“A revival afoot”

When I think of Jesus, normally the words “Swedish biker” don’t come to mind — then again, I wasn’t in Stockholm over the weekend, where thousands of  Christians, some on motorcycles, came to worship. Attendance in this major city of a post-Christian continent was estimated to be 25,000. Said one of the attendees:

“The way we see it at our church, things are starting to happen. More and more people are finding salvation and we actually believe there’s a revival afoot. You can feel it in the air; it’s so easy to talk about the gospel,” he said.

“I don’t come from a Christian background. I was 43 when I found salvation and I really have a life before and after. This is fantastic.”

I ask my many, many Swedish readers: Is there really a revival up there?

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Now that’s an ad

I know nothing about this man but I already want him to win.

Attack of the mutant teletubbies

London has unveiled the 2012 Olympic Games mascots, which resemble something out of a Roger Corman movie from 1967.

[HT: Drudge Report]

Knowing your audience

In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, Woody Allen says he wouldn’t mind if President Obama were dictator for four years. He says this, of course, to a paper whose country happens to be well-versed in the joys of dictatorship.

[HT: Big Hollywood]

From treadmills…

…to the backyard:

UPDATE: Alright, so the video has to be viewed on its YouTube page, which is here. (It’s good that I check these sorts of things before posting and leaving them up for several days.) Apropos, I understand that OK Go broke with its record company after the latter began denying users the ability to share some of the band’s videos on sites such as this.

That British election

My absence from posting these past two weeks is due to the fact that I’ve been riveted by coverage of the British election. Now that it’s over, I can return to—

What’s that you say? It’s not over? You mean the Conservatives didn’t waltz into 10 Downing Street with a clear and roaring majority, as had been predicted for over a year now? You mean Gordon Brown is still, as I write this, Prime Minister, as had most decidedly not been predicted for over a year now?

I can afford, as an American, to be a bit amused by the prospect of a hung parliament in Britain, only because I find it fascinating that someone as belittled and unkindly caricatured by the press as Mr. Brown can still hang on. I’m merely echoing what myriad commentators across the pond have already stated when I say that it wasn’t the wisest choice for David Cameron to start sounding like a centrist instead of an iron-spined Tory. As we in America have already discovered – and as what many in Europe have taken notice of in the past couple years – flashy platitudes on the campaign trail can only go so far. It’s ultimately the substance that matters.

I just watched two clips on the BBC webpage of Cameron and Brown speaking. I’m sure Mr. Cameron is an able and intelligent person (he can’t get to where he’s gotten by being otherwise). But it was Mr. Brown, for all his lack of glamour, who appeared to have the more substance. Perhaps that’s one reason why he’s hanging on as long as he is.

The calm before the storm

An interview with the creators of South Park, right before the airing of the episode that reminded us yet again of radical Islam’s deep and unyielding respect for freedom of speech and diversity of opinion:

Meanwhile, Big Hollywood declares where it stands.