Monday, December 31, 2012

Glad Tidings of Liturgical Beauty and Joy: Hey, That's My Church He's Talking About!

In St. Ignatius’ eighth rule of discernment he admonishes us that when we are in desolation we should comfort ourselves that we “will soon be consoled.” And so it is that on the final leg of our vacation trip home we encountered a jewel of Catholic worship in Dallas, Texas. As God in His providence obviously provided, we selected a parish purely based on our interest in the beautiful architecture and convenience of location. He had much more in store for us than we could have ever anticipated.
The church Dan Burke talks about in his National Catholic Register article is our parish church, St. Thomas Aquinas in Dallas. Of course, we love our church but it was really wonderful to read such an appreciative article about it. Faithful liturgy is the keystone to any great parish, right?

I'm glad the 7:30 a.m. with organ and cantor was so good. However, one of the glories of our parish for me is that there is a wide variety of music, depending on which Mass you attend.

Imagine all that Mr. Burke describes but with a full choir of volunteers so good that they have inspired envy among those with paid choirs. That's the 11:30 a.m. Mass.

Then there's the Saturday vigil Mass at 4:00 on Saturday, with an all-men's choir that features Gregorian chant. And a lot of Latin too. I have to use the handout for that one every time.

I'll even give a shout out to the 9 a.m. Sunday Mass which features more modern music (not too modern, mind you) that has a very good folk choir. It is not to my taste but the music director has a light touch that makes the music shine in a very non-folksy way.

Here's a YouTube link of a rehearsal that gives you an idea of the full choir.

Here are a few photos of the church.

Altar (The angels only come out for Christmas and Easter. They live in the church office otherwise.)

Nativity Scene

This shows the church from the choir loft. Not in holiday garb, but with the choir in their black garb for a formal concert.

A Very Good Christmas

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I had one of the best Christmases ever.

For one thing, the reason I was so little present in the last week is because Rose spent almost 10 days visiting from L.A. so I stayed home from work and did little personal blogging.

In preparation I had been forcing myself for some weeks ahead to wrap gifts, bake, and do other such tasks so that my daily work was light when she was with us. It was truly wonderful to have her visit for so long, as our little white dog Kaylee could tell you. She was delighted with having a young lady in whose room she could sleep, whose steps she could dog (ha!), and who she could generally worship.

Also, with God's grace, somehow my Advent reading led me to an ever-greater appreciation of the Incarnation. By the time we got to Christmas, I was overcome with the wonder, love, and delight of it all. And that is truly a gift which I do not often receive.

All in all, we were blessed to have such a wonderful Christmas. I hope that everyone was likewise blessed.

FINAL: My 2012 Movie Challenge List

Originally written December 2011.

I realized that there, in addition to "must read" books, there are also movies that I've been wanting to watch for a long time but will ignore for a lighter or more modern choice. So here's my personal 2012 movie challenge list, in no particular order (this also resides as a page at A Good Story is Hard to Find).
  1. Dodes Kadan - Kurasawa (watched it and now can say that I've seen a Kurasawa film. Interesting and with many touching stories, although not a movie that I think I want to see again.)
  2. The General - Buster Keaton (Hilarious. Touching. Amazing. All that from a silent movie. This is a movie that you should watch if you haven't seen it. I was amazed at how much information can be conveyed without a single dialogue card.)
  3. Hotel Rwanda (An amazing movie about a horrible subject. But one that should be seen if only to remind us that such things happen and not as infrequently as we think. The acting is top notch, especially Don Cheadle).
  4. The Last Days of Sophie Scholl
  5. Water (India)
  6. Red (French w/ Polish director, 1st of trilogy)
  7. The Passion of Joan of Arc (silent)
  8. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (We are put in the paralyzed man's spot so much that I wanted to get up and stretch a lot. However, it is life affirming and shows the power that attitude makes in getting through seemingly unsurmountable obstacles.)
  9. Of Gods and Men (2011)
  10. Metropolis (German)

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Les Miserables — Yes.


Yes. It is worth the time.

Yes. It is worth the ticket price.

Yes. It is worth the tears I shed.

Yes. With the director in the end credits, I thank his parents for teaching him to love musicals.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Go see it.

(Now I have to go revise my 2013 reading list.)

Saturday Jokes: more for Christmas, from England!

Joseph from Zombie Parent's Guide writes:
Can I submit some jokes for your Saturday posting? We had Christmas crackers again this year, which is a British tradition. The cracker is a cardboard tube that two people pull apart from either end. When the tube breaks a little firecracker goes off, hence the name "cracker." The tube also has some prizes and a joke. Here's the best of the jokes from our crackers this year, though you have to remember your UK vocabulary (like football = soccer)...
And of course I can't wait to see and share these jokes! So here we go!
What goes: now you see me, now you don't, now you see me, now you don't?
A snowman on a zebra crossing!

What's an ig?
An eskimo house without a loo!

What's the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the ordinary alphabet?
The Christmas alphabet has Noel!

Why was Cinderella such a poor football player?
She kept running away from the ball!

Friday, December 28, 2012

A Season of Mystery by Paula Huston [Updated]

A Season of Mystery: 10 Spiritual Practices for Embracing a Happier Second Half of LifeA Season of Mystery: 10 Spiritual Practices for Embracing a Happier Second Half of Life by Paula Huston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Transcending the endless cycle of want-satisfaction also gets us ready for death and what follows. My friend Betty, age eighty-five, sums it up like this: "Getting old is about preparing for the next life. But nobody these days is thinking about that anymore." ...

So how shall we face old age and dying? We can set aside the comforting myths that tell us we can indefinitely postpone what's coming next. We can cease the frantic efforts to achieve all our unfulfilled goals before we die. Then we can move into this most challenging phase of life with both eyes open, remembering that our real purpose here on earth is to be "servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries" (1 Corinthians 4:1).

A Season of Mystery asserts that this second half of life brings on the "best of times and the worst of times," as my eighty-five-year-old friend Brother Emmanuel ruefully puts it. The losses are painfully real. But so are the opportunities, if only we can allow ourselves to let go of the myths. When we do, we open the door to genuine adventure, including some of the richest spiritual experiences we may ever have.
Being about 5 years behind Huston in age, I have just gotten to the point where the last year has brought some of the reminders for my husband and me in a "realization of change" ... or, in other words, we're getting older and on the doorstep of facing physical (and probably mental) changes that come with being old.

This book resonates on a lot of levels although, thankfully, the realizations I have had which mirror Huston's have come at a lesser personal price ... in most instances anyway.

Each of the chapters considers a spiritual discipline that is especially suited to this time of life and which we may have been too busy to even consider before. Disciplines like "Listening," "Accepting," and "Befriending" may seem broad but they are directed toward helping readers be prepared for some of the classic obstacles associated with aging. In each, Huston gives her personal experiences and those of her much older friends. This gives a nice book-end look at where we may be now versus where we may wind up given perseverance.

This is not a difficult book to read, although you may find your thoughts turning more to last things after you have read it. But that's not a bad thing either, because if we don't have our eye on where we are going then we'll be unprepared when we get there. I read it in one evening. This also says something about how well accessible Huston's writing is.

One thing makes me laugh every time I turn the book over though. This is a book about aging and acceptance and Huston's photo on the back is clearly from a younger age or someone who is trying to look younger than they are (as I come across every single day in Dallas). It jars me every time I see it. Knowing, as I do, that publishers often go their own road instead of doing what the author wants, I don't know who made that decision. It is too bad, however, that they didn't use this photo of Huston on either the front or back cover. This is a small point but small points do matter.

NOTE: I wrote this for the Patheos Book Club. Publishers pay for the Patheos Book Club to feature their books ... and I received a review copy free. However, my opinions are my own and I love or hate a book on its own merits.

UPDATE

Well, well, well ... I was wrong about the outdated photo versus the newer photo. Ms. Huston said that the current photo is the one on the book and that she'd been told cutting her hair made her look younger. So we see she was told the truth! My apologies for my assumptions.

