Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Digilectical materialism


Digilectical materialism is the theoretical basis for codifism.

All codes have a language (the coding language) consisting of a finite alphabet and rules for forming syntactical units. Digilectical materialism is the theory that codes underlay all that exists. Code theorists discover these codes.

To posit the world is made of coditrons and codes is no more strange than to posit it is made of particles and fields or strings and branes.


Monday, February 25, 2013

Codifism


This is the philosophy of codifism: Codes are the substrates of existence. What is thought, said, written, created is based on a code. All that is is based on a code. Codifism comes from digilectical materialism.

Codifism emerges from semiotics and electracy, pragmatists like Charles Sanders Peirce, John Dewey, and Richard Rorty, programmers like Alan Turing, Donald Knuth, and Tim Berners-Lee.

Codifists can be programmers, philosophers, poets, mathematicians, semioticians, ...

What can be expressed at all is expressed in the language of a code (a.k.a. a coding language).

Coding languages are everywhere: HTML, CS, JS, SVG, LaTeX:Math, XML, DNA, Twitlish, ...

Facts are just expressions in the language of a code that are useful.

All that is can be expressed in a coding language.

There are many codes, natural and invented. No one code rules.

Humans are natural codifiers. Codifists strive to codify.

Codify or die.


Update 2013-04-16: see The Codifist Manifesto


Saturday, February 23, 2013

There is nothing outside the code


All that is tangibly written today is typed via computer/electronic QWERTY keyboards.

All writing is coding (HTML+CSS+JS) for the electrates.

Monkeys typing LaTeX:Math could make all Tegmark's universes.

There is nothing outside the code.


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Why same-sex marriage opponents are sexists


There are some people who say man-woman marriage should be the only acceptable type of marriage. They say that man-man or women-women marriage should not be accepted.

If they believed that men and women are equal in a man-women marriage, then they would believe that a man-man marriage or a women-women marriage would have the same acceptability.

So those who oppose same-sex marriages believe that men and women are not equal. They are sexists.


Monday, February 18, 2013

Scientist vs. Philosopher


In "Philosophy under attack: Lawrence Krauss and the new denialism" (The Conversation), Patrick Stokes sums up the battle, apparently begun when some scientists remarked that philosophy as an endeavor does not contribute to understanding the cosmos. That's what science does, they say.

Almost a year ago, the philosopher Colin McGinn wrote in The New York Times that if philosophers operate like scientists, why not give philosophy a science name: like ontics.

I like this "solution". Onticists are scientists too. If a couple of physicists attack onticists, wouldn't that make them anti-science?


Sunday, February 17, 2013

In the poesopher's toolkit


"Paradoxicality is part of the poesopher's complex paraphernalia in his aporetic movement towards the (im)possible."

Phenomenology, Modernism and Beyond




Saturday, February 16, 2013

From the pragmatic perspective . . .


From the pragmatic perspective, there are no facts, only (more or less) useful expressions. 'Snow is white' is more useful than 'Snow is blue'. So as there are no (Platonistic) facts, there are likewise no counterfactuals. Languages are for coping with the world, not for copying the world.


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Acts Of The Holy Ghost



The Acts Of The Holy Ghost



a barely biblical play

by Philip Thrift

cloudversed.com





© 2012, 2013 by Philip Thrift





Places

Heaven
Judea (on Earth)


Time

~ 4 BC (on Earth)


Main characters

Heaven:


Harold B.D. Lord
H.G. Taylor
Gabriel
Michael

Judea:


Mary
Jesse
John
Peter
Thomas
Philip
Matthew
Judah
Maggie
L.Z. Bubb
JFRC (Judean Family Research Council)
K.A. Fuss (JFRC president)
Governor Pyle Ott


Synopsis
  • Harold B.D. Lord and H.G. Taylor are a married gay couple on Heaven, a planet in another M-theory universe. Harold is a physicist who has discovered Earth in his hadron collider lab and a temporary way to transfer a limited amount of matter between Heaven and Earth. It is the time c. 4 BC on Earth. Harold and H.G. decide to have a surrogate son with an Earth mother and name him 'Jesse'. Jesse grows up on Earth to be a philosopher and motivational speaker, attracts a group of followers, but gets into trouble with the religious right of his day. What happens next to Jesse and his team of disciples will surprise you.


