October 29, 2009

The Japanese Hutterite Brethren

From an article on the Japanese Hutterite Brethren:

"The Japanese Hutterite women initially found the Hutterites' long skirts, jackets, and kerchiefs functional, comfortable, and protective for work in the fields. While the intention was to be simple, practical, and without regard for current style, many Koriyama townspeople admired the Hutterite dress and some even considered it high fashion."

I've been trying to find a Hutterite outfit for halloween, but thus far haven't had any success.

• 11:19 PM • Comments (1)

October 26, 2009

Hitchens, Wilson & Collision

Complete with a trailer apparently created by the bastard child of Errol Morris & Michael Bay (complete with vaguely-ethnic wail!), Collision is a film about/around/promoting the Hitchens v Wilson "'Debate' Tour". The "debates" addressed, in a manner of speaking, pedestrian topics such as the Existence of God, the Problem of Evil and cross-brand marketing strategies.

Their debates can be summarized as follows:

Hitchens: "Bad stuff happens."
Audience: "Yay!"
Wilson: "You can't say that."
Audience: "Yay!"

Still, a film which provides an in-depth and systematic (i.e. academic) breakdown of the issues along with an attempt at further developing the arguments probably wouldn't sell. And if there's one thing Believer-Wilson and Atheist-Hitchens can find in common, it's a love of the almighty dollar.

• 5:50 PM • Comments (0)

October 23, 2009

"You cannot make friends with the rock stars."

A great line in the film Almost Famous from Lester Bangs on rock journalism:

"You cannot make friends with the rock stars. That's what's important. If you're a rock journalist: first, you will never get paid much. But you will get free records from the record company. And they'll buy you drinks, you'll meet girls, they'll try to fly you places for free, offer you drugs... I know. It sounds great. But they are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rock stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it."

That pretty much applies to any market/industry/community/entity; just replace [rock stars] & [rock and roll].

Quotations , chattanooga • 11:51 AM • Comments (1)

October 20, 2009

Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video

This could have been a video about the entire state of Ohio.

Videos • 10:18 AM • Comments (1)

October 16, 2009

Playboy Priests

The group, Good Tidings, was founded by Cait Finnegan and her husband, a former Catholic priest, originally with the idea that they would help priests who had fallen in love to discern whether to leave the priesthood and marry, or remain in the priesthood and end the relationship.

"We were naïve," Mrs. Finnegan said. "We quickly discovered that many of these priests were playboys. They weren't looking for any discernment, they were simply staying and playing. It was the women who needed the support. Unfortunately, many women accept the kind of abuse from a priest that they would never accept if they were dating another man."

She said that in 25 years, Good Tidings had been contacted by nearly 2,000 women who said they were involved with priests, many who had signed child support and confidentiality agreements like Ms. Bond's. There are similar support groups in at least seven countries.

A landmark study in 1990 by the scholar A. W. Richard Sipe, a former Benedictine, found that 20 percent of Catholic priests were involved in continuing sexual relationships with women, and an additional 8 percent to 10 percent had occasional heterosexual relationships.

New York Times Article here.

• 12:21 PM • Comments (0)

October 13, 2009

Why I Love Catacombs

This post is for the homecomb cataboys.

I received the following message via Facebook:

I know you weren't at Covenant too terribly long ago, but we're looking for clues. I am referring, of course, to the endless search for the true Rob Jackson, our founding father of Catacombs.

He is a man shrouded in mystery and legend, and searching for clues is like searching for the holy grail. But we will never stop searching.

Questions: Was Rob Jackson already on the hall when you arrived as a freshman?
What year were you a freshman?
Can you recall any useful information that upperclassmen shared with you concerning Rob? (Its plausible that someone your age knew a senior (while you were a freshman) who potentially knew something about where Rob came from).

any useful information?
Do you even remember who Rob Jackson is?

It's been several years since I last talked with Rob Jackson. He never much cared for The Internets and never fully approved of my career choice. April and I still receive a Christmas card from him every year, signed, but with no return address.

If anyone knows how to get in touch with him, please hit me with an e-mail.

Covenant College • 6:39 PM • Comments (4)

HS Designs in the News

My buddy Mat Sears, the finest woodworker in Chattanooga

Community Research Council Changing Its Name

to "The Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies"

Fight the Smears

I've met people who believe these things

Baracky: the Movie

Yo Adrian!

Detroit City Council

probably the one and only time I'll be thankful for the Chattanooga City Council