Julie's 2012 Personal Reading Challenges [FINAL]

FINAL results on books I've read (or dropped) thus far. Originally written in December 2011.

One Sunday, when we'd gone to the Vigil Mass on Saturday to avoid getting embroiled in a local marathon that shuts down all the streets around our church (don't ask ... Tom has been enraged before to the point of risking arrest for civil disobedience).

Wait, what was I saying?

Oh. Right.

Anyway, we were sitting around until about 1 p.m. in our jammies talking about cabbages and kings and whether pigs have wings ... and about reading and classics. I realized that I have a handful of certifiable classics which I really want to read but that I keep acting as if the Reading Fairy is going to drop extra time and a book on my lap when I'll suddenly begin reading.

Bravely taking responsibility on myself, I made a list.

I love making lists. Don't you? And crossing things off them.

So here are my "must reads" ... I may not get through all of them in 2012, but I will be trying to always be reading one of them despite other distractions. In no particular order.


2012 Classics
  1. The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoyevsky (begun on Jan. 1 - dropped in a few weeks. Looking for either an audio version or a different translation as I just couldn't connect with that one, though I read 150 pages. Began it again a month later. Dropped it again.) Turns out that our book club chose this for 2013 ... so I will be reading it but will take it off my "personal" reading list since it is no longer a self-imposed book.
  2. Bleak House- Dickens ... loved it! (review here,  review/discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find)
  3. Middlemarch - Eliot
  4. Belly of Paris (Emile Zola)
  5. Last Call - Tim Powers (not a true classic, I know ... but still a "challenging" read which is what all these are for me)
  6. A Movable Feast - Hemingway
  7. The Four Quartets - T.S. Eliot
  8. Wuthering Heights ... partway through and then had to take a break because I just hate Catherine and Heathcliff so very much. Will resume in 2013.
2012 Religion
  1. Introduction to the Devout Life - St. Francis de Sales ... have begun this.
  2. The Way of Perfection - St. Teresa of Avila
  3. The Sabbath - Abraham Heschel (read this in the spring and, although Heschel's writing could be high concept at times, found it riveting. The idea of living in sacred time, of time being our temple on earth is fascinating and one that I find very helpful in prayer.)
  4. Introduction to Christianity - Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI LOVED IT! Dense but accessible in tons of places. (excerpts and review at Goodreads)
  5. Joan of Arc - Mark Twain
2012 Rereading
  1. The Sand Pebbles
  2. Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury (read this for A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast and found it very thought provoking and more poetically written than I recalled.)
  3. Fire and Hemlock - Diana Wynne Jones
  4. Lark Rise - Flora Thompson
2012 Nonfiction
  1. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bryson (tried it a couple of times and realized that I didn't actually care about the short history of nearly everything. Not Bryson's fault. So it is off the list.)
  2. Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life - Margaret Kim Peterson
  3. On Pilgrimage - Jennifer Lash
  4. Twain's Feast - Beahrs
  5. Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature (A good although flawed look at how revisionist tactics and understanding literature do not mix. The flaws come more from the author's vehemence and also some surprising gaps in authors covered. I mean to say, can one really discuss American literature without even mentioning Steinbeck?)

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Best Books of 2012

Top books I read in 2012 with descriptions in 10 words or less. In no particular order.
  1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
    A great book. Too bad she didn't stop at that one.

