OK, just one more comic, this time from XKCD:

And now for something completely different. This may be my favourite ever TV advertisement:

In Perth in the year 1559, John Knox preached a sermon that is credited by some with kick starting the Reformation in Scotland. Knox aroused the parishioners to destroy the religious idols and graven images of the saints in their churches. In reaction to the uproar, Mary of Guise sent troops to lay siege to Perth, but in defence of the new protestants, Alexander Cunningham, 5th Earl of Glencairn, defeated Mary’s troops by leading a force of 2,500 soldiers against them. These were stirring times where people were prepared to pay the ultimate price for their convictions.

Four and a half centuries later (today, in fact), I visited Knox Presbyterian church here in Dunedin, named after the Scottish Reformer himself. If you’re lucky enough to visit what is really a lovely church, here’s what you’ll see. First, before you enter the front door, you’re greeted with this:

It’s a bust of the Rev Dr D M Stuart, the conservative first minister of Knox church.

Once you enter the church, here is the stained glass window that dominates the view:

Click on the image for a larger view. Along with the four evangelists, the stained glass image features St. Andrew (Patron Saint of Scotland) and St. Margaret (11th Century Queen of Scotland). The figure on the bottom right is D M Stuart, and the man on the bottom left? John Knox himself.

Make a sentence out of the following words: his in grave Knox is turning John.

Glenn Peoples

Part 2 of the podcast series on philosophy of mind is well underway, and it’s shaping up to be an interesting series (for me, at any rate!).

In the meantime I wanted to share something with you purely for the sake of comic relief. I discovered this a few days ago (thanks Stacey!). My kids love it, and I have to confess to finding it thoroughly amusing. Enjoy!

Hey everyone, this is my last podcast episode for 2008, So I thought I’d do something light hearted. Here’s a brief glimpse at purgatory, aka “what lefties do do Christmas.” Enjoy. I can’t take credit for the story. It was concocted by one John Mitchell, and can be found here.

Merry Christmas!

Episode 022: Merry Christmas! [ 7:36 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Readers may or may not be familiar with Peter Singer, the Australian born philosopher (I use that term very loosely here) who teaches at Princeton, and who thinks that baby cows either do, could or should have more moral rights than baby humans.

I think he’s finally found the perfect avenue (not that it ended up being a very receptive audience). He recently appeared on the Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report.

Thanks Dee Dee for bringing this story to my attention.

A former board member of the Lakewind Church in Tennessee has sued the church and its pastors, saying that he was injured when he fell after the spirit took him during a church service.

According to the complaint, Matthew Lincoln was participating in the evening service at the church when a visiting minister touched his forehead after Lincoln came to the altar.  “Mr. Lincoln received the spirit and fell backwards striking the carpet-covered cement floor . . ., causing him to sustain severe and permanent injuries.”  Lincoln alleges that the fall aggravated a pre-existing back injury, rendering him unable to work.

I find this to be (apart from hilarious) rather revealing. It wasn’t the pentecostal leaders who made him fell – right? It wasn’t peer pressure, his own silly expectations or the desire to look spiritual in front of his peers. Right? It was the Holy Spirit – Right Mr Lincoln?

So why is he suing the church? They didn’t make the Holy Spirit do this, did they? Why isn’t he suing God for the 2.5 million dollars he is seeking?

Well, the transfer over to the new host went smoothly. A couple of full length podcast episodes are up now, and you can find “Say Hello to my Little Friend” in the iTunes store!

Thanks Amy for pointing this story out to me. When I saw it my reaction was “That is SO something I could see myself doing!”

Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson have not wasted their lives.

They fight a losing battle, an unyielding tide of misplaced apostrophes and poor spelling. But still, they fight. Why, you ask. Because, they say. Because, they must.

For the last three months, they have circled the nation in search of awkward grammar construction. They have ferreted out bad subject-verb agreements, and they have faced stone-faced opposition everywhere.

See the full story here.

I can totally relate to these guys. I see it all the time in stores – even sometimes from government departments. There they are: Spelling errors, grammatical bungles, malapropisms by the score. Everywhere! INTJs of the world unite!

While I’m working on the McGrath/Hitchens review, here are some dope Dawkins rhymes.