Humor
Going Rogen: Hiding Behind the Cross
Celebrity / Humor / Religion / Theology

Going Rogen: Hiding Behind the Cross

by Michael Sansbury on Apr 11, 2013 • 1 Comment

About 95% of the way through this video, I decided that I wasn’t going to post about it, because it touches on things about I’ve already written about. But the last 5% compelled me otherwise. The video has some questionable elements, so, if you’re pure of heart (or at work), you may want to skip to the summary:

For those who didn’t watch, the video begins with a flashback to one year ago, following the completion of Hilarity for Charity 2012. The organizers, including Seth Rogen and Dave Krumholtz, are congratulating each other on a job well done. At the end of…

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Mockingbird at the Movies: A Quick 2013 Summer Blockbuster Preview
Film / Humor

Mockingbird at the Movies: A Quick 2013 Summer Blockbuster Preview

by Bryan J. on Apr 8, 2013 • 1 Comment

It’s April, and you know what that means? A mere four weeks away till the start of the summer blockbuster season! By no means complete, here’s a list of “big” movies to look out for this summer, based upon trailers, the likelihood they’ll merit a fuller Mbird review after they premiere, and my personal taste in movies. But if I run afoul of the almighty Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, perhaps my recommendations will change? As has been noted elsewhere, it looks like we’re in for a quite a bit of post-apocalyptic mayhem:

4/5 Jurassic Park 3D: This is the first…

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Film / Humor

A Quick Calvin and Hobbes Gritty Reboot

by David Zahl on Apr 4, 2013 • No Comments
Comics

From The New Yorker

by David Zahl on Mar 25, 2013 • No Comments

WhyTo

Another Week Ends: Jackrabbit Madness, FOMO, Faith Like a Mumford, Radical Rhetoric, Alan Partridge and the Sitcom Smackdown
America / Books / Church / Everyday / Film / Humor / Music / Psychology / Religion / Reviews / Social Science / Sports / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Jackrabbit Madness, FOMO, Faith Like a Mumford, Radical Rhetoric, Alan Partridge and the Sitcom Smackdown

by Ethan Richardson on Mar 22, 2013 • No Comments

1)   If you are a sports fan, today is (arguably, I know) day two of the best four days in college sports every year. March Madness has begun, and Grantland is the place to be for the most hare-brained predictions and analyses—including a Charles Barkley shark jump and a Marshall Henderson moment only Marshall Henderson could think up. It’s not all fun and games, though—this story on the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits is one of the best team profiles I’ve read in a while. I defy you not to root for this team in the tournament, even it means…

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When Schopenhauer Met Osteen
Humor / Philosophy / Religion

When Schopenhauer Met Osteen

by David Zahl on Mar 21, 2013 • 4 Comments

What can I say? We try our best to avoid easy targets (or “targets” period) on here, but Book Forum’s recent “Hope Against Schope”, in which Kerry Howley imagines a dialogue between prosperity posterboy Joel Osteen and 19th century German pessimist extraordinaire Arthur Schopenhauer, was just too inspired/hilarious to resist, especially in light of John Gray’s recent book. Call it a study in contrasts. Apparently, with only very minor alteration, the Osteen quotes come from a couple of Joel’s recent sermons, his I Declare and Become a Better You, while the Schopenhauer parts were taken from The World as Will…

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Fashion / Humor

From The New Yorker

by David Zahl on Mar 18, 2013 • No Comments

clothing

Comics / Everyday / Relationships

A Quick Calvin and Hobbes

by David Zahl on Mar 14, 2013 • 1 Comment

CHscorekeeping

Humor

From The New Yorker: The Playground Imitates Life…

by DPotter on Mar 10, 2013 • No Comments

Funny New Yorker Cartoon

Brooke Shields Starts Over and Over (and Over Again)
Film / Humor / Identity

Brooke Shields Starts Over and Over (and Over Again)

by Michael Sansbury on Mar 7, 2013 • 1 Comment

Hollywood formulas are so well known at this point that watching a two-minute trailer usually tells you everything you need to know. Mock trailers, though, turn the formulas on their head, transforming the well-known into something completely new.