  2. Gospel of Mark (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) by Mary Healey
    Very accessible while still being scholarly. (my review here)

  3. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
    A children's story that isn't just for kids. I listened to Gaiman's excellent narration. (discussion/review at A Good Story is Hard to Find)

  4. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
    Made me wish both sides could win the Battle of Gettysburg. (review at Goodreads; discussion/review at A Good Story is Hard to Find)

  5. Howard's End is on the Landing by Susan Hill
    A book about books, people, places, and life. (review at Goodreads)

  6. The Hidden Princess by Stephanie Angelini
     Enchanting new "classic" fairy tale (My review here)

  7. The Art of Faith:A Guide to Understanding Christian Images by Judith Couchman
    Just what the subhead says (my review here)

  8. Heidi by Joanna Spryy
    An old classic still has the power to surprise. (my review here)

  9. The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions
    Subtle ghost story a la Turn of the Screw (review at Goodreads, audio reading/discussion at SFFaudio)

  10. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
    Mystery, horror, romance, character examination, and riveting  (review here,  review/discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find)

  11. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
    In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit... reread. (review and related items here,  review/discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find)

  12. Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI)
    Dense but accessible in tons of places. (excerpts and review at Goodreads)

The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy ...

... last episode finally coming up!


What Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy? Here you go. (Via Scott Danielson.)

Friday, December 21, 2012

Three Minutes a Day ... Good For You and Good for Our Culture

Remember when I was telling you about some good books to give for Christmas? Three Minutes a Day  is not only good to give for Christmas, but for any time.

Tony Rossi tells you more about the book and then gives you an example of the sort of story you'll find inside. I know about some of them, because I wrote some pieces included in the book. And when I was flipping through my copy, I found many, many more.

Go read his example. My book is by my bathroom sink, where I will begin reading my 3 minutes daily on January 1.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Magnificat Year of Faith Companion - review


I have long been a fan of Magnificat's books. Their simple companions to praying the rosary or to the liturgical seasons of Lent or Advent have served as guides to helping me focus on prayer and meditation. Their more complex books such as The Beauty of the Word or the series praying with the gospels help me to steadily meditate on larger works over the year. In short, I have come to rely on them.

When Pope Benedict XVI's proclaimed this liturgical year as The Year of Faith, Magnificat produced a Year of Faith Companion with short readings focusing on faith. This pocket-sized book is packed with reflections for every day of the year from over 30 contributors, ranging from laypeople to religious and clergy.  The readings are also wide-ranging, falling into one of eight categories: Biblical faith profiles, scriptural reflections, catechism excerpts, devotions, essays, meditations from saints and spiritual masters, prayers, and poetry. All in all, there is a wealth of material at your fingertips in this small book.

My one problem is that faith is such a broad topic it can be difficult to get a grip on it. It is one thing to have so many contributors spread among so many formats if there is a clear focus, such as reading a gospel line-by-line through the year. When it is applied to something as relatively formless as faith, then things can get a bit chaotic. As a result, reading daily left me feeling unfocused and a bit adrift.

Luckily, I don't have to read this using the calendar dates at the top of each page. I simply chose one of the categories I mentioned above, such as Biblical faith profiles, and then began reading one a day. Leafing through the book each day to find the next one also led to other items that caught my eye, such as a devotion about Christ's Seven Last Words, and so it has become an interesting voyage of discovery to find my own particular focus.

My point in saying all this is that, although I do not think this book works perfectly as Magnificat designed it, there are many ways one can benefit from this booklet which will help the reader discover new joys in their faith and a deeper connection to God.

I wrote this review of Magnificat Year of Faith Companion for the free Catholic Book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.

Aquinas and More is the largest on-line Catholic bookstore. I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

Scott loses the riddle game ...

... when he forgets the name of every actor he mentions. Meanwhile, Julie and Scott get lost in the tunnels of Tolkien-y goodness for a very long time.

At long last, The Hobbit is discussed at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Hannah's Silks Routine



Finally. I've been looking for videos of her silks routine to share.

Catholic Nerd Alert

The Mass of the Roman Rite (2-Volume Set)

Its Origins and Development 
Price: $90.00
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 1056
Trim size: 6 x 9 inches
ISBN: 978-0-87061-271-8


What does it say when I cruise over to Ave Maria Press to see what new books are out ... and this is what grabs my interest?

So much so that I am printing out the 16-page excerpt.

I'm not even at Catholic geek level, people, because these days geeks have a certain amount of cool ... I'm down to nerd alert. So uncool ... and yet, I don't care. Which is, in itself, a true indicator of nerd-dom.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Sorrow is a hole in the heart, and grace rushes in to fill it.

