I warned you a while ago that this site wouldn't always be getting my full attention anymore. Last week was proof of that. Sorry. Part of the explanation is that I was working on my first freelance piece worth mentioning since I started the book (not coincidentally on a related theme). Hip for Him is a Talk of the Town item about Jay Bakker, the son of Jim and Tammy Faye, and a new resident of Williamsburg. Bakker seems like a decent and bright guy. If Jesus is your thing, you could do worse than to check out one of his services. If you can't make it to Brooklyn, you can download them from the Revolution Church web site. (If Jesus isn't your thing, shana tovah, y'all.) Either way, I definitely recommend the documentary series about Bakker that's airing on the Sundance Channel in December. I saw the first two episodes � dealing partly with his decision to affirm that homosexuality is not a sin�� and it's compelling stuff. They were still shooting when I went to see him at Pete's and I had to sign a release, but given how much footage they have, I'll be very surprised if you'll see me on the show.
I'm lucky this article even got published, considering that New York sorta scooped it (I was in there first, but it got held up a week with the editors). I guess they're different enough, though. Of course, the Times magazine had a long profile of Bakker last year that's still the definitive word on the subject.
By the way, the anonymous Pete's patron quoted in my piece is in fact Robert Lanham, the Free Williamsburg blogger and author of both The Hipster Handbook and a new ethnographical work, The Sinner's Guide to the Evangelical Right. Consider this the plug I wasn't able to get into the magazine. The Sinner's Guide is a funny and very mean overview of conservative American Christianity for evangophobes. Though decidedly different in tone and approach from my book, it will probably make a good companion, so pick up a copy now and hold on to it for another year and a half.
