Spem in Alium

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If you haven’t yet heard Thomas Tallis’ 40-part motet, Spem in Alium, go over to the CD store and buy it! I recomend this recording by the Huelgas Ensemble, crisp and clear.

Take it home, put it in your CD player, and concentrate on the music, the chords, the flow, the buildup of forty different voices singing forty different parts, all coalescing into an unbelievably cohesive vocal masterpiece. You will not be disappointed.

It’s even better when you can follow the words:

Spem in alium, nunquam habui prater in te, Deus Israel, qui irasceris, et propitius eris, et omnia peccata hominum in tribulatione dimittis. Domine Deus, Creator coeli et terrae, respice humilitatem nostram.

The text is from the History of Judith (an apocryphal book, I think), and is roughly translated, “I hope only in you and no other, God of Israel, who angers, is again gracious, and forgives all man’s sins in his suffering. Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, see our disgrace/humility.”

Tallis saw interesting days in English history, serving through the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, “Bloody” Mary Tudor, and Elizabeth I — and adapting his music for the religious environment of each reign. It was probably during the latitudinarian days of Elizabeth that he wrote the 40-Part motet.

Interestingly enough, I also have a recording of the Kyrie from Antoine Brumel’s Missa “Et ecce terrae motus, and it strikes me how similar they sound. Well, okay, not too similar. Few compositions can approach the historic grandeur of Spem in Alium, but the same “cosmic” atmosphere permeates Brumel just as it does Tallis. They obviously had a rich weave of tradition to draw from that period.

Rejected by Inq7

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From: ***@inq7.net

Subject: RE: Application status?

Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 14:03:03 +0800

Dear Mr. Ordoveza,

Good day!

We have taken note of your letter. Your resume will be on our file for future reference. Thank you for your application.

Cordially,

***

Multimedia

INQ7 Interactive, Inc.

A GMA Network and Inquirer Company

(That sounds like a “No.”)

Not just Jews

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Now we know: it wasn’t just the Jews. The Third Reich also had plans to destroy Christianity as we know it.

First the Nazis came for the Communists; and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews; and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. When they came for the trade unionists I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a trade unionist. And when they came for the Catholics I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me… and by that time there was no one left to speak for anyone.

– attributed to Rev. Martin Niemoeller

Sampung Piso

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Here’s that Baptist Confession of Faith, those of you who are interested. I think some of it was revised and polished by Spurgeon.

10-peso coinHey, look! It’s the new 10-peso coin! And right beside it, the old 1-centavo coin that no one ever uses anymore! To give you some idea of how much you’re looking at, the coin on top is worth about 20 American cents. It can buy you two small cups of steamed rice. The coin below it is worth about 0.02 American cents. It can buy you nothing. Zilch. You can’t buy anything on 1 centavo. Not even a piece of cheap candy. (Actually, at the rate our currency is losing value, you can’t buy all that much with 10 pesos either. It won’t be long before even one cup of rice is beyond the ability of a 10-peso coin to cover.)

Sybersoon

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My job interview today was at NexC, whose local office is located in Northgate Cyberzone, Alabang.

The office was easier to find than I had anticipated. The jeepney driver at Alabang looked at me blankly when I said “Northgate,” but when I said “Cyberzone,” his eyes lit up. “Ah! Sybersoon!” It turned out to be practically walking distance from the Alabang jeepney terminal.

I was 2 hrs early, so I opted to tarry a bit in Alabang Town Center. I bought a new pair of sunglasses for just P189 (I accidentally sat on the old pair), then settled down in Starbucks with a mint latte and an e-text of the Baptist Confession of Faith to study while I waited.

40 mins before interview time, I returned to the jeepneys and told the driver, “Sybersoon!”

“Cyber” my foot. It’s a huge meadow, about a kilometer square, with two small buildings at one end. Fly, Philippine IT industry, fly! Thunk.

I got here a bit too early. Now I’m sitting at an empty cubicle, waiting for the interviewer. (I’m writing this into my Palm.) A bit nervous.

Later: The interview went quite well. Always bring breath mints to a job interview. Always. They served me well, especially after that Quarter Pounder.

McDo BF Toilet

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The men’s toilet in McDonald’s BF is designed in such a way that if you are using the single standing urinal and someone opens the door, the whole restaurant can look in and see your back against the wall. What architectural genius. Next time, I’m locking the door.

Oh, and I ordered a Quarter Pounder™ with small fries and a Hi-C Orange™. Service was quick and prompt, no questions asked. ;-)

Reformed Baptist?

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Okay… I have a strong Calvinist streak, and I believe in predestination, but I’m not certain I can really call myself a Calvinist. I have no problems with liturgical worship, and I’m equally comfortable with psalms, hymns, and/or praise choruses. I’m slowly being weaned away from mainstream dispensational eschatology, but I’m not quite keen on embracing an amillenialist or postmillenialist mindset. I’m not sold on covenantal paedobaptism, so I still continue to regard full immersion baptism for the professing believer as the biblical standard. I am moderately anti-Papist, but I believe the Catholic Church just needs a few major theological and ecclesiastical reforms to become a proper Christian institution again. I attend at a Fundamental Baptist church, but I do not accept the “Trail of Blood.” I don’t speak in tongues, nor do I laugh, roar, or bark. ;)

Does that mean I’ve turned into a Reformed Baptist?

Christian denominationalism. Sometimes it makes me laugh.

(And sa-ad mo-ovies… always make me cry-y…)

Not Cetrinets

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BLEH. I just chewed two 500mg Vitamin C tablets, thinking they were Cetrinets. Ooohh, that’s sour. That’s reeeaaally sour. I should check those bottles first; I’d forgotten I’d refilled one of these Cetrinets sample bottles with generic Ascorbic Acid. Gah. I need to brush my teeth and get my salivary pH back up. Excuse me.