Not Dead Yet

Hello, faithful readers. I've been in the field doing archaeology-type stuff. Because we are staying in a tiny town in Nevada, and because the only Internet access in the entire county is available at our motel, and because the Wi-Fi at our motel was down for our entire nine-day work session, and because Snuffles is in the Himalayas right now counting his gold, reading his manga, and hanging with his virgins, and because nobody was thoughtful enough to place Lucky's bowl near the keyboard, and because there was no keyboard to place her next to because I had the computer with me in Nevada...we have had an unofficial blog hiatus that has rivaled our real official hiatuses (or perhaps hiati) for length. The good news is, judging from the comments in the comboxes, nobody noticed. Or is that the bad news?

The last official hiatus and this latest unofficial one have taught me two things: when I don't post, comments and site traffic both increase. That makes me wonder...

Anyway, in this eclectic little post, it's time to play catch-up.

First, Sister Mary Martha has an entertaining post on the what the discovery of sentient extraterrestrials might mean to Catholics. The post is copiously illustrated. She wrote it in response to an interesting news article in Newsmax, which reports that the Vatican's chief astronomer, Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, has reassured Catholics that it's okay to believe in aliens. Well, that would be a load off my conscience, I guess, except the article doesn't mention if it's okay to be an alien agnostic, which strikes me as a better position to hold on the subject, at least at the moment. According to the article, "Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like 'putting limits' on God's creative freedom." Fair enough, but what's with the scare quotes around putting limits?

In other news, I recently discovered that I mistyped my own name on FaceBook. Does anybody know if it's possible to fix that?

Meanwhile, the blog Orthometer, run by my priest, has a series of hilarious Star Wars parody videos, beginning with Chad Vader, probably the best of the lot.

Also, I got word, but was back online too late to post on it, that the online bookstore Abunga has live chat with an author every other Wednesday at 2:00 PM EST. Their chat today was with Melanie Wells. The next chat is with Susan Konig on July 30.

Regular readers know I'm a fan of Amerimanga creator Rod Espinosa, whose comics are usually good-natured, wholesome fun. His latest, Prince Of Heroes, a new addition to the Chronicles Of The Universe saga, is available for pre-order. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can see my reviews of Chronicles Of The Universe and its sort-of sequel, Battle Girlz, here and here. Bring on the super-powered, miniskirted space-babes!

Did I say that out loud?

That's it for now. Now that I'm on break, we'll hopefully have some book and movie reviews for you in the near future.

Full Print of Long-Lost Metropolis Found

Snuffles and I have been planning a lengthy joint discussion of Fritz Lang's silent epic, Metropolis, for some weeks now, and have been gradually assembling our source material. Now it turns out that a complete copy of the film, previously thought permanently lost, has been found. For the sf fan, this is serious stuff, an unbelievable, mind-blowing discovery. Here's the article from ZEIT Online:

Last Tuesday Paula Félix-Didier travelled on a secret mission to Berlin in order to meet with three film experts and editors from ZEITmagazin. The museum director from Buenos Aires had something special in her luggage: a copy of a long version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, including scenes believed lost for almost 80 years. After examining the film the three experts are certain: The find from Buenos Aires is a real treasure, a worldwide sensation. Metropolis, the most important silent film in German history, can from this day on be considered to have been rediscovered. [more...]

Hat tip: John C. Wright

News from the FIsh Bowl: Forced Religion

SCHOOL CHILDREN IN UK FORCED TO PRAY TO ALLAH

In an event that sounds like something from a reactionary dystopian Christian sf novel, children in Alsager School near Stoke-on-Trent, England, were forced to kneel and pray to Allah during a religious education class. Two boys who refused were given detention. Here's the article from Mail Online:

Two schoolboys were given detention after refusing to kneel down and 'pray to Allah' during a religious education lesson.

Parents were outraged that the two boys from year seven (11 to 12-year-olds) were punished for not wanting to take part in the practical demonstration of how Allah is worshipped.

They said forcing their children to take part in the exercise at Alsager High School, near Stoke-on-Trent - which included wearing Muslim headgear - was a breach of their human rights.

One parent, Sharon Luinen, said: "This isn't right, it's taking things too far.

"I understand that they have to learn about other religions. I can live with that but it is taking it a step too far to be punished because they wouldn't join in Muslim prayer.

"Making them pray to Allah, who isn't who they worship, is wrong and what got me is that they were told they were being disrespectful. [more...]

America's Conservative Christians already imagine some pretty weird things are going on in Europe, and I suppose this will confirm their prejudices. At any rate, the teacher appears to have things backwards: refusing to participate in a religion you don't believe in is not disrespectful; practicing a religion insincerely or falsely is disrespectful. That is to say, the teacher was commanding disrespect for Islam from the students.

Speaking of which, we have Melinda Henneberger's opinion column from Slate, "How Sally Quinn Made Me a Better Catholic," in which she criticizes Sally Quinn, a Washington Post reporter and non-Catholic, for taking communion at Tim Russert's Catholic funeral, which Quinn writes about here. As Henneberger complains, Quinn shows disrespect for Catholicism by participating in a practice that isn't intended for outsiders.

Religions are not games of make-believe; their members take what they do seriously, or should, and whatever exclusions those religions make are not made arbitrarily. A news reporter should be able to grasp that, and even if she can't grasp it, a schoolteacher who teaches on religion should be able to.

Hat tip: Dispatches from TJICistan

News from the Fish Bowl: Catholic League Protests Student Art

Zzzzz.... Wha...? Oh, somebody made some intentionally sacrilegious art? Well, that's big news. *Yawn*

Cooper Union, a school in New York, is hosting an exhibition of student artwork, which has the Catholic League upset, according to the Associated Press:

The target of the protest is a series of paintings by Felipe Baeza. One of them depicts a man with his pants down and a crucifix in his rectum. A Latin caption says, "The day I became a Catholic." Another painting shows rosaries with male genitalia, and a third a man with a halo and erection. [more...]

Poor Mr. Baeza must be hard-up for creative inspiration. Marian icons covered in elephant feces, crucifixes in urine, and now crucifixional sodomy...well, I'm bored.

After reading of Baeza's paintings, I asked the Deej for comment. He mused a while and then said, "The day I became a Catholic was a distinctly different experience from Mr. Baeza's."

Last time I read anything by a fantasy artist, he was complaining that his art school taught lousy modern art when he wanted to learn how to paint the real stuff, which he found he was free to do when he became a fantasy artist. Could it be, then, that genuinely talented artists are now taking refuge in commercial art? I don't know, but if you're bored like me, you can always get back the excitement with this.

News from the Fish Bowl: Starbucks Changes Logo, Christian Group Complains

Major coffe chain Starbucks has altered its mermaid logo to show more mermaid, according to Mike Sunnucks with MSNBC.

Christian group The Resistance finds the logo offensive and is holding a boycott, as discussed at Q13Fox.com:

"The Starbucks logo has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute," explains Mark Dice, founder of the group. "Need I say more? It's extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves, Slutbucks."

The all-brown logo is a re-make of the chain's original logo. Starbucks declined comment, but in a memo last month CEO Howard Schultz said " . . the original logo acknowledges our pride in our past and embraces our heritage as the world's leading purveyor of specialty coffee." [more...]

As can be expected in an anthropocentrist and chauvenist society like ours, the opinions of actual fish-women are being silenced and ignored. Just because some women have fish-like attributes does not mean they want to be sex objects. Just because mermaids are regularly topless does not mean they want to be gawked at by sailors or coffee-drinkers. Their mode of dress is both practical and perfectly modest within the context of their culture.

I have a similar problem. Whenever Deej has his boorish "drinking buddies" over, they're always saying things like, "Dude, your girlfriend is an Arabian princess cursed to be a goldfish? That's totally hot." Then I have to explain that I don't like being a goldfish and that we're really more like just friends, actually.

So I agree with The Resistance. It's not nice to leer at a mermaid while you have your coffee, and besides that, no Christian can ever condone something so indecent as putting naked people in artwork.

Raytheon Developing Powered Exoskeleton Suit

The company Raytheon is developing a powered exoskeleton for military or police use, according to Lewis Page with The Register. Page notes that the suit isn't quite ready yet, as it has a power cable dragging along behind it. But hey, even the Evangelions dragged power cables.

Mildly worryingly, at the time of being bought by Raytheon, Jacobsen said "joining with Raytheon will help to move our technology from research and development to execution". One should note, however, that as yet the Sarcos kit is unarmed, and at present trails an inconvenient power cable. Should the Salt Lake City cops ever get into a situation with a supervillain of any kind, there will sadly be little chance of Jacobsen suiting up and bringing vigilante style super-soldier justice to their assistance. [more...]

Hat tip: Mike Flynn

News from the FIsh Bowl: Daily Utah Chronicle Prints Satire

Recently delivered: Someone calling himself Orion Archibald, writing for the University of Utah student paper, Daily Utah Chronicle, has produced a rather flat satirical description of Pope Benedict's visit to the U.S.:

Move over Gandalf: There's a new wizard in town!

Ending a week-long tour of the eastern United States, the Grand Magical Wizard King -- known to mystics by his native wizard title "Pope Benedict" -- held what many in attendance could describe as "a magical event" inside Yankee Stadium.

The ceremony, hailed by the Wizard King's followers as a "mass," sought to bestow the powers of the Magical Wizard King and his apprentices onto the lay followers gathered within the stadium, bringing to a close several days' worth of magical powers and spells cast by the Wizard King in both Washington, D.C., and New York City. [more...]

The really juicy part is near the end of the article:

In a statement delivered by the Wizard King's press corps, he thanked the people of the Americas and promised to "continue to train others in the magical powers bestowed by our Omnipotent Grand Master Wizard King of the Universe." The worldwide wizard training is to include lessons given at various Wizard Training Castles, or "cathedrals," throughout the known world, in topics ranging from magical chants to staff fighting to wizard gamesmanship to converting alms and donated moneys into magic powers, culminating in the ability to transfer massive amounts of guilt and mental suffering onto the various people of the land. [more...]

I asked Deej for comments and he said the following:

"Looks like the sort of thing I'd post late at night and then take down the next day after getting complaints. My first problem with it is that it isn't funny. I guess it's supposed to be offensive, but I personally rather like the idea of re-imagining the Catholic Church as an order of powerful wizards. If we're going to do that, though, we have to come up with some cooler names. I mean, Wizard King? Please! And what is this about transferring guilt and mental suffering onto people, anyway? I've experienced significantly less guilt and mental suffering since becoming Catholic, so this doesn't compute. And where can I sign up for that staff fighting? How come nobody told me we have staff fighting?"

News from the Fish Bowl: Top Five Sexiest Video Game Characters

MSNBC, in its habit of getting us the news we really need to know right now, has put together a list of the five sexiest video game characters. Naturally, Lara Croft is number one (and that's the newer, less ridiculously built Lara). Strangely missing are Q-bert, Pac-Man, and that cute little ball from Pong.

I don't really like video games, but I admit Gordon Freeman is kinda cute.

News from the Fish Bowl: Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed by Asteroid!

Sorry if this headline is a little out of date.

Hi, it's Lucky again. I found a headline today that made me laugh so hard I would have snorted my water out my nose if I had a nose and didn't have gills. It comes from the Times Online and is completely garbled:

CLAY TABLET IDENTIFIED AS ASTEROID THAT DESTROYED SODOM AND GOMORRAH

That is one killer clay tablet. I think they meant to say that the tablet describes the asteroid that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, but if you read the article, you'll see that's mere sensationalism.

The tablet, found by Henry Layard in the remains of the library in the royal place at Nineveh in the mid-19th century, is thought to be a 700BC copy of notes made by a Sumerian astronomer watching the night sky.

He referred to the asteroid as “white stone bowl approaching” and recorded it as it “vigorously swept along”.

Using computers to recreate the night sky thousands of years ago, scientists have pinpointed his sighting to shortly before dawn on June 29 in the year 3123BC [more...]