Story
  • Harold B.D. Lord and H.G. Taylor (known as Harold and H.G., or Lord and Taylor) are on planet Heaven looking at Earth, a planet in another universe that was discovered in Harold's hadron collider lab. Harold and H.G. decide to have a son by choosing a suitable surrogate Earth mother from Judea, using Harold's sperm. They decide to let him grow up on Earth so that he might help Earth out of the mess it's in.

    H.G., with a tube of Harold's sperm, and Gabriel transfer across the interuniverse membrane to Judea and find Mary. Mary is impregnated. She is told to name the son 'Jesse'.

    30 Earth years pass (which is only 30 weeks on Heaven). Jesse has been dabbling in scripture and philosophy, and doesn't like carpentry. He still lives with his parents, Mary and step-dad Joseph. H.G. goes back to Judea to reveal to Jesse who his real father is in terms Jesse can understand. (Jesse would not understand M-theory.) Jesse is surprised by the fact he has 'two gay dads'. H.G. and Jesse talk about Jesse's future as a philosopher-preacher. H.G. will help him out when he can.

    Jesse begins a speaking 'ministry' with groupies Peter, John, Thomas, Matthew, Philip, Judah, and Maggie. John has a crush on Jesse; Peter doesn't want Maggie around; Maggie's in love with Jesse; Thomas doubts the whole thing.

    Jesse is tempted by L.Z. Bubb, a businessman who wants to use Jesse in marketing.

    Jesse gives a major motivational speech on a mountain top. K.A. Fuss (head of the JFRC — Judea Family Research Council) and his Council members are upset.

    Jesse and some of his disciples come across some JFRC members who have John and another man in their possession. They want to stone them for 'sodomy', but Jesse and his team rescue them.

    H.G visits Jesse again. In order to get Jesse better known, H.G. gives him some salve to rub in the eyes of some blind men so that they can see again. 'People will be amazed'.

    On Heaven, Harold and H.G. are observing goings-on in Judea. They see K.A. and the JFRC conspiring to find a way to get rid of Jesse. A Council member bribes Judah to lead them to arrest Jesse.

    The Council sends out armed JFRC guards with Judah to bring in Jesse. He is convicted of anti-scriptural teaching, sentenced to death, and sent off to Governor Pyle Ott.

    Jesse and Governor Pyle argue about the meaning of 'truth'. Pyle is pushed by K.A.'s mob into sentencing him to death.

    As two soldiers are leading Jesse to the the cross-making room, H.G., Michael, and Gabriel appear and knock out the soldiers in the hallway. They take Jesse away. When the soldiers come to, they are afraid they'll get into trouble for losing Jesse, so they go out and grab a poor crazy guy who looks like Jesse and take him to be crucified instead.

    H.G., Michael, and Gabriel hide Jesse. The next day, Gabriel and Michael take away the body of the crazy guy in the tomb and bury him somewhere else. Many people think Jesse rose from the dead.

    Jesse appears before his disciples. Jesse tells his disciples he will go away and never be seen again. Maggie joins him. Disciples decide it is best for themselves to just let the peoples' stories about Jesse rising from the dead run free without challenge and stay out of the controversy. (Stories will be written down by others later.) Jesse and Maggie are transferred to Heaven where they start a new life.


working draft script       [last updated: 2013-05-17]


