His Majesty shared this one with me.

Sir John Benney was among the Arctic explorers who looked for new records to break after the prize of the North Pole was claimed by Peary. Benney chose to test human endurance with a solo trek from the edge of the pack ice, off the North Cape of Norway, to the northern tip of Greenland.

But that wasn’t sufficient for the intrepid explorer. He also chose to make this trip in the depths of the frigid Arctic winter. Unfortunately, it was too much for him. His last camp, with his frozen body still in his tent, was located in the spring of 1913. Curiously, he was found clean-shaven, and his would-be rescuers speculated that he might have survived if he had retained the extra insulation of a flourishing beard.

In accordance with his final wishes, his body was cremated and the remains returned to his family.

His Majesty drew an important lesson from this story.   (more…)

“We’re basically PETA … with suits … and deodorant …”

His Majesty: “A powerful argument for euthanasia at animal shelters.”

Except in Claiborne County, Mississippi, where it’s one man, 1.62 votes.

His Majesty: “They obviously vote by the pound in Mississippi.”

Obama may not wish to keep bringing it up.

With the impending nomination of Mitt Romney as the Republican candidate for President of the United States, I believe it is all but inevitable that Orrin Hatch will be proved right, and the Democrats will make a serious effort to throw the Church at Romney. It’s possible that Obama’s official campaign will try to preserve plausible deniability on this ugly tactic, but it will be part of the overall Democratic campaign strategy nonetheless.

So what about the Church will the Democrats throw at Romney? Three very likely candidates are polygamy, the ban on ordaining blacks to the priesthood, and the Church’s opposition to gay marriage.  I am going to try to preempt some of this attack with a (probably very long) post on these topics. Let it be understood that what I post is the opinions of Brother Vader, a mostly orthodox but decidedly unconventional Latter-day Saint, and that I am not an official spokesman for the Church.   (more…)

In Timbuktu.    (more…)

At $1,078.

His Majesty: “The distinction between matrimony and Prom is getting fuzzier all the time, when so many of the former last little more than a weekend and so many of the latter are consummated.”

Cool video

Based on the reaction of the fashionistas to a crucifix in a jar of urine or an image of the Virgin Mary decorated with elephant dung and photographs of naked lady parts, one might naively conclude that art has lost all its power to shock. This would be a profoundly wrong conclusion.

Evidently Norman Rockwell still has power to cause horror and dismay in the artistic world. Which I suppose means the Church’s artistic offerings are a lot bolder than I thought.

His Majesty: “Given the teenage penchant for rebellion, this could actually increase interest in marriage. But probably not, given that marriage is much harder work than camping out in a business district and heckling rich people.”

I never found the good prizes at the Easter egg hunt when I was a kid.

John Derbyshire goes off the deep end.

A lot of grief and misunderstanding could have been avoided if Luke hadn’t latched onto Obiwan as a father figure before meeting the real thing.  I can’t tell you how painful it was to have a former close friend first work to turn my wife, and then my son, against me; then come after me with a light saber, forcing me to divide and conquer in self-defense, when I was theretofore completely uninterested in trying to settle old scores.

How to Trigger a Volcanic Eruption On Purpose

I’d use a gigantic laser to blow open the magma chamber.

His Majesty: “With you, Lord Vader, it always seems to be about gigantic lasers.”

AP:

President Barack Obama says the Easter story of Christ’s agony and resurrection has helped him get through the tough moments of an embattled presidency.

I pledged to continue supporting Romney in spite of an endorsement by Carly Fiorina. Even the best candidate is going to get endorsements from odd places, because odd people make their endorsements for odd reasons. So even the latest endorsement, by KISS frontman Gene Simmons, will not keep me from supporting Romney.

His Majesty: “Though I’m not a U.S. citizen, I, too, hope to see Romney elected.”

Don’t push it, Your Majesty.