the old bill

supersizing otis

Numerous studies, of course, have talked about the dangers of american obesity - not only does it affect your sexual health it also adds to greenhouse gases and reduces fuel efficiency, This all came home to me whilst trying to ride the elevators at the Marriott with the multitudes of  bible quizers.  At one point, when there were about 42 sweaty neopharisaic adolescents and me piled into the elevator I glanced up and saw the sign.  Was concerned. Then did the math.  Apparently do grow them big down there. 

Jesus Camp: the gameshow

Am staying in Minneapolis at the Marriott City Center, where, and I am not making this up, the national Bible Quiz Championship is being held.  Hundreds of born again teens competing - trying to stay above the "black line of death" to stay in the competition.  The teams have names.  Some are simply annoying [G-sus saves] and others are downright frightening [Heir Force - with the profile of a fighter jet as a logo].  I wish I hadn't watched Jesus Camp.

Green Lantern: Christian or Jewish?

File this under 'burning theological questions':

Perhaps you too have been kept awake at night,  troubled by this theological ambiguity:  Was the Green Lantern Christian or Jewish?  Turns out that Superman was methodist, no big surprise there.  And The Hulk a lapsed catholic.  Find them all here in this helpful visual display.

While so many of us are distracted by refugee issues, poverty, AIDS or the environment, it's great to know someone has time to devote to answering some of the questions that can plague us in those moments just before we fall asleep. 

strange beauty: landscapes of loneliness

  Had occasion to walk about the backstreets of downtown winnipeg today, on my way to check out some stuff at city hall, and along the way, both in the alleys and front streets, were bits of abandoned clothing.  old shoes. sweatpants. undies.   Sun was shining and the wind strong, blowing the dust everywhere.  And somehow those random shapes of old clothes had this curious beauty.  Bits of colour in odd flowing form on this grey background.  Exquisite but lonely.  Like the inner city itself.

A bit later I went down to graham to catch the 20 bus and  there was a guy with a green guitar, singing a kind of crusty blues, and no one, including me, was paying much attention.  But he kept on singing.  He'd introduce the song, tell a little story, as if he had a full audience, and say thank you at the end.  He was only half in my attention when the words to a particular song started to come through.  It was a kind of gospel thing.  He was singing about God, and though I can't quote the lyrics exactly, the end of it ran something like this:  "So i was asking God/what's to become of people like me. . ." and then a linking line I couldn't quite catch and then something like "and I knew the answer was 'nothing,. . ."  As the song finished he said something like "I wrote that song myself a couple of years ago at Christmas. . "  And then he kept singing, more blues, and it was art.  It wasn't panhandling or begging or whatever, it was art, and so strangely beautiful.  So if you're in Winnipeg on Graham, at the bus stop near the Bay, and the guy with the green guitar is there, ask him to sing it.  And if you see some abandoned clothes on the street, take a moment and look, you might see beauty there too.  I guess it's everywhere, if we've got eyes to see it.

btw turns out a guy named Stephen Twardowski has a photo gallery of abandoned clothing.  Worth checking out.

hi again

Hmmm. Been a while.

After FlickFest I crawled to Easter, and afterwards found that I was completely fried.  Got a bout of vertigo as a result.  I sometimes have a problem with words - certain pairs of words get mixed up in my mind.  Unfortunately  one such pairing is vertigo and libido.  Telling parishioners that I'm taking a few days off because I've been afflicted with libido isn't the perfect way to try to re-establish my rather shaky credibility.

Anyway polonged winter + exhaustion + vertigo/libido +having nothing much to say = blog silence. 

Should say, however, that FlickFest was incredibly successful - must have been over 300 on Friday night and about 200 on Saturday. We'll set up a board for next years - hope that Canadian Mennonite University will join the fray. "Son of Man" was astonishing – and if you get a chance to see it someplace, grab the opportunity. Perhaps the most memorable image of resurrection I've seen in a film.

Today the sun is shining and its lovely and warm [just passed two young women in shorts!] and I'm writing this draft entry while sitting on the 20 bus [92 Tempo finally died], and it just passed Holy Trinity Anglican where the sign read:  "Sun Worship 9:30 & 11:00 am"  Didn’t know the Anglicans were into that, but I can’t say I blame them.  Sun makes me feel kind of worshipful too.

Winter was brutal.  Decimated the locals, can’t imagine how African expats survived.  And by the end, I, like probably half the prairie population, gave up all pretense of theological sophistication and instead simply prayed for warmth.  Thank God we did too.  Just imagine how long the cold could have lasted without those earnest entreaties.

Wish I had something profound to offer here, but I guess profundity will have to wait a bit longer. A bit more warmth, more sun  But, for the first time in a long while, I feel like we're gonna get there.