~ Scene 1 ~
  • Heaven. HAROLD and H.G. are in bed reading their e-tablets.
  •  
  • H.G.
  • [Puts e-tablet on lap.] I've been thinking, Lord.
  • HAROLD
  • Now what, Taylor?
  • H.G.
  • Let's have a son.
  • HAROLD
  • That again. I'm too busy with my physics research. You know my lab has the biggest particle accelerator anywhere.
  • H.G.
  • [Snarkily.] Yeah. Harold's Hadron Collider, they call it. Your litle kingdom. [Pause.] And I want him to be yours, I mean with your, uh, stuff. You know, "Thy kingdom come"?
  • HAROLD
  • Oy.
  • H.G.
  • Here's my idea: That other universe that you discovered with that collider of yours, the one with a planet they call 'Earth'. It looks like they are all messed up. Suppose we find a surrogate mother and have a son to shape things up there. We can bring him back here to our universe if things don't work out.
  • HAROLD
  • You know with the technology I've developed, due to limiting energy consumption, I can only make a limited number of transfers back and forth between our universe and theirs.
  • H.G.
  • Ohh, explain it to me again. It gives me goosebumps on my balls.
  • HAROLD
  • The device I created that lets us see this another universe also lets us transfer matter between ours and theirs. But due to the Interuniverse Commerce Conservation Principle, there's a limit to how much can be transfered in a limited amount of time. That means we can transfer only a few of us back-and-forth for a while, and then that's it. So we have to make the right decisions. And there's the difference in our time dimensions, a scale factor of 52 ...
  • H.G.
  • When you talk physics, it gives me a big hadron.
  • HAROLD
  • [Looks down at H.G.'s lap. Pauses to think.] If I go along with this, I want him to call me 'Father'.
  • H.G.
  • And he will call me 'Dad'.
  • HAROLD
  • So what do we do?
  • H.G.
  • We find a suitable mother on Earth. In Judea. You've sort of showed an interest in them.
  • HAROLD
  • Don't be cute. Yes, here is the app I made that connects to the lab and let's us see what is going on in Judea. [Shows H.G. his e-tablet.] With the integrated Noodle Translator, we can hear what they say in their own language. They are very religious. They believe in a diety named 'Lord'.
  • H.G.
  • Hey! That's your name! [Pause.] Tomorrow, I'll take some of your "kingdom come" down and impregnate her.
  • [Opens bedside table drawer and takes out a glass beaker.]
  • Ready?
  • HAROLD
  • Now? I have a headache.
  • H.G.
  • [Starts getting frisky with HAROLD.]
  • I can make the headache go away.
  • [LORD HAROLD and H.G. TAYLOR start going at it. Fade to black. Sounds of ejaculation. Light back on.]
  • H.G.
  • [Holding flask.]
  • Well that's taken care of. I'll put it in the fridge and take it down in the morning. Got the syringe handy too. [Holds up syringe.]
  • HAROLD
  • I want Gabriel to go with you.
  • [Rings GABRIEL's bell.]
  • Could you come in here please?
  • GABRIEL
  • [appears]
  • Yes, Lord?
  • HAROLD
  • Taylor is going in the morning on a little mission. He'll fill you in. Be an angel won't you and go with him?
  • GABRIEL
  • Yes, Lord.


~ Scene 2 ~
  • Judea. H.G. and GABRIEL find MARY.
  •  
  • GABRIEL
  • What a dusty place. Who chose this again?
  • H.G.
  • Harold. Who else. Put on your Noodle Translator. It will let us speak and listen to these people in their own language.
  • [Both put on clear bluetooth devices.]
  • GABRIEL
  • So we are supposed to find a pretty but pure female to implant the Lord's stuff. You got the cum-tainer?
  • H.G.
  • Yeah. And a syringe. I want you to do the insemination. I want to keep my hands clean.
  • GABRIEL
  • Bitch.
  • [MARY appears. She is pushing away some hooting and hollering young men who want to get it on with her.]
  • GABRIEL
  • Scram punks!
  • [H.G. stays in background. Boys run away.]
  • MARY
  • Thank you.
  • GABRIEL
  • No problem. You must be a good woman, not letting those punks have their way with you.
  • MARY
  • I have a boyfriend. I'm keeping myself for him.
  • GABRIEL
  • I respect that. Do you believe in the Lord?
  • MARY
  • Oh, yes. I love the Lord.
  • [H.G. lurking in background gives 'thumb up'.]
  • GABRIEL
  • I don't know how best to explain this to you, but I am an angel of the Lord. And you have been chosen to bear his son. And you will name him "Jesse", because he is "the Lord's gift" to you, and you will raise him as your own here on Earth.
  • MARY
  • Are you kidding me?
  • GABRIEL
  • It will happen in your sleep tonight. You won't feel a thing.
  • MARY
  • I don't know what to say. What will I tell Joseph? That's my boyfriend.
  • GABRIEL
  • Go home. Get Joseph drunk and put him to bed. Then go to sleep yourself. In the morning, tell him you two "got together" last night. He'll have to marry you soon before you start showing or people will stone you to death. But keep it your secret and let him think it's his.
  • MARY
  • I am so blessed! To have the Lord's son! I'll do as you say.
  •  
  • [Fade to black.]


