random comments

Hi, I was reading a bit of Nietzsche today - Thus Spake Zarathustra. Christians are supposed to not like Nietzsche, because Nietzsche often ridicules Christianity. I don't really mind, sometimes I agree with his criticisms, some times I don't. Somethings he says are refreshing, some mistaken. Anyways, I'll see after I read some more what I think. If nothing else he is interesting to read, although possibly not interesting enough to justify its existence (his writings).

I read something really funny today in the paper that made me laugh. You all have heard of Thomas Kinkade and seen his paintings (even if you don't know it, you have. Here's a picture of one to refresh your memory).


He calls himself the painter of light, or something like that, and his paintings can always be found in good Christian homes and even on the cover of bibles etc. Anyways, apparently he is a drunkard and a lout, with a penchant for urinating in elevators and other public spaces, as well as fondling strangers' (females') breasts. As for his motivation, he simply wants to be really, really rich. Not much in the way of artistic integrity, although he is a shining example of art as a capitalist enterprise. Here's a link to the article if you want a good laugh. Here's a quote that particularly tickled me:

"A Kinkade painting was typically rendered in slightly surreal pastels. It typically featured a cottage or a house of such insistent cosiness as to seem actually sinister, suggestive of a trap designed to attract Hansel and Gretel. Every window was lit, to lurid effect, as if the interior of the structure might be on fire. The cottages had thatched roofs, and resembled gingerbread houses. The houses were Victorian and resembled idealised bed-and-breakfasts ... "
Joan Didion

Funny stuff! Anyways, I don't have any problem with artists being bastards, what I mean is, one can often detach the art from the artist. However, I do prefer them to be slightly more honest about their bastardliness. Miles Davis was surely a bastard (woman beater, junkie, egotist, etc.), but he never marketed himself as a family-values, loves-Jesus-and-America-too pillar of virtue.

When I told Beth about Thomas Kinkade, she made the excellent observation that Christians get taken advantage of a lot. I agree: George Bush, the political Right, crummy books, crummy art, crummy music, all targeting the poor gullible Christians of North America (oddly enough, British Christians seem to often be immune to these worthless trinkets. I think it is a result of Christianity's relative unpopularity in the UK; they are not an important market.)

You might notice that I ridicule Christians a lot. This is true. I always find myself being embarrassed by the fact that secular-humanists seem to have the monopoly on common sense, rationality, and compassion. Don't agree? Go to a pentecostal church next Sunday morning.