There are many good, thoughtful pieces being written in the wake of the terror and tragedy in Newtown.

Two struck me at heart more than others.
... Until we understand that people of their own freewill coldly plotted and executed the death of the incarnate God, we can never really understand what life and death mean as we travel through this vale of tears.

And even once we do understand it, it doesn’t always help. We’re human, after all. We recoil from pain and tragedy. We demand answers. We tremble in rage at the prospect of a God who seems to have turned away from us.

Good. That’s the normal response. If your first response is, “It’s God’s will” or “This is what you get when you take God out of schools” or “God doesn’t go where he’s not wanted,” then to hell with you.

First, it’s not God’s will. Evil is the absence of God, meaning this is the opposite of His will.

But God also draws good out of evil events. Sorrow is a hole in the heart, and grace rushes in to fill it. “The world breaks everyone,” Hemingway wrote, “and afterwards, many are strong at the broken places.”
Yesterday evening, Thomas L. McDonald was supposed to teach Church history to a roomful of 14-year-olds who had questions about tragedy in our own time. He began with the heart of our history and took it to where we live today. Read all of it in The Broken Places

Coming from a very personal place, Liza Long writes I Am Adam Lanza'a Mother.
Three days before 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners, my 13-year-old son Michael (name changed) missed his bus because he was wearing the wrong color pants.

"I can wear these pants," he said, his tone increasingly belligerent, the black-hole pupils of his eyes swallowing the blue irises.

"They are navy blue," I told him. "Your school's dress code says black or khaki pants only."

"They told me I could wear these," he insisted. "You're a stupid bitch. I can wear whatever pants I want to. This is America. I have rights!"

"You can't wear whatever pants you want to," I said, my tone affable, reasonable. "And you definitely cannot call me a stupid bitch. You're grounded from electronics for the rest of the day. Now get in the car, and I will take you to school."

I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.
Be sure to read the entire piece. There are no easy answers to horrible events like that in Newtown, but surely Long's tale is one that shows where initial solutions must be provided.

Friday, December 14, 2012

More Good Books to Give for Christmas

Indeed, you must be saying to yourself, that Happy Catholic person has quite a large stack of books she owes reviews for.

And you'd be right about that. I consider myself lucky to have had time to read so many, although there are a few that I read so long ago I'm cringing with guilt over not having reviewed them yet. Ah well ... we do what we can.

These all have my thumbs up and will show up again with more comprehensive reviews in tow.

A Child's Book of Values: Classic Stories from Around the World by Esteve Pujol I. Pons
The name of this book is misleading. Don't get me wrong, it does point out the moral to each story told. However, the main focus here is the international set of classic stories with some terrific illustrations. The biggest negative I can see is that the type is a semi-script style that might be difficult for some children to read. But that's a pretty small negative.

Lectio Divina Bible Study: Learning to Pray in Scripture by Stephen J. Binz
Leads you through a fascinating study of the different types of prayer as shown through the Bible. By looking at scripture featuring the prayer of heroes, prophets, Jesus, and more, the reader is led to contemplate these sorts of prayer in their own life. So far I am finding it very useful and enlightening. A really excellent guide to prayer in the Bible and personal contemplation.

What I Wish I'd Known about Raising a Child with Autism: A Mom and a Psychologist Offer Heartfelt Guidance for the First Five Years by Bobbi Sheahan, Kathy DeOrnellas
This book made me both very happy that I did not have a child with autism and very empathetic for a friend of mine who has been struggling to do the right thing for her child who was only diagnosed after a long and trying ordeal. If I did have a child with autism, this is the book I'd turn to since it combines common sense from a doctor and practical experience from a mother.

breaking through: Catholic Women Speak for Themselves -  Helen M. Alvaré, editor
This is not really my sort of book, yet when I received the review copy and flipped through it my eye was caught by something that sparked a note of recognition and made me think. Picking it up when cleaning off a desk a couple of days later the same thing happened. Which made me think this is not the ordinary "that sort of book." As it turns out I read it quickly and enjoyed it. Jeff Miller has a good review that echoes many of my thoughts about this book.

