Search Engine Monopolies: zagourepagoure

On the topic of search results, one of today's hits to my blog came from someone searching "zagourepagoure" on Bing. While my blog cannot tell you if R, Joseph Hoffmann is sexy, it is the only result for "zagourepagoure" on Bing and the only website on Google (although the latter index three books mentioning it.)

So, what is zagourepagoure? As far as we can tell, it is gibberish from a Greek Magical papyri:

zagourepagoure

agourepagour

gourepagou

ourepagou

urepag

rupa

ep

Master angels

and good, rid

Dias, whom

Sophia bore, 

of the fever

gripping him,

on this

present day,

this very hour,

now, now quick-

ly, quickly.

Suppl. Mag 1.11

Modern Art on Campus

I can related to and appreciate pretty and meaningful art. In fact, on occasion I am known to even appreciate nice looking modern art. But not all art is equal. There is a whole popular category of poor excuses for art. Yes, I make value judgements about art. Just because you personally find this black blotch or bleeding shape meaningful doesn't mean it is anything but an ugly piece of junk to me.

A number of universities in NSW enjoy spending excessive amounts of cash they do not have on ridiculous pieces of art. At Macquarie University many would say the work exclusively falls into the second category, with features such as these:

 

This is one of the better pieces on campus. While no one is quite sure what it is, suggestions including "knotted whale intestines" have been put forward to explain the phenomenon.

The pink building wasn't enough - what we really needed were...those things.

 

This piece is officially known as "Mangroves." And no, the picture is not deceiving, it is just some metal pipes stuck on a wall with a bit of paint.

0/10 Bibliobloggers Share My Music Taste

*Statistics may not be based on any data (like that is the first time).

The most common sorts of songs on my playlist would best be described using the terms "Euro" or "dance"/"Electro"/"Trance". The origins of this love, nay, lust, are debatable. It may be my European side, it may be my hyper persona or it may be a consequence of my simple non-existence as a present figure. But origins aside, a selection of my music (which, surely, are on par with Jim West's  total depravity) include:

Biblical Scholars are NOT comedians

Reading through the content list of Jesus and the Restoration of Israel: A Critical Assessment of N.T. Wright's Jesus and the Victory of God ed. Carey C. Newman does make this abundantly clear. The puns on Wright and right; or trying to work something into "Jesus and the Victory of God" are just unbearable. Here are the best:

• The Wright Stuff: A Critical Overview of Jesus and the Victory of God - Craig Blomberg
• The (W)Right Jesus: Eschatological Prophet, Israel's Messiah, Yahweh Embodied - Paul R. Eddy
• Jesus & the Victory of Apocalyptic - Dale C. Allison (what does that even mean?)

Ugly Car of the...moment?

Now, I don't have a personal grudge against ugly cars but when they are multimillion dollar cars it does pain me. The car that comes to mind is the Koenigsegg CCX. I hadn't heard of it before until I saw it while car shopping with my dad, but here is the ulgy thing:

The front view isn't the worst, but the back is so very tacky (especially in ugly orange).

For a fraction of the price (yet still outrageous) I would prefer a Ferrari, which brings us to the highlight of that day:

Test driving a Ferrari 360 Modena.

Interpreting the Law

Like learning correct biblical exegesis, law students learn specific ways to interpret statutes (laws). This invovles going after the clear meaning of the text, interpreting it within the scope and intention of the act and then how it has been interpreted by the courts. It can be a very tedious process. However, sometimes the legislators make it easy for us by providing some very nice definitions. Here are two of my favourites:

The Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) provides us with a handy definition for "significant risks":

risks that are not insignificant are all risks other than insignificant risks and include, but are not limited to, significant risks. s48(3)(b)

In a similar circular fashion the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT) explains what offence we committ while attempting to committ an offence:

If a person attempts to commit an offence, the person commits the offence of attempting to commit that offence. s44(1)

Okay, right?

A Slow Month!

2 posts all January? Disgusting!

I would love to have an excuse and tell of how I have been drowning in work, but the truth is I am on holidays. A few hours of work here and there, followed by hours in the pool. In fact,  my new hobby is reading in the pool and to date no books have been destroyed!

In related news:

• It is my birthday in 11 minutes;
• I wish I had read Birger Gerhardsson's The Reliability of the Gospel Tradition a long time ago;
•  I will be in Fiji for ten days in February.

Edit: I am glad to see I am not the only one with blogger's block.

Archaeological Find

A first century house allegedly dated to the time of Jesus has been found in Nazareth. But...the same guys offering $1,000 to prove Jesus didn't exist have informed me that Nazareth doesn't exist. What to do?

The Brick Testament Code: Last Supper

James McGrath at Exploring our Matrix has unknowingly (God forbid he is part of the cover up as well!) linked to the truth about Jesus of Nazareth. For years, the Church has been hiding the facts of the matter! They have been tarnishing the image of Mary Magdalene (despite making her a saint, aye?) to hide her forbidden relationship with Jesus. You call it crazy? Well, here is more historical proof of the matter. Over at The Brick Testament we find the keepers of the secret leaving hints in their work!

Yeah, you tell me that's a man. We know better.

From the 5th - 10th of November, Koorong is having a 20% off sale. What does that mean? I am going to needlessly buy more books at a slightly discounted price! But as I am generally tight, I must have a game plan on how to approach this!

Firstly, I have earlier noted some of the books I wanted to obtain within the new future. Sadly, the first two aren't stocked by Koorong! (On a related note, James McGrath just announced that a chapter 5 'Monotheism and Worship in the Book of Revelation' from his recent book The Only True God is now available online at the Butler University Digital Commons.)

So, my preference for this weeks book shopping:

•  Messiah: Jesus - The Evidence Of History  - Paul Barnett ($19.95 less 20%!)
• Jesus and The Rise Of Early Christianity - Barnett ($39.95) Scrap that, it's cheaper at fishpond!
  

Bargain Books:

• Paul And First-Century Letter Writing  Richards E Randolph.($7.95). I borrowed this book recently, got flooded by other work and never got past a few pages. Now I can hold onto it forever *evil laughs*
• He Came Down from Heaven - Douglas McCready  ($9.95). Christology is always fun!
  
• Jesus, Man or Myth? - Peter Carsten Thiede is only $2.95! It costs $2.95. Not much else needs to be said.

So, the plan is for easy reading. Well, that's probably because the 'academic' section isn't much more than easy reading. However, in reality I am probably going to leave with one of these books at best and impulse buy something which a 20% discount would actually make a difference for.

Oh look, I accidentally posted my Wishlist here.