Octopodial Chrome

CNN reports that many megachurches will be closed on Christmas Day. Why? Because it’s a family day. No, Christmas is not about family; nor is it about giving; it’s about the birth of Jesus Christ, Son of God and God, our Lord and Savior. It’s not about us. Repeat, for all you megachurch-gœrs: it’s not about you! I may be one of the vainest, most pompous, most egotistical, most self-centred folks out there, but even I haven’t the sheer chutzpah to think that Christmas is about me!

HarperCollins have decided that young children are too delicate to be exposed to a picture of Clement Hurd, illustrator of the beloved children’s book Goodnight Moon, and thus the picture will be censored—digitally altered to remove the cig from Mr. Hurd’s fingers. A Web site, Goodnight Reality, has been created to oppose this revisionism. As it points out, Stalin altered photographs to remove inconvenient facts. Heck, when even the New York Times mocks you, maybe you should reconsider.

Gene Stover has written an amusing account with one of the dumbest mouth-breathers in recorded history; unfortunately the demi-ape in question was managing the project he was working on at the time. Incredible.

Every year since 1977 Diego & Susy Golberg (an Argentinian couple) have taken a picture of each member of their family. The result is an interesting time-lapse view of their family’s growth and ageing. It also provides an unique example of how differently men and women grow old.

Jeff Stout, one of my fellow parishioners, was named a Rhodes Scholar. He’s a sharp young man with a bright future in front of him: not only is he a Rhodes Scholar, but he’s also a subdeacon at St. Mark’s and will be married in January (Antiochian subdeacons are allowed to marry; I don’t know if Russians are or not, but suspect not; the Greeks don’t use subdeacons in this country). From my few conversations with him he ranks among the most intelligent men I’ve ever known. Congratulations to him!

Some years ago Idle Words compared two randomly-selected public school lunch menus, one French & one American. The difference is quite remarkable: each French lunch is structured, with an appetiser (generally a salad, but once a liver paté with a pickled gherkin), a main course, a vegetable, a cheese course and a dessert. The French children are being educated about eating, even while dining at school. Meanwhile, their American peers get a single course consisting of spare pig, chicken or beef parts (i.e. hot dogs, chicken fingers & burgers). The whole analysis is really quite interesting.