the province of joy: praying with Flannery O'Connor by Angela Alaimo O'Donnell
This is a beautiful book, both in the cover and content. It guides the reader through the liturgy of the hours for seven days, using Flannery O'Connor's writing for the contemplative prompt. It also includes some of her favorite quotes, prayers, saints, and so-forth. From Paraclete Press which continues to impress me with their interest in melding literature and prayer.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Positive Progress in HHS Mandate Case ... Unreported by Media, Of Course

“…the First Amendment does not require citizens to accept assurances from the government that, if the government later determines it has made a misstep, it will take ameliorative action. There is no, ‘Trust us, changes are coming’ clause in the Constitution.”
Judge Cogan
This concerns the decision last week by U.S. District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan in the lawsuit brought by the Archdiocese of New York, ArchCare (the agency coordinating Catholic healthcare in the archdiocese), and three plaintiffs from the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, against the administration for the unconstitutional HHS mandate.

The administration was asking for dismissal, contending that the suit should be dismissed because they were going to change the HHS mandate to address the concerns of religious employers. The judge turned back their motion with the comment above.

Archbishop Dolan noticed the media somehow missed this good news and has written about it at his blog, The Gospel in the Digital Age.

I Knew Her Before She Was Famous: Jen Fulwiler and Minor Revisions

MINOR REVISIONS is a 3-part reality miniseries chronicling the adventures of writer, and atheist-to-Catholic convert Jennifer Fulwiler. Follow Jen as she balances life — launching her book from page to shelf, writing a national newspaper column, homeschooling five kids, blogging her inspiring-yet-hilarious faith experiences…and somehow still finding time to wrangle the ornery scorpions that sneak into her Texan home.
Jen Fulwiler at Conversion Diary is part of a new reality show, Minor Revisions. Tom and I met Jen when we were passing through Austin and the Darwins graciously had us all over for lunch. Jen is a real person ... smart, funny, quick, and Catholic. I'm not sure how reality TV is going to handle that since it is often full of people who are just the opposite. I'm looking forward to this!

Get the full scoop here.

In Which I Finally Return to Reading Aloud ...

Episode 205 at Forgotten Classics gets us back to the question of second sight, parties, new dresses, and whether two weeks is enough time to know one is in love. Yes, The Unforeseen by Dorothy MacArdle is back on the menu at Forgotten Classics.

Good Books To Give For Christmas

I owe a longer review for most of these. However, I wanted to mention these in case anyone has been wondering whether they were good.

Catholicism: Pure and Simple by Dwight Longenecker
Here's the blurb I have on Father Longenecker's promo page. Easy to read, compelling, logical ... this is a fantastic book.
"I don't know quite how Father Dwight Longenecker did it, but his simple book begins with modern doubts about God's existence and winds up at Catholic teachings about Mary, Purgatory, Heaven, and Hell."
Angels All Around Us: A Sightseeing Guide to the Invisible World by Anthony DeStefano
This book is really about the subtitle more than the title. Angels are a main feature (they are invisible after all) but this book made me vividly aware of the invisible battle and unending battle between good and evil, and our place in it. Very good.

The Doubter's Novena: Nine Steps to Trust with the Apostle Thomas by Mike Aquilina and Christopher Bailey
I can't believe I haven't mentioned this book here before. Anything by Aquilina and Bailey is always worth reading. Fascinated me with the picture it paints of Christians in India, thanks to the apostle Thomas's evangelization.

Three Minutes a Day (Vol. 47) from The Christophers
A big book of short essays with food for thought and inspiration. Here is their daily "three minutes" page where you can get an idea of what these are like. Disclaimer: I have a few essays in here. But I never saw them when I was flipping through the book and continually was fascinated by the other pieces I came across.

