For the Love of Chris

"Remember when there was only one set of footprints?
That's when I was carrying you!"

Yeah, I'm sure some of you guys out there could make a couple of jokes over the title of today's blog article... but truth be told - I'm doin' this one for the Anskatian. Recently, over at his own blog, Chris has drawn the virtual line in the sand, cast down the e-gauntlet - he's going to write 30 blogs in 30 days. He's already blogged once - June 1st. Today is June 2nd, and I have officially responded. I've declared myself his "blog spotter." Much as a training partner urges on a power lifter (and makes sure he doesn't crush his ribcage with too many weights on bench press!), I will try to encourage his consistent barrage of blog. (It might get messy)

Doin' the Bull Dance, Feelin' the Flow... Workin' it, Workin' it!

On a more personal note, I still have a lot of things to say blog-wise, and before I go and get myself employed or something, I better post my shiznit, y'know? So take note, oh faithful commenters - all three of you out there, you won't have as much time to post your messages on my individual articles... so fire the editor, abandon the spell-checker, and full steam ahead, okay? (And nothing is more confusing than some Johnny-Come-Lately Commenter posting some message on an article that's, like 5 articles deep. I get the message forwarded to my e-mail, and I have no freakin' idea what you're talking about. Don't tell me what you think Jesus would say if you took Him to Hooters! That train has sailed, my procrastinating friend.)

I could probably make a joke about how "hot" this book is right now... but that'd just be beneath me.

So, to keep things short and relatively normal, I'll share my thoughts on the phenomena that is Da Vinci Code (I'll try to resist excommunicating people and stuff - but no promises) . Upon realizing about a month ago, that I was one of the few remaining people on the continent that hadn't read the Da Vinci Code, and that the movie was soon coming to theaters, I finally broke down and read the damn thing. And all-in-all... it was a good story.

Maybe it was just some naked Italian dude making snow angels... Who knows?

As a good Catholic lad, I try to take criticisms and comments about the Roman Catholic Church with a grain of salt. With every 2000 year human-run institution, it brings with it a bit of a blooper reel. "The Inquisition?" Yeah, that was bad. "Indulgences?" Hmm, we probably could have handled that one better. "That recent 'molesting' thing?" Don't get me started. But in all fairness, let us not forget all the schools, hospitals, and charities that have been run worldwide by those "spooky papists" for hundreds of years. I'm going ahead and making a bold statement here by saying that I can't think of another singular global organization that has done more good for people around the world than the Roman Catholic Church. Not to mention that it's always the Catholics we turn to, every time Dracula comes back to life.

Do you realize that I have no eyebrows? Da Vinci! Some freakin' genius!

Whoa. This isn't supposed to be an soapbox for the Catholic League, here. All I want to say is that I sorta resent it when all sorts of suspicion is cast upon the entire institution - coverups, creepy white guys in red robes, clandestine meetings, sanctioned murder... to provide one last great boogeyman for our jaded imaginations to fear. And while the story is clever, it says in the very page that "x, y, and z are facts," and they simply aren't. Without that first page, I'd have no issue with the work of fiction. But with that first page of brazen declaration, the narrative takes a somewhat self-righteous tone at certain points. The theories persuasively presented in the story have been debunked and dismissed by a majority of the historian community, but the characters in the story arrogantly counter by saying that "That's just what THEY want you to think!" With that sort of logic, it's hard to rebut, because any argument made by a scholar against the message apparently makes him part of the conspiracy. In addition, a lot of the "sacred feminine" sounded a lot like some college guy trying to impress some girl he met in his "Women's Studies," course. According to the book, the Roman Catholic Church destroyed the female-led pagan religions which celebrated, "the male and female balance in nature." Pagans may have done that, but they also did a lot of kooky things, too. And I have to remark that women were relegated as second-class citizens or worse for thousands of years prior to establishment of Christianity, and that they certainly didn't enjoy any better rights anywhere else in the world beyond Europe.

Why bother casting a real albino when you can make your own out of a pale Englishman? Check out The Albino Code!

What I liked about the book - I was heartened by the fact that the Bishop was manipulated, rather than being some sort of sinister mastermind. When he finally realizes what is happening in the story, he tries to make things right. He is an idealistic, though a bit misguided, character. As for Silas, the creepy albino monk, he is a deeply troubled man, though a pawn as well. His zealous faith is perverted in the cause of one man's monomania.

What I didn't like about the movie - The Bishop is a creepy bad guy. He's prepared to kill. He's the arrogant, high-handed clergy stereotype that Hollywood loves to stick sideways into as many flicks as can be fit in. He tries to come to the rescue in the movie, but for reasons that are never adequately explained.

Whatever answers the cryptex might hold, it still doesn't explain the hairdo, Tom

What I didn't like about the book - The condescending tone of some of the narrative, the "Oh, Let me tell you what REALLY Happened!" kind of attitude. The "Oh How Could those Ignorant Old White Men get it so utterly wrong?" message that is basically beat into you from start to finish.

What I liked about the movie - Tom Hanks' character is actually a dissenting voice throughout the film. Challenging many of the theories put forth by other characters, he takes a couple of swings defending the Big J Man Upstairs.

All in all, despite some of my philosophical differences, I found The Da Vinci Code an enjoyable story to watch, or better - to read. So enjoy... just don't take it too seriously.

Feedback Question of the Day:
"It sounds like people want to hear the bad news first... any other takers?"