The ancient tablet reports that, after the Bronze Age astronomer spotted the asteroid, Bronze Age drillers were sent up in a Bronze Age spaceship to destroy it, accompanied by the music of a Bronze Age Aerosmith. Alas, it was to no avail: the asteroid probably struck in the Austrian Alps.

So what does this have to do with Sodom and Gomorrah? Absolutely nothing, but it does demonstrate the truth of the proverb, "Translate an ancient tablet and you'll get into the journals, but make a tenuous, insupportable biblical connection and you'll get into the newspapers."

News from the Fish Bowl: Two Items of Note

Hi, it's me, Lucky. I'm back. I haven't posted for a while because I've been busy and I've just picked up an item here and there and given it to Deej, but now I want to post on a couple of things.

BARACK OBAMA CALLS CHILDREN A PUNISHMENT

You've probably all heard this one from every single other Catholic blog. My source is LifeSiteNews, which, to be honest, I trust about as far as I can throw (because of this irresponsible headline). They report the following:

Following comments insisting that information on contraception be included alongside abstinence education, Obama stated, "I've got two daughters, 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at the age of 16." [more...]

PREGNANT...MAN?

On a tangentially related note, what looks at first like a science fiction story is really more run-of-the-mill. Tracy Logandino (a.k.a. Thomas Beatie), who underwent surgery to look like a man, is pregnant. John Connolly, again with LifeSiteNews, gives an overly excited commentary:

The mainstream media pushed the story of Thomas Beatie this past week, billing the story as the 'miraculous' male pregnancy. The startling news headline took the media by storm on April 1 (was this date a coincidence?), following Beatie's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show and an interview in People magazine.

If this story really were an instance of an unexplained pregnancy in a male, it might really be newsworthy. But the whole story is a giant media deception to forward the homosexual and transsexual agenda. [more...]

Media deception or just media stupidity? For those who snoozed through Arnold Schwarzenegger's Junior, this is old news. Basically, Logandino has had surgery and hormone treatments, but also has intact female reproductive organs, so she was able to get pregnant. Nothing's surprising there, but it's a shame that Logandino has found doctors willing to mutilate her body rather than offer her psychological therapy, that her child is going to grow up in an especially confusing environment, and that LifeSiteNews can't present anything but hysterical commentary on the subject. (The phrase "forced down the throats" even appears in the article. I'm not kidding.)

Bone Slated to Become a Movie (or Three?)

Last night, I was talking to Lucky the Goldfish and she was going on and on about true feelings or something (I wasn't really listening), when I decided to turn the conversation to something interesting, like comic books. I was just getting warmed up on an impromptu lecture on the subject when Lucky interrupted and asked, "How come you haven't blogged on the movie adaptation of Bone?"

I said, "What movie adaptation?"

Lucky rolled her little eyes, flopped onto the keyboard, and flailed around until she had hit the right buttons to bring up this news article at Rotten Tomatoes:

The comic book adventures of Jeff Smith's popular Bone brothers may have ended in 2004, but if all goes according to plan, they'll soon be making the transition to the big screen.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has picked up the screen rights to Smith's creations; though the studio hasn't decided whether to go the live-action or animated route, a production crew -- including Dan Lin and Jon Silk -- has been assembled. [more...]

This is good news to me, of course, as I am an enormous fan of Bone. It was inevitable that someone would try to adapt it for screen eventually, but I admit I had hoped it would be Disney, which shows signs of rebuilding its 2D animation department.

Hollywood Reporter has the best article on the subject, but the information is scanty as yet. According to author/illustrator Jeff Smith's blog, Boneville.com, about all that has happened so far is a phone conversation between himself and Warner Bros. Smith is slated to be executive producer. This is the second attempt at a movie of Bone. The first deal was with Nickelodeon, but that fell through, according to Smith, mainly because Nickelodeon wanted to insert pop songs.

Fans are of course speculating about how the film will be made. Most, including me, will want it to be done with 2D animation, and Smith indicates that he would prefer a traditional cartoon himself. Live action and CGI have been mentioned as well. I have grown to dislike CGI over the last few years and feel it would take away much of what makes Bone special. As for a live action movie, I once thought it was a good idea, but the next morning, after I had sobered up, I realized it would be a huge mistake: watching a tender moment between a computer-generated Fone Bone and a live actress playing Thorn would be painful. It's even painful to think about. Besides that, none of the women in Hollywood who look the part of Thorn can act worth a darn.

