Dragging and coughing. I thought I might escape allergies this year. They usually start kicking in mid-April, but not this year. I was feeling fine . . . until Thursday night. By Friday, I was dragging and walking around in a haze. I took a nap at the office (I have a thousand dollar Harter office chair that I got for $75 b/c it's defective somehow, and it's very good for naps), but I was still exhausted when I got home Friday evening. I drank a few beers and left my third one unfinished, watched The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (horrible piece of junk) with the children, fell asleep during it, then went to bed.
I have a pretty good weekend ahead of me, which is surprising since it's Mother's Day weekend. I normally have to slave for my wife on this weekend, but it shouldn't be too bad this year. Today, I have yard work to do (if the rain ever lets up) and tomorrow she's going shopping with the eldest and youngest daughters, leaving me with the other five. I might have to grapple with the toddler's diaper once (I detest diapers, though I no longer gag), but other than that, it should be an easy gig.
I'm constantly startled at new websites that fall between the threads of my web surfing. Every week, I find at least two websites that I should've stumbled across weeks or months earlier, but didn't. Today's find: The Da Vinci Hoax Blog. It's a cleverly-written blog by Carl Olson (if there are other contributors, I can't tell). Olson takes a very grim view of TDVC and sometimes strikes me as a little (a little) too pessimistic, but he knows his information and likes to slash. Consider, for instance, this throw-away comment from yesterday's post:
Several readers have told me of the frustrations that come with being unexpectedly accosted by a family member or co-worker who has suddenly received his doctorate in Church history by reading TDVC (after all, the Chicago Tribune did write that Brown's novel does "transmit several doctorates' worth of fascinating history and learned speculation").
Anyway, if you're interested in all TDVC nonsense, that blog is worth a stop or two.
And as long as I'm posting on the weekend, when traffic is slower, let me post a wild speculation about the movie: The movie makers are going to show TDVC for the fraud it is. When people see it, they're going to see that TDVC is strictly a page-turning work of fiction with very little historical relevancy. Hollywood, in other words, is going to do Christianity and Catholicism a favor.
Now that I've said that, let me emphasize. This is a "wild speculation." I wouldn't bet on it, even if you gave me five-to-one odds. I am painfully aware that Hollywood doesn't like Christianity and, in particular, Catholicism. Such a speculation is extremely odd, but I base it on three things:
1. A week ago, some blogger (I can't remember who) mentioned that he saw a trailer for TDVC and the scenes seemed over-the-top. I forget the blogger's exact wording, but he said it almost seemed liked the movie was a farce.
2. Tom Hanks' words yesterday, and the fact that Hanks is a Greek Orthodox with, presumably, at least a little respect for history and Christianity.
3. I can't believe the man who played Opie and Richie doesn't have some good in his veins, though I admittedly know nothing about the man's personal life.
There you have it. My prediction, My speculation, My wild speculation.
