(no subject)

[da]

Today had an amusing Globe and Mail piece on that Da Vinci Book.

Seems the caretakers of French churches and museums are getting pretty frustrated at the sheep-like tourists wearing a tread around Europe to each of the "artifacts" mentioned in the book.

Every few minutes, a knot of tourists is led at speed by their guides through Saint-Sulpice's great west doors. They beeline to the gnomon -- the 11-metre-high, white marble obelisk in the north transept -- oblivious to light, organ, frescoes, chapels.

[...Father Roumanet's sign next to the obelisk] reads, in part: "Contrary to fanciful allegations in a recent bestselling novel, this is not the vestige of a pagan temple. No such temple ever existed in this place. It was never called a 'Rose Line.' No mystical notion can be derived from this instrument of astronomy except to acknowledge that God the Creator is the master of time."

Also, over 1,000 copies of the Da Vinci Code left behind on the Eurostar Chunnel train, according to The Telegraph; "by far the most common item left" in the last 18 months. Most are paperback copies in English, though some are in Dutch, Spanish and German.

Comments

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

As I age, I find myself feeling more and more left wing, not less so.

Idly, I wonder if that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't ended up in academia...

I suppose this might be more of a factor in the US, depending on region...

[kraig.livejournal.com]

Maybe? Hard to say. My earliest memories are going in to the U of G with mum while she worked on her grad degrees, then moving to Edmonton for her to do her PhD at U of A. I've been around academics all my life.

Still, maybe I wouldn't be moving as quickly were I not continually around 'em. Who nose. :)