Monthly Archives: October 2010

Jack Is Back

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Nathan

You’ve probably already heard the story of Jack and his lantern, but since Halloween is coming up, I might as well sum it up for you. Basically, an Irish blacksmith nicknamed “Stingy Jack” was a drunk and a swindler, constantly … Continue reading →

Posted in Halloween, History, Holidays, Mythology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Pros and Cons of Demon Labor

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Nathan

Inspired by this post, I recently read the Testament of Solomon, a short book written in Greek sometime around the third century (although there’s debate on this point). It’s a story about King Solomon capturing demons and forcing them to … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

What’s Wrong with a Little Destruction?

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Nathan

For this week’s foray into the video game world, I’m leaving the Mushroom Kingdom aside for a little while, and instead focusing on a monster-themed game called Rampage. This was originally an arcade game, but it was ported to multiple … Continue reading →

Posted in Video Games | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Witch-ay Woman

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Nathan

While the Wicked Witch of the West is a somewhat significant character in the Oz books, it’s really the MGM movie that thrust her into super-stardom. It’s Margaret Hamilton in green makeup and black clothes who makes lists of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Oz | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

We Didn’t Start the Fire

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Nathan

This week, we take a break from the early Christians I’ve been discussing in the past few posts in this series, and look at the reaction of the Roman government to the new religion. For the most part, it appears … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Historical Personages, History, Judaism, Religion, Roman Empire | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

What Were They When They Were at Home?

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Nathan

While Roman religion adopted many gods from the surrounding nations, especially Greek ones, they had some of their own religious traditions as well. One of these was the concept of household gods, who would protect the home and family. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Discworld, Greek Mythology, Mythology, Roman, Terry Pratchett | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Military Intelligence

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Nathan

Apparently the government has decided to appeal the Supreme Court’s decision and continue enforcing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, at least for the time being. I see this as yet another attempt to Obama to make sure his administration does nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Fox News, Politics, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Who Put the Thwomp in the Thwomp-Ba-Domp-Ba-Domp?

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Nathan

Moving on down the list of Mario enemies (well, figuratively speaking, anyway; I’m not actually working from a list, and I’m not sure how many more I’ll write posts about), we come to the Thwomps, giant stone blocks with faces … Continue reading →

Posted in Japanese, Mario, Mythology, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Straw Man Origins

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Nathan

I’ve already described Ruth Plumly Thompson’s origin story for the Scarecrow, but I thought this was a topic that could use another look. It’s rather controversial in the Oz community, although I have to wonder how much of that is … Continue reading →

Posted in Buddhism, Characters, Magic Items, Oz, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Forever and Ever (Until We Change Our Minds), Amen

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Nathan

Partially inspired by some of the comments on this post, I’ve been thinking about the extent to which followers of a particular religion should be held responsible for the comments and actions of its leaders. I’ve come across people asking … Continue reading →

Posted in Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, Religion | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments