Being middle-aged now, and not living in Boston, I think I can be forgiven for not reading the Weekly Dig. But that meant I missed this article on Hank Peirce, now minister at the Unitarian Universalist church in Medford, Mass., formerly a roadie for a number of hardcore punk rock bands. The unfortunate title for the article is “Hardcore for the Lord” — somehow, I think the writer didn’t quite grasp the essence of Unitarian Universalism. And there’s no mention of the punk rock worship services Hank did ten years ago at the Middle East in Cambridge. Still, it’s fun to read about a now-respectable minister’s former life. (And thanks to Philocrites for publicizing the article on his blog.)
Category Archives: Arts & culture
Oh yeah…
In Confessions of a Barbarian: Selections from the Journals of Edward Abbey, 1951-1989, I find this from July 7, 1977:
Letters I Wrote That Never Got Answered:…
“Dear Gary [Snyder], I like your stuff too, except for all that Zen and Hindu bull…”
You know what — yeah (except that Gary Snyder’s account of living in a Zen monastery is pretty good journalism, and worth reading).
On a positive note…
Great video story on the San Francisco Chronicle Web site about a couple and their five adopted sons, ages 6-13.
All the boys were hard-to-adopt kids, who probably would have languished in foster care until they were 18 if this couple hadn’t come forward. Oh, and the couple happens to consist of two men. Oh, and both men happen to be white, while the boys are all kids of color. Oh, and one of the men happens to be the new minister at the Unitarian Universalist church in San Francisco. And just by chance, quite a little drama unfolds while the Chronicle is filming.
Maybe I’m a little sentimental, but this video tugged at my heart-strings and lifted my spirits: Link.
More about Altoids
My sister Abby wrote to Wrigley to comment on the change in peppermint Altoids. Here’s part of the reply she got:
Thank you for contacting us to comment on your experience with Altoids® Peppermint Mints. We are always happy to hear from our consumers and truly value your feedback. By receiving input from consumers like you, we are able to constantly make improvements and ensure that we are always providing our consumers with the highest quality products.
The look of Extra packaging has recently been changed to make this brand more globally recognized. There was a slight change in formulation to the Extra Polar Ice gum at this time — there was no change to the Altoids mints.
We are sorry you had this experience with a Wrigley brand and appreciate your help in maintaining the quality of our product. We sincerely appreciate your patronage and send our best!
Sincerely,
Ryné King
Consumer Affairs Representative
“No change to the Altoids mints.” –Um, well, no, that can’t be right. There was a change to the Altoids mints. As I noted in an earlier post, the ingredients list on the newly redesigned packaging is significantly different than the ingredients list on the old packaging (and it would be a federal offense to falsify lists of ingredients).
And I’m not the only one to notice this change. For example, I got the following information from the Wikipedia entry on Altoids just now:
Ingredients and Nutritional Information
As of January, 2006Peppermint: Sugar, oil of peppermint, gum arabic, gelatin, corn syrup. In April of 2006, the ingredients were changed to Sugar, gum arabic, artificial flavor ( Which caused the “Curiously Strong Peppermints” to lose some of their strength) , oil of peppermint ( a smaller percentage), gelatin, glucose syrup.
And see this blog entry, this blog entry, this blog entry, and this blog entry too.
Given the evidence of my senses, confirmed by other blogs, I have to assume that Ryné King is curiously wrong.
Update:
As of January, 2007, I can no longer find the “fake” Altoids for sale anywhere. Looks like Wrigley figured out what a mistake they had made, and went back to the old recipe. However, Altoids tins no longer proclaim “Made in Great Britain,” so that change remains.
Altoid update
If you read this post, you know that I’m upset because evil corporate bean-counters decided it was too expensive to keep putting peppermint oil in Altoids; now they’re just sugar and artificial flavor. I used to rely on Altoids for a hit of peppermint oil to soothe my vocal chords when conducting worship, and this past Sunday, I felt bereft without my peppermint-oil Altoids.
We were in a nearby supermarket tonight, and lo and behold they still had the old-fashioned peppermint-oil Altoids in most of the racks of candy beside the check-out lines. I bought seventeen tins, enough for a two-year’s supply if I limit myself to using them when I preach.
Now I’m worried that I may have missed some of the check-out lines. I’ll have to go back and see if I can buy still more of the old-fashioned Altoids. And OK, yes, maybe I’m a little obsessed about this.
