Demi’s body has been snatched
Well folks… the plot thickens. It just so happens that another image has arisen which shows perhaps that Demi’s body is not Demi’s body at all.
It appears that 26 year old model Anja Rubik’s body has been miraculously attached to 47 year old Demi’s face.
New York magazine has gone on record to say that celebrity heads are often superimposed on model’s bodies for advertisements…
Invasion of the photoshop body snatchers.
How can real people compete?
An intriguing entomological experiment shows that a male butterfly will ignore a living female butterfly of his own species in favour of a painted cardboard one, if the cardboard one is big. If the cardboard one is bigger than he is, bigger than any female butterfly ever could be. He jumps the pieces of cardboard. Nearby, the real, living female butterfly opens and closes her wings in vain. (Annie Dillard, The Writing Life)
God is now the bad guy?
A surefire way to put your finger on the pulse of western culture is to look at Hollywood. Movie-mongers make films that the masses are compelled to watch, and at the same time make films to influence the masses… and what we influence, we change.
CGI, action scenes and witty dialogue only goes so far. When we boil it down, it’s the story that captivates, is remembered, has influence.
With that in mind let me tell you about one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2010.
Legion.
Legion in a nutshell:
CGI drenched action/horror flick where God is the bad guy, and sends his angels to destroy mankind. Meanwhile, a rebellious fallen angel decides to fight against God on behalf of mankind, and I guess saves the day.
I don’t know about you, but this disturbs me.
Hollywood has the audacity to cast God as evil, and a rebellious angel (remind you of anyone?) as good…
Have we forgotten that God loves mankind so much that He sacrificed His Son for us? (John 3:16)
… or that He desperately wants all mankind to be saved? (2 Peter 3:9)
… or that Jesus came to give us life to the full, while Satan wants to destroy us? (John 10:10)
Maybe we have forgotten.
Fake flowers, butterflies and thighs
I heard a great message last night about the real world. The gist of it was – how this ‘real’ world isn’t all that real… more fake than real actually.
This world is full of plastic pleasures, pleasures which make promises they can’t possibly keep… and we never learn. Promises like…
… wealth brings happiness
… extra-marital escapades bring happiness
… breast augmentation brings happiness
… power brings happiness
… meth brings happiness
Empty promises, plastic flowers. Reminds me of a quote I read once…
An intriguing entomological experiment shows that a male butterfly will ignore a living female butterfly of his own species in favour of a painted cardboard one, if the cardboard one is big. If the cardboard one is bigger than he is, bigger than any female butterfly ever could be. He jumps the pieces of cardboard. Nearby, the real, living female butterfly opens and closes her wings in vain. (Annie Dillard, The Writing Life)
What’s the Demi Moore cover shot got to do with fakeness you ask? Alas, another Photoshop blunder. One of her thighs are not like the other, one of her thighs are not quite the same… (anyone else having a Sesame Street flashback right now?)
In your pursuit of happiness, please don’t reject the authentic because of the well-crafted counterfeit.
Don’t get sucked in… pass it on
Actually no, it hasn’t, but you’d be amazed at the amount of people that have responded “Really?” to that verbal statement over the years. A cheap and nasty joke I admit, but good enough entertainment nonetheless.
You’d be amazed at the amount of emails I receive weekly informing me that…
… I need to send money to fund little Maria’s cancer treatment or else she will die,
… I apparently have long lost Nigerian relatives who want to give me millions of dollars,
… I must protest against the movie being made portraying Jesus as a homosexual,
… I need to pass this on to ten people or else something bad will happen to me,
… I need to pass this on to ten people and Microsoft will give me a free laptop,
… I need to have more than 8.1 children or else the Muslims will take over the world,
… I just witnessed authentic video footage of two New Zealanders getting attacked by Bigfoot,
Yadda yadda yadda
Quite frankly, responding to well-meaning (but gullible) people gets a little tiring at times.
So, let me give you the great advice I give them…
1. Don’t believe everything you read.
2. Wikipedia and Youtube do occasionally tell lies.
3. Learn that www.snopes.com is your friend.
In conclusion, if you share this post this on Facebook, all your wildest dreams will come true 
Revenge of the Water Buffalo
Lions ambush buffalo family…
Lions catch baby buffalo…
Lions begin to eat baby buffalo…
Crocodiles steal baby buffalo from lions…
Lions steal back baby buffalo from crocodiles…
Baby buffalo’s extended family seek revenge on lions…
Lions get pwned…
Baby buffalo is rescued…
Don’t believe me?
The Ted Dekker challenge
I’ve just finished yet another Ted Dekker book.
In two words… pure awesomeness.
Without any exaggeration – I wholeheartedly believe that Ted Dekker is one of the best writers currently on the planet – and it just so happens that he is a Christian.
Naysayers.. don’t stop reading this post just yet…
Many of you probably think that Christian fiction authors only write second rate drivel, cheesy romance novels or cliched 300 page evangelistic tracts…
Think again.
I encourage you… no, urge you… no challenge you to read a Ted Dekker novel. Regardless if you are a follower of Christ or not, you will be impacted by many of Dekker’s stories.
The man is incredibly talented – and his tales, plots, twists, messages are nothing short of brilliantly crafted and some would say divinely inspired.
One word of caution though – don’t expect your average Christian romance novel.
Click here to visit Ted Dekker’s website.
Click here to read reviews of Dekker’s works at over at Flannelgraph.org.
Mary Poppins. Hide your children
I’ve never seen Mary Poppins in its entirety. Parts of it have always given me the creeps.
Perhaps it’s is because of the not so subtle (down right scary) imagery hidden throughout the movie. Don’t be deceived by it’s cute Disney musical facade with the ever so innocent Mary (fresh from singing in the Swiss alps).
Pure evil I say.
You doubt me? Watch the original trailer if you dare.
*Shudder*
Giant devil fish, rays and panic attacks
She remembers an obviously doctored photo in an old local surf shop of an areal view of a dingy dwarfed by the shadow of a giant manta swimming beneath it. The imagery that fuels nightmares.
In our early years of marriage we had a couple of too-close-for-comfort encounters with rays.
We were having a leisurely snorkel one afternoon at a picture-perfect inlet and I came across one rather large ray basking beside a rocky outcrop. I pointed it out to PJ and couldn’t believe her courage as she she swam right up to it. It wasn’t until it started looking very threatening, did PJ then proceed to have a panic attack. Courage didn’t motivate her to get close up and personal with the ray that day… her mask was so fogged up that she couldn’t see it, until she was almost kissing it.
On another fateful Monday morning, we had only just started a classic surf session when I noticed that the sandy floor a couple of meters below us was quite literally covered with rays. What they were doing I cannot say… basking, spawning? But it was a little unnerving. Why oh why did I point them out to an oblivious PJ? Panic attack no.2.
Alright, so we all know that rays are harmless beautiful creatures. A reassuring fact sure enough, until its believability is shattered when Google reveals pieces of trivia like…
“Simon Pierce of Queensland University’s School of Biological Sciences said there were no accurate records of stingray deaths, but estimated there had been about 30 worldwide in recent years.”
And of course we can’t forget the late great Hunter of Crocodiles… by crikey.
Ever wanted to know how big these suckers get?
The Hawaii Association for Marine Education and Research, Inc. website claims that the largest manta species ‘Manta Birostris’ can have a wingspan of 9.1 meters.
Maybe the photo in the surf shop was real after all.
