So, the Flying Spaghetti Monster craze has been brought to work by M@. For those uninitiated, the FSM is the primary deity in what has become known as Pastafarianism. It is now a bona-fide Internet craze.
But why? Why would someone create such a thing? Well – the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a parody religion made up to combat the Kansas Board of Education’s decision to give intelligent design (ID) equal time with evolution by natural selection in biology classes. Turns out that these Pastafarians believe that “Global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct consequence of the decline in numbers of pirates since the 1800s.” Considering Kansas has given the go-ahead to teach ID, they are obligated to teach FSM, right? Who needs Science when you have good storytelling and lobbyists.
You can get all the information you’ll ever need about the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster here:
Venganza.org, the “official” site
FSM @ the Uncyclopedia (much more comprehensive that the Wikipedia entry)
The FSM Cafepress Store
BoingBoing post
and finally… the best German headline I’ve ever seen:
Mein Gott, ein Nudelmonster! @ der Spiegel
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And here I am, twenty-seven! That most magical of ages where major-league baseball players hit their strides and rock-and-roll stars die in drug-fueled embraces.
According to Wikipedia, a great number of things happened on August 18th throughout antiquity. Among them: the discovery of helium (1868), Hitler temporarily halts the euthanasia of the mentally ill and handicapped (1941), Jimi Hendrix takes the stage on the last official day of Woodstock (1969). Other birthdays include Denis Leary, Patrick Swayze, Max Factor, Ed Norton and Christian Slater.
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Back last Saturday, Kelly ran a triathlon! The E. P. Tom Sawyer Triathlon, which she ran last year in 1:47. It’s an 800 meter swim, a 14 mile bike, and a 5K (3.1 mile) run. This year, we think she did it in 1:35ish – an excellent time!
I took some photos at the Triathlon, but only a few because Kelly was so fast! (PS – the doughnuts were emphasis mine, not Kelly’s). You can see the photos here: 2005.08.06 – Triathlon!
Later on that day, we went to the Louisville Zoo, specifically to see the Lorikeets! On the way, we saw otters (one did ten backflips in a row!), seals, tortoises and penguins – all of which Kelly wanted to keep in our bathtub(s). The Lorikeets were great, though it is clear these birds are heathens compared to those in Cincinatti. Kelly was shat upon and I was bitten, though I gave my nectar to him! Ingrates! We had plans to go to the Street Rod Nationals, but we got up at 5AM, and were bushed by the time we got home. Kelly had an excuse – she ran a triathlon and was awesome. My excuse? None. I took some photos of our zoo trip as well: 2005.08.06 – Zoo!
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So yesterday morning, in a fit of very rare TV-watching, made even rarer by the fact that I was watching MTV, I noticed something odd. Good ol’ Music Television had a profile of the very un-MTV Sufjan Stevens. I have also just announced to Good Ol’ Cholly Dillon that I cannot stop listening to Illinois, Sufjan’s latest creation.
More on this at The Confabulators.
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