Happy Confederation Day!

On this day, let's remember the Fathers of Confederation by going to the awesome interactive picture in the Canadian Encyclopedia!

Happy 141st Birthday, Canada!

Born at the wrong time

Well, today is my 31st birthday. I know of no better way to celebrate it than to recollect the tyrannical fashion dictatorship into which I was born. In honour of the year of my birth, I present the horrors that passed for fashion back then: the 1977 JC Penny catalogue!

Also, judging by the sheer amount of matching his/hers outfits, in 1977 it was apparently considered pretty stylish for couples to dress alike. These couples look happy, don't they?

Aaaah!!! My eyes!!! Ze googles do nuh-sing!

Just in time for Halloween!

I wrote up this phony press release for work as a joke last Halloween, and many of my co-workers seemed to find it funny, so I thought I'd post it for all to see.

A bit of backstory: some of my coworkers noticed some teenagers using a ouija board in the library, and another one joked we should adopt a ouija reference service.

Anytown Public Libraries is pleased to offer another information service for our customers. We already offer our top-notch public service, our 24-hour email reference service, and our one number for all your information needs: (555) 555-BOOK, as well as our website located at www.anytownlibrary.com. This year, in the wake of Ontario Public Libraries Week, Anytown Public Libraries is pleased to add our newest information service, InfoGhost.

Using proven necromantic principles of ouija and seance, Anytown PL is now able to ask questions of the dead and departed on your behalf. Genealogical research has never been easier--why not ask you late grandfather exactly where his grandfather came from? And if great-aunt Winnie is haunting your attic, maybe she knows where your missing library book is!

InfoGhost will launch on October 31, 2007, as our psychic consultants have informed us that the etheric energies released by Ontario Public Libraries Week will form a sympathetic resonance with the Gate to the Underworld while Scorpio is in the House of Jupiter at the end of the tenth month. Assuming these auspicious portents hold true, InfoGhost will go dead--er, live on Halloween!

InfoGhost is available only to registered members of Anytown Public Libraries. We regret that because of a deeply-held cultural belief in metempsychosis, InfoGhost may not be able to contact deceased relations of the Hindu or Sikh faiths.

An Easter Vigil

OK, this story from AlterNet reminded me why Trey Parker and Matt Stone are such comic geniuses. I don't really watch South Park religiously (ha!) anymore, but this reminded me that the show still has its bite (link includes three clips from the episode).

This comic makes me wonder about the episode's conclusion, though.

On a related note, I came across this posting via The News Blog:

Coming to the US my biggest shock was how seriously people took religion. It was a form of religious intensity that I had never encountered. In Saudi I had endured a totalitarian theocracy (is there another kind?) but I had never seen the man on the street be so wrapped up in their religion. I had never met people who defined themselves, first and foremost, on the basis of their religion.

Which is all the more interesting considering how ignorant many Americans are about their religion:

The United States is the most religious nation in the developed world, if religiosity is measured by belief in all things supernatural -- from God and the Virgin Birth to the humbler workings of angels and demons. Americans are also the most religiously ignorant people in the Western world. Fewer than half of us can identify Genesis as the first book of the Bible, and only one third know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount...

...Approximately 75 percent of adults, according to polls cited by Prothero, mistakenly believe the Bible teaches that "God helps those who help themselves." More than 10 percent think that Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. Only half can name even one of the four Gospels, and -- a finding that will surprise many -- evangelical Christians are only slightly more knowledgeable than their non-evangelical counterparts.

I wish I could say I was surprised, but then I regularly have arguments with family members who know very little about what their Catholic faith is actually about.

Well, I for one will be spending Easter in my annual ritual of watching Jesus Christ Superstar (Norman Jewison version, of course).

"Heaven on Their Minds" (JUDAS)



The first song after the overture. Featuring a fantastic performance by Judas (Carl Anderson) and one awesome guitar riff! One of my favourite pieces. I wish Webber could have kept writing like this.

