My cable was out over the weekend and I had to have a repairman come by yesterday morning to check it out. Because the cable company gave me a window of 10-noon to expect him, I was at home still scrambling to prep for my 1pm class when he arrived. My cable repair guy was…
Read MoreWe’ve moved on to the story of Cain and Abel, which is actually one of my favorites in the Bible. There are so many unexplained details in that story. Why didn’t God like Cain’s offering? (I mean, Cain and Abel were only the 2nd and 3rd human beings ever… it’s not like there was an…
Read MoreThis may be one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen. But, then again, I tend not to know my limits…
Read MoreYou can stash this little bit in your “Most Grossly Under-Reported Stories” file. Last November, the Justice Department reported that there were a record 7 million people behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. That means roughly 1 in every 32 adults in the United States is somehow in…
Read MoreLast year, I saw Emory philosopher Cynthia Willet give two separate lectures culled from material for her forthcoming book Comedy, Friendship, Freedom: A Democratic Political Ethics. Willet’s project is philosophically astute, extrememly timely, and not a little provocative, and I am very much looking forward to the publication of her complete text. She is trying…
Read MoreSo, I’m giving The Quotable South a break for a bit. This morning, I’ve decided to share with you some random bits that deserve, in their own perverse way, an award. Greatest News Headline This Week on MSN.COM: “Travolta Spurns Daylight” So, apparently John Travolta and his wife are night-owls. And Scientologists, in case you…
Read MoreI just saw “The Last King of Scotland”, the film about Idi Amin (starring Forrest Whittaker). Although I think that Whittaker’s performance was impressive, I am slightly disturbed by a recent trend in filmmaking that portrays “African conflicts” in a reductively “nativist” kind of way. Here’s my problem– in the recent films I have seen…
Read MoreNormally, I complain about the ubiquitous misuse of the term “deconstruction.” I find that, more often than not, when people say “deconstruction” they actually mean “destruction,” but they also want to show that they went to college. (See the “deconstructed” fashions hyped on Project Runway, for example, which are just ensembles of shredded or otherwise…
Read MoreI want to give kudos to a friend of mine, Alex Stehn, for being such a fantastic teacher. He was telling me the other day about his desire to teach a class on Christianity and Marxism–a really fantastic proposition in my view–and it got us talking about the way many of our students think about…
Read MoreOn my weekly drive to State College, I find that there is about a 100 mile stretch (through central PA) where I can’t find anything interesting on the radio except conservative talk-show programs. Now, I must admit, I actually love listening in to the likes of Rush Linbaugh and Sean Hannity, despite my total disgust…
Read More
Recent Comments