Mmmm. Sacrilicious....

Conditions: Hot

Oohhh, lordy. Outrage has erupted over the above sculpture of Jesus, the first superhero, set to be exhibited in Manhattan for Easter. It's easter already? And the religious' cup runneth over: not only can they be outraged over a statue of their lord being made out of chocolate, they also get to be outraged over him not wearing any clothes! Oh the foaming anger of indecency! Let the waves of rhetoric begin:

A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday amid a choir (ed: heh!) of complaining Catholics that included Cardinal Edward Egan.

The "My Sweet Lord" display was shut down by the hotel that houses the Lab Gallery in midtown Manhattan, said Matt Semler, the gallery's creative director. Semler said he submitted his resignation after officials at the Roger Smith Hotel shut down the show.

The six-foot sculpture was the victim of "a strong-arming from people who haven't seen the show, seen what we're doing," Semler said. "They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions."

But word of the confectionary Christ infuriated Catholics, including Egan, who described it as "a sickening display." Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, said it was "one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever."

Oh come on, Bill! What about the crusades? Or does that not count since it was against, you know, the 'darkies'? I guess it's only an assault if it's against you and not someone else.

The hotel and the gallery were overrun Thursday with angry phone calls and e-mails about the exhibit. Semler said the calls included death threats over the work of artist Cosimo Cavallaro, who was described as disappointed by the decision to cancel the display.

"In this situation, the hotel couldn't continue to be supportive because of a fear for their own safety," Semler said.

Yes because nothing represents the Christian spirit quite like threatening to kill a guy for wanting to express himself in chocolate. This is the problem with the keepers of the moral flame in America: they're too busy getting worked up over the wrong damn thing. It'd be hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic.


Serendipitous.

All my life, I've wanted to have a moment where you walk into a large store and have the P.A system announce what the store is, just as you enter. Just like in the movies where, for eg, Wesley Snipes walks into the Museum of Natural History and the PA system says "Welcome to the Museum of Natural History." Well finally it happened. Just as I entered a store today, the PA system announced what the store was, and directed customers to feel free to ask for help from the staff. Yes!



Film Review: Ghost Rider

Mark Stephen Johnson's previous directing challenge was Daredevil, a film about a blind lawyer with sonar who took revenge on evildoers at night in the city of New York. That film had a certain grittiness to it that made it somewhat work. That grittiness is gone from his new film, Ghost Rider. A man becomes the unwilling bounty hunter for a demon, and tries to use his powers for good. It's kind of goofy, mostly thanks to Nicholas Cage, but with something this crazy, it really needs to take itself seriously in order to work. If you're looking for a lightweight flick about a guy with a flaming head who rides a burning chopper, finally it's here. Two flames out of five.



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