~ Scene 3 ~
  • Heaven, 30 weeks later. (30 years on Earth.) LORD HAROLD and H.G. TAYLOR are in bed watching the happenings in Judea on their e-tablets.
  •  
  • H.G.
  • It's been 30 years, in their terms on Earth, Lord, and our son Jesse has grown up handsomely.
  • HAROLD
  • Yes, due to our difference in our respective time dimensions, a year in their universe is but a week in ours. But look at him: He's lousy at his pretend-dad Joseph's carpentry business, spends his time reading scripture and philosophy, wanders around mumbling to himself, gets into arguments with religious people ... and he still lives with his fucking Earth parents! His younger brothers have already left home to make it on their own. I thought by now with my genes he would have wowed that planet.
  • H.G.
  • Maybe its time for me to go down to Judea and have a good talk with him.
  • HAROLD
  • That's a terrific idea. Go down tomorrow morning. But this will be a shock to him. His mother has kept our role in this a secret from him. And she wouldn't be able to explain it, anyway.
  • [Fade to black. Light back on, in Judea. JESSE is wandering around. H.G. approaches.]
  • JESSE
  • Holy Ghost!
  • H.G.
  • Hi, son.
  • JESSE
  • Huh? Son?
  • H.G.
  • Thirty years ago I was here and visited your mother, Mary. Have you ever wondered if Joseph was your real father.
  • JESSE
  • What the hell are you talking about? I know Mother has always said I was "the Lord's gift", but ...
  • H.G.
  • Your real Father is the Lord in Heaven. "Harold" be his name. "Harold B.D. Lord," actually. I'm his partner, H.G. Taylor. But you can call me "H.G.". Or Dad.
  • JESSE
  • Wait. You're saying my Heavenly Father is gay. I have two gay dads? That's just great. But I'm not gay ...
  • H.G.
  • He's worried about you.
  • JESSE
  • Well that's a fine howdy-do. Here I am, thirty years old and don't know what to do with my life. And my real father didn't take time to help me out.
  • H.G.
  • Things not going well with Joseph?
  • JESSE
  • Carpentry's not for me. I'm still close to Mother of course, but never that close to what I [raising voice] thought before this moment was my dad. I've mostly been wandering the countryside, teaching scripture on the side. I got some big ideas for changing things up, but I don't know.
  • H.G.
  • The Lord and I have been watching you from Heaven. You've always been as sharp as nails. But I have something to reveal to you.
  • JESSE
  • Anything to get me out of my doldrums.
  • H.G.
  • The Lord and I didn't have you just for a lark. We knew you would be special, and you would have something to offer the whole Earth.
  • JESSE
  • What do you want me to do?
  • H.G.
  • Begin a ministry to shake up this place. I'll help you out here and there. Just a few tricks, mind you. But people will listen. You'll draw huge crowds.
  • JESSE
  • I do have a few radical ideas I've been working out, and I'm no good at manual work. They'll crucify me out there though.
  • H.G.
  • Nonsense. They'll listen!
  • JESSE
  • Tell me about Heaven. And Father.
  • H.G.
  • It's not like what your scripture says. It's a world of science.
  • JESSE
  • Jesse What's that?
  • H.G.
  • The closest your world has come is the Greek, Democritus: "Everthing comes from atoms and void." We have built on that.
  • JESSE
  • I've read about Adam and Eve ...
  • H.G.
  • Not 'ADam', 'atom'!
  • JESSE
  • I'm so confused.
  • H.G.
  • There's so much to tell you.

  • [Fade to black.]