I guarantee the film adaptation will be quite bad, no matter how skilled its cast and crew, unless it is extended over two or three movies. It would be impossible to stuff Smith's epic into one film: even if dispensable subplots like the Great Cow Race were deleted (a move that would anger the fans), the comic still has too much material to fit into two hours. A two-hour epic is inevitably rushed and under-developed.

Fans of the comic are already clamoring for a 2D film and expressing distaste for CGI, and I hope Warner Bros. listens. Given the increasing mainstreaming of anime fandom, the success of The Simpsons Movie, and the general displeasure with computer-generated animation, I suspect America may at last be ripe for the production of a well-made 2D cartoon marketed to adults. Bone is an ideal title for such a project. I'm inclined to think they should make it after the fashion Peter Jackson made the Lord of the Rings movies, remaining reasonably faithful to the source material while amping up the grittier and darker elements. In Bone, they could probably place emphasis on the violence, the angsty parts, and the Freudian symbolism without driving away the family crowd, though I confess I look forward to the hubbub some of my fellow Christians will make if the infamous "bathing scene" makes it to film; that will give me at least a week's worth of enjoyable posts to write.

Arthur C. Clarke Has Died

Arthur C. Clarke has passed away at age 90 in Sri Lanka, leaving explicit instructions that no religious ritual should accompany his funeral.

Clarke is often remembered as the inventor of the telecommunications satellite. His most famous science fiction novel, thanks in part to Stanley Kubrick, is probably 2001: A Space Odyssey, though I will always remember him best for Childhood's End, a powerful and intriguing work, made more intriguing by the notice in the front of early editions warning readers that the opinions of the novel are not those of the author.

Clarke is well-known for incorporating religious themes into his stories. His use of religion in fiction is most notable for its nuance, sophistication, and originality. In particular, his story "The Star," which depicts a Jesuit scientist who discovers that the Star of Bethlehem was a supernova that wiped out a civilization, is a masterpiece of short fiction. Another famous story, "The Nine Billion Names of God," is an unusual take on the concept of the apocalypse. Of all his short fiction I have read, I consider "The Wall of Darkness" best; it depicts scientific exploration in an alternate universe and has probably one of the best conclusions of any short story I know.

Christian readers may be interested to know that Clarke maintained a correspondence with C. S. Lewis, during which they good-naturedly ribbed each other.

Lucky has kindly collected some articles: See the the AP article by Ravi Nessman in the ChicoER. See the homage article by Ed Park in the L. A. Times. See also SF Signal, which has a list of links to free fiction by Clarke and a video.

Snuffles Gives a Lecture

Well, we're having an interesting time over here. We're not reading or watching fiction but trying to run a fiction blog. Who's dumb idea was that? All the same, I'm having a difficult time restraining Deej, a.k.a. Mr. Hypocrite, from running out to see The Other Boleyn Girl, which he only wants to see because it has Natalie Portman in it.

In other news, I happened across this column from Martha Brockenbrough, criticizing the Hannah Montana phenomenon. Being the kid lit/movie reviewer here, I've maintained a mild interest in this even though I've not seen a single episode of the show and don't think I've heard any of her songs. Disney has a consistent record of recycling formulas and making them sell; when I heard the basic plot, that a girl has a secret double life as a pop star, I immediately recognized the premise of Jem and Creamy Mami. Hannah Montana is, to my knowledge, the only incarnation of this idea that isn't a cartoon. Considering that it comes from Disney, that's rather ironic.

Anyway, Brockenbrough, in the above linked column, is annoyed with the whole thing for three reasons. First, she's convinced Miley Ray Cyrus, who plays Montana, is going to go the way of other child stars and burn out on sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, and considering how Hollywood chews up and spits out young actors, that may be a safe, albeit pessimistic, prediction.

