So apparently I should check my friends’ blogs more often. Jack of Jack’s Haunt has this nice story about an encounter with a douche at his work. It involves a wad of cash, a tire iron, the cops, and some pop-anthropology of Ossian. Go read!
──────────────
The title is German for “When you work in Ossian…”

Tags: Friends

Religulous isn’t the boring Jay-Walking skit I feared it might be. It’s much better than that, and I wonder about the critics who say it wasn’t funny. I was laughing several times, as was most of the rest of the crowd, because of the absurdity of the subjects and because of the well-timed jokes that point that absurdity out. The jump cuts and fast editing are there, but they’re not malicious; they just inject context to what are usually one-sided, contextless conversations. And the targets are mostly frauds or idiots who have voluntarily put themselves in the public sphere, by getting a Rev. before their name, or opening a creationism museum, or being a Senator, or running to Iran and meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or running an ex-gay counseling service, or playing Jesus in the public shows at Jesus Land. Or claiming to be the Second Coming of Jesus personally.

There was a little Michael Moore-ish grandstanding, like when he got tossed out of the Vatican for barging in with a camera and wanting to talk to the Pope, but those moments were mostly tongue-in-cheek side jokes (unlike a Moore film, where they carry the weight of the whole polemic). And the über-trendy canted camera angles, like it’s some MTV special where the host is so cool that we’re presumed to want to see camera shots of him talking to some other camera, were just jarring and dumb.

But there’s enough meat there to overshadow the sparse bits of egotism and amateurism. He’ll give subtitles exposing the lies of the opulently dressed megachurch megapastor as the guy speaks; he’ll interview Catholic priests (including the Vatican astronomer) who giggle at the idea of hell and Creation and all the stuff their flock is goaded into taking literally; he’ll get the Senator to equivocate on evolution, he’ll hammer at the Jesus actor, past all the “God-sized hole in your heart” rhetoric, until the guy pulls out Pascal’s Wager; he’ll show you the salesman for the crazy kosher workless wheelchair—and he’ll do it with that affable, I’m-on-your-side schtick that disarms his opponent.

He delivers the goods, and he’s honest enough to speak directly to his target audience at the end, telling you to get off the fence and actively oppose superstition if you’re smart enough to find the preceding hour and a half disturbing. The film is clever enough, and chooses its targets well enough, to be funny even to someone who’s already an atheist and well-versed in the issues and the players in the debate, while still summarizing those issues and players concisely for a moderately intelligent but apathetic fence-sitter. It’s the Michael Moore populist-polemic-documentary genre done right—which really shouldn’t be too hard, when your targets are this pathetically easy to pick apart. I’m glad he did it.

Tags: Freethought, Movies

Some people think atheists can’t grasp the transcendental sublimity of sacred art. Wrong. Some of us like it just fine; we just feel no compulsion to ascribe the response we feel to any supernatural explanation. What’s being “transcended” is the ordinariness of our typical emotional states, not the naturalistic laws that describe their origin or the other workings of the world.

Me, I’ve always loved sacred choral music in the Western tradition. I was in school choirs from the age of ten; in high school, our mixed concert choir was given a variety of styles, and “classical” sacred works were often among them. One year (my junior year, I think), we, like lots of other high school choirs everywhere, did Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus. It’s a short (only 46 measures) motet setting the hymn—part of the magic cracker sacrament—to a fairly chromatic melody, with accompaniment:
 

I wish I could credit the performers, but the info on the YouTube clip doesn’t say; it does, though, sound suspiciously like this performance of the Wiener Sängerknaben, the Chorus Viennensis, and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2006.

It’s a strange death cult of a religion, but it gave rise to (or perhaps just latched itself onto) some beautiful emotional expressions. I love how in this piece, Mozart is able to throw in accidentals, and use big leaps sparingly, to evoke this feeling that’s warm and joyous, but not romantically so—it’s a reverent and distant kind of joy.

I’ll find some other sacred music that I’ve enjoyed in church services and in choir, and post it on following Sundays.

