Word of the day is...

It has come to my attention that some words are grossly underused, and it's a shame. What spurred this realization was a sentence uttered by Monty Burns in The Simpsons episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns, Part 2"

If you watch this clip, the sentence is at 00:54, "I was free to wallow in my own crapulence"

Brilliant. Not only use of the word "wallow" but the word "crapulence" had never before appeared on my vocabulary radar.

According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language:

crap·u·lence (krpy-lns)

n.

1. Sickness caused by excessive eating or drinking.

2. Excessive indulgence; intemperance.

---

[From crapulent, sick from gluttony, from Late Latin crpulentus, very drunk, from Latin crpula, intoxication, from Greek kraipal.]

As a writer, reader and all-around geek, when I come across a word that is somewhat unusual and rarely used, I get a little tingly from excitement. Crapulence, just the very name invokes giggles. It's absolutely brilliant, way better than any of its synonyms, including inebriated. The English language could be livened up considerably if everyone just owned a thesaurus.

I take that back, the English language could be livened up considerably if everyone:
a.) knew what a thesaurus was (give you a hint, it's not a type of dinosaur...)
and
b.) knew how to use it

A thesaurus owner doesn't necessarily translate into a thesaurus user, my bad for leaping to conclusions.



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Technorati: the simpsons, montgomery burns, who shot mr. burns, crapulence, thesaurus, word

I'm goin' to Priaseland!!

During my rant about Holy Land, something, somewhere in the deep dark recesses of my mind was screaming for attention. Like I had read about a biblical amusement park (excuse me, living museum ) before, or had seen it parodied or something. This concept of Jesus land wasn't totally foreign to me.

Then, very slowly, images began popping into my mind. Yellow skin, "d'oh!!", mmmmm...beer, Ned Flanders..

The Simpsons! Of course! I can't remember what I had for dinner last night but I have the vague memory of a tv episode from eons ago. Of course I would.

Thank God there's Google, with it's ability to fill in the gaps an addled brain tends to leave out. Keywords: Simpsons, Ned Flanders, bible, amusement park. Voila!

Episode 267 of The Simpsons: "I'm Goin' to Praiseland"

According to TV.com, this episode aired on May 6, 2001, spring semester my freshman year at App. State. The Holy Land Experience opened on February 5th 2001. Who can say whether the grand opening of Holy Land made a big enough splash on the world stage for it to show up on radar of The Simpsons staff, but you can't deny the coincidence.


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Technorati Tags: The Simpsons, Ned Flanders, Praiseland, Homer Simpson, Maude Flanders, bible, theme park

Can't...stop...myself....

From commenting on an article found on msnbc.com. How can a story titled Jesus crucified 6 days a week in Florida not catch your eye? At the very least, file it under "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm..."

In a nutshell, the story is about a park in Orlando, FL called The Holy Land Experience. It's supposed to take you back to the land and time of the Bible. Jerusalem 2000 years ago, complete with Garden Tomb and sand.
I was reading this with the mild interest of a person wanting to learn more about what those silly Floriduh folks are up to now, until I came to this quote:

Jesus walked among them with a wireless microphone, calling children and picking one up. Excited parents with digital and disposable cameras crept forward as their kids fidgeted and kicked at sand.

‘Like I had gone to church’
Lisa Bell, 42, husband David Bell, 50, and their 2-year-old son came from Ripley, Tenn., after seeing Holy Land on Trinity. She said they didn’t consider attending the other parks.

“Oh no. Jesus was just holding him,” Lisa Bell said, nodding to her sunburned son. “He knows who Jesus is.”

I felt my left eye twitch from the strain of keeping my Shut Up Filter intact. "Leave them alone," my Rational Side chided. "They're not harming anyone and as far as you can surmise The Holy Land Experience isn't place that openly breeds or condones intolerance. It's not like it's Jerry Falwell approved with a 'Whack-a-Sinner' arcade game. It helps people feel more connected to the faith of their choice, good for them."

"But...but...it's not that!! It's that a 2 year old is going to grow up thinking he's actually met Jesus," I objected. "He's 2 years old for Pete's sake! Jesus at a theme park is now on the same tier as Santa Claus at the mall!! He knows who Jesus is?? Really?? And don't EVEN get me started on the 'Jesus walked among them with a wireless microphone' ....."

"Just leave.....it.....ALONE!" said The Rational Side. "Seriously, there's a wealth of material out there you could better devote your brain cells to. Oh look, here's something shiny...."

So I left it alone. The Rational Side had won.

Until later, when I decided to visit The Holy Land Experience website. What can I say? I have a habit of sucking air through cavities too.

This banner photo greeted me:








The Rational Side ran for cover as my Shut Up Filter shattered into a billion pieces.

"Look into the eyes of the One who changed the course of history..."

*blink*

No, no you're not. You're not looking into THE eyes of THE One. You're looking into the eyes of a drama major named Dwayne chosen for his wasp-y looks and ability to grow a divine beard.

I know, I know, don't be such a buzz kill. Every rational adult and child over the age of 8 knows they aren't looking into the eyes of The Jesus. That this is all role-playing, it just an experience and what would a bible land be without The Big Kahuna Himself? It's like Disney World w/out Mickey, Sea World w/out Shamu and Walley World w/out Marty Moose.

Still, something bugs me. Knowing that children of a certain age equate a character in a costume to The Real Thing. This is ok if they're posing for photos with Winnie the Pooh but there's going to be a whole crop of children who will be making their Sunday school teachers insane by saying "I've met Jesus! He lives in Florida!" if their parents don't take the time to explain otherwise....

By the way, just a little heads up. Holy Land has a fiercely loyal following. Again, good for them. Please be aware though that some are just a tad over-protective of Jesus and consequently anyone chosen to portray Him on this Earthly realm until He truly comes back fo' real. You need to use caution with these people when discussing (if you must) Holy Land.

Two things:

1. Don't you DARE call it an amusement park! There's nothing amusing about the crucifixion of Christ! Do you think Christ's suffering was funny? Huh? Do ya?? If you do, then you go to hell! You go to hell and you die!!! It's a living biblical MUSEUM you heathen reprobate!

2. It's also not a "theme park"! Christianity is not a theme, it's a lifestyle!!!! If you don't follow this lifestyle then you go to hell! YOU GO TO HELL AND YOU DIE!!



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Technorati Tags: disney world, orlando, florida, holy land experience, jesus christ, jerry falwell

Testing this here Firefox doo-hicky....

I'm finding myself falling more and more in love with the Firefox browser. Since Apple hasn't seen fit to update their Safari browser in ages (fine by me) I decided to move to greener pastures and invest in Firefox {insert trumpet fanfare here}. I've spent the evening downloading a plethora of add-on's, some needed, some desired and some completely worthless. My favorites are Foxy Tunes which enables me to control my iTunes from my web browser so I'm not forever switching between screens and Scribe Fire, what I'm currently using to post here.

In theory.

The benefits of this add-on remain to be seen. I love the idea, but whether it's going to work without a hitch and really is easier than logging into Blogger and blah blah blah, has yet to be tested.

Hence this post.

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