Ian suggests that I take on a career as a two-fisted pulp-novel hero. It's a good idea, and I'll do it, provided he becomes my wise-cracking sidekick.
In a similar vein, check out the two new posts over at Holy Heroes!! Gabriel McKee's got some interesting thoughts on Spiderman III and the specific comics its plot is based on.
***
We now return you to this week's episode of Doc Elliot, Two-Fisted Pulp-Novel Hero:
"Someday my body will fail me - but not today!" grunted Doc Elliot, as he pulled himself hand-over-hand up a liana which dangled over the crocodile-infested waters.
"The crocodiles will have made a tidy snack of that meddlesome do-gooder," chortled Ye-lo Peril to his brutish henchmen as they stood on the cliff-side, gloating. They had shared four seconds of spiteful laughter when a bronzed hand reached up over the cliff's edge and seized Peril's ankle, pulling him off balance. "Curses!" howled the surprised, malevolent credenza trafficker as he plummeted to his doom. A frantic screaming and crunching sound was heard from the waters below, as Doc Elliot sprang back onto solid ground and quickly sent Peril's men to join their boss.
He was brushing the dust off his hands when Ian trudged up the steep trail, looking crestfallen and carrying a greasy paper bag.
"Why so glum, chum?" inquired the Doc.
"Well, I went to pick up some drinks like you asked, but they gave me these dumplings instead," muttered the sheepish sidekick.
"Ian, did you get mi-mosas and sa-mosas confused again?"
Ian slapped his forehead as a look of chagrin spread itself across his features.
Doc Elliot laughed. "That's OK, buddy," he said. "I've worked up an appetite and no mistake. We'll go pick up some tamarind sauce and have ourselves a two-fisted meal!"
Tune in next week for... Doc Elliot Versus Lady Harrington and The Sedusa-Medusa!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Take This Bread
We briefly interrupt this hiatus, because I just had to tell all a y'all about this book:
Take This Bread, by Sara Miles.
I got the book Monday evening and finished reading it on Tuesday, because it was so good. Miles is a journalist, a left-wing political activist and a lesbian. She was raised by militant atheists and remained a contented atheist until age 46. Then one day she walked by St. Gregory of Nyssa Church in San Francisco, got intrigued by the artwork, and went inside. She took communion and had a mystical experience. From there she dived into Christianity, and then started a big food pantry in the church, serving a nearby poor neighborhood.
Along the way she talks about becoming a professional cook and getting caught up in guerrilla wars in some of the world's most impoverished places. She spent time with Ignacio Martin-Baro, one of the Jesuits who was later murdered in El Salvador.
She does an amazing job of describing the hurting world, the church, humanity, the grief and terror and joy of life. There are a lot of wonderful moments when some acquaintance or random person unexpectedly says something profound. And in a sense the whole book is a beautiful meditation on the Eucharist, which she comes at from a number of illuminating angles.
I find outsiders (ie, non-churchy people) to be the best at showing me what Christianity is and can be. Miles originally had very little background knowledge of religion, and she's unabashedly human: someone who makes mistakes, cusses a lot, doubts herself, and gets furious at people. But I can think of few stories where I've seen the Holy Spirit more clearly than in Take This Bread.
PS: A heads-up to my conservative readers: Miles becomes a Christian and throws herself into doing Christ's work, but she also remains a leftie and a lesbian (in a long-term, committed relationship.)
We now return to the hiatus.
Take This Bread, by Sara Miles.
I got the book Monday evening and finished reading it on Tuesday, because it was so good. Miles is a journalist, a left-wing political activist and a lesbian. She was raised by militant atheists and remained a contented atheist until age 46. Then one day she walked by St. Gregory of Nyssa Church in San Francisco, got intrigued by the artwork, and went inside. She took communion and had a mystical experience. From there she dived into Christianity, and then started a big food pantry in the church, serving a nearby poor neighborhood.
Along the way she talks about becoming a professional cook and getting caught up in guerrilla wars in some of the world's most impoverished places. She spent time with Ignacio Martin-Baro, one of the Jesuits who was later murdered in El Salvador.
She does an amazing job of describing the hurting world, the church, humanity, the grief and terror and joy of life. There are a lot of wonderful moments when some acquaintance or random person unexpectedly says something profound. And in a sense the whole book is a beautiful meditation on the Eucharist, which she comes at from a number of illuminating angles.
I find outsiders (ie, non-churchy people) to be the best at showing me what Christianity is and can be. Miles originally had very little background knowledge of religion, and she's unabashedly human: someone who makes mistakes, cusses a lot, doubts herself, and gets furious at people. But I can think of few stories where I've seen the Holy Spirit more clearly than in Take This Bread.
PS: A heads-up to my conservative readers: Miles becomes a Christian and throws herself into doing Christ's work, but she also remains a leftie and a lesbian (in a long-term, committed relationship.)
We now return to the hiatus.
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