Connection Point, April 2010 Edition from CBMC on Vimeo.
What are you expecting today? Are you expecting God to move? This month, CBMC President Lee Truax introduces us to Jerry Molnar of New York, NY. Jerry was a businessman who cared for nothing but money before the Lord transformed him. In the 80s, he took an office high in the towers at the World Trade Center. His dramatic testimony is something to see and share with others.
Mr. Woodlief lifts up the truth in the Koran burning argument, which has received too much press. He says:
I think a Christian ought not burn a Quran, not because it will incite violence, . . . [but] simply because destruction and negation are the purview of the devil, not God. The kingdom of Heaven is not advanced by destroying the false but by embracing the true. Darkness is never erased; it is enlightened.
Copyright Getty Images.
Yesterday, in my post on the Zombie course at the University of Baltimore, I referenced Prof. Brendan Riley, who taught a similar course even earlier at Columbia College, Chicago.
Prof. Riley was kind enough to drop in and participate in our comments, and he did so in a highly courteous and reasonable manner. I won’t say he won me over to his point of view, but I’ll declare freely that he didn’t turn out to be the sort of fellow I would have expected him to be.
His blog, which is extremely interesting (in my view) is here.
Just before lunch, I heard a guy talking 9-11 conspiracies–there were no planes found at wreckage sites in the Pentagon or in Pennsylvania; if we would just open our eyes, we would see that our own government officials are lying to us. Gasp, that’s depressing. Don’t you think if our government people were willing to do all of that, they would also be willing to knock off the people trying to expose them? It’s all so insane.
But I don’t want to think about that any more. I need a break. Oh, look. Sissel has a new album coming out in November. She is just the cutest thing.
I wish I could link to a song from this, but I’ll settle for this video from years ago with a beautiful Norwegian song. Continue reading Break: Til Deg
Personal note: Blogging from me will probably be light for the rest of the month. My publisher’s publicist has booked me for a “virtual book tour,” in which I’ll do guest blog posts and interviews for what looks like a daunting number of web sites.
My plan is to throw myself into this thing and work the (Charles) Dickens out of it. A virtual book tour would appear to be tailor made for my personality, so if I can’t shine at this I’ll be a man pretty much with nothing to say for himself.
While I’m thinking of it, buy my book.
It’s been in the news lately—The University of Baltimore is offering a credit course on zombies in literature.
Blumberg’s course is not without precedent. Brendan Riley, an English professor at Columbia College in Chicago, introduced a course called “Zombies in Popular Media” in 2006, a few years into the nation’s zombie revival. He believes he was the first to offer an entire course on zombies, a perennial entry on lists of oddest college courses.
“It was kind of a fight to get it as a recognized course at the school,” Riley said. “Because, at first, it appears to be kind of a frivolous topic.”
I suppose if I object to this, I’ll be identifying myself as not only a dinosaur, but a fossilized dinosaur.
But I do object, and I’m pretty sure I’d have objected back when I was in college. Continue reading Not undead, just brain dead
Yahoo News passes on 25 things chefs never tell you, like the fact most of them want to have their own cooking show or “Vegetarian is open to interpretation.”
About 15% of chefs said their vegetarian dishes might not be completely vegetarian. Beware if you’re one of those super-picky vegan types: One chef reported seeing a cook pour lamb’s blood into a vegan’s primavera.
What the?
The Washington Post canned its book reviews from the printed paper last year. Other papers have been cutting book coverage for a long time. But behold, the Wall Street Journal say it will expand its Saturday edition and add to that expansion a portion of book reviews. The people rejoiced, and there was peace in those days.
Our friend Kit passed along some news I should have been aware of, and wasn’t. They’re filming a new Conan movie, even as I write. Release is planned for 2011.
The most intriguing fact about the production, it appears to me, is the casting of Jason Momoa (of Stargate Atlantis) as Conan. The implications are notable, since Momoa is a man of mixed race, and Howard’s original conception of his hero was… shall we say, not oriented in that direction.
I’m sure there are some who deny this, but the plain fact, as far as I can see, is that Howard was an unashamed racist. His idea of the Cimmerians, Conan’s tribe, was that they were the pure racial ancestors of the Celts (that’s one reason I never cared much for Arnold in the role. He could have at least worn the black wig they finally stuck on James Earl Jones’ head). Some of his stories involving black tribes include pretty condescending language.
I hasten to add that (in my opinion) pre-World War II racism needs to be judged somewhat differently from the modern kind. Many people in that time considered racism the rational extension of Darwinist science, and a lot of the most respectable people subscribed to race theory. Howard’s belief in the superiority of whites was not remarkable in his day, and very likely had no tinge of personal animosity in it. The Nazis had not yet shown up to show us all, in horribly graphic fashion, where such thinking actually leads.
So this casting involves a basic reinvention of the character from the outset. For all I know, it could work.
Still, I’d like to see somebody do Howard’s Conan someday. Hasn’t happened yet.
Here’s a funny list of photos (one’s pretty bad) of poorly translated words in English. Read cautiously with caution, and beware fighting bear.