COV is up

Hi! Hope you had a good weekend. We are having unseasonably warm weather here, but I expect we will suffer for it later in the month. For that is the way with British weather!

First we start with An Eight Hour Lunch

http://www.eighthourlunch.com/2008/01/good-riddance.html

“Adios, Mr. Hinckley. Too bad you couldn't take Fred Phelps with you. The only thing I can say positively about you is that thanks to your ministry of shameless and cynical self aggrandizement, there are less people who believe in Joseph Smith's con game now than there might have otherwise been.

There are then several highlights you won't get from the local news media. Actually Mr Hinckley’s death hardly raised a splash in the UK media. And without RFM I still would not know he was dead!

Next we have Kita Kazoo’s post

http://kitakazoo.com/2008/01/31/putting-away-the-fangs-and-getting-out-the-white-flags/

“Putting Away the Fangs and Getting Out the White Flags

One of my most favorite parts of reading newspapers online is the comments. There are so many different ways to look at every issue and having the public input has in my opinion made the news so much more interesting and informative. I learn a lot from reading the different perspectives expressed by individuals who have taken the time to give their input.

I read the news in both my home states, in both the liberal and conservative papers and then I read the Times and Post. Even though there is just as much conflict between the different camps conservative and liberal in all of the newspapers, there is a big difference between the comments in the Michigan & national news papers and the ones in Utah.

In Utah almost every stories comment section turns into a punching match between the “gentiles” and the Mormons who prefer to be known as “members”.”

And now a post from Mind on Fire, which deals with 10 misconceptions about atheists:

http://www.mindonfire.com/2008/01/30/ten-common-misconceptions-about-atheists/

“10. We eat babies.

No, but we think about it sometimes. Mmmmm, baby…”

Sounds fun. Where can we sign up? (Just kidding!)

And now, something Emerging From the Ashes

http://emergingfromtheashes.blogspot.com/2008/02/been-reading.html

Warning. This WILL make you very hungry indeed!

Been reading

I've been reading this fabulous book, eat, pray, love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. You've likely heard of it or at least seen it around, as it is a #1 New York Times Bestseller, as the cover proudly proclaims. It was recommended to me by both my devout mother-in-law and by fellow DAMU blogger, love medicine (who has exponentially expanded my To Read list).

The first section, "eat," is about a four-month stay in Italy, where the author practices the art of indulgence by learning Italian--for no other reason than she wants to--and by eating wonderful, delicious Italian food. There's this great chapter where she describes seeking out the best pizza place in Naples, the city where pizza began. Get this: she's eating the Best Pizza in the World. She gushes about this pizza with it's thin crust, perfectly flavored red sauce, and fresh mozzarella (once you've gone fresh, you can't go back). I tell you, she practically describes a food-gasm about this pizza. Tears of joy over the cheese. Shit, I almost had a food-gasm myself just reading about it. I thought back to the best pizza I've ever had, in New York City, with fellow exmos Meg & Jack Slate, hank rearden, lisesymom & exV, and juggler vain. We were there for lunch, I had skipped class and taken the train in just for this lunch, and we ate pepperoni pizza with rolls and red wine. The sauce was perfect, the crust was crisp but melt-in-your-mouth wonderful, and the fresh mozzarella just made this pizza. I can't imagine the pizza in Naples.”

And now something from Starbright

http://www.seeingreality.com/starbright/?p=180

“He’s finally dead. Not to be unsympathetic, but can you imagine the depth of damage control the new president - Tommy Gun Monson - is going to have to do in order to reverse the negative outlook on the LDS Church? It’ll never work. The damage is already done. Of course there’s the living prophet vs. dead prophet doctrine. Hmm.”

(A side note from Matt:-

I always have a copy of the invites to post to COV sent to my own Yahoo mailbox. It sent my own Yahoo email straight to my Yahoo Spam folder. Gee, Yahoo. Thanks. I think!)

And now, finally, my own contribution to COV

http://notamormon.blogspot.com/2008/02/hello-there-and-goodbye-there-rejected.html

“For the first time in absolutely ages I had to reject a comment on this blog. Not because it was filled with the usual vacuous and vapid maudlin "pity poor, persecuted, me" tripe and twaddle of so many Mormons. Which it was. Nor that it was filled with enough strawmen to furnish 1,000 stage versions of The Wizard of Oz. Which it was.

Was it the fact that it was "uber-filled" with Mormon braggadocio. "You know that Mormons are some of the brightest and best moral charaters (sic) in society."”

See you in two weeks time!