"Overpiggers Anonymous" ~ Reynolds Unwrapped

A scene that's unfolded in every chain restaurant boardroom across the country...

<IMAGE REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF THE ARTIST>

(Oh, in case you didn't notice, THIS BLOG DOES NOT GENERATE REVENUE, so in no way do I benefit form anything posted on the blog.  Everything appearing in this blog is nothing more than free publicity for the owner.)

Bigotry in Baton Rouge: Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum & Pastor Dennis "GET OUT!" Terry

"I don't care what the liberals say, I don't care what the naysayers say, this nation was founded as a Christian nation...There is only one God and his name is Jesus. I'm tired of people telling me that I can't say those words.. Listen to me, If you don't love America, If you don't like the way we do things I have one thing to say - GET OUT. We don't worship Buddha, we don't worship Mohammad, we don't worship Allah, we worship God, we worship God's son Jesus Christ." ~ Pastor Dennis Terry, Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, Baton Rouge LA

Seriously? Wow... Where to begin? How full of hate and bigotry does someone have to be to say things this outrageous? Is this an example of being "Christ-like"? Is this what accepting Jesus into your heart does to a person? Is this "doing the work of the Lord"?

Here's my take on him and it's short and sweet. The loving Pastor Terry is Christian Taliban, plain and simple. I'm thrilled that he's loudly exercising his 1st Amendment right to free speech, otherwise we might never have learned what a grade A raging asshole he truly is. He represents the terminal sickness that has infected the GOP for a couple of decades. The ϋber-conservative religious fundamentalists got their hooks into the GOP when Reagan brought them into the fold to secure his bid for White House, and they're not letting go come hell or high water. The don't realize that their brand of medicine is killing the patient. But fuck 'em, who cares. Karma's a bitch, right?

The best part of Baton Rouge Hatefest 2012 is that Pastor Bigot's speech was an introduction for Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum! I think Santorum later said that he didn't clap for the good pastor, like that makes any difference.

For more information check out this Huff Post Religion post.

I'd love to hear from Christians on what they think of this whackjob. Post your comments below...

Shanghai-style Zongzi with Eggs Over Easy

Zongzi, or simply Zong, is red-cooked pork inside of seasoned sticky rice that's wrapped in bamboo leaves and boiled. The first time I had this I thought "this is good, but it's missing something... Egg! It needs a rich delicious egg yolk flowing over it and it would be perfect!" So the next time Lu made zong he fried a couple of eggs over easy and served them on top of the steaming hot sticky rice, and it was spectacular.

Today we were fortunate to have farm fresh brown eggs from Baker's Acres of Chenango, my sister and brother-in-laws farm, and the zong was better than ever.  If this picture doesn't make you drool at least a little then you don't appreciate good food. :)

Void of Compassion, Priest Denies Lesbian Communion

I just read an article posted on Advocate.com about a catholic priest at St. John Neumann Catholic Church  in Gaithersburg, Md. that denied a woman communion at her mother's funeral.  He said "I cannot give you communion because you live with a woman and that is a sin according to the church."

Read the article: Priest's Actions Against Lesbian Stir Uproar

Immediately upon reading this I became enraged. It's this priest's brand of self-righteous arrogance, his literal 'holier-than-thou' attitude that has made me an Atheist.  I mean really, who do these people think they are?  Do they really think they're better than other people?  Is that what their god teaches them, that they've been elevated above the rest of us?  What a crock of shit.  I hope this priest, Father Marcel Guarnizo, experiences the kind of rejection, humiliation and emotional pain he subjected this woman to during her mother's funeral.  He deserves nothing less.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

(2011) directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring James Franco, John Lithgow and Andy Serkis

Spoiler Alert! This review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes includes references to specific scenes and plot points.

This is a brilliant story idea with just enough "I almost believe that could happen" mixed in to make you really ponder the future and wonder about what's going on behind closed laboratory doors.

And before I go any further I have to say that Andy Serkis as Caesar the chimpanzee is absolutely amazing. Andy deserved an Oscar nomination for his work. When will the Oscars catch up with technology and modern film making techniques and recognize performances like Andy's, or maybe Ed Asner for perfectly voicing Carl Fredricksen in Up? Maybe there should be a category for "Best Performance During Which You Didn't Actually See The Actor"...

Second best performance in the film goes to John Lithgow for his portrayal of the father of lead character Will (James Franco), and suffers Alzheimer's disease, which is the reason for Will's research at Gen-Sys. So, in a way I guess we can blame the near-complete destruction of the human race on John Lithgow. I always suspected he'd be the one. James Franco is weak as the leading man, often seen with a bit of a scowl or in a huff when he thinks someone is messing with his research or Caesar. In fact, in many scenes a cardboard cutout of Franco would have sufficed.

There are several flawed plot points. Are we really to believe that a high tech lab with a professional primate handler wouldn't detect that a test chimp was pregnant when she entered the lab? And what about Jamie Harris's teeth? He plays a slightly slow handler at the primate sanctuary and his teeth are a blinding Hollywood white.

In a closing scene the cops are positioned at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge armed to the teeth with automatic weapons prepared to fire south on the approaching apes. But behind the apes, fleeing in the opposite direction, are the people from the vehicles abandoned on the bridge. Are the cops going to open fire on the apes and risk shooting the humans behind them? Yes, they are. Speaking of the bridge scene, the gorilla leaping from the deck of the GGB into the helicopter that's hovering nearby was fabulously over the top.

The most terrifying part of the entire film is the closing credits and here's why - it makes clear just how vulnerable our technology has made us. One person infected with a fatal virus flies from San Francisco to Paris, along the way infecting other travelers bound for other parts of the world. It's frightening to see right in front of you how easily a virus could be spread creating a global pandemic that could decimate the human race.

Find the film on Wikipedia here and on IMDb here as well as its official website here.