Status Update_ Je Suis Tres Burned Out

If folks are wondering why a seemingly compulsive blogger like myself has not blogged in a full 48 hours, the reason is very simple. I am toast!

Recently, my friend Chris Knight made a highly confessional series about his a serious health condition that he was dealing with, and I thought to myself: "Hmmmm.....I'm not sure I could do that!" And, as a general rule, I've tried to avoid personal matters, except my political beliefs (memo to Newt Gingrich: Bring It On!).

But, the strains of teaching summer school are quite challenging, and it never seem to end. However, we are hoping to have some new entries up again as soon as tomorrow. Of course, grading mountains of papers will have to be the priority.

Interestingly enough, an image of burnt toast was used for the web site of Valley Bible Fellowship, a seemingly quite evangelical outfit in Boonville, Calif. (hey, I thought California was a blue state?). I read the post on the assumption that they were implying if one did not come to their church, they might find themselves in Hot Stuff's lair. But, upon reading the passage that went along with the entry, I could not quite figure out what they were saying at all.

That does remind me, all the "World is Coming to an End" billboards put up Harold Camping to promote May 21, 2011, as doomsday, have come down. There were about four on Route 220 between Roanoke, Va., and Greensboro, NC. I suppose we'll see them again with a new date some time next year!

SIDEBAR: The "If you gotta go, you gotta go" sentiment apparently does not apply to residents of Zimbabwe. While dictators in Syria, Yemen and Libya are making headlines due to their violent reactions towards political protests against their Orwellian leadership, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has gone under the radar.

But, on May 7th, Alois Mabhunu, a police sergeant in (we presume) the capital city of Harare, made the mistake of using Mugabe's own personal throne. So for using the designated toilet, Mabhunu got a ten-day jail sentence for invading the dictator's privacy.

I actually heard this on the BBC_ of all places!

Quote of the Week- Slavoj Zizek (this is a great one...)

Today, we begin our series of quotes from famous philosophers, which might well seem like an oxy moron, with a quip from the great Slovenian thinker Slavoj Zizek (b. 1949).

We are not normally fans of 'bathroom humor,' but we love this image of Zizek on the throne, and we like this quote even more.

Some background for those of you unfamiliar with Zizek, and I am not a philosophy major myself though the few I've met always seem to be smarter than I am, he is described by Wikipedia as: "A Slovenian continental philosopher and critical theorist working in traditions of Hegelianism and Marxism who is known for his political theory and film theory."

Yes, I'm sure that cleared things up for you. Zizek was also the subject of the quirky documentary film "Zizek!" (2005). His books include "Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle" and "The Pervert's Guide to Cinema."

We first heard about Zizek through "Film Comment" which listed some of his guilty pleasures. I don't have the list in front of me, but I am 99 percent "Troll 2," a film we mentioned in our entry two days ago, was not on that list (it probably wouldn't be on mine either!).

Ah, yes, here is the quote:

"Love feels like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite, a permanent state of emergency that ruins all pleasures."

We told it was a good one, didn't we!

It's too bad today is not Valentine's Day as this would have been perfect for that one day when Air Supply sells more cds than Arcade Fire!