Dan Brown’s Code - What’s all the fuss about?

I finished Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code the other day. I hoped a bestseller would have a bit more substance to it, but one can never underestimate the dullness of the masses. It’s a fantasy thriller, based on the premise that the “evil Church” (sic) has suppressed the real truth about Jesus and the nature of true religion, which is goddess-centred. As a thriller it’s ok. It’s an easy read and kept me interested enough to keep turning pages. There’s not much beyond a fast paced fantasy here ‘though.

I didn’t notice anywhere the author claims his research is thorough or based on real history, hence why I categorise it as fantasy. The few books Brown does refer to in the text, like Holy Blood Holy Grail, are hardly well regarded by serious scholars. I guess he had to mention them to avoid getting sued for plagiarism. (I notice his earlier book Angels and Demons is about a liberal pope getting elected – nothing new there either for those who’ve read David Yallop’s fascinating In God’s Name.)

As an aside, I do wonder how scandalous the idea that Jesus married and had children actually is. I can’t think of anything about it that would endanger the Christian idea that Jesus was g0d in human form, but perhaps I’m missing something. My understanding is that the reason Jesus is never portrayed as being married is not because of some big cover up, but simply because that’s where the evidence lies.

For those who do want to delve a bit more, here’s a handy list of eleven (!) recent books rebutting the ideas in DvC – some better than others. And a couple of skeptical articles: One by a catholic journalist and a brief summary of an archeologist's response. For those who love esoteric stuff, here’s an in depth, but not uncritical piece about the Priory of Sion, a semi-legendary organisation that gets plenty of mileage from Brown.

All in all, I give The DvC a 3 out of 5. A diverting, but not outstanding pop thriller. For something with a bit more meat and panache, I prefer John Le Carre.


___________


Coincidentally, I wandered into a bookshop and spotted a real goodie: NT Wright’s scholarly but readable 3 volume treatment of Jesus and the early church. I thought about acquiring it, but at well over $130 per volume it didn’t take long to reject that idea. And they weren’t even hardbacks! (Postscript: Looks like I can order them MUCH cheaper over the net, like less than half that price, such is the sad state of the book industry in New Zealand.)

What a perverse world we live in; where poorly researched paperbacks sell oodles and the really interesting scholarship is prohibitively beyond the masses. Perhaps Wright could engage Dan Brown to write something based around his research.

Now there’s a novel idea.



listening to Tom Zé | Defect 2 : Curiosidade

Leading Atheist Switches to Theism for Poor Reasons?

Professor Anthony Flew, a leading British philosopher and advocate of atheism has changed his mind in favour of deism, a form of theism. Essentially, he now believes in a theistic g0d, but not in a specific religion or afterlife.

Some atheist writers are criticising the 81 year-old’s reasons for his changed beliefs. Well, they would, wouldn’t they?

Here’s a recent interview with Flew where he talks in depth about his life and ideas.

listening to The Strokes | Take It Or Leave It

Wealth isnt how much money you have...

... it's what you're left with when you lose all your money.

The following was written by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, founder of Yukos and until recently the richest man in Russia. He is currently an inmate of the Matrosskaya Tishina prison in Moscow since his arrest on October 25th 2003 17 months ago.

Yes, over the past year, the $15 billion fortune of which Forbes wrote has almost reached zero, and it will soon become absolute zero. But parting with my wealth will not be unbearably painful for me. I have realized that wealth, and especially vast wealth, does not in itself make a person free. I had to make enormous efforts to protect this wealth. I had to limit myself in everything that might harm this possession. I controlled my possessions; they controlled me.

So I would like to warn young people today, those who will soon come to power: Do not envy those who have great wealth. All that is important is you, yourself your feelings, ideas, talents, will, intellect and faith. This is, indeed, the only possible and correct choice the choice of freedom.

To breathe the spring air, to play with children, to read good books all this is so much more important, more right and more pleasant than multiplying wealth and settling scores. Now, freed from the burden of the past, I am determined to work for the benefit of those generation that will soon take charge of our country. Generations that will come with new values and new hopes.

