Random things said by other people

1. I turned to the local PBS station, and landed in the middle of a British sitcom, just in time to hear some guy proclaim:

I am grappling with the most ancient dilemma of man: she likes me, but which end?

I watched the rest of it. One of the sits that got commed involves a woman getting a hot guy to ask her out on a date, which turns out to be a Christian discussion group. She proceeds to be incredulous that they actually believe in God, suggests that there are a whole bunch of regional gods (like MPs) who all report to Thor, and ends by promoting the value of premarital sex. The dialogue here was a little weak as far as British comedy goes, but then I wondered whether this sort of scene would make it on to a network sitcom in the US nowadays (back in the day Seinfeld came close), and for some reason that made it a little more enjoyable.

2. The other day, on the same station, they were broadcasting a sermon by some dude preaching social justice and working with / helping other countries instead of blowing them up. You know, good stuff. Then:

Amongst the people of the world, there are good people everywhere. There are people of faith everywhere.

Everything was fine until that last sentence. What's that last sentence doing there? The sermon was giving me a bit of a humanitarian-geek buzz, but that totally killed it.

It reminded me a little of Dogma, a movie which I kinda hated. It was meant to be impressive because it was all edgy and criticizing organized religion, but the take-home message was not the least bit edgy, and is pretty much utterly mainstream:

...it doesn't matter what you have faith in, just that you have faith.

And what if you don't have faith at all?

"Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in 'sharing their vision of American society.' Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry."

3. Random comment heard entirely out of context while exiting a cafeteria:

OK, OK. Look: Imagine you you thought Hamlet was a fantastic poem but a terrible play.

OK, I'm imagining, I'm imagining.

4. Quip from the prof of the Hegel course:

You should find this material pretty much incomprehensible.

Oh, good.

5. The Wittgenstein seminar involves a lot of jokes.

The sign in the window said breakfast served anytime. So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.

I got food poisoning today. I don't know when I'll use it.

I went to a general store. They wouldn't let me buy anything specifically.

Guess the comedian. (It's not Wittgenstein.)

6. Everyone here loves Chuck Norris Facts. You might, too.

There is no chin under Chuck Norris' Beard. There is only another fist.

One of many.