Here, for the record, is my one and only Deathly Hallows prediction: Draco Malfoy will redeem himself. This seems necessary. Whatever else the odious little snot may be, he is also one of Dumbledore’s students. Dumbledore is now Dumbledead, sacrificing himself not to save Harry, but to save Draco — or, rather, to save for Draco the possibility of choosing to redeem himself. That’s a pretty huge wager on young Mr. Malfoy’s prospects, one I’m guessing neither Dumbledore nor Rowling... Read more
My main problem with Amy Sullivan’s TIME article, “The Origins of the God Gap,” is that it spends most of its time nibbling around the edges of its subject without ever cutting to the chase. I’m sure Sullivan is correct to argue that Michael Dukakis might have done better with Catholic voters had he not spurned invitations to speak at Catholic institutions. But it makes no sense to ignore the larger dynamic here — by the time Dukakis ran for... Read more
Amy Sullivan returns to her thesis in TIME magazine, “The Origins of the God Gap.” Here’s the conclusion of that piece, which recalls the conclusion of dozens of other articles and blog posts from Sullivan: Today, Democrats find themselves in an unusual situation, with a surfeit of faith-friendly front runners. If they want to court and keep new religious voters, however, this time the conversion will have to be party-wide. This in a nutshell is Sullivan’s advice to Democrats: Winning... Read more
Years ago I was doing Bad Dinner Theater. The “play,” which was really just an extended sketch, was billed as a murder-mystery-comedy. It was cheesy, but fun. I was in a handful of performances, all in banquet halls with no sets or scenery. For $35 a night, I played “The Great Somnambulo, hypnotist extraordinaire,” one of a half-dozen suspects, all of whom were performers in a 1950s Catskills night club talent show. That setting seemed authentic because the jokes all... Read more
I suppose I’m supposed to be worried or aggrieved or something in response to yesterday’s pronouncement from Pope Benedict XVI in which he reasserted his primacy and chastised those of us who don’t listen to him and don’t recognize his word as authoritative. But see how that works? I’m one of those who don’t listen to him or consider his word authoritative so, you know, I can’t manage to get all worked up about his attempts at chastisement. The circularity... Read more
Every year, on their wedding anniversary, my friend Allen Johnson gives his wife a giant pile of manure. What you need to understand is that Mrs. J. is an avid gardener and their anniversary is in the early spring. So every year she greets this steaming, foul-smelling truckload with gratitude and delight. I too am feeling gratitude and delight for the giant, foul-smelling pile that arrived yesterday courtesy of Evan, who kindly sent along Books 2 through 8 in the... Read more
The gizmo that calculated this (via) informs me that: This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words: • missionary (4x) • hell (3x) • death (2x) • dick (1x) I’m fairly sure that those first two words were used here in their theological senses, while the last one was, I think, a mention of the vice president’s name. I suppose if they’d realized I was talking about Cheney, I’d have gotten the NC-17 rating. Parrots... Read more
Left Behind, pp. 301-302 As Chapter 17 begins, LaHaye and Jenkins seem suddenly to realize that they’ve scarcely made any headway through the End Times Checklist. Rapture? Check. Antichrist? Check. Woes, seals, trumpets, scrolls, angels, horsemen, witnesses, martyrs, dragons, talking eagles? Nothing yet and we’re already 300+ pages in. So here’s where they start making up for lost time, plowing through the Book of Revelation with stretches of pure, unadulterated exposition. It is still the Longest Day and Rayford still... Read more
This week’s installment of Left Behind Friday will be posted shortly. Meanwhile, here’s what seems to be a trailer for the Rapture, as foretold in Jerry Bruckheimer’s Apocalypse. (I honestly can’t tell if this is intended as parody or as an earnest statement.) Warning: This video contains the tastelessly exploitative use of footage of real world tragedies, mixed in with the Hollywood versions. Assuming this isn’t intended as some kind of parody, I have to wonder if the video’s editor(s)... Read more
don’t get me wrong, dear, in general I’m doing quite fine Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues“ Lyle Lovett, “I Know You Know” Tom Waits, “I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love With You” Ride, “Vapour Trail“ Chagall Guevara, “Violent Blue“ Nellie McKay, “Respectable” Sam Phillips, “She Can’t Tell Time” The Waterboys, “The Whole of the Moon“ Regina Spektor, “Summer in the City“ John Fogerty, “Centerfield“ Read more
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