good start
When one of the first news stories you read is that J.J. Abrams will be directing the new Star Trek movie , its going to be a good day.
Sinking
A giant sinkhole 330+ feet deep opened up in Guatemala . Nature is so cool.
Normally my dislike of things numerical induces a sinking feeling, but this list of what makes numbers 1-9999 special is actually interesting.
Speaking of sinking, I was surprised not to hear any news stories about this photo today. After all, it was taken 62 years ago today, and it even has a pre-Oscar tie in. How does the image that came to symbolize WWII sink to the bottom of the news cycle on its anniversary?
SG1 and a dead parrot scam
The joys of scam-baiting
The idea is simple, when someone sends a fraudulent email attempting to scam people out of money, there are folks out there willing to make them waste as much time, and resources possible. Scammers are ( apparently) willing to do many things to swindle cash. Including recreating great television. Some clever people willuse the scammers greed for their own entertainment.The website 419eater.comtargets the notorious Nigerian “419″ fraudsters. Its owner, Michael Berry, submits clips of his most hilarious conquests to You-Tube.
highlights include the Monty Python dead parrot sketch (if you watch only one, this is the one)
Heroes Lost?
I finally watched last night’s episode of Heroes and I have a question- Is there supposed to be a Lost /Heroes connection?
Why do I ask this? Did you notice what Nathan said to Simone>”…if people knew what we were capable of, they would drop a collective brick…because that’s what I would do, I’d round us all up, stick us in a LAB, on some island in the middle of the ocean.”
Add to that the actor who plays Mohinder’s friend back in India is the same guy who appeared on last weeks episode of Lost with Desmond.
I know the Lost creators are great at planting Easter eggs throughout the show, but cross pollination? I must know! I may just choke on my fish biscuit.
Update: ok so after some sleuthing of the interwebs I came across this
Tim Kring and David Lindelof are childhood friends and in a recent interview Lindelof joked that the shows could be connected… ah ha! there were actually hidden eggs within the show too…. if you go to Hiro’s blog he mentions fish biscuits, as well the two shows share the same car rental company and the same airline
see I no crazy
Yeah, but are you a creationist?
I’d like to tell you I have been way too busy to update, but that would be a lie. Sure things that are update worthy have happened
- Grandma Tilley is back in hospital with bit of fluid build up in her lungs. But at this stage, its not considered urgent
- My sister returned from her vacation, surviving many a flight on Indonesian airlines, and even some ferry rides too.
- I created a new recipe, using basmati rice in muffins. If rice pudding and whole wheat muffin had a love child- this would be it.
- had a beautiful snowfall with flakes big enough you could hear them as they hit your jacket
- watched a handful of classic movies-The Longest Day, They Were Expendable,Flying Tigers, Torpedo Run, Man in the Iron Mask (original),The Fighting Seabees
And what did I finally think I should share? Today as I was diagnosing myself online, I came across this
Problem solved
During my last trip to the doctor I was told my iron levels were a bit low. This evening I remembered that Guinness is supposed to be rich in iron. While I am a bit embarrassed it took me a week to remember such vital information, I do not believe I will have any trouble getting my levels back to normal.
It makes my spirit feel yucky
As predicted the link I posted to the Jesus Camp film on google video didn’t stay long. Anyways for my promised review….
Its difficult for me to articulate everything that went through my head as I watched this film. Fascination, horror, shock….and familiarity.
I am never sure if the church I attended as a child would be considered Evangelical, while it did emphasise the “authority of the bible”, there was never the massive congregation often associated with the movement. Nor did it include the talking in tongues we witness in this film. Which is to say, I didn’t feel like these were people I was viewing across some great divide, I was watching them nearby from the wings.
My cousin does attend a “true” evangelical church. I would call her a “born again” she has 3 kids from this marriage and they are all home-schooled. (Scary considering she did not graduate high school) During our last family reunion two of them walked around with christian music on their Walkmans, willing to testify to anyone who would listen. They were about 5 yrs old.
So when I hear kids in the movie say of their God, “he wants to love on you”. Its not shocking in its message, but because of the familiarity.
some things stick out because I want to distance myself from these people, some because they are creepy, some because of the irony
- they baptized the kids with a bottle of Nestle water-even the water of the word is commercialized
- the young boy marked his bible with a dollar bill-the selling of souls
- The children gathered around laying there hands on a cardboard cutout of George W. Bush. - idolatry anyone?
- “righteous judges” – creepy
- bowling for Jesus- been there done that, (they never gave out tshirts)
- Haggart calling a young boy cute-this was before he was cured of his gayness-shudder
What disheartens me about all of this, is the feeling that these people are being manipulated. That church leaders are using faith to further political agendas. That these kids are being brainwashed into becoming soldiers in the next crusade. That the delicate beauty of faith is just another commodity to be corrupted.
Jesus Camp
Google video is playing Jesus Camp
I just finished watching it andit is both fascinating and creepy. To be honest, I think I need a couple of days to digest before I can discuss, I just wanted to get this post up before they took the movie down.
