A church in my neighborhood burns down - suspicious
Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Woodside (Queens, New York) has burned down.
This church was the oldest in Woodside, built in 1874.
Times Ledger
1010 WINS
ABC 7 New York
NY1
WNBC Television
I kept waking up last night hearing strange noises. It turns out to have been from this fire a few blocks away. Some neighbors tell me the church is a total loss. I will see how it looks tomorrow as I go to work. At 6 AM, any picture I take will be quite dark.
Labels: church, woodside
posted by
Patrick Sweeney at 11:21 PM
Permalink
Nativity Rubber Ducks
amazon.com
No blogging over Christmas. I have some more free time now.
I should be at the Nativity scene in St. Patrick's Cathedral at 50th Street and Fifth Avenue later today. I will give you a report from there.
posted by
Patrick Sweeney at 10:46 AM
Permalink
They cried out -- Give us Frosty
Man protests commercialized Christmas by crucifying Santa - literally : New York Daily News
If you've stood in one line too many at the mall as you watched your bank account dwindle and your credit debt rise this holiday season, you might find a kindred spirit in Art Conrad.
The Bremerton, Wash., resident is fed up with the commercial aspects of Christmas, and he's voicing his protest in the form of some unorthodox holiday decorating: Santa on the cross.
Conrad has nailed jolly old St. Nick to a 15-foot crucifix in front of his home.
"Santa has been perverted from who he started out to be," Conrad said. "Now he's the person being used by corporations to get us to buy more stuff."
For his far flung friends who may not be able to see the holiday decor up close, Conrad used a photo of his crucified Santa for his Christmas cards, along with the message "Santa died for your MasterCard."...
Could Art not have predicted that this would be a national story and even bigger, a Drudge headline?
It is shocking on its own. The great problem I have is that it denigrates the real symbol of the passion of Jesus Christ to make a point with which I have some sympathy.
For some, Santa is a sacred symbol. For others, the cross is a sacred symbol. Art Conrad offends us all.
Labels: blashemy, christmas, extreme
posted by
Patrick Sweeney at 1:09 PM
Permalink
Where have they taken My Lord?
Baby Jesus statue gets GPS for Christmas: AP
BAL HARBOUR, Fla. - A baby Jesus statue here is getting a Global Positioning System for Christmas. The statue, part of a nativity scene, will be equipped with the device after the previous statue went missing, even though it had been bolted down.
"I don't anticipate this will ever happen again," said Dina Cellini, who oversees the display, "but we may need to rely on technology to save our savior."
Stories about stolen baby Jesus statutes are about as common as Salvation Army bell ringers in Manhattan now.
People who have been caught stealing these statues or destroying these Nativity scenes offer bizarre explanations. The worst of them was "someone each year does it, I just figured it was my turn to do so." I will try to find a citation for it.
Labels: extreme, nativity scene
posted by
Patrick Sweeney at 12:58 PM
Permalink