Saw this over at Ace of Spades HQ:

“Tomkitten’s” ‘first poop’ goes on display in New York

And here it is:

The story notes:

I just want to add a couple of thing here:

1) Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are nuts psycho. Plain and simple, nuts psycho.
2) Why would anyone buy this?

3) What kind of culture have we bred where something like this is, a) seen as “normal” and b) news ?

4) Why are we calling the guy who made this an “artist”? It is a piece of baby poop.

Discuss this, and other tidbits of celebrity culture here

technorati tags : celebrity+culture Tom+Cruise Katie+Holmes TomKat TomKitten Poop

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technorati tags : postsecret

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Well, in my post below (Jesus vs. vampires), I wrote about a new comic title I am strangely excited about called Testament. I managed to obtain the issues I was missing and have read the series to date (6 issues so far). I have also looked a bit more at the author’s website, Douglas Rushkoff. His blog is particularly interesting, especially where he writes about his ideas behind, and hopes for, this comic.

Before I comment on the comic, and on his comments on the comic, perhaps I should say a word about myself. I am a Christian. Further, my theology is rather conservative. While I would distance myself from certain branches of theological conservatism, especially that which confuses itself for political conservatism, my theology remains rather Reformed. I am, what some might call, a “True Believer.” On Rushkoff’s blog, this is how he refers to those (it is a condescending term for him), who believe that things in the Bible “literally happened.”

With that said, I will also admit, I love this comic, and think that Rushkoff’s premise is fascinating. It is one I will read monthly, and I will most likely be referring to it in my dissertation.

First, the comic.

Looking only at the comic, without referring to Rushkoff’s site, I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly he is trying to do. The narrative is told omni-temporally, or, multi-temporally. Two narratives are being told, but they are actually one narrative, taking place in two different times. And the point is that this narrative takes place in all time(s).

You have the Abram story in its biblical context juxtaposed with a “re-telling” or, maybe more accurate, “re-happening” of the story in a not-so-distant-future time. The more you read, the more the allegorical nature of the text is revealed. Characters in the future timeline correspond directly to characters in the past timeline. Alan quite allegorically is Abraham. Jake quite allegorically is the Isaac blended with Lot character. Miriam is Lot’s wife, the old man is Melchezidek/Elijah.

As the narrative progresses, these contemporary/future characters play out their roles in the updated biblical narrative with precision. There is little deviation from the original narrative (save Miriam/Lot’s wife’s role, and this deviation is purposeful). What I find most fascinating is that while one could say that, looking only at the human characters, the narrative is just re-playing itself, and could be the same narrative in different terms, the aspect which changes things is the interaction of the “gods” behind and in-between the panels of the text/art. It is the interaction of the gods Astarte, Molech and Atum on the one side, and the Hebrew, not so much God’s as representatives, Melchezidek and Elijah on the other side…behind and even in the action, that makes the reader understand that the story is happening anew. And it is a story that has been happening forever, literally a battle for freedom of humanity.

The writing and the artwork are both superb, fascinating, and enveloping. I also love how the narrative makes absolutely no effort to soften the hardcore unseemliness of the Bible.

Rushkoff’s blog.

Rushkoff’s blog is another read altogether. There, in two posts especially, he lays out his thoughts behind, and motives for, Testament.

The first post, Faith=Illness: Why I’ve Had It With Religious Tolerance, begins with the blatent statement:

On first glance this seems at odds with his work in the comic. But in fact, for Rushkoff, the Bible is a collection of mythological stories that, in line with Jungian psychology, have made their way into the collective human subconscious. Never was the Bible meant to be taken literally. However, it seems to have usefulness for people today in its ability to help us create meaning out of reality, maybe helping us to play out our own situations in a narrative/theoretical structure. He says:

Rushkoff is tired of religious fundamentalism (aren’t we all?). In fact, he wants to “destroy” it. He writes that when religions:

“True Believers” do not have the freedom to appropriate biblical narrative in a life/reality-altering way, because they (we) believe in its historicity. For Rushkoff, tying the narrative events to actual events robs the narrative of its power for meaning making today, leaving the contemporary reader stranded in his or her own situation:

To have someone recognize and assert the beauty and multi-dimensionality of the Bible is a good thing. I am extremely appreciative of his observations here. I wonder, though, if the multi-dimensionality of the Bible would allow for, not just a psychological reading of the text in which it is not literally/historically true, but rather psychologically true, but a reading that affirms both the text’s historical rootedness, as well as its inclusion of the reader today into its very narrative as a part of the ongoing story. I think that it does.

While I agree with much of what Rushkoff says, it is in his suggestion of a solution to the problems he identifies that I begin to disagree with him. Not because he is challenging my beliefs, but because 1) I don’t think that he has an accurate handle on what the Bible is, and 2) I approach the subject from an entirely different belief system.

Rushkoff wants to “take charge of the Bible”:

The problem with this, in my opinion, is that the Bible, whether in Judaism or in Christianity, and whether one takes it as historical or non-historical myth, is not to be “taken control of,” but rather, its power is as a story that takes control of us. The historical track record of those taking control of the scripture stories is not an impressive one, often ending with a word created in our own image, merely a reflection of ourselves, and emptied of its power to change lives.

While I appreciate Rushkoff’s stated goal of bringing these great and powerful stories to those who might never experience them, yet, I diverge with him, still believing that the most powerful way of reading these stories, as with all art, is to let them speak for themselves, to let them be themselves, and to let their characters stand as individuals. Saying that “We are Cain…We are those enslaved by Egyptians…We are Mordechi” robs me of my identity as Casey. I am not Cain, though I may struggle with his struggles. I am not enslaved in Egypt, like the Hebrews, though I may deal with enslavery of my own. I am not Mordechi, yet I struggle with the temptation to cave under the pressure of popular or political opinion. It also robs the characters (even if you believe them to be non-historical) of their identity, and in some ways disrespects them.

In the second post on his blog that I referred to above, The Testament - My Testament, Rushkoff writes:

I love the quote, until the last 3 lines.

An alternative program?

The final thing I will say has to do with my alternative suggestion for making the Bible accessible, and “relevent” (if that word isn’t overused), to a contemporary time takes the biblical narrative as our history, with us playing it out. We are caught, as the Apostle Paul might say, between the times. We look to the story of our people (the people of God) that came before us, and it gives us the trajectory for our own personal and interconnected narratives in the present, and into the future. We look to our people’s past for direction for our people’s future - improvising that future as we crawl along in the present. We become involved in the story, intimately, and our own personal identity’s are maintained.

And after all that, I will say that I really do enjoy this comic. Rushkoff is doing something artistic with narrative, and he is doing it well. And, despite the part of his project that strikes me awkwardly, (the whole God being a fictional character thing), I definately plan on continuing to read this book.

Casey

technorati tags: Rushkoff Testament Comics Narrative Bible Construction of Reality anachronism theology art pop culture

pop culture, theology, imagination, art | 1 Comment »

I came accross this website that is really cool: http://postsecret.blogspot.com

The website states as its purpose:

Each Sunday new postcards/secrets are posted. They range from funny, like this one (or, maybe ambiguously funny, as this one could go either way):

To incredibly sad, like this one:

The site, it seems from reading, has helped a lot of people who are battling depression and/or contemplating suicide. People come across the site and see that they aren’t the only one with deep, hurtful, painful secrets. There are links on the website to HopeLine, a suicide hotline.

Also, a book has been compiled of many of the postcards received.

It is just a really interesting site. I will be reading often.

Casey

pop culture, art, internet | 1 Comment »

Some of you know that I have a medical condition called Cluster Headache, which, because I have a “chronic” condition, gives me terrible headaches on a daily basis. Since going chronic, the frequency of the very intense ones has lessened, though I still cope with head pain daily. The massive attacks occur 2-4 times a week now. I’ve had the condition for about 5 years, and the prospects for it ending any time soon are slim at best, though, everything is unpredictable with this thing.