Wealth isnt how much money you have.

It's what you're left with when you lose all your money.



(Thanks to MsBehaviour via Chiq for this)

listening to PsyXel | Arab Temptation

C@ n cer Shorts

Wandering up to work today, walking behind a woman wearing one of those ubiquitous designer bre @st c ncer awareness t-shirts. I’m wondering when we’ll see men wearing designer boxers promoting prostate c ncer awareness. I think it would be great idea, actually. Prostate c ncer kills and otherwise affects a large number of men, and is comparatively ignored and underfunded compared to bre st c ncer.


(note: edited Jan 06 due to excessive spam triggered by the word c @ n c e r )

listening to Argyle Park | Circle

Chemical Brothers – 3rd World Exploitation?

I listened to Chemical Brothers’ Galvanise for the first time today. And I was surprised to hear a theme I recognised. Surprised, because it’s from an obscure Moroccan folk-pop track I happen to own. The track was released only on CD in 1994, by Najat Atabu called Just Tell Me The Truth. It’s hard to get at the moment. (To my surprise, I listen to the same stuff as Tom and Ed Chem.)

I hope the Chems paid to use the sample, as it’s very distinctive and a major theme of the track. It can hardly be argued that it’s not a significant or recognisable part of the original track if I clocked it straight away. I have faith that the Chems did do the right thing, they are big and rich enough to do so. If not, it would be Western techno artists exploiting an artist from a less developed country. And we don’t need any more of that.


listening to Natalie Merchant | San Andreas Fault

Is Spirituality Like Us?

Matt pointed me to a section from a Tibetan buddhist text the other day. See Matt’s blog – which also contains a selection of his music . Matt and I have discussed a mutual interest in buddhism, and its interaction with its Tibetan ‘buddhist’ offshoot.

The text in question, while being far from the extreme of this genre, talks of a monk’s mystical experiences of a sacred mountain, and of the so-called Dalai Llama’s assertion that 60 "superbliss deities" live there. It reads, to my jaundiced eye, like so much mumbo jumbo. And is, in my opinion, fairly removed from what little we know of the original teaching of Gautama. But that is by the by. The point is this text, like so much religion, is just weird.

And this got me to thinking: Is spirituality like us?

Is meeting the true Spirit, getting in touch with g0d, receiving enlightenment a weird, alien and uncomfortable experience? (This is a particular trap for those who think psychedelic drugs lead to real and true spiritual experiences.) Or, is the source of life LIKE us, so that meeting it/him/her is like bringing us home to a familiar but long-forgotten place?

Well, you’ve already guessed I plump for the latter. Yes, I acknowledge the great spiritual explorers have experienced some pretty weird things. One only has to read Juliana of Norwich or the prophet Ezekiel to see that. And yet, I think the core spirituality – that which leads us to the true centre rather than distracts us with little games - the true spirituality is MORE human rather than less. More comforting than disconcerting. More sane, than unsane. More mundane than fantastic.

Perhaps the next time some enthusiast assails us with cultic religiosity that would make a shaman’s toenails curl, we could recite the following holy mantra, which is guaranteed to forever banish the demons of obfuscation:

“Bullshit.”


listening to Black Sun Empire | Stasis

ALL about techno

If you've never understood techno, this pretty much says it all. Thanks muchly to Matt Bentley for the link, and general niceness.

http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/


And on that very silly note, i am currently
listening to Mr Scruff | Fish

MJ's Favourite Things

ahahahaha! This is worth a post all of its own. Check out Michael Jackson's Favourite Things

My vote for best MJ song? Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough.

listening to Hallucinogen | L.S.D (World sheet mix)

In praise of Sushi

Fresh Suuuushi for lunch. With wasabi, soy sauce, fresh ginger shavings. Mmmmmmmm. Thankyou Japan, thankyou, thankyou. I shall compose a haiku in your honour.

listening to Blue Oyster Cult | Don’t Fear the Reaper

14 Points of a Fascist State

This is political and thought provoking. (For my US friends, eg K, A, KJ, H, others, i love you, this is not directed at you personally. I love spending time in your country.)