Tags: Music

Instead of an Attenborough nature show clip this Saturday, here’s another homemade YouTube clip of an excellent mimic:

People consider starlings pests, but I don’t. The avifauna around here would be poorer for having no enormous roadside flocks of shimmery black beauties swarming in the evening. (See this previous post for an example of the enormous proportions this phenomenon reaches in Europe.) And they can talk.

Tags: Birds, Saturday Birds

I can’t stop drinking coffee. And I blame Butter.

Until recently, I’ve stayed away from coffee, mostly because caffeine makes me jittery, and decaf tastes funny. But when you spend time with Butter, you drink coffee. So, the social butterfly that I am, I drink it too. Last week as we were working on The Enlightenment Show at the local public access station, I was a little chilly so I got a cup of coffee to stay warm.

I realized my tolerance to caffeine was markedly stronger. I attribute that to my recent social coffee-drinkings and to a pitcher of crazy-strong iced tea that you could cut with a knife. I stopped jumping around and realized that I could control this new burst of energy, and focus it into the job at hand.

Several external factors fell in line, like a increase in work at my place of employment, and the colder weather around here. I stopped by Starbucks one morrning, took it to work, and wow! I got so much work done!

So now I’m starting to set the timer on my coffeemaker at home to start brewing when I get up, and then I can take my 24-oz travel mug to work with me. Later this afternoon, I went to Target to pick up some things, and I bought a little cup of Starbucks.

I know that this is going to bite me in the ass eventually, since as my tolerance gets stronger, I’d have to start drinking more and more not to get the sudden drag when the caffeine wears off. But I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. If I don’t fall over first.

NOTE: This is a re-post from Freethought Fort Wayne.

I just heard Bill Maher interviewed on Fresh Air on NPR today. He, along with director Larry Charles, talked about Religulous, the controversial documentary documentary lampooning religionists and their beliefs. (Check out the trailer here.)

What I want to know is, as a social group trying to be good community members while communicating our message, does this documentary help or hinder our cause?

Personally, I think Bill Maher is an ass. Having occasionally watched Politically Incorrect, I never cared for his permanent sneering face and pseudo-intellectual speech. He’s a smart guy, yes, but he has a holier-than-thou attitude (ironic!) which just rubs me the wrong way.

I’m glad that he has taken on the mission to expose religion as the ultimate “hustle” as the website’s language puts it, but does he really need to do it by directly rediculing people and their beliefs?

I realize that many freethinkers would answer “yes” to this question. But doesn’t think just add fuel to Christians’ fire? They would have an easier time dismissing the atheist cause by just pointing out that this film is pointing fingers and laughing, a la six-year-old humor.

Now, granted, I haven’t seen this movie yet. There may be some intelligent debate, and some discourse with the theist community. But I think it is safe to say that the majority of the film kinda does a Jay Leno-style “man on the street” interview, where they get people to say rediculous things. At least that’s what the trailer says about the film, and what Terry Gross talked about.

I think the best way to further our cause is to have an open, friendly, line of communication with the theist community. Let them initiate debate, and then methodically counter their arguments, point by point. That’s how my deconversion happened (Well, that, and a natural distrust of what I was being taught).

Nevertheless, I do plan to see the film, and would like to know what others might thing about this. Please feel free to use the comments of this post as a forum.

A Twitter-related cartoon from Noise to Signal

No, I’m not talking Butter and his affection for birds. I’m talking about the mini-blog web app, Twitter. It’s sort of a dedicated, more sophisticated “What are you doing” feature from Facebook. You can track what other Twitterers are doing throughout the day, and you can post what you are doing.

Now, as you read what I just wrote about it, you’re going to think about what a silly application that is. Why would I want to know what my friend Aiden in San Fransisco is having for lunch? That’s the way I felt about it, too. But I gave it a chance — I know some people who Twittered, and I wanted to see what the hubbub was about.