The following mock trailer is so perfect that it doesn’t really need an introduction or commentary, so just watch it (slight language warning):

If you didn’t watch it, here is what happens: Brooke Shields is a successful career woman, but she decides to give it up to open a candle store. In the candle store, she meets a handsome, shirtless man. Sounds like the…

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From The Onion: Obnoxious Friend Won’t Stop Attaining Major Life Milestones
Humor / Law / Relationships

From The Onion: Obnoxious Friend Won’t Stop Attaining Major Life Milestones

by Todd Brewer on Mar 6, 2013 • No Comments

Another brilliant parody from The Onion on the complex dynamics of judgment in relationships, specifically our obsession with the achievement game, the need to broadcast to everyone when you seem to be succeeding (I’m looking at you, half-marathon runners), and our bitter dislike/envy of those who seem to be #winning.

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Annoyed sources confirmed this week that married and pregnant local woman Ashley Canfield will not stop achieving significant life milestones, unanimously agreeing that the 30-year-old law school graduate seriously needs to just cool it with the achievements.

Saying they were tired of hearing about her steadily progressing life via occasional…

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Another Week Ends: Miracle Baskets, Doubtful Essays, Optimism vs Quitting, Paternalism, Secret Menus, Netflix Puppetry, Bowie and Mats Return, and Hathaway Haters
America / Books / Celebrity / Film / Food / Grace in Practice / Humor / Identity / Music / Psychology / Religion / Social Science / Technology / Theology / TV / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Miracle Baskets, Doubtful Essays, Optimism vs Quitting, Paternalism, Secret Menus, Netflix Puppetry, Bowie and Mats Return, and Hathaway Haters

by David Zahl on Mar 1, 2013 • No Comments

1. In need of a little (heart)warming on a cold winter’s day? Look no further than the spontaneous act of mercy that occurred on a high school basketball court in Texas last month, ht JD:

2. Phillip Lopate ponders the declining place of Doubt in an essay for The NY Times, evidence perhaps of deeper denials, ht SY:

Despite periodic warnings of the essay’s demise, the stuff does continue to be published; if anything, the essay has experienced a slight resurgence of late. I wonder if that may be because it is attuned to the current mood, speaks to the present moment.…

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A Little Dose of Patton Medicine
Humor / Religion / Suffering

A Little Dose of Patton Medicine

by Michael Sansbury on Feb 28, 2013 • 1 Comment

If I ever need a reminder that I am a deeply sinful creature (and I rarely do), I simply recall my attraction to stand-up comedy. I love stand-up comedy, especially comedy that is openly hostile to religion. I don’t know why exactly, probably because, as Christopher Hitchens might generalize, God rest his soul, atheists are so much funnier than Christians.

One of my favorite comedians is Patton Oswalt. You may know him as the voice of Remy in Pixar’s Ratatouille. Well, Patton is also a devoted atheist. Some of his best bits point out the utter absurdity of religion in general…

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Humor / Sports

The Wind Blows Where It… Won’t?

by David Zahl on Feb 26, 2013 • 1 Comment
No One Knows the Law (Like John Fitzgerald Page): Buckhead Nightlife and the Search for Identity
Everyday / Film / Humor / Identity / Relationships

No One Knows the Law (Like John Fitzgerald Page): Buckhead Nightlife and the Search for Identity

by WB on Feb 25, 2013 • 8 Comments

While DZ is recovering from a trip to Liberate in Fort Lauderdale, here’s one of his favorite identity stories from Gawker, the ballad of “Nightmare Online Dater” John Fitzgerald Page, who received a wink on Match.com and promptly responded with an email laden with identity assertions, ticking off all the boxes that many of us, truthfully, would like brag about ourselves, if only we met the criteria:

I live in a 31 story high rise condominium, right in the middle of the Buckhead nightlife district. Do you ever come to this area of town to shop/go out/visit/explore?

I went to an Ivy…

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