Simultaneously Terrifying and Hilarious

I feel like that rarely happens. When you see or hear or read something that is really really scary, but at the same time utterly amusing. Today's example - Tom Cruise interview. And yes, I know we shouldn't be suprised by anything that comes out of that man's mouth, but this was too much.

As a Scientologist, at the scene of an accident, "you know you are the only one who can help." -Yep b/c non-Sc paramedics don't know anything.

"We are the authorities on getting people off drugs. We are the authorities on the mind."
- Just watch the video to know why this is really ironic.

"We unite cultures!"

"If you are a Scientologist you see things....... the way they are."

And I am not linking to the video, b/c I am a little paranoid and more than a little scared of those people.

Damanhur

I was sitting at the computer all prepared to start work on my 60 pages of papers that are due this semester. And then I received an email from my brother. It was about this underground temple in Italy in the Alps named Damanhur (you should really do a google image search - right now!!). Honestly, when I first read about it I was thinking - this must be an internet hoax. Its too unbelievable. But then b/c I was intrigued I did a little more searching.

Essentially, the temple began in the 1970's and remained secret until 1992 when discovered by the Italian police (if you didn't do the image search you should NOW, so that you will understand why it is so amazing that these people weren't discovered). One individual started digging out these temples with a few friends, and now there are over 1000 people living there. The Federation of Damanhur is larger though, with centers in Europe, Japan, and America (yes, here). I think they are a sort of new age/pagan group, with lots of interesting ideas, such as time travel.

Anyway, I'm doing a bad job of synthesizing this so you should read all about them on your own.

Hmm....if only I spoke Italian....

November complaints

I am rather confused by how it is already November 15, and the AAAs are already next Wednesday. The last few weeks of school are always the worst. I have a proposal to write, which I should have been working on all semester, but, as usual, was not evening thinking about. I also have this crazy paper to write for my religion class. Of course, the professor loved my first paper (b/c it involved Asad), and after discussing various themes and potential topics in a meeting with him, it looks like I will once again be writing on Asad. I think the paper is going to be about religious and secular violence, something to do with power, and maybe nationalism. Actually its too much to think about right now.

But if anyone has suggestions for articles or books that I could use - feel free to tell me. I did find this potentially super useful anthology Violence in War and Peace edited by Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Philippe Bourgois. I glanced through it last night. Oh, and I guess I should really look at Discipline and Punish, but sometimes Foucault makes my head ache.

Post-Halloween Grading Session

I am about to engage in a marathon grading session - must finish exams!

I did however, finally complete this insane paper on William Clifford and Soren Kierkegaard. I think I came up with a rather nifty title, hopefully the paper is as good -- "The Passion of the Infinite and the Vagaries of Belief: Faith, Reason, and the Individual in William Clifford and Soren Kierkegaard."

Party last night was much fun, I did manage to complete my costume. I will happily post pictures onto Facebook as a reward to myself when I finish grading.

ed. to add that at around 11pm I finally completed those god-forsaken exams. but then I made the mistake of looking at my neglected syllabi to see what else I hadn't done, I might have nightmares b/c of it...