Troy and Jennifer Schally disclosed in June that their son Henry
had chosen, among several possibilities as the theme for his third
birthday party, PBS's "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," and the
Schallys supplied a birthday cake with a photo of the show's
correspondents and a periodic playing of its theme music.
According to a Washington Post report, Lehrer sent along an
autographed photo, signed in the name Henry calls him, "Jimmy
Jimmy BoBo." [Washington Post, 6-15-06]
Richard Costello, 29, was arrested in Clearwater, Fla., in May and
charged with stealing motorcycle parts after police recovered
photos of the parts, which they suspect were snapped by Costello.
At the bottom of each photo, the photographer's bare toes are
visible and display the tattoos "white" and "trash," matching
Costello's own tattooed toes. [St. Petersburg Times, 5-4-06]
...in June, the Motion Picture Association of America, for the first time ever, announced that it was rating a film PG (Parental Guidance) not for any sex, violence, or bad language, but just because it is too openly religious (the film "Facing the Giants," starring Georgia preacher Alex Kendrick).(Salisbury, Md.)-AP, 6-22-06]
On many weekends a year in parks in the Washington-Baltimore
area, 100 or more people gather in medieval costumes and wield
soft weapons to wage battle in the 20-year-old Darkon Wargaming
Club, according to a May report in Baltimore City Paper. Players
point out that their hobby is simply of a piece with historical-battle
video games and feature films, but still acknowledge the whimsy.
Said a club manager (who is the wife of the player "Shalor" of the
"Bloody Axe Mercenary Company"), on seeing the games for the
first time, "I didn't want to get out of the car. I thought it was the
dorkiest thing I'd ever seen. And 12 years later, of course, I'm
running the thing." (An acclaimed documentary film on the club,
"Darkon," has just been released.) [Baltimore City Paper, 5-10-06]
Many British churches have recently installed the new Hymnal Plus, a karaoke machine to help congregations recite verses and sing hymns (including risky tunes, such as a disco version of "Amazing Grace"). [The Guardian (London), 4-27-06]
A violent video game based on the evangelical "Left Behind" novels, "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," was introduced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in May, and features the Tribulation Force bloodily battling the army of the Antichrist. Reviews have been severely mixed (either a positive step to spiritualize the video games culture, or grotesque violence seemingly sanctioned under the cover of the Bible). [Los Angeles Times, 5-10-06]
Posted by Stubbornson at June 30, 2006 12:51 PM