Miscellany

A little gift for the conspiracy theorists

August 19, 2010

MItchell and Webb address the conspiracy theorist nutters with this moon landing sketch. Now here’s hoping they’ll feature nutty Norman Baker and the Kelly conspiracists.

Read the full article →

“My smartphone made me stupid”

June 2, 2010

Just because it’s called a smartphone doesn’t mean it makes its users smart. CNET reports one of the latest episodes in the never ending saga of people who refuse to take any responsibility for their own idiocy and sue someone else to avoid any self-recriminations. In this case a woman named Lauren Rosenberg claims that [...]

Read the full article →

Doctor, doctor: who’s the best companion?

April 26, 2010

In a comment on this post, Tim Chesterton lived up to his white beard by saying: what strikes me in all these comments is the short memories you people have. It’s as if Dr. Who started with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. There are previous comparisons to be made, too, you know! So I thought [...]

Read the full article →

One law for us, one for you: the Carey-a Sharia revisited

April 15, 2010

A few days ago I commented on the previous Archbishop of Canterbury’s latest attempt to claim public attention. Now his witness statement has made his own words public. Ruth Gledhill (who on this issue at least has fallen out of love with the ex-Archbishop) publishes it on her blog. It is at least as bad [...]

Read the full article →

The best sci-fi and fantasy – really??

March 3, 2010

I’m grateful for Loren Rosson drawing my attention to this list of the 100 greatest sci-fi or fantasy novels of all time. (I obviously missed Stephen Carlson’s Facebook note.) These things are always subjective, not least because we all read different books, but by and large I would agree with Loren’s strictures: this list has [...]

Read the full article →

Offensive or irresponsible? Complaining about adverts.

January 25, 2010
affairs-poster#1#.jpg

David Keen and Maggi Dawn are among those blogging the story publicised by Dave Walker today. The website maritalaffair.co.uk has started advertising on billboards around the country. The website describes itself as ‘delivering a dating arena for extra-marital affairs’ for ‘uncomplicated adult fun’. It directly promotes and faciliates people being unfaithful to their partners, and [...]

Read the full article →

On setting fire to the baby Jesus (a Google Ads Oops)

December 8, 2009
Oops.jpg

I was looking for a ready typed version of the poem “The Burning Babe” for Christmas card deployment. I found it at this site. The adverts (which I’ve moved over from the far right and covered the audio clip link) focussed on that word “burning”. It is, to say the least, an unfortunate juxtaposition. I [...]

Read the full article →

A question about hate

November 16, 2009

After some of the comments here, I have to ask: Why is it that so many of us are always ready to explain “hate” in the Bible as hyperbole or “semitic idiom”, but when we encounter it in a blog post, assume it must be taken in its most literal, po-faced and unpleasant sense?

Read the full article →

Gloucestershire Uni: save biblical studies letter

November 11, 2009

Mark Goodacre has some of the main links on the planned redundancy in the Biblical Studies Department at the University of Gloucestershire. The Facebook page is here. This does not seem to be quite the same situation as that at Sheffield, where the whole undergraduate teaching of Biblical Studies was targeted. I am, however, concerned [...]

Read the full article →

The road to hell: Screwtape writes again

November 11, 2009

My dear Wormwood, How many times, I wonder, have we been through this? You are once again anxious about your patient’s good intentions, his plans to change his life for the better. I cannot remind your often enough, dear nephew, that good intentions are wonderful things. Why, I remember one occasion when a former patient [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries