designing obama: scott thomas talks about obama design campaign
Mon, Oct 26 2009 04:10 PM
| awesome, graphic design, favorites, politics
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i don't write a lot about design, but i have certainly written my fair share about politics. this is a post where those two things meet.
if you've kept up with my blog since at least this time last year, you know that i'm, um, to say the least, a supporter of president obama. one of the many layers of his campaign and subsequent victory that i focused on was the design campaign that was particularly pivotal. never in the history of presidential (or any other kind) elections has design played such a prominent role than it did with obama's campaign. everyone knows obama's logo. everyone knows the "obama blue" and everyone knows gotham font (even if they don't know it's called gotham...which i still regularly find myself obsessed with...).
if you've kept up with my blog since at least this time last year, you know that i'm, um, to say the least, a supporter of president obama. one of the many layers of his campaign and subsequent victory that i focused on was the design campaign that was particularly pivotal. never in the history of presidential (or any other kind) elections has design played such a prominent role than it did with obama's campaign. everyone knows obama's logo. everyone knows the "obama blue" and everyone knows gotham font (even if they don't know it's called gotham...which i still regularly find myself obsessed with...).
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BeingRyanByrd.com has low self esteem, receives a facelift
Sat, Oct 24 2009 11:23 PM
| personal, technology, awesome, graphic design, websites, blog stuff
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it was just time. really.
i redesigned this website last december/january and i had just gotten really tired of staring at all the heavy colors and overworked design. so, here you have it: the newly redesigned BeingRyanByrd.com!
i redesigned this website last december/january and i had just gotten really tired of staring at all the heavy colors and overworked design. so, here you have it: the newly redesigned BeingRyanByrd.com!
a graphic debate: liberals vs conservatives
Fri, Oct 23 2009 04:46 PM
| art, popular culture, websites, politics
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every day and night, there's a political war that takes place on network and cable television, pitting republicans and democrats, conservatives and liberals and certainly other oppositional euphemisms against each other. generally, it can be as mild as a unhelpful caricatures or as aggressive as an uninformed shouting match.
friedrich nietzsche was exactly right about christianity
indeed, friedrich nietzsche was exactly right about christianity.
well, not about everything. but certainly, he got a few things right.
while i have had the, um, pleasure of dabbling into a very small amount of nietzsche's philosophies during my time at the seminary (mostly in relation to moral/faith development), i don't claim to be an exhaustive authority on all things nietzsche. what i can say, though, is that nietzsche, among others who have offered critiques, spoke very sharply about a certain notion of god and christianity. i'm not saying that he particularly liked some other notion of god, but it seems fairly clear that nietzsche primarily responded to a certain brand of god that didn't seem compatible with philosophical modes of engaging/viewing people and the world around him. (some have even argued that in spite of his famous god is dead declaration that nietzsche wasn't an atheist, though i digress.)
music you should know: brandi carlile's give up the ghost
Tue, Oct 6 2009 05:11 PM
| recommendations, reviews, personal, music, music you should know, favorites
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it's been awhile since our last installment in an ongoing series of posts called music you should know (the last being the dirty projectors' bitte orca). this is a chance for me to talk about some of the music i've discovered that may not be that well known, but is definitely worth being made well known. now, i'm not claiming all this music will be obscure, as i'm sure many of you might possibly know this stuff, but it's stuff that isn't hyped all the time in the mainstream and known by the average music listener.
join me in saying 'no!' to public libraries!
as i've stated several times here on the blog and to anyone that was willing to let me co-opt their ears, i'm a HUGE proponent of not only health care reform, but specifically, a public option (actually, i'm in favor of a single-payer system, but i'll leave it at that). sadly, it appears that the tide of crazies have won the debate and a public option looks like a distant memory.
