Writings, Reviews, Cultural Criticism
Brothers and Sisters, the Lord has called me to embark upon a quest. It is a quest to uncover the workings of the evangelical fundamentalist Christian mind. I expect it will be a short journey. Brevity notwithstanding, I expect my quest to be fraught with perils.
On Sunday July 27th, 2008, Pastor John Mahaffey of the West Highland Baptist Church in Hamilton, ON preached a sermon about the woes of the United Church of Canada. Evidently, he was raised within the UCC…
Egyptologists give one another special names. It’s one of those things we’ve always done. So John calls me Ikky (which is short for Ikhnaten) and I call him Akky (which is short for Akhenaten) and when people see the two of us together they say: “Hey! There goes Ikky and Akky.”
While in Edinburgh, I visited the Scottish Storytelling Centre and met with its director, Donald Smith, who gave me a tour and, fittingly, recounted something of the Centre’s story.
The Harper Conservatives have appointed Preston Manning to the Council of Canadian Academies, a federal science advisory panel whose mandate is to offer an “independent, expert assessment of the science underlying pressing issues and matters of public interest.”
Curves, the weight-loss people, have had an ad out for a while. I’m referring to the one called Hearts: “Curves works for your heart – and every other part of you.” The ad evinces a philosophy of health that serves the whole person.
Being the environmentally conscientious sort that I am, I went out to WalFart and bought myself a new push mower. Besides helping to reduce gas emissions, it’s good exercise running up and down the lawn with a push mower. Plus it doesn’t do a half bad job of cutting the grass.
This is Elaine Davidson on June 05, 2008, the most pierced woman in the world with 5,920 piercings as of May, 2008. I wasn’t sure about the etiquette of approaching her for a photo.
It’s not like Otis Garvey is snooty. I don’t think he’s snooty at all. But he wears a plastic optimism that reminds me of an evangelist who smiles and grins and says it’s a lovely day even when the hailstones are chipping the paint off his car. So it gave me a secret satisfaction to watch Garvey open the letter from Nigeria and read it with a serious look on his face.
While I was walking along the tow path of the Forth and Clyde canal that cuts across Scotland from west to east, I noted a church just off the path – the Cadder Parish Church. A church has stood there since at least 1150. With camera in hand I wandered through the cemetery and among…
When paranoia and fear become extreme, mental health professionals identify these feelings as symptoms of diagnosable mental illness. When paranoia and fear become sanctioned by government-sponsored initiatives, what should we conclude about the mental health of our politicians?
It’s amazing how different a bus ride can be depending on the time of day and the day of week. Ride the bus in the morning on a week day and it’s full of tired students on their way to high school and sober-looking grownups on their way to work.
t seems fitting at today’s convocation that my theology degree should have been conferred on me by Norman Jewison, the director of such movies as Rollerball and Fiddler on the Roof.
I kin heah Jeb comin’ from a million miles away—or at least I kin heah his ATV. I’m standin’ jus’ in from the road when he come out from the cornstalks agrinnin’ ‘n’ awavin’ like a fool, him with his dawg, Gopher, runnin’ behind.
Frank liked his new computer. His son Jimmy bought it for his 65th birthday. It came fully loaded—and with all the peripherals to boot. It had a fast CPU and a big flatscreen monitor. You could listen to music or watch a movie on it, scan pictures, run them off on a nice colour printer, record your voice, chat on the webcam. It was a real beauty.