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Video

Jerusalem 2111

I have been thinking about the future of Jerusalem as part of a project for my class on leadership and critical thinking. I will share that another time, but I came across this video on Wired.com.

Working out their own variation on the politically charged sci-fi subgenre pioneered by District 9, filmmakers David Gidali and Itay Gross inject a dark dose of civilian paranoia into an Israeli setting with their striking new short film, Secular Quarter #3.

Juiced up by UFOs, the visual-effects-rich clip (embedded above) pictures an alien intervention that takes place in a slightly futuristic Jerusalem ridden with walls and dome-shaped cages.

Avatar producer Jon Landau and other judges at the Jerusalem 2111 International Animation Competition awarded the festival’s $10,000 first prize to Secular Quarter #3 director Gidali and cinematographer Gross for doing the best job of creating an “urban sci-fi vision of the city of Jerusalem” as it might look a century from now.

You can see other entries from the competition at Wired.com.

 

bibledex – The Book of Ruth

I am late to this (as Jim W apparently noted last month, I have not been a bloggin’ lately) but the University of Nottingham has an interesting project called bibledex. It is produced by the Department of Theology and Religious Studies aided by a journalist with a brilliant first name, Brady Haran. Below is their summary of the Book of Ruth. Not bad really. Alison Milbank‘s summary of the rabbinic interpretation is necessarily curt, but is not far off, “The rabbis read it as a book about steadfast loving kindness.”

 

Best holiday video ever! Silent monks singing

Just watch and enjoy. (For those interested, I have no idea who they are. They YouTube link simply says “Creative high schools students give a great rendition of Halleluia!”)

My brother did some sleuthing and found another version of this routine. The preface is well worth watching, even if you do not have time for the rest.

 

Give thanks: It’s hard to be God

This is a great video, well worth the 7:33 minutes. I don’t know its origins but HT to Krishna.

 

The God Gene

HT to Father Stephen.