Eugene Peterson’s “The Message”

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Update, 2005: Eugene Peterson on spirituality. Now I have a newfound respect for him, more than enough to overshadow my annoyance at “The Message.”

Eugene Peterson’s The Message gets gentle treatment from Bible scholars, mainly because it isn’t presented as a Bible translation. It had better not. I’m not a very big fan of The Message‘s use of “dumbed-down” Scriptural paraphrasing; to me it smacks a bit too much of going beyond what is written.

Of course, that’s most likely just me being a theological snob. I do acknowledge that there are people who are helped along in their understanding of Scripture by paraphrased texts such as this. I am not one of those people.

Mel Gibson as Jesus

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Lethal Jesus? Brave Sacred Heart? Mel Gibson, action star and prominent Roman Catholic, may be cast as Jesus in a film about the Passion. I can already see Jesus with blue makeup on half of his face, yelling, “FREEEE-DUUUM!!!”

Update, years later: Well, we all know how that went. So glad Jim Caviezel did it instead.

Starbucks still serves Short

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On my arrival in the USA, I wasn’t too surprised to find that “Short” was not included in the Starbucks hot coffee sizes. (“Small” in other restaurants over here, after all, is often the size of the Filipino “Large,” so what need is there for the diminutive “Short”?)

It turns out, however, that the 8oz. Short is still a viable option; you just need to ask for it by name. Not “Small” or “Regular” — that’ll get you a “Tall” — but a “Short.”

(Not that it matters; $1.30 is a lot to pay for just 8oz. of coffee.)

“We’re actively looking for a bigger size,” Scheumann reports. “Perhaps a 30-ounce cup.” Bigger than “Venti”? Sure, go ahead, Starbucks. You could call it “Vat.” Or “Swimming Pool.”