The Simpsons | Mockingbird

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…

Testimony / Year In Review

“Excuse Me, Ma’am, But That’s TMI”: Six Favorite Moments of 2012

by Lauren R.E. Larkin on Dec 27, 2012 • 5 Comments

I’m not an avid enough moviegoer to give you a list of my favorite films of the year. I’m nowhere near up to speed on current music enough to talk about the best artists of 2012. The only books I’ve read are theological ones, mostly Thomas Aquinas and Martin Luther, so books of 2012? I haven’t got a clue. What I can give you as a year-in-review a la LRE Larkin, is, well, me. So what follows are some of the moments this past year when I was reminded that I don’t have my act together, that I’m not in…

Celebrity / Psychology / Sports / TV

ESPN and Lisa Simpson Denounce the World

by Nick Lannon on May 30, 2012 • 1 Comment

Am I the only one who still watches The Simpsons every week? Sometimes it seems like it…and it seems like the writing staff of The Simpsons knows it. The show has become a trifle (after beginning as a powerhouse) over the last several seasons, and only occasionally still has something interesting to say. In last week’s episode “Lisa Goes Gaga” (even the episode titles are boring…”Lisa Goes Gaga?” This from a show that brought us “Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk.”) Lady Gaga comes to Springfield. She’s not planning to; her joyful train only stops in town after Gaga notices what a…

America / Business / Children / Church / Everyday / Film / Humor / Identity / Literature / News / Science / Sermons / Theology / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: DFW50, Simpsons 500, Ira Talks Radiolab, Rowling Talks New Novel, Helpless Women, Helpless Kids, Lenten Identity, Cormac McCarthy Pictionary

by Ethan Richardson on Feb 24, 2012 • 1 Comment

All the best wishes for those mockingbirds at the Liberate Conference in Fort Lauderdale this weekend, including our very own David Zahl.

1. Along with the rest of the blogosphere this week, we wish David Foster Wallace a happy 50th birthday. There’s too many blessings to recount, but the web has exploded with numerous avenues for you to get your feet wet or soul soaked. Take a look at The Awl’s “46 Things to Read and See for David Foster Wallace’s 50th Birthday,” a piece of which includes an 86-minute interview with German TV ZDF, the first of which you’ll find…

Art / Law / Religion / Theology / TV

Fight the Power: Banksy, External Authorities and Justification by Faith Alone

by JDK on Oct 20, 2010 • 3 Comments

In case you missed it. From the LATimes:

The artist known as Banksy is famous for his stealth graffiti projects that mix social commentary and subversive street art. In keeping with his rebel persona, Banksy’s guest “appearance” on “The Simpsons” on Sunday night [Oct. 10] was an unpredictable affair that mixed the anarchically humorous and the deadly serious. Banksy helped to design the opening credits for Sunday evening’s episode… Banksy created an extended sequence that took viewers on a hellish tour of sweatshop labor in Asia. Workers are shown toiling away on animation cels and merchandise tie-ins for the hit Fox…

Humor / Music / Theology

Michael Jackson’s Most Pelagian Moments (Plus)

by David Zahl on Jul 16, 2009 • 11 Comments

Our MJ-tribute soldiers on! This time with a little theology thrown in… We drop the word “Pelagian” pretty often on this blog, as well as its more devious cousin “Semi-Pelagian”, but I’m not sure we’ve ever posted a definition. According to Wikipedia (and yes, I can’t believe I’m quoting them as an authority either) Pelagianism is:

A theological [heresy] named after Pelagius (ad. 354 – ad. 420/440). It is the belief that original sin did not taint human nature and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without special Divine Aid. Thus, Adam’s sin was “to…