Day: May 20, 2009

Stunning picture of bird’s amazing upside-down flight

Chris 10 Comments


From EDP24:

Take a closer look at this stunning photograph of a greylag goose.

Your eyes do not deceive you – this puzzling bird really is flying upside down but with its neck and head twisted the right way up.

The incredible display of mid-flight acrobatics is also a remarkable feat of wildlife photography and stunned the man behind the lens when he looked back at his images.

Brian MacFarlane was simply photographing geese buffeted by strong winds at Strumpshaw yesterday, and did not expect to capture a moment of contortionism.

“The wind was making life difficult for the flying birds,” said Mr MacFarlane.

“Some were expert at controlling their flight, while others were being tossed around in mid-air.

“On closer inspection of the image I realised it had flipped upside down but kept its head the right way up. “Quite a feat!”

God Hides Fossil To Trick Us Again

Chris 7 Comments

Another transitional fossil created by god to test our faith has been found by so called science people:

May 19, 2009—Meet “Ida,” the small “missing link” found in Germany that’s created a big media splash and will likely continue to make waves among those who study human origins.

In a new book, documentary, and promotional Web site, paleontologist Jorn Hurum, who led the team that analyzed the 47-million-year-old fossil seen above, suggests Ida is a critical missing-link species in primate evolution (interactive guide to human evolution from National Geographic magazine).

The fossil, he says, bridges the evolutionary split between higher primates such as monkeys, apes, and humans and their more distant relatives such as lemurs.

No Benefits For Laid-Off Religious Workers

Chris 6 Comments

From UPI.com:

RICHMOND, Va., May 18 (UPI) — Some people recently laid-off from religious institutions in Virginia said they were shocked to find the state does not offer them unemployment benefits.

Carol Bronson, who was laid off from her secretarial job at Temple Emanuel synagogue in Virginia Beach, said she was told her unemployment claim was denied because the tax exemptions for religious organizations under Virginia law include an exemption from paying unemployment taxes, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Monday.

“I had no idea that there would not be any benefits for me after leaving my job,” she said.

Rabbi Howard Mandell of Temple Emanuel said the synagogue was unaware of the Virginia tax law at the time of the layoff.

Jane Dembert, who worked for 17 years at the Christ and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk, most recently as director of communications, said she was also surprised to have her unemployment claim denied after she was laid-off earlier this year.

Coleman Walsh, chief administrative law judge with the state employment commission, said most people he has spoken to were unaware that faith-based groups are exempt from unemployment taxes.

If I’m reading this correctly (And if I’m wrong someone will correct me within seconds of hitting publish), the organizations could have paid unemployment taxes for their workers which would cover them in case of layoffs but God needs money now damn it!!!!

Elvis and the Fool’s Gold Loaf

Chris 10 Comments

Firstly, what’s a Fool’s Gold Loaf:

Fool’s Gold Loaf is a sandwich made by a restaurant in Denver, Colorado called the Colorado Mine Company (often erroneously referred to as the Colorado Gold Mine Company). The sandwich consists of a single loaf of hollowed out, warmed bread filled with one jar of creamy peanut butter, one jar of grape jelly, and a pound of bacon. The name of the sandwich is derived from its price of $49.95. In later years, it was priced closer to $100 for the sandwich and a bottle of Dom Pérignon.

From Wikipedia:

On the night of February 1, 1976, Elvis Presley was at his home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee entertaining Capt. Jerry Kennedy of the Denver Colorado police force, and Ron Pietrafeso of Colorado’s Strike Force Against Crime. The three men began discussing the sandwich and Elvis decided he wanted one right then. The Mine Company was a five-star restaurant known for its rip-roaring parties and as the ‘place’ to be seen at the time. Elvis had been to the restaurant before while in Denver. Kennedy and Pietrafeso were friends of the owners and hung out there often, so they were driven to the Memphis airport and boarded Elvis’s private jet, the Lisa Marie, and flew the two hours to Denver. When they arrived in Denver at 1:40 AM, the plane taxied to a special hangar where the passengers were greeted by the owner of the Colorado Mine Company, Buck Scott, and his wife Cindy who had brought 22 fresh Fool’s Gold Loaves for the men. They spent three hours in the hangar eating the sandwiches, washing them down with Perrier and champagne. Presley invited the pilots of the plane, Milo High and Elwood Davis, to join them. When they were done, they flew back to Memphis without ever having left the airport.[1]

Elvis, one of our patron saints of bacon.

