After an exciting Ash Week here at Lent Madness, Tim and Scott are pleased to present Monday Madness for this first full week of Lent Madness 2013. In this episode they talk about some of the insane match-ups of Lent Madness, and how if you think they should be easy or "fair" then you are expecting the wrong thing. It's madness, not sanity. Included in this video are some shout-outs to a fan video, a first-time blogger inspired by Lent Madness, and two "Journal-themed" articles in mass media, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the Lincoln Journal-Star. Hint: Wall Street Journal, it's time for you to hop on the Lent Madness media machine!
You can find the complete corpus of Monday Madness on our Vimeo channel, and unlike Downton Abbey, we don't plan to kill off the main characters. Also, we only sell mugs, bracket posters, and ebooks, so you can get the entire line of tie-in merchandise without breaking the bank. Instead of holding boring Downton Abbey-themed parties where you have to decide if you are the upstairs or downstairs type, these videos might inspire you to host either an all-purple party or a dress-like-your-favorite-saint party. Thus Monday Madness is way better. Also, it doesn't incite class warfare.
Oh, and don't forget to watch Maple Anglican's most excellent video for this week of Lent Madness. We dig Archbishops Thomas and John, and we love Maple's choice of sports-style background music. Keep it up, Mr. Anglican!
17 comments on “Monday Madness -- February 18, 2013”
You guys crack me up. I am having entirely too much fun with Lent Madness. I know I will have to go to confession to repent of my unlentenlike chuckles and gaffaws. Hey! As the two of you are priests, ever thought of granting e-absolution?
I’ve watched the entire MM video (Rated Q for questionable) thrice now. Competed my word for word transcription. So far, I find nothing particularly objectionable .. yet. But I going back to the original Greek langauge version to be certain that there are no dangling rubriciples. Thanks be to God. Allel -- oops. Never mind. SC
You're suggesting we have parties in Lent? God defend us, as Teresa of Avila liked to say.
First, no one said the parties should be in Lent. But, second, if you wanted to, remember that Sundays are always celebrations of the resurrection (and appropriate days to host Counter-Downton parties).
Counter-parties could be one of the most lent-like activities we might participate in. Jesus did say a counter-culture word or two on his way to Jerusalem as I recall. But for the sake of persnicketiness, I need to also remind that excluding Sundays from Lent is only a later PROTESTANT re-calculating of the 40 days. Quite a good number of these saints lived under the "official" (such as it was) calendar on which Sundays were indeed included in the 40 days. That probably goes for a number of voters too. (Ash Wed. is a precurser to the season beginning on Lent 1; Holy Thursday, GF, and Saturday are also in a special category called the Triduum, which must mean something since it has two u's like today's winning saint).
But the real burning question is: Did Tim get his LM mug? Apparently not, since he didn't have it for the video. Or...is it just a publicity stunt by the SEC?
Why hasn't Saturday Night Live discovered you guys and that Maple Anglican video/vimeo...what-some-ever...? That's what inquiring minds want to know. Y'all are a total trip!
Episcopalians are so much fun! Thank you for your wonderful sense of humor, side comments, et al. I wished I would have taken time to see what Lentmadness.org was about the last 3 years. I am learning, and thinking flipping a coin would be easier on my vote since I'm behind on the first 5! 🙂 Keep up the great work. California salutes your excellent work!
I'd like to request that the patron saint of copy editors be in next year's bracket, unless of course, you can explain the varying pronunciation of Macrina the Younger's given name. I could swear that I heard one of the SEC called her "Marcina" (mar-see-nuh) in last week's "Monday Madness" video. And, I know that I heard one of the two saints-casters in the "Lent Madness in Review" video pronounce it the same way.
All the online reference databanks I can find spell it Macrina or Makrina. There is nothing to indicate that the c and the r can appear in any order the writer or speaker wishes.
A rose of the church by any other name ... ? OK, yeah, but is the disappointment of losing in the first round not enough? Please do not twiddle around with the venerable lady's name.
What do you expect from the clairvoyatron that may or may not contain voice recognition software? Pronunciations are inevitable and expected.
Alas, the clairvoyatron had nothing to do with the SEC's and "The Deacon's" wayward pronunciations. I give an automatic pass on anything that comes from heaven, but still expect that aspiring saints will read the pronunciation guides in their reference materials before they go on camera.
I am invoking St. Isadore of Seville, named Patron Saint of the Internet by the Vatican, to help the pronunciation-challenged on their journies.
Besides, the Clairvoyatron 2000 couldn't even help with the pronunciation of 1/2 of the SEC's name.
I just reviewed Maple Anglican's YouTube videos for the Merbecke v. Tallis play-in-round (because I missed that round and hoped it would help inform my decision on Tallis v. Luwuum, and I really have to commend Mr./Ms./Rev. Maple for giving Janani Luwuum's name a real, college try in both videos. I have no idea if our friend Maple A., even got close, but I feel this is the living example of conscientious pronunciation that we should all be trying to realise in Lent and throughout the year.
Here's a video to underscore the "one vote per person" rule. It's a song by Johnny Clegg and Savuka, a group from South Africa, called One (Hu)'man One Vote. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YectB9GOwI
~Ann+
Who's playing that wonderful pipe organ (at least it sounds like real pipes)?
Your Eminences...
How are candidates for the Brackets chosen? How do you even get into the Divine Dance?Are there Regional Playoffs off-grid to narrow down the pool of Heavenly talent? And is it possible we would ever see the likes of Gandhi, or Muhammad, Siddhārta Gautama, a previous Dalai Lama mixing it up with our lot? International Friendlies, as they call them in soccer.
Looking forward to catching you both soon on Letterman or Leno!
With respect and all best wishes!
Deborah Voorhees
Hi Deborah! The answer to the question about how the brackets are chosen is answered here: https://www.lentmadness.org/2013/02/bracket-confidential/
And, no, we'll never see Gandhi et al in Lent Madness. Unless of course someone creates a similar bracket and the winner of the Golden Halo is invited to take on the winner of the Golden Egg (or whatever it would be called). Of course we'd also sue them for stealing our idea...