Blaise Pascal, PenseĆ© 347: “Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed. The entire universe need not arm itself to crush him. A vapor, a drop of water suffices to kill him. But, if the universe were to crush him, man would still be more noble than that which killed him, because he knows that he dies and the advantage which the universe has over him; the universe knows nothing of this. All our dignity consists, then, in thought. By it we must elevate ourselves, and not by space and time which we cannot fill. Let us endeavor, then, to think well; this is the principle of morality.”

Sunday, March 11, 2012

The Transatlantic Sessions

BBC TV. I've never seen this show, but now I'm going to look for it. Where do we Americans get the music we associate with Appalachia? Great Britain, of course, and especially Scotland and Ireland:


1 comment:

  1. Being a former music major, I think the etymology of music is equally as interesting as the etymology of words (which I now enjoy as an English major, of course). This video is quite a nice find though. Gotta love BBC, and anything rooted in Ireland is solid gold to me! I'm definitely scoping out this show now; thanks for such a great find!

    If you want to have a good conversation about this, talk with Dr. David Engle a few doors down from your office. He had quite a bit to say on the matter in my Folklore in Contemporary Life (HUM 118) course. He'll tell you about some influences from Africa in Appalachia as well.

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