14 points of a fascist state NB - the site itself which hosts this seems to contain some less edifying material - i don't recommend.

References to the original research are here and here, i haven't had time yet to look at critical reviews of his book/research.

The remix is going surprisingly well, having spent over 24 hours total working on it so far. Two nights to go before deadline, lots of FX, mastering, restructuring to go.



(thanks to Chris for the CD) listening to Natalie Merchant | River

Favourite Cover Songs

Someone asked about favourite cover songs on the TF forum, and I thought I''d repost my reply here.

My fave 'cover' at the moment? Well, it's a remix I guess. The Neil B 7" remix of Sex Pistols God Save The Queen. It's housey, with that nice smarmy smeary John Lydon attitude. Can't get enough of it. I'm gonna drop it at a house party in 3 weeks and watch mouths hit the floor.

Oh, that and the NIN remix of Butthole Surfers' Who Was In My Room Lst Night.

Actually, I can think of a few others... I have a white label of Radiohead's (Fade Out) Street Spirit, and another of ColdPlay 's Parachutes (?) Have never heard anyone else play them, got them in Hong Kong when I was DJing there a few years ago so I don't know more details. They get huge reactions from the crowd tho'.

I have an "OK" remix of Jane's Addiction Aint No Right. (My FAVE Janes Addiction track), and you can hear the Adam Freeland (?) remix of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit on one of my mixes here - http://www.twisted.co.nz/djdb/viewdj.php?dj_id=14
first track on the september 2003 mix i think.

And there's a remix of Queen's Flash by Tomcraft on another mix there, i think. AWEsome, and always gets smiles and laughs out of the crowd.

whoops, i guess these are remixes, not covers. sorry.

OK. Covers? Johnny Cash's cover of Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode).

And yeah, the DEVO cover of NIN's Head Like A Hole probably beats that. I sent it to my friend Echo, and she looooves it.

Then again, the Shihad cover of DEVO's Gates Of Steel is pretty cool.

OH OH OH - and the VNV Nation remix of Apoptygma Bezerk's Kathy's Song. Dunno who did it first, but it's a BEAUTIFUL cover/remix.

ahhh.... muuuuuuuusiiiiick

me goes away to the 'studio' (hah! - bedroom) to spend the weekend remixing - deadline coming up :

listening to some track i can't remember the name of - 1:08 on the Helix house mix

Yay for Optic Fibre

We've just gone onto a large bandwidth optic fibre connection at work. No more dropping the connection in the middle of using the net, and oh boy... is it fast. Now all I need is to get it at home. Happy geek me.


listening to Front Line Assembly | Remorse

Sleep is good

... makes me feel so much better. Looking like a good day, and I made a promising start on the remix last night. I plan to spend a fair chunk of the weekend on it, won’t be online much. Getting the creative balance between working well in the studio and doing too much is always a challenge in life. Balance, balance, balance. My current mood, and the way I like to stay, is at peace.


humour Keep your parents off the internet




Listening to Banco de Gaia | Shanti

Chemical Storm

Went to the park to try and chill out. Too much thinking, too much intellectual input, too much mind stuff, too much emotion. Saw some peeps sniffing paint from plastic bags. Chemical storm. Just made me negative again. Thinking about people’s pain, the hardships of life – sick friends etc. I feel some songwriting coming on...



Listening to Celldweller | Switchback

Blah

Blah. Feel tired and crap, and a bit sad. Listening to (for me) sad music.

Have been given the chance to do a remix for a RAWK band, which would normally be fun. But they've only given remixers a week to have a finished track. That is hard, especially when I've never heard the tracks and music isn't my fulltime occupation. Ah well, I still want to have a go.