I realized one day that I can’t be bitter about this. Sure, it sucks. And it is difficult. But the truth is that these headaches have become a part of what makes me who I am. In light of that, in some sense, I need to embrace them.
It isn’t that I wouldn’t get rid of them if I could. No. If I had the choice, I would very much like to see who I am without them! But, if that isn’t the case for now, I need to embrace who I am - headaches and all.

So, what I did was to get a tattoo as a symbol of the pain, as a symbol of myself with the pain:

I have to say that the experience was incredible. I went to Skin Deep Tattoo in Lahaina, Maui, and set up an appointment with Keavan after he was recommended by a local, and Sarah and I browsed his portfolio. I went in the next morning and told him about my headaches, and mentioned the words: voodoo/rag doll, spike/needle through temple and eye. The above was what he came back with when I came in for my appointment. Fantastic. I was so freaking excited I could hardly wait.

Turns out that Keavan also suffers from Cluster like headaches brought on by a car accident he was in a few years ago. He told me that once I described the pain, he understood what I meant, and knew exactly what he was going to draw. He made the experience a lot of fun. In fact the whole shop is amazing. Incredible shop. Incredible staff. Incredible artist. Incredible tat. Incredible experience.

Well, that’s one way for me to embrace the pain…permanently.

Casey

Info on Cluster Headache:

ClusterHeadaches.com

Organization for the Understanding of Cluster Headache

Cluster Busters

technorati tags: Cluster Headache tattoo pain

life, art | 2 Comments »

Well, in my post below (Jesus vs. vampires), I wrote about a new comic title I am strangely excited about called Testament. I managed to obtain the issues I was missing and have read the series to date (6 issues so far). I have also looked a bit more at the author’s website, Douglas Rushkoff. His blog is particularly interesting, especially where he writes about his ideas behind, and hopes for, this comic.

Before I comment on the comic, and on his comments on the comic, perhaps I should say a word about myself. I am a Christian. Further, my theology is rather conservative. While I would distance myself from certain branches of theological conservatism, especially that which confuses itself for political conservatism, my theology remains rather Reformed. I am, what some might call, a “True Believer.” On Rushkoff’s blog, this is how he refers to those (it is a condescending term for him), who believe that things in the Bible “literally happened.”

With that said, I will also admit, I love this comic, and think that Rushkoff’s premise is fascinating. It is one I will read monthly, and I will most likely be referring to it in my dissertation.

First, the comic.

Looking only at the comic, without referring to Rushkoff’s site, I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly he is trying to do. The narrative is told omni-temporally, or, multi-temporally. Two narratives are being told, but they are actually one narrative, taking place in two different times. And the point is that this narrative takes place in all time(s).

You have the Abram story in its biblical context juxtaposed with a “re-telling” or, maybe more accurate, “re-happening” of the story in a not-so-distant-future time. The more you read, the more the allegorical nature of the text is revealed. Characters in the future timeline correspond directly to characters in the past timeline. Alan quite allegorically is Abraham. Jake quite allegorically is the Isaac blended with Lot character. Miriam is Lot’s wife, the old man is Melchezidek/Elijah.

As the narrative progresses, these contemporary/future characters play out their roles in the updated biblical narrative with precision. There is little deviation from the original narrative (save Miriam/Lot’s wife’s role, and this deviation is purposeful). What I find most fascinating is that while one could say that, looking only at the human characters, the narrative is just re-playing itself, and could be the same narrative in different terms, the aspect which changes things is the interaction of the “gods” behind and in-between the panels of the text/art. It is the interaction of the gods Astarte, Molech and Atum on the one side, and the Hebrew, not so much God’s as representatives, Melchezidek and Elijah on the other side…behind and even in the action, that makes the reader understand that the story is happening anew. And it is a story that has been happening forever, literally a battle for freedom of humanity.

