Category Archives: Holidays

The Significance of June 6, 2006 (6, 6, 06)

Posted on by

The publicity office of a B-grade Hollywood remake of a mediocre film, The Omen, is hyping the fact that today is the sixth day of the sixth month in the year two thousand and six (= 666). And that is all it is: hype. As Ed Cook points out over at Ralph the Sacred River, today’s date is not significant — at least not because of any satanic connections (Contrary to Ed, I tend to think that the real number is 616).

At any rate, the significance of today is not any silly satanic movie-tie-in. Rather, June 6 is significant as it is the anniversary of D-Day. Enough said.


Easter, Grace, and U2

Posted on by

I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep ship. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity. I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says, “Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there’s mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let’s face it, you’re not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions.” The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled. It’s not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.

– Bono (Michka Assayas, Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas [New York: Riverhead, 2005] 204).

Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace
It’s a name for a girl
It’s also a thought that changed the world
And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

Grace, she’s got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She’s got the time to talk
She travels outside of karma
She travels outside of karma
When she goes to work
You can hear her strings
Grace finds beauty in everything

Grace, she carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips between her fingertips
She carries a pearl in perfect condition

What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings
Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things

Grace makes beauty out of ugly things

All That You Can`t Leave Behind (2000)


“David King of Judah” Seal Uncovered (April Fool’s Day 2006 Post)

Posted on by

N.B. This is a post I wrote for April Fool’s Day 2006 (April 1st). To set the record straight in case anyone was fooled, there was no “David King of Judah” seal discovered from Eliat Mazar’s (note spelling) Jerusalem dig. The actual seal below is a doctored image of a royal seal impression of Hezekiah from the Kaufman Collection. I left a number of subtle (perhaps too subtle for some!) hints that the post was a hoax: (1) the spelling of Haaretz and Mazar’s name; (2) the plene spelling of “David” in the seal; and (the most obvious) (3) the tag “AF’s Day.” If I offended anyone by my April Fool’s Day prank, then I am sorry. I meant it to be a joke and I hope everyone — even those fooled — may take it in the spirit in which it was intended — and I promise to only do it once a year! (and hey, what do you expect? I was born on April Fool’s Day!).

The Israeli newspaper Haarets reported this morning a significant discovery among the Eliat Mazur’s Jerusalem “City of David” archaeological dig (for more on some other discoveries from the same dig, see my posts here, including my posts on the Yehukal Seal also discovered at the site). It appears that a bulla/seal was recently discovered among the excavation remains from last summer. Most significantly, it was discovered among the rubble from the part of the excavation that she has identified as the remains of a 10th century royal palace.

The clay seal impression measures about 12 mm by 10 mm and is in a remarkably good state of preservation. The centre of the seal has what appears to be a two winged sun disk, which is probably some sort of royal emblem. The article has a good image of the seal along with a great line tracing:

David_Bullae.jpg

David_Bullae_tracing.jpg

The inscription is on two lines (above and below the sun disk) and reads in a clear paleo-Hebrew script: לדויד ישי מלך יהדה “[Belonging] to David, [son of] Jesse, King of Judah.”

This find is highly significant for a number of reasons, not least being that it appears to have been found in situ in the building Mazur has been excavating and thinks is King David’s palace (at least it was discovered among the rubble from that part of the excavation). While it is too early to speculate, it seems to me that the so-called “minimalists” will have a hard time denying this clear reference to what must be the biblical David.


The Perfect Pint

Posted on by

guinness.jpgHappy St. Patrick’s Day!

In honour of this day, I thought I would introduce you to what I consider the “perfect pint.” And, no, I am not talking about the green beer which is popular on this day, since what I consider the perfect pint is too dark to be coloured!

Of course, I am talking about Guinness Draught beer. And while these instructions about pouring the perfect pint are adequate, they miss one key step: when you pour the pint, you have to pour it such so that a four leaf clover impression is left in the head of the beer. I know one bartender in Edmonton who can do this. This, in my opinion, is truly the perfect pint!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

(If you do have a drink today, please drink responsibly! And do NOT drink and drive!)