One of my favorite Stephen Colbert videos just resurfaced; watch it now, before it disappears again!

While we’re at it, here are links to two other favorites:

Watch this one through to the end–it’s the only time I’ve both Colbert and Jon Stewart lose composure. Warning: lots of male anatomy and gay sex innuendo (but nothing explicit).

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It looks like I’m fighting a GI virus, so it may seem ironic for me to propose a food-related challenge. The (wanting to succumb to) death part fits though.

I had a little glimpse into chef culture today, thanks to Melanie Dunea’s My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals. Apparently chefs have been asking one another for ages, “What would you like to eat for your last meal on earth?”

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I’ve always been a fan of comparative mythology, ever since I started reading Greek myths as a kid & noting their similarities to the Christian myths I heard around me while growing up. I also like comics, every day more and more, thanks to my roommate-in-exile’s collection of left-behind graphic novels. So when I heard about Gods of Asgard, I immediately ordered a copy. I picked it up yesterday & have already blazed through it. But it reminded me of an archetype I’d like to explore: the trickster god.

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Question: is drinking tea considered effeminate in the U.S.? High tea and tea houses seem to cater to women (especially older women), and when I start talking about tea parties my guy friends start looking nervously towards the exit (not really, because now that I think about it, when I get together with my male friends it is generally over coffee).

It seems like there are different cultural contexts for tea as well. Boba Tea seems to be gender neutral, but race-specific (the shops in the LA area are mostly Taiwanese chains). Can you all think of any others? (Mat�, chai, Zen, etc.?)

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Al Gore (along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has just been awarded a share of the Nobel Peace Prize. (does this make him the fourth former president of the United States to receive this honor?)

Why this is a peace issue:

Extensive climate changes may alter and threaten the living conditions of much of mankind. They may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth’s resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world’s most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states.

Why Al Gore deserves a share:

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In the cultural ecosystem every one of us is a consumer as well as a producer of knowledge and culture. This is as true of a 3rd millenium BCE Sumerian farmer as a 21st century American graduate student. Both may consume knowledge from (religious/academic) authorities, swap jokes and gossip with peers, and pass professional information on to students/children.

The main difference I see between their positions on the cultural/knowledge food chain is

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037: A Little Light Reading., originally uploaded by mind on fire.

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Although at this site we don’t generally act too terribly kindly toward religion (in general or specific), many religions have valid points that make them valuable to the world at large and to their adherents. Unfortunately, these bits often get overshadowed by the witch-burning, war-inciting, and general hatefulness of the religion(s). So today, we’re going to look at a particular prayer within the Christian tradition. With few minor changes it can be made completely religion-neutral.

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Girls and boys, it’s Science Fiction meme time!

For all my cheery optimism, I have a soft spot for dystopian movies. For this meme, I modified this list of “The Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time” by removing all the movies before the eighties. The ones I’ve watched are in bold:

1. Brazil (1985)
2. Wings of Desire (1987)
3. Blade Runner (1982)
4. Children of Men (2006)
5. The Matrix (1999)

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“All great truths begin as blasphemies” - George Bernard Shaw

1) Jesus:

Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.

- Matthew 26:64-66, KJV

2) Joseph Smith was repeatedly accused of blasphemy. The following excerpt is

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