I have to say, it is fun. I can get insight from people I might not otherwise talk to — Leo Lincourt, who is a fellow Freethinker, for example. And from Andrew Hoffman, who is in a non-profit networking group with me and runs a great social service organization. I figure otherwise, I would see them once a month and say hi. But Twitter lets me throw little comments out there and get their take on it.

Read the rest below the fold.

Continue Reading »

The Obama and McCain campaigns responded to a set of questions on environmental policy sent to them by the Auduban Society. I thought it might be appropriate here to cite their responses to the question about bird management policy:

AUDUBON SOCIETY: Eagles are rebounding from the brink of extinction, but many other birds continue to experience serious declines. Audubon data shows even bird species we consider common today are losing ground, falling as much as 68 percent in the past 40 years. How would you use laws like the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Clean Water Act to reverse this trend?

(The entire set of questions and answers is available in the September-October issue of Audubon magazine, pp. 58-61).

Obama’s answer at least indicates support for current wildlife-protection laws and acknowledges the Bizarro World of Bush-administration science policy. Less genericness would have been nice, though, like maybe actually using the word “bird.”

McCain’s answer scares the shit out of me. Beneath the progressive-sounding veneer is a contempt for federal regulation in general, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in particular. The Act has been a cornerstone of our country’s efforts to protect native bird species from disappearing forever since 1918. Signed by the U.S. and Canada (actually, at the time, Great Britain signed for Canada), it’s what makes it illegal for you to go out and shoot, capture, or molest any bird you like. It currently protects about 800 species from unregulated killing and entrapment, and forbids tampering with their nesting sites. I don’t want the spirit of this law maintained, I want this law. Further, a lack of “cooperation” with the private sector is hardly the current administration’s problem. Regulators are supposed to enforce the law; I expect them to do their jobs.

The bit about wetlands is encouraging; it may be a sop to the hunting enthusiasts among his base. I agree with hunters that wetlands must be managed properly and conserved to protect waterfowl populations (I respect their right to their hunt for food, although I find the glee with which some waterfowl hunters approach killing repulsive), and it’s good that private organizations of them are committed to that cause. But that management must be done under competent, objective, rational federal control, something that his party’s behavior has put in jeopardy.

Tags: Wildlife

Technorati, the closest thing we have to an authority on the blogosphere, posted a report about what we can expect from the bloggy part of the internets. They have statistics, demographics, and some editorials on everything you wanted to know about the blog world.

Here’s just a taste:

With blogging so firmly entrenched in the mainstream, the story now is about the Active Blogosphere. The trends, stories and behaviors here influence not only the rest of the Blogosphere but mainstream media as well.

Technorati defines the Active Blogosphere as: The ecosystem of interconnected communities of bloggers and readers at the convergence of journalism and conversation.

For the 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report, we wanted to go beyond the numbers to deliver insights into bloggers and the state of blogging today. Who are the bloggers, why and how do they do what they do, and what is the impact on their lives and work?

To find out, we conducted a survey from a random sample from more than 1.2 million bloggers who have registered with Technorati. In addition, we have supplemented the survey results with our traditional analysis of Technorati’s index data.

Link.

We all are familiar with my favorite internet meme, LOLcats. Whether or not you call pronounce it to rhyme with “polecats” or spell out the “el-oh-el”, they are cute, funny, and, um, cute.

I want to share my collection of sci-fi related LOLs with you, too. Check these babies out:

LOLtrek

First of all, check this out when you get a chance. Someone took the TOS episode “Trouble with Tribbles” and LOL’d it.

And finally, ending the way EVERY episode of the original series ended:

LOLwho

Some of these aren’t as funny, but they’re appreciated anyway.

LOLbsg

I’m not actually sure what this genre is called, but it is the LOLized Battlestar Galactica.

I’m not entirely sure why there is a Cyberman in the corner, but I can only assume someone who isn’t familiar with Doctor Who thought it was an old-school Cylon. After all, there is a big “C” on the chest.And my personal favorite…

Thanks to all of you who created these, and to all the websites I ripped the pictures off of.

Do you have any favorites? LOLBuffy? LOLRed Dwarf? Please post them in comments.