Halloween Alleycat

This would be my third halloween race. I am, apparently, getting old. This was going to be an actual night race, which I always enjoy, so I was looking forward to it. The weather looked like it might not cooperate, with high winds and scattered rain, but in the end, it was OK. We got […]

Bill Kauffman, Localism

The folks at 2Blowhards spent last week interviewing Bill Kauffman. The series finished up last Friday, and Kauffman offers up the perfect outline for a localist, reactionary radical perspective: Anarchy is the absence of government coercion. It implies nothing about one’s religious or social views; indeed, the most convincing anarchists have been Christians: Dorothy Day, […]

Eastern PA Populaire

First, let’s see how I fared in the results table: Brian Janaszek : DNS Did not start? Yup. Oh, I tried. But I failed. Miserably. Thanks to some horrific directions from Google and a lack of a local map, I could not find the start. And when I finally got the directions sorted out, the […]

Well, That Takes Care of That

So I went to the local bike shop last night, rear wheel in hand, to drop it off to get the bearings. Thing is, the kindly mechanic there said “gimme 15 minutes” and sure enough, 15 minutes later, he had the bearings out. Best $12 I’ve spent. Apparently the process involved several screwdrivers, a hammer, […]

Decision, Decisions

Two days ago, it rained quite a bit. On the ride into work, I had to deal with several sections of deep puddles, which absolutely soaked my drivetrain. Now, the bearings in my rear hub were already on their last legs, and this ride did them in completely. I have a spare set of cartridges […]

Two Items

First, a fine post by Daniel Larison on why it might time for conservative Christians to worry a little less about politics and a little more on the life of the Church. I will likely write more about this, but I just wanted to point it out. Second, an old co-worker asked me yesterday what […]

The Ride Ahead

People often ask me if there are days that I wish I didn’t have to ride my bike to work. A few, I say. Most of the questions begin in the Fall, when the temperatures begin to dip into the 30s at night. I don’t mind the cold, I say. In fact, I’ll take 30 […]

Populaire

The cuesheets and profile maps have been released for the populaire and brevet next weekend in Eastern Pennsylvania. I’m mildly relieved looking at the map for the 100km populaire, as there is really only one long climb roughly halfway through the ride. What’s shocking, however, is a little stat at the bottom of the profile […]

Ellul and Neocalvinism, Redux

I have been working on a dialogue with Dr. Koyzis for an upcoming issue of Comment about our perspectives on Jacques Ellul. This is a re-write of my initial response to Koyzis’ essay which will not appear in Comment. No need for it languish on my computer. Jacques Ellul has always been a difficult nut […]

Tradition, Choice

Rod Dreher examines how his “Crunchy Con” neo-traditionalism may in fact be just another consumer choice in this modern world. Dreher shares two critiques of his sensibility, one from a theologian and another from Maggie Gallagher, both of whom are unconvinced that buying into a tradition that is not your own is a solution to […]