I recommend having a look at Hazey's blog, I like a lot of his attitude, interests and opinions - http://hazeyways.blogspot.com/



listening to DeVision | Your Hands On My Skin

Sunny daze

Sunny morning, a coffee. The simple things are nice. Blogspot wouldn't let me upload all the music I like, so might post it sometime. Reading Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio. G B is often good, sometimes a bit bloated, always epic. Eon was great.


i finally got round to uploading a new DJ set (the dates on them are when they were recorded, not uploaded). It's a tribal - deep - funky house mix: http://www.twisted.co.nz/djdb/viewdj.php?dj_id=14

hope you enjoy, feedback welcome




listening to Cesium 137 | Frayed

Scepticism and Devotion

We manage our lifestyles, we manage our money. We make decisions, as best we can, about what will be wisest for ourselves. So I choose to manage my spiritual life, to make decisions about what will be healthy for me and what will hinder me.

Having sat in a posture of doubt and cynicism for some time, I realize on reflection it’s time to manage that. Not that there’s anything wrong with doubt and cynicism, it can lead to depths that mere paddlers in the pool of life never know. But it can also be a carcinogen of the soul, and the wise person knows when it’s time for rest and treatment. So for a time I am choosing to read ‘conservative’ theology and traditional devotional books. Some of it irritates the hell out of me. But if I am wise enough to leave aside my pride, I can feed my heart on it, gain peace and learn from others both simpler and wiser than myself.

Often what I need most is not knowledge, a currency I am comfortable with and the shrine of the sceptic. What I need most is peace. If g0d is omniscient, then knowledge is an end in itself, and we image g0d by seeking truth. But it’s not the only end in itself. If g0d is love, then we are g0dlike when we love. We are made to become like g0d, and we need all of g0d’s attributes to be fully integrated beings.

When I am apart from my girlfriend I am happy knowing she exists. I crave information about her life, what she’s up to. But what satisfies me is not knowledge, but actual experience of my beloved; hearing her tell me she loves me over the telephone line. Just being in her presence, even at the remove of distance is heartfilling. This is simple devotion. Which, like all the real secrets of the universe, is anything but simple.



(i wrote this a couple of months ago)



listening to The Damned | New Rose

I hate 'Asians'

No, I don't hate people from Asia. I hate the way pakeha people like me use 'Asian' as a catch-all description because they're too lazy or ill-educated to know the differences between distinct cultures. There ARE no 'Asians'. There are Chinese (mainland, Taiwanese, Singaporean, Malaysian, Hong Kong...), Indian, Malaysian, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, Thai...

There is a large diversity of very cool cultures that one word parroted by lazy 'Europeans' simply doesn't do justice.

I suggest next time we're too lazy to think whether they're Chinese or Cambodian - just say 'Nigger'.


Listening to NB & Sex Pistols | God Save The Queen (extended 7" mix) [AWEsome]

Tropical Flitters

Went to butterfly creek this afternoon with Jen and Tama, and sat amongst the tropical butterflies as they flitted about. Worth a visit, IMO. Sign in the butterfly house

Butterflies only live for a very short time, most of this is spent looking for a mate.

Sounds a lot like us humans, really.


Listening to Francois Kervorkian and Depeche Mode | Personal Jesus Pump Mix

Cityside stuff

Brenda spoke about water today. I intended to get a copy of what she said, ‘cos it made me think, but here’s a couple of things I can remember: Good drinking water is still a big issue for a lot of the world. 80% of all disease in 2/3 World countries is heavily impacted by water quality. In my own country consumerism brings another irony – our tap water is safe to drink yet companies are selling us bottled water, yielding Tonnes of plastic waste. I was wondering how to apply this at raves – we need water to drink, but maybe there are better ways to do it? Handing out cups of tap water perhaps?

Stations of the cross is in three weeks. It’s an art exhibition based around spiritual themes, good for meditating and pondering. I was going to contribute a piece of music, but decided to pull out due to new job commitments.

Brain is feeling very busy and full today. Need to make sure I take time out.

Saturday

I was reading on Phil's blog just the other day about his feeling exhausted. This morning I don't feel so hot either.

Stunning insight (rolls eyes): When I've got stuff on my mind, I don't sleep so well, and wake up tired. (Having alcohol the night before doesn't help, even if just a glass - must match it glass for glass with water.) The thing is, sometimes things are so subtle i don't realise that i actually have something on my mind. I'm realising just how subtle my emotions can be at times, when all along I thought I was pretty straightforward. Hope I figure it out.

Moving right along, I had lunch in a cool cafe - Reef (80 Symonds St) yesterday. It doubles as an art gallery, which is a funky and smart idea. And last weekend I had dinner at Pasta Mia, on New North Road in Kingsland. Hip, modern but nice setting, and great food. You can choose your sauce separately from your pasta, I had lemongrass white wine and cream with mine... yummy. I recommend Pasta Mia to anyone who likes good Italian.

New Toy On Order

I'm not much of a toyboy, but i ordered my Edirol PCR-80 midi keyboard this week via the lovely Lindsay at [have to keep this quiet] music. Should be lots of fun, will let you know when it arrives and i've had a play. Think I need to get a better sound card too.


Update: Groan, yeah I do need an ASIO soundcard. Gonna cost me around $300 by the sounds, for something from Echo Digital for my laptop. Ug. Technology has a way of doing that to you.

Police take action

Following my rant on police culture yesterday, this from the NZherald site

04.03.05
by David Eames and Louisa Cleave

Police moved swiftly yesterday to set up a sweeping inquiry into what a judge described as a "sick" culture within the force.

Announcing the investigation, Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Marshall said he wanted to maintain public confidence in the police.

"I want to assure the public that police will do everything to identify any other culprits and put an end to this abhorrent kind of behaviour as quickly as possible.

"We will go where the investigation takes us."

perhaps there is a g0d after all.

Judge says police culture is 'sick'

...the NZ Herald today reports on the conviction of a police senior sergeant. So tell us something we don't know?

I've long been concerned about the internal culture our boys and girls in blue have inculcated. Police are by definition a conservative agency, employed to enforce the government's laws.

I think we have a dilemma in who we trust to be our guardians. We hope they're moral guardians. But they're also human; hence some will be amoral or even immoral guardians. I remember being told by an admin worker at the police college in Trentham, a man in his 50's, of the way in which women were subtly denigrated there, and of police parties featuring culture and practices so dubious that they may well have resulted in arrests if they occurred elsewhere. And I could tell other stories of unwarranted police brutality, intimidation of witnesses, intimidation of victims... Granted, it's a difficult job. And there are certainly good policepeople. But the encouragement of a tough, macho, unthinking, dogmatic, sexist, even violent internal culture does nothing to help.

Still, when our whole society functions on the basis of "law" and rules as the best way to change people's behaviour, should we be surprised? That's why i find the teachings of Y'shua and his early followers interesting in this light, in their attempt to found a counterculture based on love and (jargonword alert) 'grace', not law.

'Bout time the cops got training in meditation and flower arranging methinks.

---




I won't link to the herald site as i suspect news items tend to move around a bit and the link will be out of date fast. So here's a copypaste of some of it:

03.03.05
By DAVID EAMES

A District Court judge has criticised the heavy-handed techniques of a senior South Auckland police officer and condemned a wider police culture as "sick".

That culture - as outlined in court evidence - included joke photographs of machete-wielding men making death threats, and the photographing of suspects made to wear demeaning signs.

Judge Bruce Davidson delivered his view as he found Senior Sergeant Anthony Laime Solomona guilty of assaulting a 17-year-old on the forecourt of a Manurewa service station in February last year.

And in another article:

03.03.05
by Elizabeth Binning

One of Auckland's top police officers is so fed up with his staff passing material to the media that he has sent out a special memo asking them to dob in the "traitorous actions" of their colleagues.