The writing and the artwork are both superb, fascinating, and enveloping. I also love how the narrative makes absolutely no effort to soften the hardcore unseemliness of the Bible.

Rushkoff’s blog.

Rushkoff’s blog is another read altogether. There, in two posts especially, he lays out his thoughts behind, and motives for, Testament.

The first post, Faith=Illness: Why I’ve Had It With Religious Tolerance, begins with the blatent statement:

On first glance this seems at odds with his work in the comic. But in fact, for Rushkoff, the Bible is a collection of mythological stories that, in line with Jungian psychology, have made their way into the collective human subconscious. Never was the Bible meant to be taken literally. However, it seems to have usefulness for people today in its ability to help us create meaning out of reality, maybe helping us to play out our own situations in a narrative/theoretical structure. He says:

Rushkoff is tired of religious fundamentalism (aren’t we all?). In fact, he wants to “destroy” it. He writes that when religions:

“True Believers” do not have the freedom to appropriate biblical narrative in a life/reality-altering way, because they (we) believe in its historicity. For Rushkoff, tying the narrative events to actual events robs the narrative of its power for meaning making today, leaving the contemporary reader stranded in his or her own situation:

To have someone recognize and assert the beauty and multi-dimensionality of the Bible is a good thing. I am extremely appreciative of his observations here. I wonder, though, if the multi-dimensionality of the Bible would allow for, not just a psychological reading of the text in which it is not literally/historically true, but rather psychologically true, but a reading that affirms both the text’s historical rootedness, as well as its inclusion of the reader today into its very narrative as a part of the ongoing story. I think that it does.

While I agree with much of what Rushkoff says, it is in his suggestion of a solution to the problems he identifies that I begin to disagree with him. Not because he is challenging my beliefs, but because 1) I don’t think that he has an accurate handle on what the Bible is, and 2) I approach the subject from an entirely different belief system.

Rushkoff wants to “take charge of the Bible”:

The problem with this, in my opinion, is that the Bible, whether in Judaism or in Christianity, and whether one takes it as historical or non-historical myth, is not to be “taken control of,” but rather, its power is as a story that takes control of us. The historical track record of those taking control of the scripture stories is not an impressive one, often ending with a word created in our own image, merely a reflection of ourselves, and emptied of its power to change lives.

While I appreciate Rushkoff’s stated goal of bringing these great and powerful stories to those who might never experience them, yet, I diverge with him, still believing that the most powerful way of reading these stories, as with all art, is to let them speak for themselves, to let them be themselves, and to let their characters stand as individuals. Saying that “We are Cain…We are those enslaved by Egyptians…We are Mordechi” robs me of my identity as Casey. I am not Cain, though I may struggle with his struggles. I am not enslaved in Egypt, like the Hebrews, though I may deal with enslavery of my own. I am not Mordechi, yet I struggle with the temptation to cave under the pressure of popular or political opinion. It also robs the characters (even if you believe them to be non-historical) of their identity, and in some ways disrespects them.

In the second post on his blog that I referred to above, The Testament - My Testament, Rushkoff writes:

I love the quote, until the last 3 lines.

An alternative program?

The final thing I will say has to do with my alternative suggestion for making the Bible accessible, and “relevent” (if that word isn’t overused), to a contemporary time takes the biblical narrative as our history, with us playing it out. We are caught, as the Apostle Paul might say, between the times. We look to the story of our people (the people of God) that came before us, and it gives us the trajectory for our own personal and interconnected narratives in the present, and into the future. We look to our people’s past for direction for our people’s future - improvising that future as we crawl along in the present. We become involved in the story, intimately, and our own personal identity’s are maintained.

And after all that, I will say that I really do enjoy this comic. Rushkoff is doing something artistic with narrative, and he is doing it well. And, despite the part of his project that strikes me awkwardly, (the whole God being a fistional character thing), I definately plan on continuing to read this book.

