Liberty University takes on new recruiting measure

From Suburban Messiah:

Recently, Liberty University made plans to build a new extreme sports park in order to up recruitment to its Lynchburg, Virginia, campus.

Judging from the dispassionate response of new university chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr., there doesn't seem to be much more going on here than a strained advertising campaign to raise funding, which certainly makes sense from a business standpoint. But he himself seems unconvinced of the underlying message and seems even skeptical that kids would come to Liberty if things like this sports park weren't in place.

Jesus Battles Mickey Mouse For Theme Park Supremacy

From Suburban Messiah:

Thanks to a reader comment here on the Quail, I've tossed together a few quick thoughts on The Holy Land Experience, a Christian-based theme park in Orlando.

Recently acquired by Trinity Broadcasting Network, the Experience has raised its attendance by 25%, despite nearly doubling its ticket prices. Trinity seems to have nabbed a pretty decent business model, eh?

Bah!

In other award news, the nominations for the 50th Annual Grammy Awards were announced today.

You know...I think any organization which puts Beyonce Knowles and Rihanna up for "Record of the Year" should be wholly ignored.

Chuck Norris' power should never be underestimated

Could he be the reason for Mike Huckabee's resurgence in the Iowa polls? Since Norris offered his support to the candidate from Arkansas, Huckabee's Internet buzz and subsequent popularity has skyrocketed. I mean, if this guy showed up in my voting booth and told me to vote for Mike Huckabee, I just might.


Huckabee's surging popularity may not only be a result of the Chuckster's influence, but it's an intriguing coincidence nonetheless. I was wondering how both Guiliani and Romney received matching bruises on the right sides of their faces, but it's all clear to me now:

Roundhouse.

(thanks, Scott, for the tip)

EXCLUSIVE: First Five Minutes of The Golden Compass!

The fine people over at Film School Rejects have posted this little gem: the first five minutes of the highly anticipated Golden Compass film. Already, you can see the possibly inflammatory content, but it can be a metaphor for anything, not just the Catholic Church. Also, not a huge fan of talking animals, but at least they're CGI, and not real animals with fake mouths.

Anyhow, view the clip here. Enjoy!

Some actual thoughts on The Golden Compass

I've been writing day in and out about the controversy surrounding this upcoming epic film, and have yet to address specifically the issues at hand. Though I have been clear in mentioning that many American Christians are wary of "The Golden Compass," I found a good article from the LA Times outlining the views of Philip Pullman (pictured), the author of the books upon which the movie is based.


In this article, I realized for the first time that Pullman actually does appear to be a “heretic.” Though I might not agree with what the boycotting Christians view as a heretic, in the context of what their accusations, he certainly is.

For example:

"Pullman once told an interviewer 'His Dark Materials' [a fantasy trilogy of Pullman's "children's" books, of which 'The Golden Compass' is a part] is about 'killing God,' and that he wrote an op-ed piece describing C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" as 'ugly and poisonous.'"

As C.S. Lewis is well-revered by American Christians, this statement is pretty egregious in itself, but I'd also say that describing books that he wrote for children in this way understandably lead to the current outrage. However, it seems that Britain's leading religious people, including THE head of the Anglican church, don't share the fury that has arisen here in the U.S.

"Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, has enthused about 'His Dark Materials' and participated in an onstage discussion with Pullman when a stage version of 'His Dark Materials' was produced by the National Theatre in London."

Furthermore (and take this last one with a grain of salt, because the writer worships Pullman pretty hard in this article):

“Although Pullman has some vehement detractors among Britain's Christians, the liberal clergy there have more often valued his books for tackling the great questions of existence: life, death, morality and humanity's role in the universe. They regard his fiction as a springboard for discussion, the kind of discussion that does sometimes lead people to embrace God.”

I do think this is a good point. Atheism is a religion much like Monotheism; a belief in no God is much closer to belief in One than belief in Many. Some atheists, in fact, are monotheists, they just refuse to define the name of what is infinite and unknowable — which can be defined as one thing (nothing), which is also the same as everything. Broken down, an omnipresent, infallible and omnipotent God covers pretty much the same ground. Why couldn’t moral ethics in those two worldviews align?

Yes, Pullman said his books are about "killing God." There, I can see the problem, even though what he said seems to have been taken out of context. However, there's a larger issue here; the people who want this movie banned see Atheism only as anti-Monotheism, which simply is not true. Most people think of the self-proclaimed Atheists that dress in all black in high school and claim to hate God; yet, these people are not Atheists, because they believe in the monotheistic God enough to want to hate Him.