Second, she thinks the show is stupid. It very well may be, but we all need a stupid escapist fantasy every once in a while, and they're okay as long as they doesn't become an unhealthy obsession that gets in the way of more important things in life (like Deej's thing for Natalie Portman). I will, however, agree with Brockenbrough that children should not skip class to see Hannah Montana in concert, unless of course they're skipping Sex Ed or Social Studies, in which case the concert would be more wholesome and probably more profitable.

Third, she's creeped out by Miley Ray Cyrus's virginity being public news, and further creeped out by her immoderate modes of dress and makeup (which I haven't seen, so I'm taking her word for it in this post). I'm inclined to agree with Brockenbrough's point, though possibly for a different reason. My reason has to do entirely with modesty: there are some things you just don't announce in public, and there are some things you just don't display in public. This is especially true if you're at the same time announcing the one thing and displaying the other. That's just weird, not to mention hypocritical.

And that brings me around to one of the blanket criticisms this blog enjoys leveling at modern Christianity. Sometime back, I don't even know when, Christian sexual ethics made the transition from moral teaching to fad. Suddenly, we had second-rate celebrities telling teens how cool it was to wait until marriage. We had concerts and youth gatherings. And we had virginity rings.

Of course, this means some big problems. For one thing, fads are always temporary. But for another thing, the faddishness means an inevitable dumbing-down of the issue. This is particularly evident in the unfortunate choice of abstinence as the definitive word for this fad. Abstinence merely means refraining from something, like refraining from snacks during Lent; refraining is not the same thing as practicing virtue, and abstinence is not the same thing as chastity, a much better word. To teach adolescents abstinence without teaching them virtue is to teach them frustration and to set them up for failure. If Billy Ray Cyrus is encouraging his daughter to abstain until marriage, that's good; but maybe he should introduce her the other aspects of chastity as well. He could start with modesty.

Bill Donohue on John Hagee

Lucky the Goldfish passed me a news item she thought I'd find interesting, and she was right. I'm at a loss to make a science fictional analogy, but I'm going to post on it anyway.

According to the Religion Blog at the Dallas News, Bill Donohue, head of the Catholic League, spoke out against John McCain because McCain has received an endorsement from John Hagee, a Protestant who has spoken out against the Catholic Church. This isn't a political blog, of course, and I have no intention of endorsing a candidate here, mostly because the political opinion of a science fiction blogger shouldn't mean much to an intelligent voter, but this deserves some comment.

According to the Religion Blog article by Jeffrey Weiss, Donohue's beef is that Hagee has called the Church "the Great Whore," an "apostate" church, and a "false cult system." The Blog links to a press release at the Catholic League's website.

Though I don't endorse political candidates, I do wish to support Hagee in his opinion, incorrect though it is. Hagee is a Protestant, and by saying the things he has said about Catholicism, he is expressing the historical viewpoint of Protestantism. I greatly respect this. Indeed, if he expressed any other opinion about the Catholic Church, I would say he has gone soft on doctrine for the sake of tolerance and get-alongism. Protestantism broke off from Catholicism; the only excuse the Protestants could have for this was the belief that the Catholic Church was so corrupt and incorrect in its doctrines that reform was impossible. Similarly, modern Protestants who are comfortable with the Catholic Church or even praise the Catholic Church, such as Billy Graham, have no excuse for failing to reunite with it and should be considered culpable for remaining in schism. The only sound reason for a Protestant to be Protestant is to have a viewpoint such as Hagee's.

I am in favor of open, civil discussion between people of different religious viewpoints. However, those who participate in this discussion must be allowed to express their honest views. To suppress certan opinions because they are unfashionable or politically incorrect is to stifle free speech and freedom of religion. Hagee should feel free to call the Catholic Church the Whore of Babylon, and he should be able to state that opinion plainly and back it up as well as he is able. Indeed, he seems to be able to express himself with a calm demeanor, as you can see here on YouTube, and Catholics should be willing to give him space to do so. Similarly, I feel free to express my opinion that Protestantism is a heretical, unsupportable theological position invented by an obsessive-compulsive monk desperate for a means to assuage his defective conscience.

I suppose I appreciate people like Donohue who want to defend the Church, but sometimes I can't understand them very well. Instead of calling Hagee a bigot and criticizing McCain for accepting Hagee's support, Donohue might do better to challenge Hagee to a debate.

