2009
By John
55 Comments
LDS Temple Ceremony goes Prime Time.
Apparently some aspect of the LDS temple ceremony will be portrayed on HBO’s Big Love (tonight?). Here’s a picture that was forwarded to me, apparently from TV Guide:
Mormons are decrying this as sacrilegious and disrespectful, of course, but as one of thousands who was hoodwinked into going through the ceremony and socially coerced into accepting its secret oaths and tenets, I think that just about any public airing will help to diminish the power of the ritual. While I would hesitate to characterize Mormonism as a cult, the temple is where it gets the closest to acting like one. So this airing is a Good Thing. And it may be the first episode of Big Love I actually watch.
2009
By xJane
6 Comments
Spark: XBox Live (Microsoft) Homophobic
not a huge surprise, I suppose…
RT @pizzocalabro RT @consumerist: Identifying Yourself As A Lesbian Gets You Banned On XBOX Live : http://tinyurl.com/cc48g8
2007
At Most Quaker Meetings, People Keep Their Pants On.
It started out like any other meeting for worship. I got there a bit late, and several people were already sitting quietly. I sidled over to an empty seat where I could see the “Peace” banners waving in the wind outside. I noticed that the clerk and the greeter were plain dressed, in the dark suits and broad-rimmed hats Americans might more readily identify with Mennonites. Others were dressed in less conspicuous styles, although the woman next to me had beautiful blue and purple streaks running through her white hair.
2007
Wednesday Challenge: Get a (Second) Life.
It figures. Finals loom, so I not only go and get myself a new hobby, I get myself a whole ‘nother life. Enter Second Life.
Second Life is a huge virtual world (inspired by Snow Crash, Miko). But let me say this first: IT IS NOT A GAME. It’s part gigantic graphical chat room and part virtual lego playground and part live action role playing. It has a thriving economy in which you can exchange virtual money for US dollars (over a hundred people make over $5,000 per month). Libraries, world-class fashion designers, Buddhist monks, political candidates and businesses from American Apparel to Wells Fargo are making a presence there. Dell sells computers there and the American Cancer Society raised $41,000 for research last year. You can also gamble and bump (unclothed) pixels and lose virtual money to scams (warning: there seems to be a lot of clubbing and sexing in SL, but it’s possible to steer clear of these things, if that’s your desire). The most popular destination in SL is a virtual ballroom.
2007
It’s a Movie…You Should Do Something.
I’m not sure what it is about this video, but I’ve watched it dozens of times in the past week:
Every bit of this video is dense with artistry–the expressions on the father’s and the grandma’s faces and the stories embedded in them, the lines of the apartments in the background, the washed out coloring. I get bonus nostalgia for a) being a father of a daughter who’s growing up too quickly, and b) for memories evoked by the high-rise apartment complex, the girl’s school outfit, and their conversation in the Osaka dialect (which bears some resemblance to the Sasebo dialect I spoke with my grandparents). Don’t worry, there’s subtitles. 