Category: Of Random Interest

Hmmm… The Onion has an article collecting the comments that many celebrities have made about God over the course of their interviews. 

Some were articulate, some were stupid, most were puzzled. A few were humorous, in a sad sort of way:

Chuck Palahniuk wrote Fight Club and four other novels, including the new Lullaby.
The Onion: Is there a God?
Chuck Palahniuk: Yes.
O: Care to elaborate?
CP: Boy. Let me get back to you when I’m dead.

and

Stand-up comedian Steven Wright is known for his deadpan delivery and absurdist one-liners.
The Onion: Is there a God?
Steven Wright: Ahhh… You’ll have to ask Jesus.

and the kicker

America’s greatest living writer, Neal Pollack is the author of The Neal Pollack Anthology Of American Literature.
The Onion: Is there a God?
Neal Pollack: God does not exist, unless you are my mother-in-law and are reading this, in which case I definitely do believe that He exists, and will raise my children accordingly. But if you’re not my mother-in-law, and she’s not reading this, then He does not exist.

Read them all.

Three Lego pages have caught my eye with their outlandish display of ingenuity.

The achieving the impossible award goes to the Andrew Lipson’s Lego Page, which features clever engines and reproductions of M. C. Escher works. That’s right–he’s recreated those impossible drawings in 3D.

The we could make beautiful music together award goes to Henry Lim’s Lego sculptures for his functional Lego harpsichord. Wow!

Finally, the service to humanity award goes to the Cool Lego Site Of The Week. Get your need for geeky Lego ideas met here!

Masatoshi Koshiba, who just won 25% of this year’s Nobel Prize in physics (I didn’t even know you could be a 25% winner), graduated last in his class at Tokyo University over 50 years ago.

He only made two A’s in his last two years of college, both of which were in lab classes where the grade was based on attendance.

Hmmm.… makes you think, doesn’t it?

Evidently he took the Teacher’s words to heart: “Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” (Ecc 12.12b, NIV)

The LA Times has the most interesting article I’ve seen in quite a while. It’s about a secretive group called The Fellowship, a Christian organization that has had massive influence in the public sphere.

For the last two decades, a Virginia mansion has been a private hideaway for world leaders, members of Congress, and even pop star Michael Jackson…

The Fellowship was a behind-the-scenes player at the Camp David Middle East accords in 1978, working with President Jimmy Carter to issue a worldwide call to prayer with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. During the Cold War, it helped finance an anti-communism propaganda film endorsed by the CIA and used by the Pentagon overseas.

Last year, the Fellowship helped arrange a secret meeting at Cedars between two warring leaders, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame–one of the first of a series of discreet meetings between the two African leaders that eventually led to the signing of a peace accord in July.

Incidentally, they’re also the ones who sponsor the National Prayer Breakfast. There’s much more, and I encourage you to read all about it. (Thanks to Christianity Today for the link!)

A man in New Orleans was shot 25 times and lived. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

The victim was walking just before 3 a.m. when the attacker walked up to him and began firing a handgun, police said. “Once that weapon emptied, he produced a second weapon and continued to fire,” police said. “When the second weapon emptied, he produced yet a third and continued to fire.”

Read all about it!

And remember–never go walking in New Orleans at 3 a.m.

The Door (a religious humor magazine) deems Buffy the Vampire Slayer to be the Theologian of the Year. Our nation’s season of trial influenced The Door’s selection of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Theologian of the Year. Let’s face it. In perilous times, we need someone who can not only deconstruct the problem of evil, but kick its hiney. And that means Buffy and her Scooby Gang. Read all about it!

In an interesting coincidence, Annals of Improbable Research (a science humor magazine) has just issued the 2002 Ig Nobel prizes amityville horror the divx movie online to honor people whose achievements “cannot or should not be reproduced.” [update: the official 2002 list is online with references]

Among this year’s winners are Karl Kruszelnicki, a Sydney University researcher who wrote the paper on belly-button lint. Dr Kruszelnicki, at his own expense, studied 5000 belly-button lint samples. He concluded the lint was a combination of clothing fibres and skin cells that were led to the navel, via body hair, “as all roads lead to Rome”. “Your typical generator of belly-button lint or fluff is a slightly overweight, middle-aged male with a hairy abdomen,” he said. (source)

It’s been a few days since I posted any offbeat news items: here are some stupid human tricks.

Man Suffers Severe Burns Trying To Kill Lice: The 26-year-old doused a towel with rubbing alcohol, put it on his head and then lit a cigarette, police said. The towel caught fire and engulfed the man. He suffered burns on about 50 percent of his body, police said. Ouch–that had to hurt!

Canadian Man Tries To Bungee Jump Onto Ship–But His Cord Is Too Long: William Dean Sullivan miscalculated the ship’s speed and suffered minor head injuries on Sunday when he bounced off its tennis court, volleyball net and a deck railing, before being left dangling in mid-air as the ship sailed away, Vancouver Police said. Police said Sullivan has planned to bungee jump from the Lions Gate Bridge, which spans the entrance to Vancouver harbor, stopping just above the passing ship so he could then lower himself a short distance to the deck. That couldn’t have felt much better…

Finally, Man Clips 153 Clothespins To His Face For World Record: Garry said that attaching the pegs to his cheeks hurt the most and afterwards you could see he was in a lot of pain. There were marks on his skin that he said would last an hour and he had to keep rubbing his face. Aagh–what is it with people hurting themselves? I feel pain just reading these stories!

I just ran across two web pages that juxtapose too perfectly to pass up.

On a sad note, a stray cat was shot in the eye with a horse tranquilizer dart. The dart was 7″ long and the cat wandered around with the dart sticking out of its head for a week before being picked up by authorities. The Kansas City community is outraged.

On a funny note, that animal officer sure is lucky he didn’t pull that on these viking kittens!

Q: What does this have to do with Chi Alpha?
A: Nothing except that we have a good sense of humor!

Check out this optical illusion.

Pretty wild, huh?

And while we’re on the subject of perception, peruse this Nature article about the subliminal image hidden in a Zen garden.

I’ve made some revisions to the core essays on this website: I think I’ve made them more readable and more informative. The ones that have undergone the most change are:

1) What Is Chi Alpha? (changed radically)
2) Common Questions About Supporting Missionaries (added new questions and intro)
3) Why Universities Need Missionaries (added a closing section)
4) How to Become a Partner In Ministry (changed the wording for clarity)

Let me know if you find anything unclear or confusing!