I’ve got two more notes about Tammy Faye that I couldn’t fit into the last post (since it got so depressing at the end!). Fresh Air rebroadcast an interview with Tammy Faye. You can listen to that here.

You may have also seen things like the above image. It’s fireplace crystals that you sprinkle into your fire to change its color. I immediately thought of these crystals, when I heard that Tammy Faye had been cremated. With all of that makeup she wore, what color were the flames?

Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education was on the Ring of Fire program on Air America Radio one week ago. This is the first chance I’ve had to review it.

You can listen to the program on their website (click on “RF 063007 Hour 2 Jason Alexander Eugenie Scott”).

The show begins with Jason Alexander talking about his efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. The Eugenie Scott interview begins about 18 minutes into the segment. The interview focusses on The Discovery Institute and their stealth tactics to subvert the Constitution.

Scott says that the DI is actually a fairly small group of people, but they are extremely well fund(i)ed and have been very successful pushing their agenda.

The DI is known primarily for its promotion of “intelligent design” creationism, but its scope is actually much broader. Much of the DI’s agenda is right-wing libertarian (e.g., shrink government to the point of ineffectiveness, laissez-faire capitalism, etc.).

Scott talks about the Wedge Document, which is, to quote Scott, “a roadmap to theocracy”. She says they want to “rechristianize America”; “they want to establish Christianity as virtually the state religion” (by this she means in a de facto sense instead of officially).

This is an excellent interview. I strongly urge you to listen to it.

The jaw-droppingly stupid Creation Museum is opening this weekend in Kentucky. In “honor” of this event, I thought I’d re-post a podcast I made a couple of years ago, when this national embarrassment was announced.

The podcast is 29 minutes long. I think you’ll enjoy it. It starts off with an item about the Scopes trial and its modern equivalents. Then (starting about 4 minutes and 40 seconds from the beginning and running through the end), I talk about the Creation Museum. I take you on a virtual tour. Join me as I make fun of this pathetic monument to superstition!

(Those of you reading via RSS may have to go to my web site to see the Flash player. And by the way, the links mentioned in the podcast are now out of date. Sorry!)

(Attention: If you are reading via an RSS reader, you will probably need to visit my web site to be able to play the MP3s. Make sure you have a recent Flash plug-in for your browser.)

I came across the website of Miqel, which has a lot of weird stuff. I grabbed a few images that I might post later. One of Miqel’s hobbies is collecting weird record albums from days gone by. He posted a few MP3s, but for most, we can only look at the cover artwork and wonder.

Religious Albums with MP3s

This album is a cheap religious knock-off of Alvin and the Chipmunks. I guess “thou shalt not steal” is not one of the Ten Commandments. We’re lucky, though. Miqel was thoughtful enough to provide MP3s of two of the songs!

“Enjoy” the first song about Noah!

Don’t you love how Charlie the Maniacal Hamster laughs right after saying how everybody is going to die? Here’s what happened after the flood!

This next one isn’t religious at all. It’s just that since we’re on a chipmunk thing, I thought I’d present this horrible piece of crap:

It’s a record produced by Radio Shack, presumably in the late 1970s, to promote their Realistic brand CB Radios. This song is apparently about a squirrel driving an 18-wheeler. Enjoy!

As Miqel describes this one:

OUCH. I DARE anyone to download & listen to this track 5 times in a row. It is practically impossible. Try it. I dare you. A horrible chipmunk voice song that is suitable for sound torture.

Suitable, yes, but it violates the Geneva Convention!

This next album isn’t religious per se. The clip I have for you does mention God, so that’s close enough for this blog. Just try to listen to this one all the way through!

Yes, you read the album title correctly, Future Stars. That would imply that these kids had talent and were just about to make it big. Believe it or not, that clip is actually the better of the two that Miqel provides on his website. I decided to spare you from “King of the Road” as sung by a 3-year-old.

Religious Albums without MP3s

Here are a few that I do not have clips from, but they’re directly relevant to this site. First, here’s our good friends Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye!

Here’s a weird one. I wonder if it’s as bad as it looks. I think the “Jim and Tammy” mentioned on the cover are not the same as our two friends above. (Update, 7/24/07: I just found out that this is Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. They got their start on a puppet show!)

Well this is exciting. Gay and straight together in musical and social harmony!

Here’s a typical fundie record. Always trying to control us with fear:

I don’t know if this one is religious, but it’s on a subject that always gets the fundies riled:

Here’s an album from pyramid marketer Amway. I’m putting it in this category, because Amway is run by fundies and is accused of cult-like behavior.

Finally, I don’t have any information on this last one. I don’t think it’s a doctored photo, but who can tell these days?

Non-Religious with MP3s

I try not to deviate from the focus of this website too often, but we’re having so much fun, why stop now? Here are a few non-religious albums that Miqel has on his site.

This one is almost good. Miqel describes this one as:

Yiddish crooner renders ancient and modern hits in a goofy but disarming way.

Next is an album only the parents would buy:

I think every school band cuts a record (now they’re CDs or DVDs) and sells 20 copies. Enjoy this well-known disco hit:

I love weird stuff. Here’s the soundtrack to a filmstrip about life insurance:

Here’s part of their sales pitch (remember to advance the filmstrip every time you hear the beep!):

Non-Religious without MP3s

Finally, I felt compelled to include these last two, for personal reasons. Imagine my barely-perceptible surprise when I saw these two albums on Miqel’s site:

I have a book with almost this exact same title. I don’t know if they’re related. The book was a giveaway from Gulf gas stations in 1969 or 1970.

I have this record! I somehow managed to lose the sleeve, so I don’t know if it’s exactly the same. I didn’t think I owned any records odd enough to show up on somebody’s weird list.

William Shatner!!

If you’ve managed to read this far, you should be rewarded. Only one thing could possibly make up for what I’ve subjected you to. That’s right! William Shatner!!

Here’s his rendition of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. Don’t say I never did anything nice for you guys. (Thanks to Kevin from The Frat Pack Tribute for his help in obtaining this special treat.)

This is actually an abridged version, because I don’t want to kill my bandwidth. The full version, at a much higher audio quality (plus lots of other gems), is available on the original CD.