News from the Fish Bowl: Lunar Eclipse Tonight

Photo by Dazzie D

LUNAR ECLIPSE TONIGHT

As reported by Joe Rao with MSNBC, a total lunar eclipse tonight should be visible in North America and in several other places.

Lunar eclipses are important events. Aristotle used the shape of the Earth's shadow on the moon to argue that the Earth is round.

According to Max Frisch in his novel Homo Faber, the lunar eclipse is also a sign that you're going to be severely punished by the powers that be for sleeping with your own daughter, you weirdo.

According to the above cited article, the eclipse begins at 7:01 PM Mountain Time. Adjust accordingly. Those of you on the west coast may miss part of the show. Hawaiians will miss it entirely.

News from the Fish Bowl

WHAT WOULD JESUS WEAR?

First on today's list of silly news stories is a new line of Jesus-themed cosmetics, "Lookin' Good for Jesus," which has been removed from stores in Singapore after Catholics complained, according to National Nine News.

Catholic customers have complained about the packaging and marketing of the products, saying it trivialised Christianity and was disrespectful.

The products, which are still available on the company's website, encourage you to "get tight with Christ", and include "Virtuous vanilla" lip balm, and bubble bath that makes "you feel like you're walking on water". [more...]

The products are just as sacrilegious, but not nearly as hilarious, as Jesus' advertisement for Budweiser.

SCIENCE FICTION RESOURCES ONLINE

Shocking news flash: science fiction resources are available on the Internet. You can read about it and see some of Ronald Hawkins's favorite sf websites at Reporter-Times.com.

CHRISTIANITY TODAY'S LIST OF "MOST REDEEMING" FILMS OF 2007

I'm unsure what it means for a film to be "redeeming"; perhaps a redeeming film is one that offers grace. Is attending a redeeming film therefore a sacrament? I'm confused.

(Yes, I know they explain it at Christianity Today, but I'm trying to be funny.)

At any rate, James Pawlak of Crusader Knight has kindly passed on a link to the blog Marquette Warrior, which has posted Christianity Today's link of most redeeming 2007 movies. Juno made number 3 and Into the Wild make number 6. No one here has seen any of the others.

ARCHBISHOP JOSE GOMEZ OPPOSES CLINTON RALLY AT CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

Michelle Roberts with the Associated Press writes:

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Archbishop Jose Gomez complained Wednesday about plans for a rally by Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, an abortion rights supporter, at a Catholic university.

The archbishop released a statement noting that Clinton and some other presidential candidates' support for abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research were not in line with Catholic values. The Rev. Pat Rodgers, an archdiocese spokesman, said Gomez was responding to telephone calls and e-mails from concerned Catholics. [more...]

For Catholics who may have forgotten basic moral rules regarding voting, here's a quick refresher: certain positions, such as support for abortion, homosexual marriage, or embryonic stem cell research, are so morally reprehensible that anyone who holds them is unfit for public office; a voter is morally culpable for his vote if he knowingly votes for such a candidate when a morally more acceptable candidate is also running. If all candidates are unfit, the voter may choose the candidate who he reasonably believes will do the least moral harm.

And for those who believe politics and religion should never mix, you need to learn to think consistently.

LIMAN VS. MIT

Doug Liman, director of the movie Jumper, recently met with scientists at MIT to discuss the physics of teleportation, as discussed by Alan Boyle at MSNBC:

Everyone knows Anakin Skywalker can't really teleport himself to the Great Pyramids of Egypt, even though Anakin ... er, Hayden Christensen ... does just that in the movie "Jumper," opening Thursday. But isn't it possible to go through a wormhole in the space-time continuum? Wellllll, maybe - if you've got a galactic black hole's worth of power. Such are the issues that come up when science meets fiction, at the movie theater as well as in the classroom.

When scientists met up with Christensen and the director of "Jumper" at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last month, neither side knew what to expect. But the result wasn't at all like the battle between the Jumpers and the Paladins in the movie. Both sides came away with that most sought-after Hollywood ingredient: a happy ending. [more...]

