Not the Messiah Out on DVD

Out on DVD this week is the new oratorio based on The Life of Brian and entitled (of course), Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy).  I've blogged on this before -- it's delightful and amusing, and it is great now that they have also released a DVD of the live performance at the Royal Albert Hall. Here's the official page:

Not the Messiah on Blu-Ray and DVD

These days, Monty Python has its own Youtube channel with tons of clips (and apparently all this free stuff has massively increased their sales. Others: "go figure"!). This is the original trailer (for the one day cinema release):



Here's a sing-along for "Always look on the bright side of life":



Here is a some behind-the-scenes stuff:



And here Eric Idle "responds to your fatuous comments":

Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volumes 1-14 online

Archive.org now has the first fourteen volumes of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri online in toto and in a variety of formats, for viewing and for download; Volumes 1-5 are digitized by Google Books from Harvard University Library and so should appear also on Google Books in due course.  They do not yet have my favourite format, the flip book, but no doubt that will appear in due course. Volumes 6-14 are digitized by Brigham Young University and include the flip book format. I have also noted below an alternative (and superior) version of Volume 4, from University of California Libraries, which has been online for much longer. Here are the links:

The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 1 (1898)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 2 (1899)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 3 (1903)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 4 (1904) [Alternative version]
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 5 (1908)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 6 (1908)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 7 (1910)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 8 (1911)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 9 (1912)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 10 (1914)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 11 (1915)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 12 (1916)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 13 (1919)
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 14 (1920)

(HT: Wieland Willker on the Textual Criticism list)

SBL Annual Meeting 2010 Program Book Online

The SBL Annual Meeting 2010 in Atlanta, GA now has its Preliminary Program Book available.  It is traditional on these occasions for bloggers going to the SBL to outline their participation in the program and here are the two sessions I am speaking in:

Ideological Criticism
11/20/2010
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM

Theme: Panel Review of James Crossley's "Jesus in an Age of Terror"

Randall Reed, Appalachian State University, Presiding

Mark Goodacre, Duke University, Panelist (25 min)
Zeba Crook, Carleton University, Panelist (25 min)
William Arnal, University of Regina, Panelist (25 min)
Roland Boer, University of Newcastle, Australia, Panelist (25 min)
James Crossley, University of Sheffield, Respondent (30 min)

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Finding Your “Niche” in Biblical Scholarship
11/21/2010
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Theme: Hosted by the Student Advisory Group

The session will be geared as a way to help graduate students find their voices as budding scholars. Often students, at both the master’s and doctoral level, have a difficult time discerning precisely the direction in which to take their scholarship. They have a passion for a general area of biblical studies or a related field, but they have not been able to find a particular focus for themselves. While any scholarly career will obviously have many twists and turns, this session is meant to address the need to find that initial “starting gate.” In order to help bring some clarity, this panel of experienced scholars will share some of their own insights (with the benefit of hindsight) in an autobiographical way.

Patrick George McCullough, University of California-Los Angeles, Presiding
Christopher B. Hays, Fuller Theological Seminary, Panelist (10 min)
Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, Princeton Theological Seminary, Panelist (10 min)
Dale B. Martin, Yale University, Panelist (10 min)
Mark Goodacre, Duke University, Panelist (10 min)
April DeConick, Rice University, Panelist (10 min)
Paula Fredriksen, Boston University, Panelist (10 min)
Discussion (90 min)