Do monkeys make music?

Gibbons produce loud and long song bouts that are mostly exhibited by mated pairs. Typically, mates combine their partly sex-specific repertoire in relatively rigid, precisely timed, and complex vocal interactions to produce well-patterned duets. A cross-species comparison reveals that singing behavior evolved several times independently in the order of primates. Most likely, loud calls were the substrate from which singing evolved in each line. Structural and behavioral similarities suggest that, of all vocalizations produced by nonhuman primates, loud calls of Old World monkeys and apes are the most likely candidates for models of a precursor of human singing and, thus, human music.


Although a few other mammals are known to produce songlike vocalizations, gibbons are among the few mammals whose vocalizations elicit an emotional response from human listeners.

http://www.zoosemiotics.helsinki.fi/zm/music_and_primates.htm

Great lines and clips from movies and TV

From The Princess Bride:

Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-b7RmmMJeo


From Die Hard:

Hans Gruber: Mr. Mystery Guest? Are you still there?
John McClane: Yeah, I'm still here. Unless you wanna open the front door for me.
Hans Gruber: Uh, no, I'm afraid not. But, you have me at a loss. You know my name but who are you? Just another American who saw too many movies as a child? Another orphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he's John Wayne? Rambo? Marshal Dillon?
John McClane: Was always kinda partial to Roy Rogers actually. I really like those sequined shirts.
Hans Gruber: Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mr. Cowboy?
John McClane: Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.


John McClane: [huddled in an air vent, recalls his wife's invitation] "Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..."



From the Blues Brothers:

Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it.


Elwood: What kind of music do you usually have here?
Claire: Oh, we got both kinds. We got country *and* western.



Elwood: Illinois Nazis.
Jake: I hate Illinois Nazis.


From James Bond Movies:
Bond: Who are you?
Pussy: My name is Pussy Galore.
Bond: (pauses) I must be dreaming

"Half of everything is luck" - 006, "And the other half?" - Bond, "Fate" - 006.


"The distance between insanity and genius is merely success" - Elliot Carver.

Roger Moore skiing off a mountain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzA5R9aSFCI

Moonraker Bond 007 Parachute Scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiDvpeWk0P8



From Seinfeld:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbfMmCf5-ds



Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl:

Elizabeth: Wait! You have to take me to shore. According to the Code of the Order of the Brethren...
Barbossa: First, your return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing. And secondly, you must be a pirate for the pirate's code to apply and you're not. And thirdly, the code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Turner .


Jack Sparrow: [after Will draws his sword] Put it away, son. It's not worth you getting beat again.
Will Turner: You didn't beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you.
Jack Sparrow: That's not much incentive for me to fight fair, then, is it?


Norrington: No additional shot nor powder, a compass that doesn't point north, [looks at Jack's sword]
Norrington: And I half expected it to be made of wood. You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of.
Jack Sparrow: But you have heard of me.



Barbossa: [after Jack show up alive after leaving him on the island a second time] Its not possible
Jack Sparrow: Not Probable
Will Turner: Jack. Where's Elizabeth?
Jack Sparrow: She's safe, just like I promised. She's all set to marry Norrington, just like she promised. And you get to die for it just like you promised.
Jack Sparrow: [pauses and thinks] So we are all men of our word really. Except for Elizabeth who is in fact a woman.

From the Pink Panther movies:

Does Your Dog Bite?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXn2QVipK2o

How was I to know the bank was being robbed?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQAMvmi1Zwk&feature=related


Pink Panther Kato 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI3S9K0SpSQ&feature=related

Monty Python:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT3_UCm1A5I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xToPCaNxaow&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tym0MObFpTI&feature=related


Saturday Night Live:

I need more cowbell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRzds1HHkas

Jane, you miserable slut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pyb-EmZSj0&NR=1

Livin In A Van Down By The River - Matt Foley Motivational Speaker  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxm3fqmRtQc



Blazing Saddles:

Pledge to Hedley Lamarr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoM-ZC7uNnc

blazing saddles quicksand scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiUdtxe2YnU

Jeff Dunham - Arguing with Myself - Walter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo_QlcSL71s&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRSX_72yJog&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I226Sfgs0s&feature=rellist&playnext=1&list=PLAC81999E00B4143C

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNyQsH7ilIM&feature=related

Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHkeht_V_S8&feature=related

Who are the true Christians?

The true Christians know who a true Christian is. Some profess to be true Christians, but the actual true Christians know better. It is easy to know the true Christians, because a true Christian acts like a true Christian. The pretenders claim to be true Christians, but it is easy to know that they are not true Christians because they are not acting like true Christians. However, some people act like true Christians, but are not actually true Christians because they do not believe in Jesus the right way.


The challenge, of course, is that so many people have a different idea of what it means to keep his word. They also disagree on what his word actually means. But, the true Christians are always willing to tell everyone they are wrong, and they are right. How do they know? Why, they are the true Christians, of course.          

What did Ben think?

"When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not care to support it, so that its professors are obliged to call for the help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."

[Ben Franklin, _Poor Richard's Almanac_, 1754 (Works, Volume XIII)]


"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies."

[Benjamin Franklin, in _Toward The Mystery_]

"The way to see by Faith is to shut the eye of Reason."

[Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard, 1758]

"Revealed religion has no weight with me."

[Benjamin Franklin]

"Indeed, when religious people quarrel about religion, or hungry people quarrel about victuals, it looks as if they had not much of either among them."

[Benjamin Franklin, quoted by Joseph Lewis in "Benjamin Franklin - Freethinker"]

"You desire to know something of my religion. It is the first time I have been questioned upon it. But I cannot take your curiosity amiss, and shall endeavour in a few words to gratify it. Here is my creed. I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His providence. That He ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render Him is doing good to His other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental principles of all sound religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them.
"As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupt changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the Truth with less trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more respected and better observed; especially as I do not perceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in His government of the world with any particular marks of His displeasure.

"I shall only add, respecting myself, that, having experienced the goodness of that Being in conducting me prosperously through a long life, I have no doubt of its continuance in the next, without the smallest conceit of meriting it... I confide that you will not expose me to criticism and censure by publishing any part of this communication to you. I have ever let others enjoy their religious sentiments, without reflecting on them for those that appeared to me unsupportable and even absurd. All sects here, and we have a great variety, have experienced my good will in assisting them with subscriptions for building their new places of worship; and, as I never opposed any of their doctrines, I hope to go out of the world in peace with them all."


[Benjamin Franklin, letter to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale, shortly before his death; from "Benjamin Franklin" by Carl Van Doren, the October, 1938 Viking Press edition pages 777-778 Also see Alice J. Hall, "Philosopher of Dissent: Benj. Franklin," National Geographic, Vol. 148, No. 1, July, 1975, p. 94]


"It is much to be lamented that a man of Franklin's general good character and great influence should have been an unbeliever in Christianity, and also have done as much as he did to make others unbelievers"

[Priestley's Autobiography, p. 60, on Benjamin Franklin]          

Was there death in the world before the fall of man?

Genesis 3:

22: And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24: So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Since there was a tree of life which would grant immortality and Adam and Eve did not eat from it, but instead were banished from the garden, on what basis can one assume the plan meant they would not die before the fall? If they were not immortal, they would die, which is what the tree of life would have helped them with.
Not only is there no evidence that there has been a period when things did not die, the bible itself clearly shows that Adam and Eve were created mortal.

If Adam and Eve were truly immortal when they lived in the Garden there would have no reason for there to be the tree of eternal life.  It would have been redundant.

As an aside, you would have thought that someone wandering around before the flood might have noticed this flaming sword and made comment on it.

I am often asked what would be compelling evidence that the Christian god exists. Actual visible Cherubims and an eternal flaming sword would be a good start.

The calender is filled with pagan references

I am often told that our calender is based on the birth of Jesus as if this is proof of his existence. However, the calender is also filled with pagan references. Does that make the pagan religions true as well?

