November 2006 Archives

In 1951, a sound designer on a Gary Cooper western called Distant Drums needed to overdub a scream onto a scene in which a man is killed by an alligator. He brought a contract actor into his studio and rolled tape as the man did six brief, anguished screams in one take. These screams were then added to the Warner Brothers sound library, and over the next couple of decades they found their way into dozens of Warner Brothers films.

Spielberg and Lucas seem to be particularly fond of the scream.

(HT: Boing Boing)

And yeah, it does go there.

The 25 Best Affordable Suburbs in the U.S.

No. God sends the wicked to hell....

Apparently, Thomas Edison was right.

When I claimed that most people, including evangelicals, had never heard of Ted Haggard, my critics scoffed. But a new Barna survey finds that “major Christian leaders are widely unknown, even among Christians." Three of out every four adults (72%) say they have never heard of Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren, including two out of every three born again Christians (63%). Almost six out of every ten adults (57%) said they had never heard of Dr. James Dobson; nearly half of all born again Christians said they did not know who he was. The results find that even fewer people have heard of T.D. Jakes, Tim LaHaye, or Joel Osteen.

Reading through the list makes you realize just how banal and trite television can be...and has been...

My friend and coworker Jared Bridges has a new addition to his family.

It's not often that I agree with Andrew Sullivan but on this point he's right: "...[Mormons are] not Christians as I understand Christianity."

(HT: Southern Appeal)

Adrian Warnock posts an interesting conversation between Charles Simeon and John Wesley in which the Arminian admits to being a "Calvinist."

How did ‘Kumbaya’ become a mocking metaphor?

Tim Challies on Joel Osteen's "Your Best Life Now" boardgame.

What sort of conservative is a Bush Conservative?

(HT: The Anchoress)