Casey

technorati tags: Rushkoff Testament Comics Narrative Bible Construction of Reality anachronism theology art pop culture

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I went to see X-Men: The Last Stand the other night. It was an alright flick. Actually, better than most I have seen in a while (read: DaVinci Code). Anyway, a funny thing happens to me when I go see these movies made from comics - I want to start reading comic books again.

I know - I’m 30 (almost) right? But, comics are so cool. I used to collect, all through high school, especially X-Men, Wolverine, Spawn, and Batman. But, Wolverine was always my favorite. So, I went to the comic shop the day after, and found some really cool stuff…

First, I really like the Wolverine series. It has a newer look, and seems quite a bit more integrated into the Marvel Universe than it used to be. It now carries a “Parental Advisory” rating, showing that comics aren’t just for kids. And, Wolverine seems to be a little more of a fallen hero than he used to be. I like it.

But the really interesting stuff came in the form of two titles that are relatively new.

Loaded Bible: Jesus vs. Vampires, published by Image, boasts “48 Christ-tacular pages!!” Now, with a tag-line like that, along with cover art of a shadowed Jesus with two bite marks in his neck, blood flowing, and a look of vengence in his eye…how could I not buy this title!

I got it home and looked at the back cover, which sports this:

In the near future, the United States is

ruled by bloodsucking vampire hordes and

only one man can end their reign of terror.

What Would Jesus Do?

He’d Kick Vampire Ass.

Now, I don’t know what you think about that, but I think it is pretty funny. I mean, Jesus fighting vampires? That is something to look at. The story takes place in the future when fundamentalist Christian groups have become increasingly fundamentalist, and have elected leaders according to these values. Those leaders have constructed what they call New Vatican City, where the believing people of the world take refuge from the (literal) bloodsucking vampire hordes outside the city’s walls. Their chief hero in this fight: Jesus Christ, the second coming. Looking like the long-haired bearded Christ we all know and love, yet behaving more like Neo from The Matrix, Jesus weilds his cruciform sword and wooden spear, drop kicking vampire butt all over the place.

It is only later that Jesus finds out from a scantily clad (read: naked) female vampire (succubus?) that he is not the real Jesus, but just a clone that the New Vatican hopes will be martyred in battle to solidify the people in their “faith.” We also find out about a group of fighters outside the New Vatican, neither believer nor vampire, who are “fighting for the only thing they have left: their freedom.” Of course, the church is engaged in active extermination of these who call themselves “The New Dawn.”

While the social commentary embeded down “deep” inside the story is mildly interesting, I have to say that it comes across as the same old criticisms of the church that are posited and have been posited for years. The comic is alright, entertaining, but there isn’t much depth to it. As a critique of American religious society, or of religion in general (which it clearly aims to be), a bit more thought would be appreciated from this self-proclaimed “fundy.”

I don’t know yet if this will be a series, or if it is a one-off issue. I guess we’ll see.

Discuss Loaded Bible: Jesus vs. Vampires, here.

The other title that absolutely fascinates me, and I find much more thoughtful than Loaded Bible, is a reoccuring one called Testament. Written by Douglas Rushkoff, and published by Vertigo (DC’s mature publishing branch) Testament is a a bizzarely good read. Part of the reason, I suspect, is Rushkoff himself. From his bio on his website:

In the comic itself, you have a scene with a professor giving a lecture, and what he is lecturing on sounds an awful lot like Sociology of Knowledge, as in, the Social Construction of Reality. I was hooked right there, as, that will form a significant part of my dissertation.

I am tempted to say that the comic takes Biblical stories and re-tells them in contemporary terms. But this isn’t quite accurate. Re-telling the narrative in contemporary terms implies that the story happened, and needs to be re-told. What Rushkoff is after is to show the narrative actually re-occurring in contemporary time. He writes in a comment at the end of the book (long quote ahead):

technorati tags: Comics Rushkoff Testament Jesus vs. Vampires Bible art pop culture religion

pop culture, theology, art | 4 Comments »