Monday, May 22, 2006

Madonna Plays Show in Effingham, Illinois


Madonna has been (pun intended) clinging to her controversial twenties with a death grip for the last decade or so. How shocking, then, that she played a recent outdoor show in the downstate Illinois truckstop known as Effingham. The night show, hosted at the sight of the famous 198 foot Cross at the intersection of Interstates 57 & 70 was an unusual choice for the artist more used to arena venues. The cross was erected in the nineties to serve as a beacon of hope to the 50,000 travelers estimated to pass by each day. Adding some ecumenical spice to the normally bare cross, Madonna paid homage to her lapsed Catholic heritage by playing the part of the corpus and creating a crucifix. Observers agreed that the portrayal was her best acting performance since Desperately Seeking Susan.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Jaroslav Pelikan (1923-2006)

Christ is Risen!

Dr Jaroslav Pelikan, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University where he served on the faculty from 1962-96, fell asleep in the Lord in the afternoon of Saturday, May 13 after a long battle with lung cancer.

Recognized by many as the most noted historical theologian of our times, Dr Pelikan was a member at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Church in Crestwood, NY from the date of his reception into the Orthodox Church along with his wife in 1998. He is the immediate past president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is one of the world’s leading scholars in the history of Christianity and has authored more than 30 books including the five volume The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (1971-89).

Memory Eternal!