Money... we all have some (well at least those of us who read blogs through expensive pieces of silcon hardware).  Most of us want more money (I know I do).  A lot of us have more than we think (including me).  And, a few in our world actually have more than some countries' entire GDP (not even close).  But what is this thing called money?  The latest issue of Colors opens with the sentence, "Money is an illusion, a psychological relationship between an object and a value that has been given to it..."  If you can look past the fact that Colors is one big advertisement for The Benetton Family (who own and operate numerous clothing brands including United Colors of Benetton and Killer Loop), you'll find some facinating editorial.

The theme of Issue #73 is as follows:  Benetton analyzed paper money in one of their laboratories and found traces of certain substances, the most common being: cocaine, oil, blood, soil, sweat, feces and so on. They then conducted a bit of research and documented different locations/cultures where these substances are being used as a subsitute for monetary currency. For example: in Colombia you can pay your medical bills with cocaine, while in Iraq there exists a thriving black market for blood.

Hit the jump and after the clickthrough, you'll find a page that looks like the image below.  It's interactive and as you click on each "stain" you'll download a PDF based on each particular substance.

Money can be a lot of things but what is it to you?  I've heard Kong Hee say that your money is neither good nor evil.  Money simply takes on the character of the owner.  So, if you are a drug dealer, then your money is drug money.  If you are stingy then, your money is stingy money.  If you are generous, then your money is generous and blesses others.  So, what kind of money do you have?

Knit graffiti... yarn bombing... cotton tagging...  All of these apply to the newest form of street art that hit Houston, TX and is spreading.  Knitta, a self-proclaimed yarn vandal "makes the world more beautiful", not by using aerosol but rather dressing up lampposts, street signs, trees and other objects with colorful knitting.  Weird... quirky... unique... whatever word you use to describe it, it's like putting a flower in a gun barrel instead of throwing rocks or screaming.  It's probably more of an anti-establisment statement than a lot of graffiti we find out there.  

Brian Grazer, the Oscar-winning producer of The Da Vinci Code, American Gangster and A Beautiful Mind, is looking for a personal cultural attaché to keep him in touch with the world beyond Hollywood.

Grazer is offering to pay an assistant £40,000 ($80,000) a year to read books for him, accompany him on his private jet and fix interviews with everyone from Buddhist monks to mafia bosses. No previous experience of the film industry is required.

According to an e-mail advertising the job: “This person would be responsible for keeping Brian abreast of everything that’s going on in the world; politically, culturally, musically . . . They’re also responsible for finding an interesting person for Brian to meet every week. This could mean an astronaut, a journalist, a philosopher, a Buddhist monk – someone who has made an impression in their field.

Grazer may ask you to read any book he’s interested in. You may be required to travel with him on his private plane to Hawaii, New York and Europe, teaching him anything he asks you about along the way . . . You will be to Grazer what Karl Rove [formerly chief political adviser] was to Bush.

via Andrew McCourt via The Times and The New Yorker

I look forward to the day when churches see the value in this kind of role.  It'd be interesting to have a position like this right along side the standard associate roles of youth, worship, and childrens pastors.

For more on engaging culture as a essential aspect of church life, download and read Gabe Lyons' Influencing Culture. It's worth the time and effort.