Jimmy Akin – Page 545

Monologue Of The Messiah

I’m very much looking forward to Anne Rice’s new novel.

Instead of being an interview with a vampire, though, this novel will be a monologue by the Messiah.

In other words: It’s a story told in first-person narration by Jesus Christ.

In the hands of many authors, that kind of story could be an anti-Christian disaster, but Rice is–or has become–a believer. She’s reverted to the Catholic Church, ended her vampire chronicles, and dedicated her future writing to serving God.

Currently she has planned a trilogy of books on the life of Christ, told from his point of view.

That’s a prospect that–as an author–gives me the willies.

It’s the literary equivalent of climing Mount Everest. How on earth do you pull that off? The potential pitfalls associated with such a project are mind boggling! Even if you get the theology right, striking the right tone and style for first person narration by Jesus is nearly unimaginable–especially for something as long as a novel (and certianly for a trilogy!).

That’s one reason I’m interested in reading the first volume, which is about to be released: I want to see how she tackles so daunting a task.

The book is titled Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and will be released November 1.

In the meantime . . .

READ AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ABOUT RICE AND THE BOOK.

PRE-ORDER THE BOOK VIA AMAZON.

or wait for it to be released on AUDIBLE.COM on November 1.

Incidentally, Rice has moved from her native New Orleans to La Jolla (lah HOY-yah), California, which is here in the greater San Diego area. I wonder if I’ll ever bump into her as a result of interaction with the local Catholic community. That’d be cool.

How Battlestar Galactica Killed Broadcast TV

HERE’S A REALLY INTERESTING ARTICLE ON THE FUTURE OF TELEVISION.

The author argues that broadcast TV is in for a major shakeup in the wake of broadband technology.

It’s certain that the Internet is going to change the way television operates–that’s been obvious for some time–but what isn’t clear is what the resulting TV landscape will look like.

At some point we’re going to be downloading TV programs. There are already experiments inthat direction: There’s suppose to be a scaled-down tie-in for the program 24 that you’ll be able to download onto your cellphone. Apple is talking about a video iPod. But these are just experiments.

What has to happen is for someone to come up with an economically viable model–or set of models–for how to pay for TV content to be produced in the age of downloads.

That’s where the above-linked articles comes in. The author speculates on how the economics of TV will work in the future.

Among his predictions:

Broadcast TV will go back to being a live medium covering things like news and sports as non-live television programs (e.g., sitcoms and dramas) shift to downloadable distribution.
Downloaded TV shows will not have the equivalent of commercials. There will be no interruptions in the show for commercial breaks.
Instead, the advertising will be embedded in the show itself–like the station-identification "bugs" that currently appear in the corner of your TV screen (or, though he doesn’t mention this, through product placement).
(If I read him correctly) Shows will move back toward having a single sponsor instead of a host of different advertisers.
The audience will continue to not pay directly for TV content.

These are interesting ideas, as is the way he fleshes out how it all might work, though I’m dubious about his last prediction. I think that audiences WILL be willing to pay for content. We’re already paying for cable service and for DVDs we buy and for TiVo boxes that cut out the commercials for us.

I suspect that, as the download TV market develops, there will be people who will be willing to pay the producers of the shows in order to get advertising-free versions of the broadcasts, just as is now happening via DVDs. A model may emerge where you can either download the free version of the show, which has embedded advertising, or pay a fee to access an advertising-free version of the show.

I suspect that the latter will at least be experimented with as the market matures.

Now, what role does Battlestar Galactica play in this series of developments? For that you’ll have to

GET THE STORY.

I’m Baaaaaaaaack. . . .

In case you didn’t notice over the weekend, I’m now back from my trip through Arizona and part of New Mexico, and I have the pictures to prove it. More info on all that in coming days.

Before getting back to regular blogging, though, I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to my co-bloggers, and particularly to Tim J, who did an outstanding job filling in!

Kudos, guys! Y’all don’t know how much I appreciate it! Your posts are welcome here, any time!