~ Scene 4 ~
  • Judea. JESSE is teaching a small group with PETER, JOHN, THOMAS, MATTHEW, PHILIP, JUDAH, and MAGGIE
  •  
  • JESSE
  • I've been working on a new speech. [Picks up a parchment.]
  • JESSE
  • "Here's the thing."
  • THOMAS
  • "Here's the thing"? I don't think you can begin a speech to thousands with "Here's the thing."
  • JESSE
  • OK.
  • JOHN
  • [Touches JESSE on the arm with loving eyes.] I think your ministry is going great, Jesse.
  • JESSE
  • Thanks, John.
  • PETER
  • I think we need to move to the next step, m'Lord.
  • JESSE
  • What did you have in mind, Peter?
  • PETER
  • A rousing speech from a mountaintop. The thoughts you shared with us last week.
  • THOMAS
  • What's the final scene in all this. I'm inspired, but what does this all lead to?
  • JESSE
  • Always the doubter, Thomas. But I feel this world is all screwed up. It needs to shake off the old and modernize. A new testament, if I should be so bold. What do you think, Maggie?
  • PETER
  • You're going to listen to a woman?
  • JESSE
  • In the new world I envision, women have an equal role.
  • MAGGIE
  • [Looking at Peter.] Well, I don't cast my pearls before swine.
  • JESSE
  • Hey, that's a great line!
  • PHILIP
  • Hey, don't fight. Blessed are the peacemakers.
  • JESSE
  • Another great line!
  • [Scene darkens as the group squabble.]
  • [JESSE is walking around mumbling to himself. L.Z. BUBB approaches.]
  • JESSE
  • And who would you be?
  • L.Z. BUBB
  • "L.Z. Bubb".
  • JESSE
  • "L.Z.?" OK.
  • L.Z. BUBB
  • I was at one of talks last week. Interesting.
  • JESSE
  • Think so?
  • L.Z. BUBB
  • You're going to mess things up with the establishment you know. And you know what happens to those who do that.
  • JESSE
  • All I want is equality and treating everyone the same. And for there to be a little justice and mercy. I just believe it gets better.
  • L.Z BUBB
  • Why don't you come work for me? You would be great in marketing. I can make you rich. This philosophical work is nonsense.
  • JESSE
  • Temping, I don't know ...
  • L.Z. BUBB
  • Think about it.
  • [Fade to black.]


~ Scene 5 ~
  • Judea. JESSE is speaking to disciples and a crowd.
  •  
  • JESSE
  • You're blessed when you think life sucks. Let go and let the One inside you rule.

    You're blessed when you aren't in the top 1%. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

    You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for Knowledge. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

    You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full', you find yourselves cared for.

    You're blessed when you can show nations how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. Otherwise you are just a war monger.

    You're blessed when your commitment to Truth provokes attacks. Persecution drives you even deeper into Enlightenment.

    Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then take the first step and do it for them. Add up the Torah and Prophets and this is what you get, more or less, minus the bullshit.

    Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.

    You've may have been taught to retaliate against your enemies. But I say to turn away from retribution.

    You've heard it was written, "In the beginning God created Heaven and the Earth." But I tell you our whole universe was in a hot dense state, then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion starts — Wait! Scratch that.

    I did not come here to you to tell you to ignore the Law. I tell you I'm here to fulfill it. Don't disobey the Law until that happens.

    There is far more at stake here than religion. This Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he's in charge.

    But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.
  • [JEESE's speech is lowered and to the side K.A. FUSS and a member of the JFRC are talking.]
  • JFRC (member)
  • I see trouble brewing. He's saying on one hand to obey Scripture, but then he's saying it's garbage and that he's replacing it. He makes no sense. He's some kind of a nut.
  • K.A. FUSS
  • We'll have to keep our eye on him. He is another one of those educated elite snobs who thinks he knows better than God's Word. If he gets a bigger following, The Council must take action.
  • [Fade to black.]


~ Scene 6 ~
  • Judea. Jesse and his disciples (except JOHN) are out walking and come across a disturbance: Some JFRC members are holding John and another man (both barely dressed) in their possession.
  •  
  • JESSE
  • What are you doing with John?
  • JFRC (member)
  • These two have conducted themselves in the way of Sodom. We found them fooling around in the olive garden. They were sampling each other's pits. They must be put to death!
  • JESSE
  • The old law is dead. Let them go!
  • [JESSE and disciples grab JOHN and other man away from the JFRC.]
  • JESSE
  • Let's scram!