Atheists can be moralistic and they can have positive things to say. If this film is promoting Atheism, by banning it detractors are simply asking their kids to see it. Yet, like some Christians in Britain, as the article states, and like many others elsewhere, Atheism in certain contexts is not a threat to Monotheism because it does not claim to oppose it, it simply refuses to define it. Therefore, the manifestations of this world can be exactly the same; without God, love for our fellow man and justice and peace on Earth (or in the world of The Golden Compass, as the case may be) can remain relevant.

The Golden Compass - 4 More Days. . .

Until the epic battle for our souls!!


As we draw nearer to the pending apocalypse, commercials for The Golden Compass have shifted from showing anything about the actual film simply to depicting battle scenes, complete with the tagline "From the Studio That Brought You 'LORD OF THE RINGS'."

My guess is that with the movie coming out this Friday, the marketers are trying to attract people that are not interested in the film, but only in something that's like Lord of the Rings. I seem to remember similar tactics for "The Chronicles of Narnia," which is mostly about Jesus.

However, there's also a feeling that maybe some of this is to deflect the controversy and avoid showing what the movie actually is about? Or, maybe it's trying to draw in unsuspecting potential Atheists? Am I analyzing this too much?

On that note, here's today's update on the hubbub.

Again, keep your eyes peeled for my review of the film next Monday.

RIP Evel Knievel

He will be missed.

Jedi-worshipers congregate outside Harrison Ford's ranch

Yeah, this is pretty self-explanatory. A group of people who claim to practice Jedi-ism have assumed Harrison Ford (the man, not Han Solo the character) as their leader, going so far as to pray outside his Wyoming ranch.

A couple of issues here:

1.) Why is Han the object of their worship? Granted, Ford is MUCH hotter than Mark Hamill, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't a Jedi.

2.) According to one poll, Jedi-ism is the 4th largest belief system in Britain. Wow.

3.) I wonder if people actually recognize the distinction between Ford and his character — i.e. one is a mostly regular dude 30 years removed from this single role in a movie, and the other is, that's right, a film character in a fictional universe.

Of course I'm just being facetious, because we all should believe that people would be cognizant of this. Yet, where is this connection people make when they go so far as to pray to celebrities personally? Do they expect anything from it?

Regardless, Ford's reaction is my favorite part, and what I hope to say when inevitably I am mistakenly worshiped later in life: "It's flattering," he says, "but I can't accept their prayers."

More on Doug Morris, the Big Four, and Music Industry News

* Coolfer, your local music industry blog, has posted some reactions to Seth Mnookin's profile of Doug Morris, ranging from New York Mag's fiercely bitchy reaction to Silicon Valley Insider's relatively tame "UMG is full of people with no foresight, but few people have foresight anyway." Also, Bob Lefsetz, the notorious industry gossip, has posted an "anonymous" reaction to the Morris interview on his site. Nothing says funny like a pissed off employee.
* WMG is trying to create essentially 360 deal with Frank Sinatra. Has anyone told Edgar Bronfman, Jr. that Frank Sinatra died?
* Pitchfork is going to be the indie rock MTV...soon...
* EMI, one of the Big Four record companies left in the world, is considering halving its contribution to the RIAA, the industry's formal lobbying group in America. It no longer sees the point of contributing its annual $25M to the RIAA, IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), and the BPI (British Phonographic Industry), and Terra Firma, EMI's parent group, wants to conserve what little money is not being burned up by the second.
* And the RIAA and MPAA are fiercely lobbying to get presidential candidates to pledge greater copyright and intellectual property protection as part of their platforms.

DISCLAIMER: Highly Blasphemous Content Below

If you're offended by that kind of thing, then please don't read this; if you're not, enjoy! Cracked.com has fashioned a list of the 9 Most Bad Ass Bible Verses, accompanied by clever, and yes, quite blasphemous commentary, some of which is shown in the picture below:


You'll understand the reference when you read the article, which provides some entertaining insight to the overwhelming violence throughout the Good Book.

NEWSFLASH: Carson Daly is an Asshole!

Carson Daly is planning on breaking the WGA strike. I am not a pro-union guy, but in this particular situation, the WGA seems to have a legitimate complaint. If you feel very strongly anti-union, maybe you can help him out with a few one-liners on his joke hotline.

Carson Daly was likely confirmed as an asshole before this decision, and adding "picket-line-crossing scab" to his litany of crimes against humanity only makes me more sure.

In other news, the Sun rose in the East this morning.

Tuesday Timewaster

23/6.com has "Democratic Campaign Slogans I'd Like to See".

My personal favorites include:
"Hillary Clinton: Secretly Gay, But Isn't Everyone?"
"John Edwards: Beating A Dead Horse Since 1998"
"Vote For Kucinich: Oh, That's Right, Because Hippies Can Vote"
"Vote For Obama: It's As Close As You'll Ever Get To Making A Black Friend"

Enjoy!