Days of the week:

The First Day: Sunday was named after the Sun god.
The second Day: Monday was named after the moon goddess.
The Third Day: Tuesday was named after the god Tyr.
The Fourth Day: Wednesday was named after the god Odin.
The Fifth Day: Thursday was named after the god Thor.
The Sixth Day: Friday was named after the goddess Frigga.
The Seventh Day: Saturday was named after the god Saturn.

The Months:

•January: Roman god Janus was the god of doorways, entrances, gateways, thresholds and beginnings, and therefore used for the opening of the New Year.
•February: This used to be the last month of the Roman calendar. On 15th day of the month was a Pagan festival of purification called Februa and so this month came to be known as Februa's month. The day before that, and the day after (ides), was a holiday to honour Juno. The goddess Juno was the Queen of the Roman gods and goddesses, and also the goddess of women and marriage. Was it coincidence that the nasty Emperor Claudius II arranged for a priest named Valentine to be clubbed to death and then beheaded on this day? See St. Valentine's Cross.
•March: The Roman god Mars, god of war and guardian of the state. This was the first month of the ancient Roman calendar.
•April: Considered a sacred Roman month for the goddess Venus. The name 'April' is probably from Apru, an Etruscan borrowing of Greek Aphrodite, a fertility goddess. Alternatively, it may stem from the Latin aperire (to open), as so many buds and blossoms open in this month (in the northern hemisphere).
•May: This is from Maia a Roman goddess of earth, honour and reverence. She was wife of Vulcan, mother of Mercury by Jupiter and daughter of Atlas. It became a popular girl's name in English.
•June: The chief goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter and queen of the heavens and gods. June became another popular name for girls, as did:
•July: Named after the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC to deify and immortalize his name. Gaius Julius Caesar was born in this month, which was formerly Quintilis (fifth) month of the Roman calendar.
•August: Named in 8 BC after Augustus Caesar, the adopted heir of Julius Caesar and the first Roman emperor (31 BC - 14 AD). A synonym for the adjective 'august' is 'venerable', and the emperor was known as the Venerable Caesar. Quite a contrast to the month's original name, 'Weodmonao', which means 'month of weeds'. Today's gardeners would agree with that.
The next four months are just based on a mundane numbering system. The year used to begin in March, so September through to December were months 7 to 10. A numbering system is still used in many cultures today for the whole year. Modern Japanese, for example, has 1-gatsu, 2-gatsu, 3-gatsu ... 12-gatsu. Similarly in Chinese: 1-yuè, 2-yuè, 3-yuè ... 12-yuè.
(Curiously, when Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar system in 1582 and established the Gregorian calendar with January as the first month of the year, he did not rename any of these months. December, for example, could have been changed to Christ-month or Jesus-month.)
•September: This name comes from the Latin septem, meaning 'seven'.
•October: This name comes from the Latin octo, meaning 'eight'. (Octopus - an 8-sided cat?) This is the month when people start thinking of Christmas and New Year parties. Amaze your friends by telling them the day of the week for Christmas Day and New Year's Day; these days are always the same weekday as 2nd October.
•November: This name comes from the Latin novem, meaning 'nine'.
•December: This name comes from the Latin decem, meaning 'ten'.

And while they are not actually part of the calender, let us not forget the origins of our season names:

•Winter: No mythical god … just cold! The season of wind and white snow, hence the name ‘winter’.
•Spring: The time when new plants spring up after a harsh winter.
•Summer: From Old Norse ‘sumarsdag’, the time for lots of sunshine.
•Autumn: The time for reaping and harvesting the main crops of the year. The old English name for this season of ‘harvest’ was replaced by the Latin autumnus in the 16th century. Also known as ‘fall’ in America, as this is the time the temperature falls and leaves fall from the trees. (And you’ve probably noticed that already.)

Denying the Holy Spirit

And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.
Luke 12:10

So, it is ok to speak badly against Jesus, but not ok to speak badly against the Holy Spirit? But Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the same thing. Can Christians please try to get some semblance of rationality with the bible?