~ Scene 7 ~
  • Judea. JESSE is wandering and thinking. H.G. appears.
  •  
  • JESSE
  • Dad! What are you doing here?
  • H.G.
  • I think you need a boost to your ratings. I have some things up my sleeve I think could help you.
  • JESSE
  • Like what?
  • H.G.
  • Just some stuff your Father and I came up with. Here's some salve that can heal the blind. You just rub in on their eyes and ... voilà!
  • JESSE
  • I can't make it on my own, eh?
  • H.G.
  • Just a little help. People will flock to you after this.
  •  
  • [Fade to black. JESSE is shown walking up to a blind guy and rubbing his eyes with the salve. Blind guy looks can see. Fade to black. Light to JFRC meeting room.]
  • K.A.
  • There stories going around that this Jesse guy is practicing sorcery. As if his teaching isn't enough ...
  • JFRC (member)
  • I think we need to find out more about this. We need an insider within his little group to tell us what is going on.
  • K.A.
  • I hear there's this Judah who can be bought for the right price. He seems the most distant.
  • JFRC (member)
  • I'll see what I can do ...
  • [Fade to black.]


~ Scene 8 ~
  • Heaven. LORD HAROLD and H.G. TAYLOR in bed talking and looking at the Earth app on their e-tablets.
  •  
  • HAROLD
  • I see our son is running into problems.
  • H.G.
  • I've been helping out here and there: some blind-healing salve, a walking-on-water illusion I taught JESSE, ...
  • HAROLD
  • But I see the religious leaders there are getting ready to get rid of him. It's going to happen eventually. What can we do?
  • H.G.
  • GABRIEL, MICHAEL and I will go down and look after him. If they take action, we'll protect him.
  • HAROLD
  • Good idea.
  • ...
  • [JFRC (member) shown handing gold coins to JUDAH. JUDAH takes JFRC guards to JESSE and JESSE is arrested.]
  • K.A.
  • Arrest that man.
  • JESSE
  • Who the hell are you.
  • K.A.
  • K.A. Fuss, president of the Judean Family Research Council. You are charged with punditry and blasphemy.
  •  
  • [JESSE led away.]


~ Scene 9 ~
  • Earth. JEESE tried before K.A. FUSS and the JFRC. Sends him to the GOV. PYLE for execution.
  •  
  • K.A.
  • Is it true that you say you are the one and only son of God? I have a witness.
  • K.A.
  • Well, I didn't pick my father. Or my dad.
  • K.A.
  • And is it true you teach that the Laws of Moses are obsolete?
  • JESSE
  • Well, yeah, ...
  • K.A.
  • Well, I'll have none of that. I vote we turn him over to Governor Pyle to be executed. He's always looking for someone to execute to boost his poll standings! Let's give him Jesse! Who votes 'Aye'?
  • [JFRC (all raise hands). JESSE led away.]


    [JESSE appears before PYLE: The PYLE OTT trial of Jesse takes place.]
  • PYLE
  • Your own preachers have turned you over to me to be executed. What did you do?
  • JESSE
  • I just spoke the truth, I think.
  • PYLE
  • What is truth? [Pause.] What am I going to do with you?
  • JESSE
  • I can't help what I believe.
  • JFRC (and a mob)
  • [To OTT:] Crucify him, or we'll get Caesar to replace you!
  • PYLE
  • I wash my hands of this ... Take him away!
  • [Soldiers lead JESSE away. H.G., MICHEL, GABRIEL attack soldiers in hallway and take control of JESSE.]


~ Scene 10 ~
  • JUDEA. The soldiers wake up and decide to find a replacement for Jesse to execute. (They don't want to get into trouble.) A poor crazy guy picked up by the soldiers is executed in his place. H.G., JESSE, MICHAEL, and GABRIEL are secluded in a safe place.
  •  
  • SOLDIER #1
  • What happened?
  • SOLDIER #2
  • Jesse's gone!
  • SOLDIER #1
  • Look. If we show up without Jesse, Governor Ott will have us nailed on crosses.
  • SOLDIER #2
  • You know that crazy guy panhandler down on that corner we passed the other day? He looks a lot like Jesse. Lets go grab him and cruficy him. No will will know!
  • SOLDIER #1
  • Great idea!
  • [Soldiers seen going to corner where a crazy Jesse-lookalike is panhandling. Soldiers grab crazy guy and take him away. Transition to room where JESSE is kept by H.G., GABRIEL, and MICHAEL.]
  • JESSE
  • I can't believe it all worked out like this.
  • H.G.
  • We will just lay low. Tomorrow, we we'll steal the body of that unfortunate guy — don't know his name — from the tomb they buried him in and secretly bury him somewhere else. People will begin to think you rose from the dead somehow. But I will need to take you back with me. Otherwise you will be killed for sure.
  • JESSE
  • What do I do now?
  • H.G.
  • We'll just lay low.
  • JESSE
  • Can I tell my disciples I'm going away? They should know.
  • H.G.
  • [Thinks.] OK, but just say you are going to another country. They won't do anything.


~ Scene 11 ~
  • JESSE appears before his disciples for the first and last time since his supposed execution. JESSE tells the confused disciples that he's going away, but doesn't tell them where he think's he's going. Disciples decide that they can't tell all Judea what happened, so they decide to stay mum, covering up the fact an innocent man was crucified in Jesse's place.
  •  
  • [JESSE enters room where PETER, JOHN, THOMAS, PHILIP, MATTHEW, and MAGGIE are meeting.]
  • PETER
  • Holy shit!
  • JOHN
  • Jesse! What the fuck?
  • JEESE
  • It's me.
  • THOMAS
  • I doubted you were really dead.
  • JESSE
  • Where's Judah?
  • PHILIP
  • He's the one who led the JFRC guards to arrest you. I haven't seen him since. What happened to you?
  • JESSE
  • I don't have much time, and I don't understand it, but here's what I can say. I was being led off to be executed on Friday and I was rescued. I won't get into the details of by whom. Anyway, from what I was told, the guards who lost custody of me were afraid of getting into trouble, so they went out and found this crazy guy who looks like me and took him to be crucified. The poor guy. So then, my three rescuers on late Saturday took his body from the tomb and buried him God knows where. When people went back to the tomb today they saw it was empty.
  • MATTHEW
  • What are you going to do?
  • JESSE
  • I'm going to leave this place and never be seen again. I can't tell you where I'm going.
  • MAGGIE
  • Please take me with you, Jesse.
  • [JESSE and MAGGIE leave room. PETER, JOHN, PHILIP, MATTHEW, and THOMAS plan what they are going to do.]
  • MATTHEW
  • Now what for us?
  • PETER
  • Here's the thing. We have to cover up the fact that Jesse is alive somewhere and another poor guy was cricified instead. If we say anything else, we'll get into trouble.
  • JOHN
  • So what do we do?
  • PETER
  • We just let people go on with what some are saying: That Jesse rose from the dead. No doubt this will lead some people to make up all kinds of stories, but at least we'll be left out of it!
  • PHILIP
  • After we are dead, I bet some will make up stories about us!


~ Scene 12 ~
  • Back on Heaven, JESSE and MAGGIE appear with H.G. and GABRIEL. HAROLD and H.G. begin to educate Jesse and Maggie about the new universe they are in. They watch what's going on on their former planet. (30 minutes on Heaven equals ~ 1 day on Earth.)
  •  
  • H.G.
  • This is your father, Harold.
  • JESSE
  • Just as I imagined.
  • HAROLD
  • There's a lot to explain to you.
  • JESSE
  • Uh, OK.
  • HAROLD
  • This is Heaven, a planet very much like the one you have come from, but it's in a different universe. You and Maggie are the last material beings we can transfer between Earth and Heaven, due to the Interuniverse Commerce Conservation Principle. Our time dimensions are different though: 1 year on your planet is equavalent to a week on ours, or 1 day on Earth is about 30 minutes here in Heaven. We can watch what's going on on Judea on e-trablets, or on our big screen TV.
  • [Shows him the TV. JESSE faints. MAGGIE and others try to revive him. Fade to black.]
  • [JESSE, MAGGIE, and H.G., HAROLD are watching the TV display.]
  • JESSE
  • I'm glad my disciples stayed out it. But others are making up all kinds of stories about them. And Me!
  • MAGGIE
  • People have gone nuts.
  • H.G.
  • I'm glad you are with us now. I thought maybe you could help them out, but looks like there is no hope. Maybe in a couple of thousand years they will wise up.
  • [Fade to black as they continue talking.]


end


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Jesus had two gay dads


J(ehovah) and T.H. (Ghost)
are bedding alone.

