I don’t know a lot of Mennonites who enthusiastically follow college basketball. That could be because of my bias towards Canadian Mennonites. But I suspect that a lot of Mennonites just disapprove of the frivolity of grown-ups sitting around and obsessing about a bunch of college kids running up and down a basketball court. Not … More Menno March Madness
Yesterday I participated in the Bechtel Panel at Conrad Grebel University College on Mennonites in the Media. The organizers asked us to talk about what it is like to be a creator of Mennonite content on the media today, to comment on our audience and challenges etc. Several of the other participants followed their instructions … More Bechtel panel: Making Schputt of Mennonites on the Internet
Last week, the esteemed Mennonite satire web magazine, The Daily Bonnet,* posted a quiz: How Many of These Typical Mennonite Things Have You Done? Because Mennonites still think of internet quizzes as new and exciting, this quickly soared through the Mennoverse and sent Mennonites and ex-Mennonites around the internet into a tizzy questioning, bragging about, … More Quiz: Are You a Disaffected Mennonite?
We are a joke on the internet. A bad joke. “I’m betting Mennonite.” That’s the joke. I see it and variations of it in fits and bursts on Twitter, depending on the news. It’s not just a bad internet joke like a pun’s a bad joke or like so-called “Dad jokes” are bad jokes. It’s … More Mennonites, Muslims and a Bad Internet Joke
I was recently perusing the internet and discovered an appalling number of errors in Mennonite bread making. I know there were errors in the past – the historical record is replete with disputes over baking. Not, it is true, in the “mainstream” historical literature, but they’re there if you know how to look. They were … More Bread of Contention
There was a scene, back in episode 1, when Bronco Novack proudly identified himself to Noah Funk as a detective. Noah was, appropriately, unimpressed. If episodes 1 and 2 set up the difference between the Mennonite and the secular communities, episodes 3 and 4 make valiant efforts at bridging the gap through the unlikely alliance … More CBC Pure S01E03 and E04: Law and Ordnung
A number of years ago, my daughter’s grade school class was given the task of preparing and presenting a short speech to the class about their personal family history. No problem. We’ve got that covered. Or, we did until a week or so before her turn when one of her classmates presented and told the … More An Ignorance Both Deep and Wide
The posters have been all over bus shelters for months. The trailer’s been online and there have been a few promotional interviews. Canadians are supposed to be all atwitter in anticipation of a new CBC drama called Pure. It’s about Mennonites! Drugs! Crime! The early reviews are pretty positive. But I don’t care about them; … More Oh, what fresh hell is this?
By now, you have probably been to four or five Christmas gatherings. Maybe you’ve eaten your share of pfeffernuss and are readying yourself for portzelchy. Maybe you’ve already alienated the other Rook players in your family and have strained the goodwill of the Dutch Blitzers. You have almost certainly exhausted all of your polite small … More An Entirely Appropriate Mennonite Party Game
Growing up in a Mennonite community, when it came time for my adolescent rebellion, I had it pretty easy. My wild rebelliousness consisted of such rule-breaking as playing cards in study hall and hosting a square dance (once). Yup. I was one badass Menno rebel. I expect that wherever two or three are gathered, there … More Breaking the Rules