In a special edition of the internal newsletter CoMmunique, Counties Manukau District Commander Steve Shortland said it was disappointing to see that some staff "feel the need to sneak off to the media and let their work mates and police all over the country down". [snip]

"What sort of person does this?" he asked. "My Ethics booklet (the one you get your ethics training from) suggests a number of reasons why some individuals become traitors."

He then listed the following reasons:
* For money
* For a free lunch and drinks
* Sex
* Stupidity or lack of judgment
* All of the above

Mr Shortland finished his memo by asking police to "expose" anyone they suspected of leaking information.

---

Two comments: If the above is truly indicative of the content of the police ethics booklet, need i say more? Secondly, the desire to suppress dissent in this manner is yet another example of an organisational culture gone wrong, and rather suggestive of... heh... a police state.

[/rant]

Music I'm liking right now

Heh. This post could be updated every other day, sometimes hourly. Anyway, thanks to the wonderful Matt Bentley for putting me onto the Junior Boys. Mellow ambient noodly house-ish stuff with male vocals. And after chatting with the definately-not-anorak Phil NFH I've finally decided to follow the anorak-wearers in listening to Aphex Twin to see what all the fuss is about. Man, I hate being a sheep.

Did you say "conservation-ism"?

No, it’s not a typo. "Conservatism" has political and cultural connotations I don’t like and usually find repulsive – in their common outworkings, if not the theory behind it. Conservationist is a friendly term. Eco-friendly even.

I envisage incorporating material around my interest in post-evangelical ideas, and g0dstuff in general. Sometimes this will be from a negative perspective, I kinda like the idea that Kierkegaard’s writings were a discussion between two contradictory sides of himself, so I’d like to apply that here.

So anyway, when I am wearing my conservationist hat, as opposed to my sceptic, I am about trying to protect certain things I consider worth keeping around, rather than push a whole agenda. Or something like that.

Computers, God and Magik

Jef Ruskin makes connections which interest me.

I had no satori immediately, though I had learned the basics of what programming is about. It did take a few years to realize the implications: by putting words into a non-living machine, it could do your bidding. No cutting, no filing, no screwing nut onto bolt, no oil, no sound, no soldering, no calculations of P = IE or E = IR. Just words, as in the Jewish creation myth where everything was called into being by God's pronouncement, "Let there be...". Now I wanted computers. I had met Merlin [an early computer] at a crucial moment in my life, and a few years later I finally understood what Merlin could do. Put in the right spells, do your incantations (but you must do them exactly right, as the fairy tales warned us) and your wish would come true. It was like magic, it was real, and it was mine to command.

programming teknolligy metaphored as magik. or the command of the g0d. interesting

Why would you want an Ipod?

Well, why would you? If you really have to play MP3s while mobile RIGHT NOW, it's one of the options. But only for the next year or two. As smartphones, PDAs (personal organisers) like the i-mate JAM get better, they'll eclipse mere MP3 players. They already do in most respects except storage capacity.

Try the IPod Silent

The Disabled God

A discussion with friends has led me to explore ideas around aberration. Did g0d create me as I am? If not, how do I feel about that? I thought I better read some disabled theology for insight.

Every subculture has insights into g0dthings which can benefit the rest of us. Stuff from outside the 'norm' is where paradigms are challenged.

Anyway, I'm still thinking and writing, but in the meantime here's some stuff I found interesting.

The Disabled God
A Spirituality of Disability
DisabilityStudies - A bibliography of disability and religion

Willkommen to GeekWorld

This blog will be much more than about geekworld, that just happens to be the headspace I'm in right now.

Jef Raskin, one of the pioneers of modern computing, accomplished musician and aeronautics expert died last week, Feb 26 2005. He devleoped the first Macintosh, and founded the idea of cognetics, "the ergonomics of the mind" .

He wrote some pretty darn interesting stuff. This is not a bad place to start:

Jef Raskin meets Merlin

Zeitgeist

well, i've succumbed to the insideous pull of the zeitgeist and made myself a blog. may i have to edit the work of a thousand monkeys bashing randomly on typewriters for my sins.