OK, this is not my usual subject matter here at 7WD, but it’s cool. One of the most interesting blogs I read is oobject, which features lists of things. All kinds of things. Not long ago the list was “buildings in old planes.” Go investigate.

If things continue to be bleak for airlines and in the housing market, maybe I’ll get myself an Airbus 380 manor.

I’ve had my suspicions about the massive bailout over which Congress is dithering. As one of my facebook friends said, I am suspcious of “privatization of profit and socialization of loss.” GraphJam gets it right, I think:

Seriously, if someone could help me understand this from a Christian perspective, I’d be grateful. Part of me sees that many people will suffer because of Wall Street greed — and our own greed, by the way. Another part of me thinks this is a useful correction that might help us all begin to live more sustainably and less greedily.

The good people at Park Community Church are messing with the very bedrock of the Christian faith: the Sunday leaflet. More to the point, they have engaged in a radical new (revisionist, possibly heretical) programme involving the suppression of weekly notice sheets (”announcements” as the kids like to say).

What’s up with that? Don’t they know that all God-fearing Christians expect to find weekly announcements in their hands every Sunday, without fail, world without end?

Actually, I think this is brilliant. The weekly leaflet as a core part of the faith can’t be more than 150 years old or so. Times have changed, and so must our communication methods. In the parish I serve, we have a weekly email newsletter that seems to generate the most buzz. (We print it out each week for those who are not Internetized.) We have a website, which is the source of many visits from our guests. We still produce a regular print newsletter. And, of course, we produce weekly notices.

Do we still need to do all this? They consume an enormous amount of time and not a small amount of trees. I’m not sure I could embrace the radical agenda of canning the weekly notice sheet, but I wonder if others have moderized their communication methods. Has your parish, gentle reader, done something whacky with communication? Like it? Hate it?

Here’s the way most Episcopal congregations try to grow:

1. Do what we’ve always done, only “better.”
2. ???
3. Hope for growth.

South Park nails it.

Read more »

Sorry, I’ll try to move on from Sarah Palin soon. It’s just that I’m horrified that she could possibly be elected as our Vice President. That means she’s one heartbeat away from leading the (at least for now) most powerful nation on earth.

Here’s a snippet from Bob Herbert’s column about the Couric interview in Friday’s NY Times:

Gently interrupting, Ms. Couric asked, “Have you ever been involved in any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?”

“We have trade missions back and forth,” said Ms. Palin. “We do. It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to our state.”

It was surreal, the kind of performance that would generate a hearty laugh if it were part of a Monty Python sketch. But this is real life, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. As Ms. Palin was fumbling her way through the Couric interview, the largest bank failure in the history of the United States, the collapse of Washington Mutual, was occurring.

I do not want to live in a world where the veep is more bizarre than a Monty Python character.

I have nothing further to say.

From a boston.com series of photos entitled “Palin look-alikes”. You can vote on which one looks most like Sarah. As I write this “Cornfield Sarah” is in second place behind Tina Fey.

The Simpsons. LEGO. Imagine them combined. Imagine no longer.

If this seems out of character for 7WD, I remind you that the Archbishop of Canterbury ends his daily office work in time to watch our favorite family from Springfield. If it’s good enough for Cantuar, it’s good enough for me.

From Neatorama, via bb.

Christians meet ska. The result is this:

Anyone up for a ska mass?

From Nothing to do with Arbroath, via bb.