Carol Rutz’s Annexe

For the guys at King of Swords: This is what happens when you encourage a theology geek to make a mention for your site. You will get a written devotion on the Book of Concord with a plug woven in it. LOL

Swords are connections to all stuff medieval and fantasy. The SCA geeks I saw one afternoon respect and love their swords as they practiced their fighting. Pirates and Ninjas are never caught dead without their cutlasses and samurai swords. And who can forget the Kill Bill fight scene, in which the Bride was surrounded and she had her katana, ready to attack? And despite the fact we swing a Wii controller, there is that warrior in us who wishes to be like Frog from Chrono Trigger, settling a grudge via MasaMune. The guys at KingOfSwords.com are selling medieval swords as well as Final Fantasy sword replicas for collecting, beauty…and to satisfy the Inner Warrior. Although we can imagine ourselves to be the protagonist in our fantasies, all this symbolism and Hollywood mastery and fascination veils the sword’s true intended use, not as a prop, but as a lethal means of administering justice (as the victor sees fit). Just ask Margrave George of Brandenburg, who was willing to be executed by the Emperor’s sword for what he believed.

Yesterday marks 477 years since the Augsburg Confession was presented to the Emperor Charles V by the evangelical princes. These nobles were convinced that this confession is really the true exposition of Scripture– so much so, that they publicly stated that in front of the Emperor, a papal legate, various authorities of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Holy Roman Empire. It’s one thing if you were to say to Pope Benedict XVI: “I do not subscribe to the Magisterium of your Church but I embrace without question the Lutheran Confessions.” He’d say: “OK” and wish you blessings on your spiritual journey. Back then, saying that means DEATH. And one noble, Margrave George of Brandenburg, knew that. He knelt before Charles and declared: “Before I would deny my God and his Gospel, I would here kneel before Your Imperial Majesty and have my head chopped off.” That’s right: the Margrave offered his neck to be offed by a sword to someone who has the authority to do so.

What does this mean for us today? It means that we all have something to die for, regardless of one’s personal view of the afterlife. In this case, these nobles are willing to risk being executed for their beliefs. Looking at the Book of Concord, I can see why. It means not having my conscience bound by arbitrary rules that go against what the Bible said. Instead of finding cold comfort in what good [?] I have done, I can fling myself at the Cross, knowing that Christ has paid it all and set me free. The Augsburg Confession reminds me that I can love my Prediger and give him myself as his wife [and he likewise as my husband], knowing that God has blessed us both in the estate of marriage.

In essence, the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession is all about not letting go of God’s gifts, even at the point of great pain. George was aware about that, as well as his colleagues. Today, we continue to hold on to His promises.

From McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies, Jeff Podeszwa’s song essay based on the 80s New Wave hit “Red Skies” by The Fixx. This is what happens if you mix hockey players, beer, and Cy Curnin.

Red skies at night (red skies at night)…
Wo ho (wo ho)…

I’m planning a revamped site, with sections for my business and the Annexe. This means that I have to make a storyboard of where to put things, whip up some nifty graphics, and make a professional effort with CarolRutz.com and Mad Theologian Services.

In the meantine, enjoy Matt and Kim as they get food thrown at them.

From the bowels of Fark, a postmodernist treatise on Paris Hilton by Farker Paulseta. Contains Foucault, Sublimation, and lots o’ structuralism. You will need the Firefox tab to use Wikipedia to look up terms…and maybe some good scotch to pry open the meaning of this Postmodernist silliness.

Paris Hilton and structuralist sublimation
by Paulseta

“Sexual identity is part of the rubicon of consciousness,” says Lacan. The primary theme of Buxton’s [1]model of precapitalist capitalism is the collapse, and subsequent failure, of textual class. But the example of dialectic neocultural theory depicted in Junky emerges again in The Ticket that Exploded, although in a more self-justifying sense.

Thus we find ourselves with Paris, and in a very real sense she finds some of us in her.

“Narrativity is used in the service of hierarchy,” says Lacan. Debord promotes the use of precapitalist capitalism to deconstruct the status quo. Marx uses the term ‘Sontagist camp’ to denote a mythopoetical reality.

Read the rest of this entry »

We kids grew up with watching The Price Is Right on Channel 2, right after Sesame Street and Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood on Channel 28. Plinko, The Punch Board, Penny Ante, and the Big Showdown were the highlights of my day. I hated Cliff Hangers with the fury of a thousand suns, as I freaked out at the little guy getting toppled! It was an hour-long commercial disguised as a game show…and it was good.

Bob has seen college students, members of the armed forces, cute grandmas, and weird clueless people “come on down!” in his 35-year career. He encouraged pet owners to get their pets spayed and neutered at the conclusion of every show.

Thanks for being part of my childhood memories. Good luck in your retirement.

And for the rest of us, an April Fools’ showcase, taped in 1983.

From FlyerTalk, a gem of a story featuring some certified winners from the First Class galley of a British Airways flight. Pucci Galore was working as part of the crew on this flight from Florida, when an old couple and a mother-daughter duo have an ethanol-laced clash.

At this point I had a crew member come flying up the cabin saying that there was a commotion in the back. Now what! Back we went and I understood that the Mother and Daughter that had come aboard had fallen out with the neighbours big time. Mama had a mouth that would put Jewel out of business and had called the woman in front of her a Copulating Old Cow. The woman said that Mother and Daughter had started swigging out of a bottle.

I’m looking forward to Part 2 of the story of Jewel and Bunny.

From Kitaro’s early album Tenku comes this ethereal gem. It is heavy with idealism, medieval courtly love, and everything else good and noble that JRR Tolkien would throw into an epic novel. This is what Queen Mab would listen to in her MP3 player.

With that talent…I wondered whether Kitaro had found a cosmic tear in the space-time continuum and stuck his ear in it that he heard the heavenly choir for a few moments.

I’ve just posted up my first business ad for my repair business, and I will need to add a special section for my business. If any of you are in the Fort Wayne area as well as New Haven, Auburn, Decatur, and Aboite areas, let me be your computer fix-it geek!