Skinny Jeans (Andy Gullahorn)

I got to hear this song performed live last year. It was fantastic. But really, you know what the best part was? Knowing that several of the men in the audience were wearing skinny jeans. Priceless.

“Sanctified” Exhibitionism

The other day I happened upon a Christian blogger who felt led to share an erotic poem he had written for and about his wife. I’ll refrain from linking to the thing; all considerations of taste and discretion aside, the poetry itself is really rather bad, and sounds like fifth- or sixth-rate Chaucer. The most interesting part, in my opinion, is that when challenged as to the wisdom of sharing his poem with the world, the author responded by saying that “my marriage, like all marriages, is a public sexual relationship.”

[clears throat]

And now it’s time for Silly Songs with Larry, the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a Silly Song.

Marriage as a public sexual relationship. Gotcha. I can honestly say I’ve never heard that one before, but as Josip from Island of the World would observe, “you learn something new every day.” You learn, for example, that some people are chowderheads, and ought not to be taken seriously about much of anything – sex least of all.

♫ We are the pirates who don’t do anything/We just stay at home and lie around… ♫

Public sexual relationship. Public sexual relationship. Pray, what crazy hermeneutical gymnastics does one have to perform for this to be a viable statement? Has irony crawled off somewhere and died, or is he just asleep? Can someone please wake him up? My word, people. Some things really should not be said with a straight face. The man who combines “public” and “sexual” in this way and for this purpose clearly has a doubtful grasp of the true meaning of either.

♫ And I’ve never bathed in yogurt/And I don’t look good in leggings… ♫

Let’s not kid ourselves: if escaping the ditch of Victorian prudery tumbles us into the ditch of “sanctified” exhibitionism – all in the name of Christian liberty – we still have not found the road yet.

But what is harmless in private is not necessarily harmless, let alone beneficial, in public; and those who think that their private and public behavior should always be the same, for fear of introducing hypocrisy into it, have a view of human existence that lacks subtlety, irony and above all realism. (Theodore Dalrymple, Spoilt Rotten)

History of Philosophy and Christian Thought

My pastor referred me to this excellent course from RTS, available for free through iTunes U. Now I’m recommending it to you. Dr. Nash is surely one of the most engaging speakers I’ve ever listened to, and his lectures on the “History of Philosophy and Christian Thought” cover everything from the early Greeks to Aquinas to Nietzsche. Knock yourself out.

YouTube Tutorials

In Which Chesterton Demonstrates the Proper Way to Play Q&A

Discovered these beauties on Facebook last night, and could not resist sharing them. G.K. was The Man. I believe I shall toast him at dinner, dead though he be.

“Would you prefer to be thin?”
“No. My weight gives us a subject with which to start these question and answer sessions.”

“What are your thoughts on Hell?”
“I regard it as a thing to be avoided.”

“What do you think of the German language?”
“I regard it with a profound agnosticism.”

“If you were stranded on a desert island with only one book, what book would you want it to be?”
“Thomas’ Guide to Practical Shipbuilding.”

“Could you speak louder please?”
“Good sister, don’t worry. You aren’t missing a thing!”

“What do you think will happen in the next great revolution: the revolt of Nature against Man?”
“I hope Man will not hesitate to shoot.”

“Do you believe in the comradeship between the sexes?”
“Madam, if I were to treat you for two minutes like a comrade, you would turn me out of the house.”

“You seem to know everything.”
“I know nothing, Madam. I am a journalist.”

“In the event of your having to change your original position, what tactic do you adopt?”
“On such occasions, I invariably commit suicide.”

Quotes taken from Dale Ahlquist’s Common Sense 101: Lessons From G.K. Chesterton.