PZ’s Podcast 100 & 101: Eternity and I Feel Like I Win When I Lose (plus Reception Address)
EPISODE 100: Eternity
Didn’t The Beach Boys sing something called “Hang On To Your Ego”? I guess it was a kind of “Not!”.
Well, this talk concerns death and the “art” of dying. What dies when you die physically? What lives on? What, if anything?
Consider the following observation from The Genius and the Goddess (1955):
“In the process of living as one ought to live, Helen had been dying by daily installments. When the final reckoning came, there was practically nothing to pay.” (p. 14)
Who was dying there? What was left? I’d like to know. That’s the the task I set in trying…
From The Onion: Human Civilization Brings Out Worst in Area Man
A new addition to the top tier of Onion brilliance, me thinks. You can read the full article here, ht JD:
“I’ve known Justin for years, and whenever he’s not engaged with modern society in any way, he’s actually pretty nice and laid-back,” said former roommate Michael Mariani, 32, who noted Krypel was typically agreeable when sitting by himself in a room doing nothing. ”However, as soon as he’s exposed to some aspect of the culture in which he lives, he can get pretty irritable and difficult to be around.”
“Some things just really seem to push his buttons, like work, having to deal…
America / Film / Grace in Practice / Humor / Identity / Law / Music / Science / Theology / TV / Week In Review
Another Week Ends: Louis CK, Sam Spade, Prevailing Grace, Heavy Metal, Axl Rose, Viennese Creativity, Cabin in the Woods, and yes, more Damsels in Distress
1. “The Filthy Moralist: How Louis C.K. Became America’s Unlikely Conscience” in The Atlantic is remarkable, especially in its conclusion. As always when it comes to Louis, there’s a high depravity quotient, so don’t say we didn’t warn you. But also as always when it comes to Louis, the darkness is not neutral or meaningless (or merely shocking). In fact, it might even be worth the discomfort in this case to get to the final couple of paragraphs, which truly capture what Louis is about, whether he wants to be or not. It strikes me as especially pertinent as we…
Batman: The Agony of Loss and the Madness of Desire, Pt 4F
Well, Bat-fans, we’ve come to the end of the six-part “Wounds of Discovery”, Jeremiah Lawson’s dazzling excavation of the inner life of Gotham’s criminal population. While there’s still much more to come, this marks the end of a significant chapter in our survey of the DC Animated Universe. As always, to begin at the beginning, go here. The very beginning, here.
PART FOUR: THE WOUNDS OF DISCOVERY
6. The Prison of the Self
Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy. – Proverbs 14:10
Even in laughter the heart is sad, and the end of joy is grief.…
The Gospel According to Nike
And this time I mean it! From the crew that brought us “Just Do It” (ugh…) comes an unexpectedly poignant and rich (and funny!) illustration of the Christian life, i.e. we can’t do it, but Jesus does.
PZ’s Podcast Unreleased and Bonus Material I&II: Can Anything Good Come Out of Meeksville?
A few curios to share before we reach the much-anticipated Episode 100. Don’t forget about the PZ’s Podcast Reception taking place at 6:30pm on Friday 4/20, as part of our NYC Conference (the event is open to listeners everywhere).
Unreleased PZ: Can Anything Good Come Out of Meeksville?
This one came from the vaults — or, more aptly, from the “tea chests”. (What are the “tea chests”? — That’s PZ’s Question of the Week, and can be answered by writing him at PZsPodcast@gmail.com.)
I see in Robert George Meek — Joe Meek — a perfect instance of what Simeon Zahl calls “the…
Aziz Ansari on Boredom, Rappers, Underconfidence
From his interview with NPR this week, Parks and Recreation‘s Ansari plans to release (much like Louis C.K.’s release) his new standup series, Dangerously Delicious, online (non-listeners of strong language, be warned).
Ansari himself grew up in a small town in South Carolina, where he says there was frequently nothing to do.”Nothing cool was going on, and I just wanted to leave,” he says… He remembers playing guitar and losing himself in bands like Led Zeppelin and Metallica during the first part of high school, when he was the only nonwhite student in the entire school. But after 10th grade, Ansari…
The Onion Reports: Majority Of Instances Of People Getting Lives Back On Track Occur Immediately After Visit To Buffalo Wild Wings
SEATTLE—According to a University of Washington report published Friday, more than two-thirds of major lifestyle reassessments take place after exiting a Buffalo Wild Wings franchise. “Typically, the moment of self-reflection begins when people find themselves in the parking lot asking questions like, ‘Why the hell am I here?’ and ‘What terrible life path am I currently on that led me to a Buffalo Wild Wings?’” said researcher Dr. Priyank Sarin, adding that most individuals hit bottom when they notice the stench of stale barbecue sauce clinging to their clothes and remember how depressed they felt when they caught their own…
The Route 29 Batman: A Case of Imputed Righteousness
Perhaps you’ve seen the recent viral images on Facebook and the like of Batman being pulled over on Route 29 in Silver Spring, Maryland for having no tags. The images made me laugh, but I didn’t think much of it until my wife sent me an article published earlier this week in The Washington Post titled, “Who is the Route 29 Batman?” Believe it or not, the curious case of Lenny B. Robinson sheds some light on the topic of imputed righteousness.
The article is worth reading in full, but the skinny is that Robinson is an independently wealthy divorced man…
I Gotta Try Losing Sometime: Rivalry, Redemption, and Donkey Kong
“I wanted to be the hero. I wanted to be the center of attention. I wanted the glory, I wanted the fame, I wanted the pretty girls coming up and saying, ‘Hi, I see you’re good at Centipede.’” – Walter Day
“When I have to watch that pile of eight tapes over there for Dwayne Richards’ two-day Nibbler performance, that’s 48 straight hours of paying attention and making sure he’s doing everything correctly.” – Robert Mruczek
Those are just two of the astonishing number of rhetorical jewels in the 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, which chronicles one…
Books / Children / Death / Economics / Film / Humor / Law / Literature / Music / Religion / Theology / Week In Review
Another Week Ends: Zeitgeistlichkeit, Atheist Religiosity, Freakonomic Fathers, Ralph Erskine, MJ, Devo’s Paradox, Hunger Games, Deep Blue Sea, and Hoarders
1. A pair of terrific book reviews have appeared in The NY Times over the last couple weeks, the first being Generation X author Douglas Coupland‘s inspiring riff on Hari Kunzu’s opus, Gods Without Men, and the exciting new genre it epitomizes (“Translit”). Ironically enough, he makes a number of Twitter-ready observations:
[We are living in a] “state of possibly permanent atemporality given to us courtesy of the Internet. No particular era now dominates. We live in a post-era without forms of its own powerful enough to brand the times. The zeitgest of 2012 is that we have a lot of…
Rebecca Todd: Well, I am sure both of you would win a debate so I'm not going there....
Jim McNeely: Rebecca, I agree, great comment! Yummy. Here are my thoughts.I thi...
Sam: Isn't the empty tomb proof? I remember a debate that involved Christo...
Zach: Wonderful jewel of honesty amidst the dregs of mealy pap spewed from l...
Rutger-Jan Heijmen: *Conan's...