I must admit that I have fallen off the wagon a bit with some of the most recent UFC events. Many of the fight cards have seemed less than compelling to me. My opinion is that the UFC is lacking a group of fighters with “over the top” personalities that they can exploit for marketing purposes. While I’m not a fan of Tito Ortiz he did bring a lot of character, especially to the three fights with Ken Shamrock, that they hyped the hell out of. Although I think Ken’s short fuse was what added to most of my amusement.

Now, to UFC 110. This produced several surprises for me. Number one was the new face of Wanderlei Silva. While this has absolutely nothing to do with his fight it was strange to see as I was unaware that he had had surgery. He looks like a different person. I think if one is to have the nickname “The Axe Murderer” you should have a banged up beyond recognition face. Just my opinion though.

Number two, heavy weight Cain Velasquez. This guy is a fucking beast. He completely out classed the legendary “Minotauro” Nogueira. The otherwise stagnate UFC heavyweight division was starting to gain a little momentum with the introduction of Brock Lesnar, until he got sidelined with a severe intestinal infection. Now, it appears Lesnar will be back soon and that Velasquez is a serious contender for a shot at Lesnar’s belt. This I think would be a phenomenal fight. Lets hope it happens.

Lastly, and perhaps the most surprising for me, was the fight between George Sotiropoulos and Joe Stevenson. Sotiropoulos put on the most entertaining Jiu Jitsu clinic I have seen in awhile. I am normally not a fan of watching a technical ground match unfold as it tends to get rather boring. But this fight ended up being the exception to the rule I suppose.

All in all it was a decent event with appearances by Mirko “Cro Cop”, Stephan Bonnar, Chris Lytle, Keith Jardine, Michael Bisping and others.

One of the staples of my week is watching Diggnation. This week’s episode was by far the best drunken stupor show they have ever done. While there is not much in the way of coherent substance that is discussed, the slurred sponsor plugs and general inebriated ball busting more than makes up for it. After all of the episodes I have watched I still can’t tell the difference between sober Hippie and drunk Hippie. Perhaps he has transcended his reality and they are one in the same. If you have never seen Alex and Kevin then this is the episode for you. Or perhaps this was their coup de grâce.

To add a little spice to an otherwise homogeneous group of posts I am adding a track, Tindo Quando, by a Senegalese artist Baaba Maal. I stumbled upon him while listening to Terry Gross on NPR. For me, the African Worldbeat scene is very hit or miss. I prefer the more traditional “Tribal” styled music.

While this is most definitely not going to be a music blog, my reservoir of intellectual energy has temporarily been depleted… and I am enjoying a few days of new musical exploration.

Finding Celtic artists within my selective musical niche that combine superb fiddling with good vocals can be challenging. Not to slight anyone, as my taste in music can be fickle and fleeting. There is a “sound” that pulls me in regardless of what genre the music happens to fall in, but is not easily quantifiable in words. Perhaps the term I am looking for is “Music for the Soul”, although that doesn’t help convey any sense of definable characteristics. Regardless, I like me some Natalie MacMaster.

Following on yesterday’s post I am adding two more of my “new” favorites.

Matt & Shannon Heaton – Lily of the West

Quilty – I Wish I was in England

I am always on the lookout for new Celtic and Irish music groups and was thrilled when I found Old Blind Dogs. Technically they  identify themselves as Scottish folk, but their sound is very unique with hints of Reggae and Middle Eastern influences. Much to the consternation of my wife, when I find a new song that I like it remains on repeat for hours at a time. The track “The Cruel Sister” has been on heavy rotation. Is it possible to wear a rut into a hard drive?

One of the many things that the Internet has revolutionized is the dissemination of musical talent. As my taste  in music usually ranges far from the ‘main stream”, it requires more effort to find what I consider good music. As an aside, a weekly podcast of Irish music that may be of interest to some, can be found at thistleradio.com.

Video courtesy of The Veritas Forum.

Having read both Richard Dawkin’s “The God Delusion” as well as Alister McGrath’s refutation of Dawkins, in “The Dawkins Delusion” I was excited to put a face and personality to McGrath. The key point that resonated with me that McGrath states is the problem of interpretation. Although my use of the interpretive problem lies mainly with biblical text and not science.

Science provides an escape function in that it allows for reinterpretation or outright abandonment of  facts that are found to be unsound or otherwise outmoded. Religion however, suffers from an intrinsic problem that too much reinterpretation degrades and fundamentally alters the “original” message. Gather a group of Christians and you are sure to get a greatly varied response to how one is suppose to interpret scripture. Some issues may be pedantic nitpicking but others are more profound, such as the validity of the Genesis story as literal truth or the perceived nature of the Christian God.

While I respect Alister McGrath’s choice of faith, I do not identify with it. I think David Helfand introduces, by far, the more compelling conversation topic. Could the development of our cognitive faculties be studied and offer insight and answers into why we have religion and belief in God. I recently read an interesting article that posits that consciousness may be an evolutionary byproduct and not something that was a direct adaptive advantage. I think it is worth discussing whether the belief in God and the constructs of religion that support such beliefs, are in fact rooted in a similar naturalistic mechanism. I am undecided on this theory as I have not invested enough time into researching the subject.