You Can’t Please Everyone – Gone With the Wind

Chris 9 Comments

One star Amazon reviews of classic movies, music and literature. Today we take a look at Gone With The Wind:

The portrayal of African Americans in this movie is a disgrace. The movie is glorifying the old south and thus glorifying slavery. When I watched this racist flick–I rooted for General Sherman! Slavery was wrong–the south was wrong–the right side won–get over it! This is like a sugar coated “Birth of a Nation”. (and the story is boring as well)

I tell my family that I don’t like this film and they think I am crazy- but I am not. This movie has to be the worst of all!!! For one thing- it is too long! I have better things to do with 5 hours of my time. Plus- it is not an epic romance! A good romance movie- it can not claim. The movie is basically about two alcoholic, money filled, greedy, rascist brats falling in love during a war which they totally portrayed wrong. I know- I wasn’t a live then. But I do know that that couldn’t have been how slavery was. They have a scene where they have the work bell, saying they could stop working, and they all smile and tlaking friendly and act almost happy about there surrondings! I find that hard to believe- that they were happy about being slaves. Another thing- I hate all the characters. Scarlet is a brat, Gables character is a brat, Ashley is boring, Melanie is too quiet and boring- and she never expresses her self. She should go up and slap Scarlet. My recommendation- never see this movie!!!!!! I would rather eat rocks!

Quite possibly the most overrated movie of all time. Who wants to spend five hours listening to a bunch of spoiled, racist brats? I’d rather slap Scarlett than kiss her. If this is what The Old South was really like, then thank God those damn Yankees won. I’d of marched with Gen. Sherman anytime!

at no point in this movie does anyone’s head explode in flames. truly great films such as welcome to spring break recognize the need for such scenes, but this movie clearly fails to understand the emotional resonance a burning head can create. if you want to see a truly great movie, check out welcome to spring break.

How can anyone seriously criticize this film? Well, some people can, but that’s not my point. The point is that this is the greatest American film since “Birth of a Nation.” Watch in awe as Scarlett and Ashley pine for the bygone days when the soft high sound of Negro laughter rises like the Louisiana marsh mist from the decrepit, rat-infested slave quarters swimming in lice and feces. Chortle with Rhett as he sprays misogyny across Georgia like an alley cat with a urinary tract infection. Pray with the Confederacy as it bravely attempts to defend time-honored traditions of patriarchal subjugation, racist contempt for human life and belligerent arrogance bordering on the psychotic. Boo and hiss as uppity Negroes humiliate the once proud South by asking for things like civil rights and a decent standard of living. Cheer for Scarlett (again) as she pops all her scruples like over-ripe zits in her pathological quest for a goal even she doesn’t understand. And finally, share in the triumph of the filmmakers as they achieve the astounding feat of creating sympathy and admiration for one of the most sordid and shameful chapters in American history. Can you think of any reason modern audiences might not be totally pleased with this sugar-coated atavism? I sure can’t.

One of the worst films ever made, period. I will never, ever, understand the fascination with this film, it is awful in so many ways:
1) It is at least 2 hours too long, it just goes on and on and on and you wish someone would just put these people (and you) out of their misery.
2) Had nothing (repeat, NOTHING) to do with the Cival War. If you want a movie about the Cival War then watch GLORY, the best Cival War movie ever made. It is nothing more than an Episode of Dynasty with nice sets and costumes.
3) So full of stereotypes it makes you cringe. From the southern Belles who act as if lifting a feather is too difficult for them, to the black slaves who do everything but eat watermelon, it is just sickening to watch.
4) The script: I could do better in my sleep “Oh Rhet, Oh Scarlett, Oh Melanie, Yankees in Georgia? Oh Honey Lamb !” Oh give me a break !!!
5) The acting: “Oh Rhet, Oh Scarlett, Oh Melanie”

The list goes on and on, if only this film had burned with Atlanta and saved us all from Ted Turner broadcasting it every other day. I’m tired of people thinking that this is some great american film. Yeh, and “The Jetsons” is the best TV show ever made, jeeez. This film is totally stupid, the only reason I gave it one star is for the lavish sets and costumes.

Continue reading “You Can’t Please Everyone – Gone With the Wind”

Daily Dose of Ingersoll

Chris 2 Comments

In spite of the threat of eternal pain — of the promise of
everlasting joy, unbelievers increased, and the churches took
another step.

The churches said to the unbelievers, the heretics: “Although
our God will punish you forever in another world — in his prison
— the doors of which open only to receive, we, unless you believe,
will torment you now.”

And then the members of these churches, led by priests, popes,
and clergymen, sought out their unbelieving neighbors — chained
them in dungeons, stretched them on racks, crushed their bones, cut
out their tongues, extinguished their eyes, flayed them alive and
consumed their poor bodies in flames.

All this was done because these Christian savages believed in
the dogma of eternal pain. Because they believed that heaven was
the reward for belief. So believing, they were the enemies of free
thought and speech — they cared nothing for conscience, nothing
for the veracity of a soul, — nothing for the manhood of a man. In
all ages most priests have been heartless and relentless. They have
calumniated and tortured. In defeat they have crawled and whined.
In victory they have killed. The flower of pity never blossomed in
their hearts and in their brain. Justice never held aloft the
scales. Now they are not as cruel. They have lost their power, but
they are still trying to accomplish the impossible. They fill their
pockets with “fool’s gold” and think they are rich. They stuff
their minds with mistakes and think they are wise. They console
themselves with legends and myths, have faith in fiction and
forgery — give their hearts to ghosts and phantoms and seek the
aid of the non-existent.

Robert Green Ingersoll – “Truth” (1897)