Question of the Day

I've long been an admirer of blogger Glenn Reynolds and have read him daily for five years. I rarely disagree with him on politics. And that's why I've said that if he ever ran for President, I'd vote for him enthusiastically. Reynolds, however, lacks the Constitutionally prerequisite narcissism and pomposity to be a serious candidate for the Presidency.

But here's an even better idea than a Glenn Reynolds Administration: Ace of Spades as President of the United States. He runs a very serious and yet completely unserious blog and is a gifted humor writer. He's the sort of blogger I'd like to be if I had more talent, and his politics largely jive with mine.

Like Reynolds, Ace is probably too sensible to ever run for President, but I think that he could be tricked into announcing his candidacy if we Morons came together and got him drunk enough.
I know -- it's a pipe dream. Ace is far away in New York City, and I'm here in my undisclosed bunker, too far away to participate in such a project. It's a shame. An Ace of Spades Administration would be truly entertaining.

What blogger would you like to see run for President?

What If You Discovered That Your Whole Life Was Actually Just a Computer Program?

Specifically, Pac-Man.

[Video Link]

Question of the Day

What is your favorite work of art?

Commenting at Locusts & Honey

Okay, we've had some issues lately that I want to just be upfront about. Everyone is welcome to share their thoughts and feelings in the comments on any post, but this blog is not clothing optional. Before you click on "leave a comment", put some pants on.

How Would You Approach This Ethical Dilemma?

A runaway trolley car is hurtling down a track. In its path are five people who will definitely be killed unless you, a bystander, flip a switch which will divert it on to another track, where it will kill one person. Should you flip the switch?

via

Hilarious Lenten Post

It's not Lent right now, and this is a couple of years old, but it's sheer brilliance.

Art Blogging: James Rosenquist

James Rosenquist (1933- ) is an American Pop artist. Born in North Dakota, he studied at the Minneapolis School of Art and the Art Students League of New York. His career began as a billboard painter, and from his time in that trade he developed a monumental approach in his work. Rosenquist is fond of juxtaposing enormous images as a way of creating narrative. His medium consists of the staging of paintings, prints, and sculptures formulated carefully for exhibition.

His breakthrough work was F-111 (paint on canvas and aluminum, 1964-65, the MOMA), a sectional work placed on four sections of a room, surrounding the viewer. It was considered to be a galvanizing symbol of the anti-Vietnam War movement. This is one of the four panels.

Star Thief (oil on canvas, 1980, Museum Ludwig in Cologne). This enormous work, measuring more than seventeen by forty-six feet, shows Rosenquist's indebtedness to the Surrealists. It is a story of travel and exploration. And that is the biggest piece of bacon I've ever seen. Mmmmm. Bacon....

The Swimmer in the Econo-mist (oil on canvas, 1997-1998, at the Guggenheim in Berlin). This work is an homage to the grandeur of Picasso's Guernica, as well as a reflection on the conclusion of the Cold War. Its name comes from the struggle of Germany to reunify. The swimmer represents the East German struggling through the economic confusion of the collapse of Soviet Communism.

FYI

My hovercraft is full of eels.

Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup

...is up.

Art Blogging: George Clausen

George Clausen (1852-1944) was a British Academic painter. Born in London, he was educated at the Royal College of Art. Affiliated with the Naturalist movement, Clausen became most famous for his depictions of British rural life. Like the Impressionists, Clausen used light to magnify his images, but true to his Academic training, he did not abandon the integrity of form.






Girl at the Gate (oil on canvas, 1889, Tate Gallery). Here is an example of what I mean. The spotty background of this painting is Impressionistic in its construction, but the central figure and her draping is traditionally Academic through crisp, clean lines.







The Mowers (watercolor, 1885).





Head of a Peasant Woman (oil on canvas, 1882).

The Grumpy Christian

Michael Spencer writes about the pervasiveness of the fake smile in American evangelicism:

Millions of unbelievers are far more emotionally healthy than we are because we have a crowd running around telling us we can’t be human, can’t feel human emotions, can’t be emotionally honest and so on. Instead, we have to be high, giddy and smiling like we’re possessed by grinning aliens so that we have a “testimony.” Ugh.

I’m so not going there. This, friends, is the person Jesus loves. I’m fat. I’m not giddy. I don’t feel the least bit of responsibility to telegraph to anyone that I’m full of happy thoughts, because I’m not.

Caption Contest

Previous contest winner

WINNER: Jeff the Baptist:

I'm sorry sir, you just can't bring those nail clippers onto the flight.

Art Blogging: Jean Puiforcat

Jean Puiforcat (1897-1945) was a French Art Deco designer, working primarily with silver. Born to a family of silversmiths in Paris, he studied sculpture with Louis-Aime Lejeure before beginning commercial work in 1922. Puiforcat reached the peak of his popularity in 1937, when an entire pavilion of the Paris Exposition des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne was devoted to his work. He fled World War II to Mexico, where he continued his work until his death in 1945.

[Above] Soup tureen (silver, 1935, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal).

Teapot (silver, gold, and lucite; 1935; Dallas Museum of Art).

A Beauty Contest for Nuns

But of course. Maybe it's time for me to drag out my old idea of the Methoblogosphere producing a swimsuit issue in order to raise money.

HT: This+That

Emerging Trend: American Christian Circumcisions

This is an interesting Washington Post article. It says that increasing numbers of American Christians are circumcising their baby boys for religious reasons -- and in the home, by a mohel no less. I think that Paul put to rest any theological justification for circumcision, although he circumcised Timothy.

Before we found out that we were having a little girl, I researched the subject and determined that there was barely any medical justification for infant circumcision, and certainly none to offset the potential risks.

Well, enough of the serious talk. This is Locusts & Honey after all. Here is a great clip on circumcision from the Mel Brooks film Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

[YouTube Link]

What do you think of the practice of routine infant circumcision?

Changes in Children's Health Care

Study: Most Children Strongly Opposed To Children�s Healthcare

Weekend Retro Music: Roam by the B-52s

[YouTube Link] I've long enjoyed the playful, joyful music of the B-52s.

Man's Best Friend

Sometimes -- shoot, most of the time -- dogs are more decent than people:

A newborn baby that was abandoned outdoors by her 14-year-old mother during the Argentina winter was found safe Thursday after being kept alive and warm by a mother dog and her brood of puppies, Reuters reported.

Like Will Rogers said: "If there are no dogs in Heaven,then when I die I want to go where they went."

HT: The Corner

Zombies Speak Out on the Presidential Candidates

[Video Link] This a good exploration of what zombie voters are thinking this year. Who do you think will get the undead demographic this time?

Art Blogging: Nicholas Roerich

Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) was a Russian painter. He was raised and educated in St. Petersburg, where he drank deeply of the artistic revival of fin de siècle Russia. He and his wife traveled widely in Russia and founded the Buddhist sect known as Agni Yoga.









White Stone, tempera on canvas, 1933.


I really enjoy Roerich's stark landscapes composed of sharp, angular lines vibrant colors. They strongly remind me of the animation of Genndy Tartakovsky.
Glory to the Hero, tempera on canvas, 1933.


St. Francis, tempera on canvas, 1932.



The Sage, tempera on cardboard, 1944. Set design for Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring.