Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin said the following in regards to the Westboro Baptist Church’s plans to picket at the funeral of Tim Mclean - for reasons so reprehensible, no sane or compassionate human could tolerate them: “Your freedom to swing your arm in the air ends when it touches the end of my nose.”
And those are good words.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/08/08/westboro-protest.html?ref=rss
I was watching the Daily Show today, and one of John Stewart’s co-hosts (I can’t remember his name, but he’s the ex-marine) was interviewing the group known as Code Pink who were protesting a navy recruitment center in Berkely. One girl was going on saying that it was their right to protest, as per free speech. Then the interviewer (perhaps his name was Rob?) say, every so daftly, “If only there was a body to protect that right…” She thought a moment, then said “Yea! That’s what we need!”
Oh my… To quote a fat cartoon character: “goddam hippies!” Its amazing how possible it is to separate your head from reality, when you’re in places like Southern California….
There’s nothing like a good old fashioned vampire slaying - especially when the vampire is former president of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic. Eastern Europe has always been a hotbed for vampyric lore and it is still an alive tradition.
Instead of me regurgitating the story, read it here.
– JGM
http://www.slide.com/r/OMci5jQFwj-gDQltmGzmKJETHkb4V5at
How long did it take you to throw a rock through your computer? After this video was over I had ruined three computer screens. I always thought it was a stereotype that some Americans were so ignorant…guess I was too distracted riding my dogsled…
– JGM
I just saw the absolute, without a doubt best commercial ever. Its so good, I think I might just buy a car so I can get Geico.
There was an article out today about a “new conspiracy theory” regarding Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper. I’m not going to get into it itself - read about it here http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070801/DaVinci_supper_070801/20070801?hub=TopStories.
What I am more interested in is the reaction to it. On the CTV address I gave there are comments from readers below, ranging from “Who cares? Maybe a dozen people over the entire planet who obviously have nothing better to do than stare at a old painting by some dead guy” to “Who cares!!!!!!!!
Last time I checked Da Vinci’s Dead. Nothing of interest can come of this. READ THE BIBLE” or “and imaginative ideas about Jesus, but they don’t take any interest in the historical account of his life recorded in the New Testament. Why is everyone so ready to believe wild and baseless speculation but so unwilling to wrestle with the well documented truth? The New Testament documents are among the most historically accurate ancient documents anywhere. Hundreds have tried to disprove them and have instead come to believe.”
As a student of history I could not help but write back to some of these baseless, ignorant, and just plain stupid responses. The first I will deal with is the comment referring to the “dozen people over the entire planet”. My guess is the bloke who wrote this is either not in university, or is in no way whatsoever involved in Arts or Humanities. Art History is in fact a very active field, and has been since the 16th century; art is a physical relic of cultural history, a documentation of faith, aesthetic tastes, and ideals of an individual or society. Art and art history is not just a field secluded to the university campus or museum, but is in fact a very public attraction. Take for instance National Lampoon’s parody of the Mona Lisa http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.studiolo.org/Mona/images/MonaGorilla2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.studiolo.org/Mona/MONA24.htm&h=300&w=216&sz=15&hl=en&start=0&um=1&tbnid=h_kYny4tWgroQM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=84&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmona%2Bgorilla%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN
By making a parody of the Mona Lisa, or anything for that matter, we are actively engaging with painting; we don’t need to be a scholar or an academic to appreciate such parodies.
My second point of concern is the claims that “The New Testament documents are among the most historically accurate ancient documents anywhere.” Its amazing how right somebody can seem if they speak as if they know what they are talking about. Unfortunately, the Bible is not an historical document; it is a documentation of spiritual exploits of Jesus, yes, but that does not make it historical, especially in our sense of the term. For instance, the Gospels tell different and conflicting stories of Jesus; very very little is told of Jesus’s childhood, except as it relates to his ministry. So we cannot go saying that the New Testament is an historical document (and there are certainly many more ancient documents more trustworthy in terms of historical accuracy). The Gospels were written, it is generally agreed, at least a generation after the crucifixion, and the Book of John even later. Today, we can write a biography of someone who lived a hundred years or more before us with a great deal of accuracy because of historical documents; but Jesus left behind no writings, and there was no such thing as historical documentation of the same capacity of today. This is not to question the validity of the Bible, or to call into question to spiritual truth that is ascribed to the Bible. But one must understand what an accurate historical document is before ascribing the term to people’s recounting of their spiritual encounter with Jesus.
But, the funny thing to me is that nobody stated that Leonardo was questioning the story or claiming it to be false; he was a trickster, and loved to prank his patrons. Just research the two versions of the Madonna of the Rocks. The Church that he did his commission for was so scandalized by his first version that they demanded he do another, less heretical one before receiving full payment. In the field of history - art history included - the question of what is true is not always as important as what somebody thought was true.
- JGM
By Johhny Cash….
I went out walking
Through streets paved with gold
Lifted some stones
Saw the skin and bones
Of a city without a soul
I went out walking
Under an atomic sky
Where the ground won’t turn
And the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye
Yeah I went with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering
I went drifting
Through the capitals of tin
Where men can’t walk
Or freely talk
And sons turn their fathers in
I stopped outside a church house
Where the citizens like to sit
They say they want the kingdom
But they don’t want God in it
I went out riding
Down that old eight lane
I passed by a thousand signs
Looking for my own name
I went with nothing
But the thought you’d be there too
Looking for you
I went out there
In search of experience
To taste and to touch
And to feel as much
As a man can
Before he repents
I went out searching
Looking for one good man
A spirit who would not bend or break
Who would sit at his father’s right hand
I went out walking
With a bible and a gun
The word of God lay heavy on my heart
I was sure I was the one
Now Jesus, don’t you wait up
Jesus, I’ll be home soon
Yeah I went out for the papers
Told her I’d be back by noon
Yeah I left with nothing
But the thought you’d be there too
Looking for you
Yeah I left with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering
well, my devoted readers, its time for another post. Too busy with school these to do much else. I’ve been in contact with a professor from University of Saskatchewan who has agreed to supervise my graduate studies, at the MA level at least, if i should decide to go into Medieval history. It seems right now highly probable that i will pursue this course. I’ve discovered that the study of magic and occult (my field of interest) is in fact more under-developed than I thought, so that’s an encouragement.
I can’t believe how fast its coming up, even though its over a year away. But next year I start sending my applications in. Its the final stretch, the final chance to bring my grades up, the last period to focus my energies into a specific topic to do a thesis on. Despite the apprehension I feel about the whole thing, what with the new school and tougher program, I at the same time cannot wait to begin my graduate studies. The last four years of my life have been leading to this time.
- - JGM
From the Rule of Four:
“On the ceilings where I am going there will be saints and gods and flights of angels. Everywhere I walk there will be reminders of all that time can’t touch. My heart is a bird in a cage, ruffling its wings with the ache of expectation. In Italy, the sun is rising.”
perhaps, maybe, someday…
