This is from Harpers:
A papyrologist at Oxford University announced that new techniques in spectral imaging, which make it possible to decipher previously illegible ink on papyrus fragments, have yielded parts of a lost tragedy by Sophocles, a novel by Lucian, and an epic poem by Archilochos; researchers also applied the technique to third- and fourth-century manuscripts of the Revelation of Saint John and discovered that the number of the beast, contrary to popular belief, is 616, the area code of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
If I had the time, I’d call the guy behind the 666 Watch site and see how he’s taking the news. I imagine it’s got to suck when you see your life’s work unravel before your eyes.
16 Comments
eek! have you seen this yet?-
http:bushfish.com
The funny thing is that this is nothing new. Many early manuscripts have 616; Bible scholars speculate that it referred to Caligula, and was changed to fit Nero when he came to power. Even my 1949 Encyclopedia Britannica gives this explanation. The new manuscript is one of the earliest found, so it supports that idea.
Bible literalists, however, often ignore the fact that there are different versions of many parts of the Bible…
Does this mean that my VISA card is NOT emblazoned with the mark of the devil?
Maybe the mark of the beast-Grand Rapids connection explains everything you wanted to know about Amway and Quixtar. Could this be Proctor & Gamble’s revenge.
And don’t forget, the “Clowns of America International” had their convention in Grand Rapids last month. The signs, they are a’plenty.
I wonder how long it will be before some Grand Rapids organizations petition the phone company to change the area code. Although it is more likely that they will continue insisting that 666 is the correct interpretation. And what about the guy in Ann Arbor with the 777 on his forehead? What should that change to? 717 or 727?
I think that Jackson is in the 616 area code too. That would include the residence of Ted “Wango Tango” Nugent- the longhair, gun toting, “kill em all. let god sort them out” republican sociopath.
I’ve been saying that GR is Hell on Earth for years and no one believes me. My whole family lives there and it’s a real treat to visit. Last time I was there, my Aunt Leona was looking for someone to buy her grave in Jamestown since she’ll be going up in the Rapture and won’t be needing it.
I believe I heard that Nugent has abandoned us for Crawford, Texas. To which I say – Yipee ti yi ay
It is hard to believe that such a staunch Republican could write such poignant lyrics:
Hillary –
I’m just guessing here, but I am willling to bet that Grand Rapids is second only to Colorado Springs for highest percentage of over the edge christians. Hell on earth is a fitting description. So many nice homes there occupied by people with their lights out.
Ken-
Wasn’t Ted Nugent the one who use to say “Rock out with your cock out!” when he was guest DJ on WRIF? . What the hell is wrong with that guy? I can just imagine him driving around Crawford in his zebra striped SUV yelling that out the window. He’s sooo 616.
I think Stella must have meant: http://www.bushfish.org/
You can even display a Bushfish on your Hummer: http://www.bushfish.org/images/car_h2_large.gif
Support our troops!
Eh, thats what I get for relying on the old (really old) memory.
But he is the antichrist! Or at least someone in that cabal is.
Or maybe they’re like an antichrist collective, sort of like a soul co-op. They buy em on the cheap. Then re-sell for maximum profit.
The Ted Nugent Kamp for Kids.
(Thanks, Metafilter.)
Being a former native of grand rapids, there were a couple of facts that I used to always recite though the facts are now probably askew because this was from the 1990 census:
A) Grand Rapids had more churches per capita than anywhere else in the US
B) There were more rapes per capita than anywhere else
The folk lore around grand rapids is that anyone who is born there will die there because apparently a portion of the city was built over indian burial grounds but then later reclaimed (I’ve never seen anything formal on this though)…
And having installed and designed the first Wide area network for the Christian Reformed Church (headquartered in GR at the time accross from the first Meijers), the Autonomous Network Number for EIGRP (the number that their network relied upon for datacommunications) was 666, the IP addresses I’d chosen for the wide area links followed the scheme
10.66.6.x where x was the network # (I used a 30 bit mask )
It all sounds like a bit of superstition to me fellas… But eh, Chris, from the previous comment, is that you? Did you go to GRJC with me in Grand Rapids? You told the story about those Indian burial grounds before… Remember me? Check out my url, you’ll find my e-mail there if you wanna e-mail me!
7 card statistics stud
preferring briefly painter bagpipe passes terrestrial ignoring she got tired of texas hold em lyrics http://she-got-tired-of-texas-hold-em-lyrics.moved.to/
Chirs Bird you still are the hottest nerd I ever bathed with