T.H. says to J.,
"Let's have a son.
Pick a host mother
and I'll put in your cum."

Born in a manger
in a province of Rome,
J. Jr. at thirty
still lives at home.

J. Jr. gets bold
and preaches parable.
Some rabbis don't like it
and stir up a rabble.

The governor ends it,
J. Jr. is hung.
That's what he got
for flapping his tongue.

J. and T. H.
are bedding alone.


Saturday, February 9, 2013

So God made a gadfly


And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a critic." So God made a gadfly.

God said, "I need somebody unwilling to believe baloney that will be written about me." So God made a gadfly.

God said, "I need somebody who will avoid convention and chase irony." So God made a gadfly.

It had to be somebody who'd annoy God. So God made a gadfly.



Monday, February 4, 2013

twitter and philosophy


All tweets are created equal:
parsimonious envelopes of indirection
sent out onto the surface of the sphere.
They hash their way into global streams
of consciousness, conversing with equals.
To be retweeted are their just reward.
You will hear "twitter is exploding" —
that means something is going on.

@philipthrift


Sunday, February 3, 2013

The Bible verse curses


The Bible verse curses groundhogs' omen.
The Bible verse curses man's sex with men.
The Bible verse curses those with no god.
The Bible verse curses shooting your wad.
The Bible verse curses meat meeting cheese.
The Bible verse curses the flirty cocktease.
The Bible verse curses skin with tattoo ink.
The Bible verse curses eating pork sausage link.
...

But after these curses are all said and done,
The Bible verse curses the rich having fun.



Saturday, February 2, 2013

Electracy


Electracy, according to Gregory Ulmer, "is to digital media what literacy is to print." Writers and poets are no longer merely literate. They are electrate.

This means that they need to be more than traditional writers. They have to be coders as well. This means knowing some HTML, CSS, and maybe even JS (JavaScript).

Take poetry. In the ebook world, lines need to coded so that in a reflow environment lines wrap in a visually pleasing way:

<style>
div.i2 {
      margin-left: 2em;
      text-indent: -2em;
}
</style>


<div class="i2">I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,</div>
<div class="i2">Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,</div>
<div class="i2">The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,</div>
<div class="i2">The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,</div>
<div class="i2">The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,</div>

(the lines are from Leaves of Grass) becomes (italics added)

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,



Screenwriting also has coding challenges.

Mathematical writing is elevated by MathJax (a JS library) that allows the writer to include \(\LaTeX\) code between \‍( ... \‍) (inline math) and \‍[ ... \‍] (block math) delimiters.

\‍[\exp \left( -\frac{1}{4\pi\alpha} \int \partial_z X_\mu(z,\overline{z}) \partial_{\overline{z}} X^\mu(z,\overline{z}) \, dz^2 + i \sum_{i=1}^N k_{i \mu} X^\mu (z_i,\overline{z}_i) \right)\‍]

from superstring theory becomes

\(\small{\exp \left( -\frac{1}{4\pi\alpha} \int \partial_z X_\mu(z,\overline{z}) \partial_{\overline{z}} X^\mu(z,\overline{z}) \, dz^2 + i \sum_{i=1}^N k_{i \mu} X^\mu (z_i,\overline{z}_i) \right)}\)


To be electrate means to code.




Tip: Add <script src='http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML' type='text/javascript'></script> to the <head> of blog to enable MathJax.


Friday, February 1, 2013

Philosophy of life

Publish your life in ebooks.
Why do I say this?
What do you really know of someone?
The books they left behind.
Why ebooks?
They are the only things
that will survive.