Holiday-themed News Dump!

Returning from a pleasurable autumn holiday and heading toward the oh-so-lovely winter holiday stretch, here's a couple pieces of news in relation to said celebrations.

- From Slate, here's what (not) to do with Thanksgiving leftovers.

- Next, here's an article about the Christians vs. Christmas (sorry, but you have to click through the "Continue Gallery" button to read it). The best part of this series of columns is the illustrations. Enjoy!

- Finally, this is what happens when you shop at SkyMall for all your holiday needs.

We Got Your Music News

* David Brooks, your friendly local conservative "New York Times" columnist, tells us how music is: too specialized, too fragmented, with too many artists who don't know their musical roots. While I would do my normal "Baby Boomers Just Don't Get It" rant here and emphasize that all that nostalgia for Hendrix and Zeppelin is a bit revisionist (#1 hits from 1977 include Shaun Cassidy, Mannfred Mann, and Meco's disco cover of the "Star Wars" theme), I'd rather just blame Sasha Frere-Jones. Stupid "New Yorker" article.
* Update on an old story: Greg, the Quail's very own Cassandra, actually scooped this story back in early October. France, per President Sarkozy, is now policing its internet users. If you get caught illegally downloading music three times, the French government reserves the right to cut off your internet access, in addition to the up to three year prison sentence for downloading. How does the government figure out who's been downloading what? By monitoring your web habits through your ISP. And in other news, the French are now at war with Eurasia and have always been at war with Eurasia.
* U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper has "tentatively ruled" that new defendants, including Marion "Suge" Knight, former police officer Rafael Perez, and members of the LAPD, can be added to the Wallace family's wrongful death suit against the city of Los Angeles for events related to the death of Christopher "Biggie" Wallace. Did you know that Biggie was only 24 when he died? (He died when I was in high school, but now that I'm in my mid-twenties, 24 doesn't seem so old.)
* And as long as we're talking about tumbling into irrelevance, John Edwards is hitting the campaign trail with Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt. If you don't know who Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt are, consult your local baby boomer.

What Happens When You Have An Awards Show With No Joke-Writers?

The TvDecoder at the New York Times has your answer. The American Music Awards, which was supposed to feature Jimmy Kimmel as host, had only a few unfunny appearances from the late night star. From TvDecoder:

"In the first national telecast of a live awards show since the beginning of the Hollywood writers’ strike, Mr. Kimmel was notable mainly by his absence: after his opening remarks and a brief funny-dancing bit, he did not reappear until 49 minutes into the show."

I Think Amy Winehouse Might Have A Problem

In this video we have Ms. Winehouse searching through her hair for something, finding that something, and then snorting it. All while on stage! She's very talented, huh?

More Religion to ponder for the weekend

Just a quick dump of religion news before I sign off for the next few days. I'll be in Chicago for the Thanksgiving holiday, so hopefully I'll come back with another nice photo essay.

- First, the Kansas church responsible for picketing funerals apparently is about $10 million short of the $11 million they owe in punitive damages.

- And, if that wasn't enough fun, here is BeliefNet Blog's list of the top 10 most controversial religious films. Add some to the list in the comments section if you can think of any.

Happy Weekend! Go Dawgs!

A Slate Extravaganza with Snoopy and Black Metal

Now that my Internet reading has expanded vastly, sometimes I'll forget about Slate for a couple weeks. Yet, the magazine still remains, in my opinion, one of the best web literature out there, so when I inevitably take a couple hours to peruse its archives, several good pieces will pop out. Anyhow, from my glorious Slate experience last night, here are two of the highlights:

- A slide-show essay on Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts. Sorry the link doesn't go directly to the essay, but there are two places to click on the page.

It's well worth a read, and throws in a bunch of good Peanuts comics to boot. Snoopy was always my favorite growing up.





- Second, we have a surprisingly informative piece on Black Metal, and how the genre went from Devil worship to revering the Norse culture and becoming environmentalists.

The funny part about this is that the Black Metal bands remained counterculture but shifted their focus more benevolently; yet, at the same time, no one could never understand the lyrics anyway. Regardless, I found this to be a riveting read.

More on the WGA Strike

Here is a handy list that outlines just how many episodes are left before your favorite show is forced into reruns.

Also, in related news, pmarca.com has an excellent run-down on the strike and the potential ramifications. Be sure to take a look at his vision of the future where hundreds of new media companies spring up in the wake of Hollywood's implosion. Sounds great to me!

For more on Hollywood's impending downfall, take a look at the International Herald Tribune's piece on a report that movies are no longer profitable.