JUDAS
Listen Jesus I don't like what I see
All I ask is that you listen to me
And remember I've been your right-hand man all along

You have set them all on fire
They think they've found the new Messiah
And they'll hurt you when they find they're wrong

"This Jesus Must Die" (CAIAPHAS, ANNAS, SANHEDRIN)



High Priest Caiaphas and his brother-in-law Annas convince the Sanhedrin that Jesus is a threat to their power and must be eliminated. Excellent contrast between Caiaphas's (Bob Bingham) deep bass and Annas's (Kurt Yaghjian) falsetto.

ANNAS
What then to do about This Jesus-mania?
Now how do we deal with the Carpenter King?
Where do we start with a man who is bigger

SANHEDRIN MEMBER
Than John was when he did his baptism thing?

CAIAPHAS
Fools you have no perception!
The stakes we are gambling are frighteningly high
We must crush him completely
So like John before him, this Jesus must die

"The Last Supper" (JESUS, JUDAS, APOSTLES)



Jesus (Ted Neely) confronts Judas about his forthcoming betrayal. The confrontation scene is one of my favourites.

JESUS
Peter will deny me in just a few hours
Three times will deny me - and that's not all I see
One of you here dining, one of my twelve chosen
Will leave to betray me -

JUDAS
Cut out the dramatics! You know very well who -
Jesus
Why don't you go do it?
JUDAS
You want me to do it!
JESUS
Hurry they are waiting
JUDAS
If you knew why I do it . . .
JESUS
I don't care why you do it!
JUDAS
To think I admired you
For now I despise you
JESUS
You liar - you Judas
JUDAS
You wanted me to do it!
What if I just stayed here
And ruined your ambition?
Christ you deserve it!

JESUS
Hurry you fool, hurry and go,
Save me your speeches
I don't want to know - Go! Go!

"I Only Want to Say (Gethsemane)" (JESUS)



Jesus's solo piece where he pleads with God to spare him the coming pain and suffering. Neely's most passionate performance.

JESUS
Why, why should I die?
Oh, why should I die?
Can you show me now
That I would not be killed in vain?
Show me just a little
Of your omnipresent brain
Show me there's a reason
For your wanting me to die
You're far too keen on where and how
But not so hot on why

"Trial Before Pilate (including The 39 Lashes)" (JESUS, PILATE, CAIAPHAS, CROWD)



Pilate (Barry Dennen) is one of my favourite characters.

JESUS
You have nothing in your hands
Any power you have
Comes to you from far beyond
Everything is fixed
And you can't change it

PILATE
You're a fool, Jesus Christ
How can I help you?

CROWD
Crucify him! Crucify him!
Remember Caesar
You have a duty
To keep the peace
So crucify him!
You'll be demoted
You'll be deported
So crucify him!

"Superstar" (JUDAS, ANGELS)



Speaking from heaven, Judas questions the whole enterprise.

JUDAS
Every time I look at you
I don't understand
Why you let the things you did
Get so out of hand
You'd have managed better
If you'd had it planned
Now why'd you choose such a backward time
And such a strange land?

If you'd come today
You could have reached the whole nation
Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication

Everyone loves toys...

...but what happens When Toys Attack?!

Too late for Christmas, but this article lists some of the most dangerous toys of all time (or at least the last 50 years). Some highlights:

• Lawn Darts (duh)


• Home atomic energy lab--with actual radioactive materials!


• Finger-munching Snack Time Cabbage Patch doll


• Castration anxiety courtesy of a belt-buckle cap gun


• The South will Rise Again!--with the Johnny Reb Cannon


• Battlestar Galactica toys take out the evil Cylons--or little Jimmy's right eye


• Fisher-Price motorcycle: "Jane, stop this crazy thing!"

Whoever said childhood was innocent?

It is the physical weakness of a baby that makes it seem "innocent", not the quality of its inner life. I have myself seen a small baby jealous; it was too young to speak, but it was livid with anger as it watched another infant at the breast.

-Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions

A Christmas Classic

Just in time for the holidays, it's Ragin' Rudolph!

Christmas in November

I was at a scandalously early Xmas party this past Sunday. In fact, I cooked the meal (what says Christmas more than Madras Curried Chicken, I ask you?). The sordid tale can be found here and here.

Lest we forget...

...Remembrance Day.