Thoughts on a warm evening, just before a late dinner

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It’s always sad when a blog ends.  Blogs you enjoy, I mean.  There have been several that I used to follow that just seemed to stop.  No reason given.  There just weren’t any more entries.  Maybe the owner got bored, maybe she started another blog and didn’t mention it  in the old one.  Maybe she got married. Then there are the blogs where the owner says he’ll be away for a bit but will be back, but never returns.  If there is no e-mail link in the blog (That really infuriates me. An e-mail link should be compulsory on every blog) there is no way of finding out. 

One of my favourite blog has come to an end.  Elaine’s Liebfraumilch & Lipstick  (which used to be A Sideways Look at Womanhood) is no more.  At least she tells us she is finishing and says goodbye, but even so, I am sad.  I used to enjoy popping in there and having a read.  It’s still up, so I suggest you click on the link and fumble around in her archives.  I’m sure she won’t mind.  Thank you Laney, I enjoyed every second!

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I see the Pope has made an ass of himself.  He’s poncing around in Africa at the moment, and among other things he is telling them that condoms won’t be any use against AIDS, and that distributing condoms makes things worse.  Fool.  Condoms promote safe sex and prevent the exchange of fluids.  They are one of the most effective preventatives against the spread of this fluid borne virus.  Of course, they also prevent pregnancy, which is why he is against them.

The danger is that people will believe him.  Here we have an enormous medical and societal emergency, so what on earth is a clergyman doing sticking his oar in?  People should look to doctors and scientists, not peddlers of dogma.  Clergy of all ranks and denominations should do whatever it is they do in church, once a week, but apart from that, in the real world they should keep their big mouths shut, because they can do so much more harm than good.

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One of the biggest affronts to the natural order of things must be for a parent to bury his or her child.  Every sudden death is sad, but there was something very poignant about the death of Natasha Richardson a few days ago.  One moment she was ski-ing happily, then she fell, hit her head and because she refused medical treatment, she died the next day.  If anything positive can come out of such a tragedy, it will be that people should now be more aware of the need to have even apparently slight head injuries checked out as soon as possible.

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Have you seen that painting, with 103 famous people in it?  Apparently is has been going viral round the internet, but I had not heard of or seen it till I read about it just a few days ago.    I have since spent a lot of time looking at it, trying to see who I can identify.  Mike Tyson sits on the floor with Vladimir Putin.  Mao-Tse Tung is in conversation with Abraham Lincoln.  Hitler is watching someone play the piano.  I see the Queen, Bruce Lee, Napoleon, Einstien, Charlie Chaplin and Ghandi.  This is the picture.  How many can you recognize?   Apparently the picture is the work of three Taiwanese artists, who have painted themselves in at the top right, behind that low wall.  If you want the key, it’s here.
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Comments

[J]

I heard that Richardson did go to the hospital. I wonder if anything could have been done. Sigh.

The Pope is indeed an ass. I cannot believe that he says the things he says. Ass. Grrr.

[samulli]

Ah well, the Pope is an idiot - no surprise there. They usually are, it's part of the job description.
Before last week I had never heard of Natasha Richardson. Should I have known that person? I'm sure she can't be the only one who dies in a skiing accident, so I don't really see why I should care.
That picture is awesome. Even I with my aversion to politics and history recognize tons of people in it. Ok, a lot of them are actors (Hepburn, Monroe, Brando). Is that Beethoven playing the piano? And I think I spotted Goethe! He doesn't really look perfectly like himself, but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be him. I love that thy put in Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. Not to forget Staling and Mao, Che, Karl Marx and even Lenin. And is that Dubya in that red shirt, looking through a telescope? The guy leading the camel is Darwin, right? But who is the guy dying in the chair beside him? I can't place the face upside down.
Anyway, I love that picture. I totally would hang a big version of that in my house somewhere. :-)

[Rasmenia]

Uh... "distributing condoms makes things worse." Oh, yeah... take any & all condoms out of Africa & that pesky AIDS problem will just work itself out.

That is just disturbing. Religious leaders really freak me out sometimes. Wait... no - most of the time. Ok, well... all of the time.

I hadn't seen any of Natasha Richardson's movies, though I had heard of her. Even though I'm not very familiar with her films, I found it horrible that she was so young - 45? That is just sad, regardless of who it is, or how they die, whether I know much about them or not.

My husband & I were inspecting that picture the other day, both of us pointing at the monitor & shouting out names. Between the 2 of us, we managed to get almost everyone.

This is a cool post - I like the random thoughts. :)

[Missy]

Unfortunately, I let one of my blogs (observations from missy's window) fall to the wayside and I know you stopped there occasionally. However, my other blog is still going strong and I've given you an award. Check it out here: http://www.missyfrye.net/Blog/?p=1352.

[Robin]

Yeah, the Pope really stuck his foot in it in this one.

Love that painting. I got a bunch but far from all of them. DH and I will have to have a go at it tonight. I had a b&w line drawn poster years ago with 100 Dead tunes hidden in it. Now those were fun to look for ;-).

[Karlo]

I can't belief that anyone gives a damn what the pope says. What century is this?

[Betty]

Wow, that painting's really cool! Now I'm going to be spending the next couple of days staring at it all day!