haunting on the song “Paddy’s Excuse.” Marc Michael informs me that my idea of “Paddy’s Excuse” being haunting is hardly what it really is. He emphasizes the humor of the song. It may be that I am a little jaded. The content is definitely comedy, but the vocals offer an eerie juxtaposition. It’s worth your time, no doubt about that. Drop by the site, and order a copy, or come to a show, get a CD, a t-shirt, and hear the real Mollys’ experience.

The Molly Maguires
Date : 3/17/07
Venue : The Local Performance Hall, Chattanooga, TN
Live Show
Rating : A+

This show was excellent. This was everything a Mollys’ show should be. All of the crowd favorites, a lot of the band’s favorites, Guiness and whiskey abound. The true Mollys’ experience is the live show. This is where they really shine. I’ve been going to their shows for around a year now, and have never been dissatisfied. Live. That’s the Molly Way.

In summation, new EP and Saint Patrick’s Day performance both scored A’s in my book. The Mollys’ always make sure to put on their best, and this past Saturday was no exception.

Check them out. You won’t regret it.

- Loki

That’s Right! A CD release!!! I don’t know how exciting the rest of you are, but I’m fucking ecstatic! I can’t count how many days I’ve sat on a sidewalk listening to this man play. Boots is blues as good as it gets.

—————– Bulletin Message —————-

Check out this event: Boots Roots CD Release Party

Boots Roots – The One Man Band

Born Robert Montgomery in Miami, Florida on January 14th,1935. Boot Roots performed many years in Miami and traveled extensively performing the Blues with many bands. While traveling through Chattanooga, TN, doing gigs, he thought it would be a great location to “Retire.” Since “retiring” 30 years ago in Chattanooga, he has entertained thousands of local residents and tourists passing through town. One can find Boots on the street corner near the Chattanooga aquarium on most fine Spring, Summer, and Fall days and on the warmer days of Winter. Boots has five grown children in the Miami area and one “hook up” of 40 years.

Boots Roots influences include the greats of Wes Montgomery, Alex Stevens, WC Baker, and Leon Demon. Listening to his music you will find it is a cross between Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters.

Hosted By: Steve Gibbon
When: Saturday Mar 24, 2007
at 8:00 PM
Where: Barking Legs Theater
1307 Dodds Ave
Chattanooga, TN 37405
United States
Description:
Steve Gibbon

Click Here To View Event

For more info go to http://www.myspace.com/bootsroots

-Loki.