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the gospel according to breaking bad's walter white
less than two weeks ago, i could tell you 1 fact about amc's emmy-winning drama, breaking bad: it was called breaking bad. oh wait, one more: it was on amc. i was pretty sure.since that time, i've devoured approximately 20 hours of the show, comprised of 7 season one episodes and 13 season two episodes.my initial response to this acknowledgement (or confession, if you will) might be that i was totally
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a little byrdy told me about a place called etsy
i'm really excited to be blogging about this particular piece of information (i've been meaning to do it for a few weeks now..) and i hope you'll find it beneficial.christen has started an etsy store.over at babybyrds.etsy.com, christen has created a really great store that features, generally speaking, children's print items such as custom wall prints and custom diaper bag tags. as a parent of two
sneaking in jesus: the amazing atheist gets it right
Fri, Sep 25 2009 04:17 PM
| videos, church, christian subculture, theology
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several years ago, rob bell, in velvet elvis, made a statement that i have often repeated: truth is everywhere.indeed.in the bible. in the quran. in the vedas. in the words of a prophet of crete (which paul quotes in his epistle to titus). truth is, in fact, everywhere.sometimes truth doesn't only come in "sacred" texts or reverent means of communication. sometimes truth comes in strange, bizarre,
the creation conflict: don miller talks community
i posted this earlier on the eikon blog and i thought it was worth sharing here.several years ago, someone made a statement that i have repeated many times since and has shaped my view of god and others: isolation is the enemy of god.there's a lot going on in that statement and today, in a live-streamed talk by don miller, i was once again reminded of that declaration.miller—author of the best-selling
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jennifer knapp releases new track, letting go
Fri, Sep 18 2009 04:34 PM
| christian subculture, theology, music, websites
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last week, i blogged about the mysterious return of jennifer knapp. with very little details, her re-entrance was just as clouded as her disappearance.well, we have now heard from her—both in word and song. on her website, she has posted a letter to fans, stating that she has been traveling and discovering "more about myself and my own faith".if you don't know her music, i would describe it as the
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the blueprint: the making of a jay-z album cover
Thu, Sep 17 2009 04:39 PM
| art, photography, graphic design, music
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a while back, i blogged about shepard fairey's creative process with a video of said process. another similar video caught my eye today.last week, jay-z released his latest album, the blueprint 3. beyond the fact that it's a great album, i was initially struck by the album art, featuring an assembly of white musical instruments and assorted audio equipment. here it is:my assumption was that the 3 red
the theology of killing: jesus and our brother romell broom
right now, at the southern ohio correctional facility in lucasville, ohio, 53-year old romell broom is awaiting his execution.for the second time.yesterday afternoon, an "execution team" (wow...there's a team we can all rally behind...) spent over 2 hours trying to find a usable vein that would accept the IVs that carry the 3 lethal chemicals that induce death. each time the executioners attempted
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smashing assumptions: billy corgan talks god
this appeared on the eikon blog yesterday and i thought i would repost it here. enjoy.last week, billy corgan—of smashing pumpkins fame—launched a new website, everything from here to there. in his first post, corgan expresses the purpose of the site, stating,The purpose of this website is to discuss openly and without fear concepts of Mind-Body-Soul integration. If you are drawn to the Hidden
jennifer knapp, the amazing disappearing woman, set for a comeback
Tue, Sep 8 2009 03:39 PM
| theology, music, 90's, music you should know
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last week, I posted news about derek webb's announcement that the original members of caedmon's call have been writing and recording a new album (which is tentatively set to release some time in 2010). now, another late-90's breakout christian musician has re-entered the conversation: jennifer knapp.jennifer knapp released the critically aclaimed, kansas in 1998, ushering in a new sound that blended
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watch the first 13 minutes of 'collision: christopher hitchens vs. douglas wilson"
Sun, Sep 6 2009 07:06 PM
| videos, church, movies, emergent, christian subculture, theology
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on october 27, collision: christopher hitchins vs. douglas wilson releases to dvd and limited theater runs in major markets. hitchens—self-described anti-theist, political journalist and author of the best-selling god is not great—in 2007, engaged in series of written correspondence with wilson—author, satirist and evangelical theologian—debating whether or not christianity is good for the
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from the eikon blog: bazan breakup?
Fri, Sep 4 2009 10:10 AM
| reviews, personal, church, emergent, eikon, christian subculture, theology, music, music you should know
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i wrote this piece for the eikon blog yesterday and i thought it was worth sharing here. david bazan's new album, curse your branches, is a truly incredible album and asks a lot of hard, but necessary questions. so, enjoy.-----------------------------------------------You've heard the storyYou know how it goesOnce upon a gardenWe were lovers with no clothesFresh from the soilWe were beautiful and trueIn
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an open letter to those who have been burned by church
Tue, Sep 1 2009 08:56 PM
| rant, personal, church, emergent, eikon, confessions, christian subculture, theology, popular culture
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thanks to a tweet from @emergentvillage, i came across a great blog post from curtis honeycutt (@curtishoneycutt) today speaking to—as the title suggests—those who have been burned by church. it's a beautiful, vulnerable, honest conversation with an ever-growing group of people. so, if you've ever felt put off, not by jesus, but by the church, take a minute to read this. curtis, no doubt, shares
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derek webb announces original caedmon's call working on new album
it seems appropriate—just a couple days after the mondo-post concerning caedmon's call, derek webb and my awkward neo-calvinist conversation—that i would post this information. as i've said before, i've got a few different kinds of blog readers, so the following responses will flow from this post:"great! i'm excited to hear the new stuff!""great. that means the caedmon's call righteousness is gonna
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of prophets |||amp; pundits: a few words about criticism
Fri, Aug 28 2009 12:35 PM
| personal, church, emergent, christian subculture, theology, music, music you should know
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despite a couple bunch of interruptions, many of you have kept up with my track-by-track analysis of derek webb's latest (and arguably greatest) album, stockholm syndrome. while this post serves as yet another break in the series, I thought a recent conversation was a fitting interruption.whereas I usually refrain from and frown upon broad prefaces and disclaimers on blogs, let me offer a genuine disclaimer
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