Public service announcement: When the condom breaks…
I was researching my sermon for this week, titled “Which Sexual Revolution?”, when I stumbled across The Emergency Contraception Web Site:
There are nearly two-dozen brands of pills that can be used for emergency contraception in the United States today. Plan B, which contains just the hormone progestin, is the only product specifically approved and marketed here as an emergency contraceptive pill. You can also use a different dose of a number of brands of regular birth control pills [emphasis mine]. While these are not sold specifically as emergency contraceptive pills, they have been proven safe and effective for preventing pregnancy in the few days after sex.
The site goes on to give a table showing brands of birth control pills, timetable, and recommended doses, in order to provide effective emergency contraception.
Given how difficult it can be to obtain over-the-counter emergency contraception here in the United States — when pharmacists may refuse to provide emergency contraception for “moral reasons” (translation: religious reasons) — this is information that every sexually active heterosexual person should have. For that matter, this is information that should be available anywhere in the world.
What will you do if the condom breaks, and you don’t have the financial resources to welcome a new child into the world?
It’s curious, but not strong
Now that the Altoids brand has been sold to Wrigley, it seems Wrigley is tinkering with the ingredients. Altoids peppermint-flavored mints used to contain sugar, oil of peppermint, gum arabic, gelatin, corn syrup. Now Altoids contain sugar, gum arabic, artificial flavor, oil of peppermint, gelatin, glucose syrup. Note that there is now more artificial flavor than there is peppermint oil.
They no longer taste “curiously strong,” they just taste like any old bland mint. The change occurred at least as long ago as April, according to this blog entry. Apparently, the supplier in this area had a big supply of the old ones on hand, for it was just this week that I wound up buying the new, curiously bland Altoids.
Why would I bother mentioning this trivial fact on a blog that is devoted mostly to religion? Well, the old Altoids had a large amount of peppermint oil in them. Peppermint oil helps soothe vocal chords; I’ve heard of shape-note singers who carry around a little bottle of food-grade oil of peppermint, and during long singing sessions they periodically place a drop of the oil on their tongues to keep their voices in good shape. As a preacher, I too have used peppermint oil to keep my voice in good shape, but rather than carry around a bottle of peppermint oil I used to carry around peppermint Altoids.
But now there is so little peppermint oil in Altoids, it just isn’t worth it. I won’t bother complaining to Wrigley’s:– most customers won’t care or even notice a difference, and their bottom line will improve because peppermint oil is expensive.
Guess I’ll have to follow the lead of the shape-note singers, and go get a little bottle of peppermint oil.
More news about Altoids here.
A mouth full of mashed potatoes was better
Mr. Crankpants used to make fun of classical music radio announcers, because they all sounded as if they had mouths full of mashed potatoes when they spoke. “Tha’ was Car’ Phill’p Emmmummml Bachhh, perfmmmd by the Vinnnn Symmmphmy.” Pfeh. Who knew that things would only get worse?
As Mr. Crankypants was driving home this evening, he was listening to a classical radio station. A piece of music ended, and the announcer said, “That’s it for me. I’m glad we had this time together.”
He made it sound like a cheap date.
No, Mr. Mealy-mouthed Radio Announcer, “we” didn’t have time “together.” You are merely an announcer who is supposed to announce the composer, the piece, and the performer(s). Just do your job, and don’t be cute about it.
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
Tomorrow is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. The official Web site of International Talk Like a Pirate Day doesn’t go much beyond instructing you in the use of such basic pirate-talk as “Ahoy,” “Avast,” Aye-aye,” and “Arrr.”
But popular literature offers many more possibilities for creative pirate-talk that go beyond a few simple add-on words. Here are longer pirate-talk phrases (some with translations) from the ace writer of pirate-talk, Robert Louis Stevenson:
There’s never a man looked me between the eyes and seen a good day a’terwards, you may lay to that!
We’re that near the gibbet that my neck’s stiff with thinking on it. — Things are not going particularly well.
Stow that! Don’t you get sucking of that bilge.
Ah, it’s a fine dance you’ll do, and it’ll look mighty like a hornpipe in a rope’s end at Execution Dock by London town, it will. — You are in deep trouble.
To extend the silliness further, below are some of the sayings of Nancy Blackett, Amazon pirate, terror of the seas (from the children’s book Swallows and Amazons):
Let’s broach a puncheon of Jamaican rum.
Drink to the Jolly Roger, skull and cross-bones, death and glory, and a hundred thousand pieces of eight! But you aren’t a pirate, so you can’t drink to that.
I’ll shiver your timbers for you if you don’t stop chattering, Peggy.
Barbecued billy-goats!
Let’s parley first and fight afterwards.
Now grab a cutlass and shake a leg, and talk like a pirate for all ye’re worth. For if ye don’t, ye’ll find yerself in Davy Jones’s locker with the fish cleaning your bones for ye. Arrr!