Happy Universe Day!

Today–October 23rd–back in 4004 B.C., the universe was created.

At least according to the chronology created by Anglican Archbishop James Ussher.

You’ll find it printed in the center margin of many editions of the King James Bible.

Funny that it’s not found in Catholic Bibles.

In any event,

GET THE STORY.

Watch Out for Large Ungulates

I grew up in Alaska, so the importance of of THIS ARTICLE (from Reuters) about not running into moose resonates with me somewhat, even though I now live in Arkansas.
I encountered moose on several occasions as a youngster, both intentionally and un-.
Moose aren’t just big, they are huge – like a Jersey cow, but
homelier and with longer legs. I mean, you just won’t believe how
vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big they are.
For instance, when the article says that moose can stand 6 feet tall, that means at the shoulder, and the truth is they can be bigger than that.
Encountering moose accidentally is always a little unnerving, and in a moving vehicle it could be especially deadly. In an airplane… well, it would be bad. Looking for a way to keep moose from wandering onto airport runways would therefore be a noble pursuit.
Now the folks in Wasilla, Alaska have installed a Moose Irritating Device that shows great promise in keeping the dumb beasts from wandering into the path of unsuspecting Cessnas.
Archie Giddings, Public Works Director for Wasilla, explained the subtleties of the mechanism;

"They’d feel a shock and they’d also hear a snap. Those two things
would cause the moose to not go in there."

Giddings also described, in refreshingly anthropocentric terms, what a moose/airplane collision would be like;

"If they ever did come to the runway and have a collision with an
aircraft, that could be disastrous to the pilot," Giddings said. "An
airplane could disintegrate if it hits a moose.".

If successful, the device could soon be seen in airports all across the northern U.S., and we will all sleep a bit better, though the moose might be more irritable.
GET THE STORY.

Zuni, new mexico This message

Zuni, new mexico

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Dishing on Immigrants

An interesting article from WAPO (via the Seattle Times) reveals that for many immigrants to the U.S, using the automatic dishwasher in their home is the equivalent to Drinking The Kool-Aid.
Many – nay, most – simply won’t use the thing. It is seen as frivolous and unnecessary. According to the article;

If they have a dishwasher — and many do, because it is standard
equipment in most homes — it becomes a glorified dish rack, a
Tupperware storage cabinet or a snack-food bin. It’s never turned on.

Dishwashers are also seen as overly complicated and mysterious. Think about the way alot of Americans feel about programming the VCR (that’s what they had before DVD players, kiddos).
At bottom, though, many immigrants simply think that they can do a better job washing up than any old machine, thanks.

Graciela Andres laments that her daughter, son-in-law and three
grandchildren have abandoned washing by hand. "They do it the American
way: They put everything in the wash machine, no matter if it’s a
little spoon," said Andres, who emigrated from Bolivia in 1981.

You can almost feel the scorn and contempt, can’t you?
I say, good on ’em! "Go not gently…", and all that.
They should start an organization and print T-shirts with the slogan "They can take my dishes away when they pry them from my wet, soapy hands".
GET THE STORY.

To Heir is Human

Walton heiress Elizabeth Paige Laurie ~~has been stripped of~~ has voluntarily given back her diploma from USC, after it was found she paid her roommate, Elena Martinez, to do most of the coursework.
Just a couple of thoughts:

If one were not heir to a gazillion dollars, would one be given the opportunity to "give back" the fraudulent diploma, or would one be unceremoniously dumped via a terse note from the registrar’s office, and possibly threatened with legal action?
I would be interested to know if ex-roommate Elena Martinez has given back any of the $20,000 she was paid to do something she knew was wrong in the first place. She seems equally content to have A) taken the money and B) sung like a canary on 20/20, presumably for more money. It seems like Ms. Laurie would be due a refund.

Of course, Miss Heiress Thang got what she deserved, but – hey, a deal’s a deal.

Painted desert. Wow! This message

Painted desert. Wow!

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Mystery photo. . . .

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