Backward Mutters

  • True fantasies finish happily, Tolkien argues, thus providing consolation for life’s tragedy and sorrow. Yet their felicitous outcome is not escapist. The ultimate victory is always produced by a disaster, by a sudden and cataclysmic turn of events, which issues in surprising deliverance. Tolkien invents a word to describe this…

  • allthingseurope: Hopperstad Stave Church, Norway (by Peter Nijenhuis)

  • policymic: It’s June and Lake Superior is still full of ice Summer is finally here — except at Lake Superior. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced last Saturday that all of the Great Lakes were finally ice-free — breaking an unprecedented seven-month streak of ice coverage. Typically, ice…

  • mediumaevum: Medieval Orthodox illuminations? Look closer. These are actually “Lord of the Rings” illustrations by an Ukrainian artist Sergei Iukhimov. You can view many more here. Mind. Blown.

  • Graduation Banquet 2014 from Grace Presbyterian Church on Vimeo. Graduation video for GraceKville high school class of 2014 (Source: http://vimeo.com/)