News from the Fish Bowl: A Minor Protest

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS BAN VALENTINE'S DAY DELIVERIES

I wanted to post on this and Deej says I can even though I just posted. According to the Sunday Morning Herald, two Catholic girls' schools in Melbourne, Australia, have banned the delivery of flower or other gifts on St. Valentine's Day because "some students could feel left out." The schools have apparently decided to alleviate this problem by making everyone feel left out.

Two Catholic girls' schools have banned the delivery of flowers - and teddy bears - from admirers on Valentine's Day.

The Melbourne schools enforced the ban because of fears some students could feel left out, News Limited newspapers report. [more...]

The article gives no word on whether exceptions will be made for Valentines sent by paramours about to be fed to lions.

Snuffles has just interrupted to note that, in Japan, the girls are supposed to give the boys chocolate on St. Valentine's Day instead of the other way around. He and Deej both agree that's a better practice because they're both jerks.

The Sci Fi Catholic, especially me, sympathizes with these girls who will miss out on Valentine's Day because of obnoxious, politically correct rules set by oversensitive school administrators who probably don't like mistletoe at Christmas, either. I don't get anything for Valentine's Day because Deej always forgets, though Phenny sometimes gives me extra goldfish food, but that's not really good for me. So I feel their pain.

Viva l'Amour!

In Protest of the Protest

President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints recently passed away. I heard on National Public Radio this morning that "Evangelicals" were planning to hold a protest at his funeral. So disgusted was I by the very idea that I immediately headed here to the blog.

Fortunately for me, the Deseret Morning News is more precise in its reporting than NPR. The protestors are actually members of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, and are only four in number. According to their own words, they are not present at the funeral to protest, but to preach.

I'm relieved to know genuine Evangelicals did not protest at the funeral, and that Westboro didn't try to raise a ruckus. There is a time and a place for everything, but a funeral is certainly not the time or place for this. On that note, I repeat the first paragraph written by His Excellency, Reverend John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, in the Intermountain Catholic:

On behalf of the Catholic people of Utah, I express condolences to the family, First Presidency, and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the death of their beloved President Gordon B. Hinckley. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you at the loss of such a kind and faith-filled gentleman.

News from the Fish Bowl

MONA LISA IDENTIFIED

A newly discovered scribble in a manuscript positively identifies the subject of Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" as Lisa Gherardini, not Leonardo in drag, according to Reuters. Sorry, conspiracy theorists; you'll have to go back to talking about how the Great Pyramid is a nuclear reactor. That was more entertaining anyway.

SPIDER-MAN IS SINGLE AGAIN

Marvel Comics, for its own convenience, has found an excuse to revert Spider-Man to a single man. Could Doug Camilli report this without using the word "annulment," please?

MYTHIC CREATURES EXHIBIT AT CHICAGO FIELD MUSEUM

The Chicago Field Museum has kindly contacted us to announce its "Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns, and Mermaids" exhibit, which will run from March 21 to September 1, 2008. The display will be about the origins of various mythical creatures and their development through time. If any of our readers are in the area, set aside some time to check it out.

News from the Fish Bowl

I only have time for a short post today because I got a new letter from Rocky (I'm so excited!) but anyway I hafta hurry so here goes:

GM may Develop a Car that Drives Itself

Once again, sci-fi ideas become reality. GM is working on developing cars that can drive themselves, as reported by John D. Stoll for the Wall Street Journal. No word on whether or not self-driving GM vehicles would be able to transform into giant robots.

The Wisdom (?) of Robert Heinlein

Columnist Becca Bacon Martin reflects on "life lessons" from Robert Heinlein, including:

Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions about her children's beauty, intelligence, goodness, etc., ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth. [more...]

How pleasant.

Adam Roberts Has Written a Book on the History of Science Fiction

As reported in Fabula, Roberts's book The History of Science Fiction

...argues that, even today, this flourishing cultural idiom is shaped by the forces that determined its rise to prominence in the 1600s: the dialogue between Protestant and Catholic worldviews, the emerging technologies of the industrial age, and the cultural anxieties and excitements of a rapidly changing world. [more...]