Our local bakery is closing down for 4 weeks as the entire family travels to Vietnam to support and possibly farewell the patriarch of their family. In speaking to� one of the daughters today I was able to express my sadness over her grief and assurance that I would be praying for her and the family at this time. My disappointment increased further after realising that I’d now have to find fresh bread elsewhere for the next month.� � Our customer/ vendor relationship� has advanced over the last year with the family business helping us with donations of bread for the quarterly skatepark competition BBQ. I have shared my passion for Vietnam with her and learnt that they are Chinese-Vietnamese from the north of the country. Language is often a barrier and I am still trying to learn their names.

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I love a good, old fashioned barney. That’s what King David said just before he led the Israelites into the city of Troy inside a giant wooden horse and was subsequently beheaded by Richard the Lionheart. (I’m a bit sketchy on the details but I think that’s the gist of what happened, although, who knows, I was sick the day they did history). And it is with those words of battle ringing in my ears that I embark on this, my historic first foray into what I hope will become a quad-weekly (every four weeks) essay exploring the murkier corners of Christendom. If all goes well, I may consider making it a monthly thing.

And what better way to cut this baby’s cord - to use an inappropriate metaphor - than to let rip with a vicious diatribe against one of the most subversive, manipulative and downright evil films that the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, a legal injunction prevents me from doing so, so instead I will talk about The Da Vinci Code. The talking car movie will get its comeuppance, though, make no mistake.

The Da Vinci Code has been a cinematic phenomenon, breaking box office records worldwide and making millions of dollars for its producers through ticket sales, advertising revenue and promotional tie-ins such as McDonalds happy meals and Tom Hanks action figures. The one that spews forth quotes from the movie, such as, “Gimme a break, not another stupid anagram” and “Run, Robert Langdon, run!” is admittedly quite ingenious. The movie’s success has been so unprecedented that apparently a novel has even been released of the same name. Read the rest of this entry »