Terra Incognita

back from the nyc
It's nearly 2 a.m. and I'm tired so this is going to be short. The trip was fabulous. Here are the highlights in bulleted form:

+ Business card collection nearly doubled.

+ First real-time interview went better than expected.

+ Met John Korpics, design director for Esquire. (Unfortunately, David Granger was on a business trip. Sad.)

+ Amassed a list of couches I can crash on when I return to NY before finding my own place to live.

+ Debated whether to introduce myself to Jon Anderson simply because he's a Sports Center personality. Chose to maintain my annonymity.

+ Got lost on the Subway; ended up off the island in Queens instead of arriving at 57th St. when trying to get to Marie Clarie.

+ Laughed at Ellen when she relayed her fear of getting mugged one night...on Park Ave.

+ Explored the bowels of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Fiscus and Kate, a fabulous woman named Constance as our guide.

+ Finally met Joe...kinda.

+ Saw The Passion of the Christ.

Many thanks to my fabulous hosts Tim, Anne and Lesley.

I have two Subway rides left on my "6 rides for the price of 5" card. I guess I'll have to go back some day.

a quick rant about the passion
I have several problems with The Passion. No, it was not the dramatic violence. That didn't bother me. Again, bullets:

+ Jesus is Caucasion. It's time to swollow our pride and admidt that Jesus was Middle Eastern, not European.

+ A woman plays the devil. That was a deliberate descision by Mel Gibson and I think it was an awful choice.

+ What was with the crow poking out the eyes of one of the robbers? Uneccessary over-dramatization, although great comic relief.

+ Five words: It's all about the money.

+ There was hardly any explanation or intelligence in the movie. It relied solely on evoking an emotional response. I think the movie is designed to appeal to Christians who don't want to think but who just want to be shocked. This is shown in the mass endorsement of the film by Christian leaders around the country. The audience enters the theater with the "knowledge" (provided by their pasotrs who have rented out the theater for them) that the movie is PHENOMENAL and then don't analyze it themselves. That's too typical of religion in our country today.

THINK FOR YOURSELVES, PEOPLE!

As a piece of artwork, I think the film was really well done. The actors are great, especially Mary, and the music is fantastic. I was also impressed with the revival of dead languages - Aramaic and Latin. I felt especially smart when I was able to recognize "veritas" in the dialogue.