Arts-&-Literature

A pastor asks why so many churches urged their members to go see The Passion of the Christ but aren’t urging them to see Hotel Rwanda. Having seen neither movie yet, I couldn’t tell you what their relative merits are. However, I can make a guess as to two reasons why: First, The Passion had a truly amazing marketing push behind it. To talk about it as a purely grassroots hit movie is to ignore the accomplishments of Mel Gibson and the distributor in promoting this film as a must-see for Christians. There is a common mistake made when talking about evangelical Christians. Despite the talk about cutting ourselves off from the world, we are very much aware of it and are exposed to the tools used in the rest of culture. In other words, it’s hard to separate “religious” church and/or school life from the “secular” world of working and shopping. The evangelical community has always had a large community concerned with marketing to it, just like any other niche market with special interests. ...

Okay, it was done back in 1951, so the verbage in the story probably didn’t seem as bad at the time. (Either that, or the writer was pretty sure his younger audience would find it hilarious, kind of like an older audience does now.) ;)

Seems to be an accurate statement. :) Courtesy of User Friendly, a great web comic.

Some interesting lists of 100 going around out there right now: The 100 Most Annoying Things of 2004 92 CLEAR CHANNEL’S MEDIA MONOPOLY It’s official, they now own the broadcast rights to that guy down the street with a Mr. Microphone saying, “Hey Good Looking, I’ll See You Later!” 91 THE IRISH they come here and take all of our good jobs (EDITOR’S NOTE: Sorry, this was left off of “The 100 Most Annoying Things of 1804” list and I had to find a place for it) ...

“They’re comics! They’re books! They’re a joyless synthesis of both!” Lileks, whose site I would definitely recommend for those suffering through humorless days, examines the horror that is Hanna Barbera cartoons rendered in still life. Link courtesy of Boing Boing

So, some companies are planning to compete with iTunes by offering a music rental service, where you can get unlimited tracks for a monthly fee but those tracks will die if you do not have a current subscription to the service. While I can see some advantages — trying out new music, getting rid of songs you never listen to — I’m wondering why the same companies that can’t compete with iTunes in the first place think folks will drop the “I bought it, it’s mine” mindset given to us by years of buying CDs, records, and tapes? And for that matter, why should we? Record companies obviously did well off of it. Can you imagine being the customer service person who has to explain to a customer why half their collection just stopped working? ...

Backstreet Boys + Matchbox Twenty + Goo Goo Dolls + Train There are some equations that should never be solved. I’m going to put this in the Music category, even though it pains me. Courtesy of Best Week Ever

I appear to be shorter (5'6") than almost every famous modern male. Makes me feel like a hobbit. Of course, I have to wonder about some of the reported heights. Bea Arthur is only 5'9"? For that matter, Cher is 5'4"? That’s the same height as Alan Ladd. (Seriously. They used to have him stand on things to look taller than his female costars. Except for Veronica Lake. 4'11". The Glass Key. Good movie.) I personally think the best height is for Charles Schulz. They report him as 5'12". :) ...

So how were Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster paying the bills when they were coming up with that revolutionary idea? Why, drawing the comic adventures of Slam Bradley, private detective and racist thug, of course! Ben-San Arizona shares a few choice panels from his collection of old Detective Comics (before Batman took over). Courtesy of Daily Scans

I’ve never read a Laurell K. Hamilton book, but my wife has read some of them, and therefore the description of Incubus Dreams from the New York Times Book Update actually makes sense to me: Is a vampire serial killer preying on strippers? :)