OK, I was snowed under with marking and report writing (done the report writing for now, but still have tonnes of marking), now I feel crappy. Hopefully I can beat this cold before it beats me! I really don’t want to be sick during reading week (which is next week for us).
In the meantime… check out this somewhat humorous Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates video.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Here’s some biblical love poetry for any young men who may be out there. Whisper these words into the ears of your Valentine’s Day date and you will be guaranteed a second date! … Really!
(Image from an old Wittenburg Door)
How beautiful you are, my love,
how very beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats,
moving down the slopes of Gilead.
Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them is bereaved.
Your lips are like a crimson thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in courses;
on it hang a thousand bucklers,
all of them shields of warriors.
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that feed among the lilies….
Your lips distill nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon
Your belly is a heap of wheat…
Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
overlooking Damascus (Song 4:1-5, 11; 7:2, 4)
For a more serious look at the imagery of the Song of Songs, you can check out my post from last Valentine’s day: “The Most Excellent of Songs (The Challenge of Translating Metaphors).”
OK, I know that the last time I tried this it didn’t work (the person never claimed their prize), but if anything I am persistent!
As this blog approaches its 150,000th visitor (all I can say is “wow, thanks for visiting!”), I want to give away a book. So here’s the deal: if you are number 150,000 I will send you a free book (I’ll give you some options and you can choose).
I figure that number 150,000 should visit by Sunday or Monday.
Thanks for visiting and good luck!
Wow… I figured I better post something so people don’t think I have went the way of the dodo! I am snowed under finishing a couple reports for Taylor University College’s five-year accreditation review. I should be finished them tomorrow (for now at least), so I will start to post regularly again Thursday. I have my second post in my Ideas of Origins and Creation in Ancient Mesopotamia series pretty much finished, though I need a bit of time to do some final editing. See you soon!
Last week I posted on Christianity Today’s 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2006 — a list which I wasn’t terribly impressed with. This week they have released their Critics’ Choice Awards for the Top 10 Films of 2006. This list is a bit better — primarily because I tend to agree with it more (though there were some surprises!).
Here is the list in all it’s glory:
I quite liked Children of Man, though I’m not sure I would give it top nods (of course, I’m not entirely sure what I would put at the top of the list, though I do make a suggestion below). I am still not convinced about The New World, though the fact that it made both of CT’s lists means that I probably should view it again. I was a bit surprised that there were no documentaries on the list. What about An Inconvenient Truth (Davis Guggenheim; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com) or Jesus Camp (Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com)?
In terms of movies released in 2006, my vote for best movie of 2006 would be The Departed (Martin Scorsese; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com). This is a great gangster film and all of the actors had great performances, especially Jack Nicholson. Second runner up would be Casino Royale (Martin Campbell; IMDB), which did for Bond what Batman Begins did for the Batman franchise last year. Honourable mention goes to Thank You for Not Smoking (Jason Reitman, 2005 [I watched it in 2006]; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com). In addition, I found Blood of My Brother: A Story of Death in Iraq (Andrew Berends, 2005 [I watched it in 2006]; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com) to be quite interesting for its portrayal of life in Iraq.
I watch a lot of kid’s films with my children, so I thought I would pick a best kid’s movie. I haven’t seen Charlotte’s Web or Lassie, so I can’t pick either of them. It would be easy to pick Cars (John Lassiter; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com), Over the Hedge (Tim Johnson; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com), Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (Carlos Saldanha; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com), or even Curious George (Matthew O’Callaghan; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com).
Instead of any of those movies, I’m picking Hoodwinked! (Cory and Todd Edwards; IMDB; Buy from Amazon.ca or Amazon.com) as my favourite kid’s movie of 2006. I found this deconstruction of Little Red Riding Hood quite amusing. While some have slammed its animation as cheap, I kind of like the minimalist CGI animation — after all, it is supposed to look like a cartoon isn’t it?!
All in all, however, I don’t think 2006 was as good as last year for movies.