Stuff.

[camrogers]

At first glance: cheesy. In aggregate: brilliant. Gives Me Hope.

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Completely artificial French popstar Josh Gosfield. Gibson says she looks the way he always imagined Molly Millions. Now that he mentions it, same here pretty much. I never, ever, ever imagined her as Liv Tyler. Or Haydn Christiansen as Case. Was hoping this latest attempt at filming Neuromancer had been stillborn like the others. Looks like not. Might pretend it was. For the rest of my life.

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Russian kid killed by exploding chewing gum. After dipping it in explosive.

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Of interest to the web-savvy and those who admire them: 10 Web Trends to Watch in 2010.

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First audiences rave about Avatar. Fingers crossed. What I find telling is the one viewer toward the end who comments that he'll probably like it less once he has time to think about it, but loves it now. Which is what happened with Episode One. Test audiences - high on the sense of having been taken to the bosom of their idol and ambushed by camera crews - raved, only to find enthusiasm withering by the time they hit the car park.

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For a long time I've been interested in the historical truth behind the life of Jesus Christ, but never got around to properly reading Josephus or any other historian who was in the area at the time. Nonetheless, this article intrigued me and I'll get around to reading it when I've got the time.

Comments

[drjon.livejournal.com]

I can't draw a conclusion: I'd need some good evidence, and I don't think there is any.

My suspicion is that there might have been a Nazarene Rabbi Yeshua ben Yosef at around that time, but his life would have borne almost no relationship to that described in the New Testament gospels, which were almost certainly (due to their note-perfect riffing of Pagan Gnosticism of the time) teaching stories developed by a syncratic Grecojudaic Gnostic Mystery Cult in the area, later hijacked by its own outer fundementalist-literalist church and stripped of its Inner Mysteries.

I am also firmly of the opinion that focusing on a belief in a literal Historical Jesus is the best and easiest way of avoiding the positive elements that the philosophical doctrines and teachings Christianity has to offer, and creating a violent, destructive monster.

I do actually think you're right about two other contemporary writers, now I stop to think about it, but I also seem to recall the credibility of their intext references being soundly shot down in flames as later "additions" as well--but those books are in a pile here somewhere right now. When they surface, I'll consult.

But as I said, do read Josephus.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

I love the internet. That was great.

[drjon.livejournal.com]

Not as great as Josephus.

Also, I don't explicitly mention that the above is the deranged ranting opinions only of an Agnostic Gnostic, and can be safely ignored if you can find someone who Knows What The Fcuk Of Which They Speak. If you want to dive in, The Jesus Myth by Freke and Gandy is hated and despised by all the right people, so I'd recommend that as a starting point.

[patchworkkid.livejournal.com]

Well the first author is off to a flying start with a surname like that.