In last week’s podcast we were talking about the necessity of becoming the person God created. During the show I was trying to remember this Hassidic tale. But then we moved on and I forgot to mention it. Anyway, it goes like this: Rabbi Zusya dies and goes to heaven. And he’s a bit anxious as to whether he has been holy enough. Was God going to be angry with him?
It all comes down a simple but very dangerous shift: the major websites of today’s web are not built for the visitor, but as means of using her. Our visitor has become a data point, a customer profile, a potential lead – a proverbial fly in the spider’s web. In the guise of user-centered design, we’re building an increasingly user-hostile web.
From Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web
Are you a user? Or are you being used? A piece written seven years ago, but more relevant than ever.
In Episode 273 we talked a bit about Lent. Lent has an interesting image these days. For most people who have any familiarity about it, I think it’s just ‘that period where you give something up.’ So you might cut out sugar. Or alcohol. It’s more diet than denial. But Lent is actually about a kind of reset, not a temporary diet. It begins, after all, with Ash Wednesday which, as Philip Pfatteicher writes, is focused on our fragile humanity.
In the latest episode, Joe is having an existential crisis and, worryingly, is asking for my help. So we discuss meaning and purpose. What are we here for? What is our calling? Is there a purpose to our lives or are we just fooling ourselves? Is it true that everyone on earth is a pun? Does Joe’s purpose involve cheese? In the episode I quoted Jung The afternoon of life is just as full of meaning as the morning; only, its meaning and purpose are different…
In this episode Joe and I discuss Lent, Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. We reflect on the purpose of fasting, the way that Lent creates contours in the year, and the cheery fact that we are all going to die. From dust we are made and to dust we shall return. But what kind of dust? That’s the question. You can listen or subscribe here
Last week we talked about lots of different kinds of church. This week we’re thinking about the purpose. What, actually, is the point of church? What are we supposed to do? And has this whole thing just been market research so that Joe can start a cult? Also, there’s a lot of food in this episode, none of it healthy. Episode details
I haven’t posted for a while. Lots been happening. But the best thing that is happening is that, even though it is still winter, we are starting to see signs of spring.
Having ideas is easy. Turning ideas into reality is hard. So well expressed here. So many people want everything at the touch of a button. But you can’t order success for next day delivery. In fact the idea needs the work, because not only is it the work that gives it form, it is through the work that you discover other, perhaps better, ideas.
I’ve been doing more work on the chapter about Odda’s Chapel. Deerhurst lies in floodplain fields on the banks of the River Severn. There are two Saxon churches here. One is St Mary’s, a former monastic church, but the one I’ve been thinking about this week is a simple little building, a private chapel – Odda’s Chapel – which was lost and then found. We know from the dedication plaque who built it and why.
Godzilla Minus 1
This looks great. (Although, that is the job of trailers.)
I have no idea how the licensing works, but this is obviously different to the Legendary Monsterverse films. It looks more of a throwback to the original Godzilla of 1954, when the monster was not a friend, but a threat, and when the devastation was a way for Japan to process not only what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also the effects of continued nuclear testing in the region.
The role of imaginary monsters is always to give shape to our very real fears.
This excellent webpage has a fairly deep dive on the original movie.