Because yes, I am a nerd, and yes, I played the silly quest on Google...only now I'm a finalist, so I feel like I should actually put some effort in to win this thing, mainly because the prizes are wicked sweet. So root for me. Yeah.

yay, platy!

what does that mean?

Google did a movie tie in promo with the Da Vinci Code. They had 24 daily puzzles of varying difficulty on the Google homepage. The first 10,000 people who finished all the puzzles made it into the finals, so being a finalist is not exactly an accomplishment to be massively proud of. Although I did get a cryptex. At any rate, the finalists get to do "the final challenge" on Friday, which is five similar puzzles. Only harder, claims Google. And if you are the first one to finish those five puzzles, you win this. Which would be a pretty sweet thing to win, if one doesn't think about the taxes that would have to be paid.

yes, very sweet indeed. I suppose you could sell some of that stuff to cover the taxes... youknow, all this davinci code mania has gotten so cheesy, that I now want to read it. I want to see what the Pope's homies are so cheesed about.

I just finished it last week. Wanted to read it first before the wife dragged me to the movie. Fairly entertaining, but nothing that hasn't been heard before, especially if you've ever read Holy Blood, Holy Grail. Remember all the fury over Last Temptation of Christ? Once this movie's out of theaters in 2 months, nobody will remember what all the fuss was about.

or dogma. don't forget that dogma was a threat to catholicism.

I just re-read Last Temptation. It's a great book. The Da Vinci Code is not, to be honest with you. The hype just sort of stuns me. I was still working for the bookstore when it first came out, and I can't believe it's still on the best seller list now, years later, when really awesome authors are being totally neglected. Advertising is amazing.

don't read that book sem the high priestess is not going to petition the council on our behalf again.

I may read Holy Blood Holy Grail instead. Those guys need the money for their legal fees for their retarded lawsuit. At FreeRepublic.com, they are threatening to egg Dan Brown's house and seduce his wife to get back at him, and one person has declared a "Christian Fatwa" against him (I read excerpts on another board, I wouldn't actually go near Freeperland).

Never saw Dogma. Looked it up on imdb -- looks like the Clerks crew. Is it funny?

Dogma was hysterial and far more heretical than DaVinci Code. I think the church is worried about DaVinci Code because of the sheer numbers of people who've read it. It made me stop and take a closer look at the Last Supper and Mona Lisa. It also taught me (a math phobe) about the Fibonacci sequence and the Divine Proportion. I can't remember the last time I actually learned something from popular fiction.

...I remember in the painting "the last supper",in the course of 14 over paintings a human hand was converted in to a bread roll,is that a clue,or a miracle?

...case you wonder,I think it was Mary M,s,...

i kinda liked the da vinci code. it was a fast and easy read. but mostly i liked it because i knew it was a best seller and was going to piss off a lot of christians. kinda like when i was in 6th grade and if you played heavy metal records backwards you would do drugs, commit suicide, and burn in hell for all eternity. when i heard that, i went out and bought judas priest. (and the clash.) on vinyl. yes, i was 12 years old. but back to the book. it was a great detective novel, come on!!

Anytime you have monks flogging themselves,I'm interested. For that matter,anytime anyone flogs themself,I'm intersted.

"Renowned curator Jacques Sauniere staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery. He lunged for the nearest painting he could see, a Caravaggio. Grabbing the gilded frame, the seventy-six-year-old man heaved the masterpiece toward himself until it tore from the wall and Sauniere collapsed backward in a heap beneath the canvas." his writing is total crap. that's as far as i got into the book. it was like choking down spoonfuls of goat semen.

You missed out on some priceless literary bathos, Nate.

i think i'll be ok. though, i haven't been able to focus much to read lately. if i get sick of tv, maybe i'll give it another shot. i'll go get a big mac extra value meal to go with it.

what the fuck is wrong with tom hank's head? It looks like it's growing/expanding around his face in some kind of rocky dennis fashion

i didn't say the writing was any good.

i'm a snob. it is probably a projection of my fears about my own writing. it's on the shelf here, i might as well read it. tom hanks must be on steroids. he's got a barry bonds fat head. i heard on the radio this morning that the reason the movie is getting so severely panned is because they took out much of what "christians" find offensive about the story. if that is true, that is hilarious. or really sad.

The film will now do great because all the "worthy" clerics and nuns have created an advertising campaign that is second to none. They should have urged young people to go and see it and they would have got a result. The film is probably not as good as Life of Brian, Dogma, Stigmata, or Jesus shagged Me--all of which deserve a revival as the fundamentalists say! Allelulia

Well, I just finished the final challenge. It took me 32 minutes from start to finish, which I'm sure will be far from the best time in the challenge. But I had fun, especially with the sudoku style challege. That was exciting. I won't hear anything until next Friday one way or the other (although a confirmation email that I finished and my time went in would be nice). I also saw the movie--two words--don't bother.

go Platy!! i'm not keen on seeing the movie or reading the book. The only thing i can say about the movie is that Tom Hanks looks amazing with long hair. He looks 20 years younger and possibly even mildly hot. It also took away that "everyman" douche look about him, and made him look interesting. So of course he won't keep it.

I talked the wife into waiting for the DVD, due to the bad reviews. Which means, I don't have to watch it since she'll get it and watch it when I'm out working or something. Now we can go see something more fun, such as An American Haunting.

My spawn is seeing it as I type this.A bunch of her Catholic school friends went with her. There are good christian folk demonstrating in front of the theater.Its been in all the local papers.This area is highly Catholic.Lots of "Mary-On-The-Halfshell's" in peoples yards around here.[mostly they are old bathtubs half buried,with a Mary stuck in them] I told my child,if anyone gives her trouble to holler out, "Oiy,we're Jewish,we don't believe in Jesus anyway! Who cares if he was married or not,he's not our Messiah.Oiy Vay,you crazy Christians,now let us pass." The girls all liked this idea,and where practising their Jewish accents. Remember,I'm the atheist mom,that the other parents complained about the Darwin symbol on the back of my car,and I had to remove it or not drive in the child pick-up lane when they were in grade school. You gotta love these catholics!

Czarina, you're awesome.

DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING

...look,I dont get to see the movie untill friday,THEN I will post.

He he,they had demonstrators demonstrating against the demonstrators. I saw their pic in the paper.Carrying signs that read, "FREEDOM OF RELIGION" I wish I had gone.My sign would have read, "FREEDOM OF FICTION"

don't a lot of movies premier in other countries much much later? i seem to remember the phantom menace taking at least two months to premier in the uk. aaaaaaaand i just debunked my own theory. dammit.

nah, we got it here on thursday too. our work sponsered a movie night and invited all our clients. the branch manager is a catholic. he freaked. fucking wierd. it was okay, I read the book too, but it took me 2 days - a book usually takes me 3 hours tops.

...cant post yet,need 2 more days untill I get the movie,sorry.

"cant post " you just did.

...you realize your going to hell,dont you?

..its friday,I saw the movie,,,1/3 is in French,I got Holy Grail,Knights Templar,Pope,killer monks,London,,,read the book first."it means nothing to me"...name that tune.,I cant.

...look,I am just in an enigmatic mood,o,k,?

tune -- probably ultravox: "vienna" if that's the refrain

enigmatic doesn't strike me as a mood. scattered and vague does. along with disinterest and apathy.