Tofu Tidbits* 1/22/11

1. John Donne on judgment.
2. Emerging westward.
3. Bull Connor lives!
4. Eastwood’s Relativity.
5. Accessible humor.
6. Less accessible humor.

1

“[C]an that tongue adjudge thee unto hell,
Which pray’d forgiveness for His foes’ fierce spite?”

John Donne
Sonnet XIII

2

Speaking of things that can be mistaken for universalism when viewed from a galloping horse, Rob Bell will be moving from Grand Rapids to California, where he presumably will be working on a TV show on the most fascinating topic in the world: how Rob Bell emerged. (HT Jonathan Newton on Facebook)

3

The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto really needs to get back on his meds, whatever they may be.

First, there’s signs of obsession: every “Occupy” site is an “Obamaville.” Considering that the the GOP was on watch when the economic merde hit the air mover, and considering that the problems are deeper than anybody’s facile panaceas, that wasn’t even funny the first time.

Now, there’s sociopathic hair-splitting over whether the U.C./Davis students who got pepper-sprayed were “passive” or not. He pays nominal homage to the possibility that the pepper spraying was excessive, then spends the rest of his wretched column defending it and mocking those who protest.

Bull Connor lives, and Taranto is his prophet. Next thing you know, he’ll be channeling J. Edgar Hoover and insisting that Occupy is just a bunch of commie woman-lovers anyway.

4

Speaking of whom:

If you make the mistake of going to see J. Edgar, you will emerge much older by the time the movie finishes, even though only two hours will have passed. Forget all that questionable talk about how those newly tested subatomic particles move so quickly that they violate the rules of time and can order a drink before they walk into the bar. It is Clint Eastwood, Hollywood’s only functioning octogenarian director, and not a subatomic particle, who has figured out a way to breach Einstein’s relativity theory. In the theaters in which his movies play, time literally slows down to the speed of an ant. I was so ancient by the time J. Edgar was done that I went home and watched five reruns of Law and Order.

(John Podhoretz. HT Rod Dreher.) One of Dreher’s commenters quipped “I may not be a for-real G-Man, but I am one helluva dud.” Am I the only one old enough to catch that allusion?

5

(HT Kyle Burke – of eight38 Signs, by the way – on Facebook.)

6

Am I the only one around here geeky enough to get this?

* * * * *

Bon appetit!

Having become tedious even to myself, I’m Tweeting more, blogging less. View this in a browser instead of an RSS feeder to see Tweets at upper right.

I also have some succinct standing advice on recurring themes. Maybe if I link to it, I’ll blog less obsessively about it.