The Year of Faith: A Bible Study for Catholics by Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.
I was surprised to see only 6 lessons until I read through it and discovered the depth of information and thought through which Fr. Pacwa is guiding readers. If you're looking for a thematic Bible study, this is a good one.

I'll have more books to bring to your attention soon.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Anna Karenina - the movie

This adaptation is actually pretty close to the book which I have read (I'll wait for your impressed gasps to subside), but like all the best adaptations, this uses its new medium to transform it to complement the themes of the book and make it more accessible to modern audiences. Wright uses a stage with moving set pieces and painted backdrops to convey the attitudes and strictly enforced rules of behavior of the Russian aristocracy. Everything they do is watched and judged by their peers because if they disrupt the carefully choreographed steps, it affects them all. This device, which minimizes the amount of exposition necessary in the beginning, reaches a beautiful, intense climax in the dance between Anna and Vronsky which marks the beginning of their relationship. While there are still many of his trademarks as a director, Wright really takes a creative step forward with this film.
A movie that might motivate me to finally read the book ... and a review from Double Exposure that motivates me to watch the movie in the first place, not being a fan of period drama.

I Miss the Cold War: The Hunt for Red October


My rating: ★★★★★
Captain Ramius: I miss the peace of fishing like when I was a boy. Forty years I've been at sea. A war at sea. A war with no battles, no monuments... only casualties. I widowed her the day I married her. My wife died while I was at sea, you know.
A Soviet nuclear sub captained by Sean Connery as Captain Ramius is out for a seemingly routine test run when it suddenly "disappears." The Americans scramble to get defenses in place but CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) believes the Russian commander may have something other than a first strike in mind. A perilous cat-and-mouse game ensues.

This terrific movie hasn't lost anything over the years, except in the area of computer graphics (the high-tech American sub maps look like an old video game). But the acting is great, the tension genuine, and Jack Ryan's character growth real. Also I forgot how good looking Alec Baldwin was when he was young. Wow.

In fact, this is a movie I've seen a million times but I still saw two new things, which probably just shows that I never watched it closely enough. I now understand that the scene with the American plane crashing was included for more than local color and I noticed the Russian doctor murmuring something to a certain someone late in the movie which explained how someone was placed where they were.

More than anything it reminded me of how easy the Cold War was in some ways. You knew who the enemy was, that they were the bad guys and that we were the good guys. I was reminded of that this morning upon reading the latest political correctness/blindness coming from the Powers That Be. No U.S. Army officials were going around trying to blame our guys for not being sensitive enough to Russian culture and provoking attacks. (For more sensible and forceful commentary on this idiotic attitude, watch Skyfall.)

Friday, December 7, 2012

From the Priest Who Was There: Alfred Hitchcock Died Catholic

Some people find these late-in-life turns to religion suspect, a sign of weakness or of one's "losing it." But nothing focuses the mind as much as death. There is a long tradition going back to ancient times of memento mori, remember death. Why? I suspect that in facing death one may at last see soberly, whether clearly or not, truths missed for years, what is finally worth one's attention.

Weighing one's life with its share of wounds suffered and inflicted in such a perspective, and seeking reconciliation with an experienced and forgiving God, strikes me as profoundly human. Hitchcock's extraordinary reaction to receiving communion was the face of real humanity and religion, far away from headlines . . . or today's filmmakers and biographers.
What a pleasure it was to read this story in the Wall Street Journal's Friday religion op ed this morning. It was more like reading a blog post than an article. Do go read it for yourself.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Free Advent Audiobook: God is in the Manger by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Christian Audio has a dilly of a deal for their free audiobook this month:
God Is in the Manger is the Advent devotional written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the 20th century's most admired and beloved Christians. This devotional includes daily selections for the four weeks of Advent and twelve daily selections for Christmas and Epiphany. In each devotional, Bonheoffer expresses his beliefs that Christ's strength is portrayed the best during times of trial and weakness and God is often heard most clearly by those in distress.

Many of the writings compiled in this book were written while Bonhoeffer sat in prison for two years after being arrested by Nazi authorities for his involvement in anti-Nazi activities. In his writing, he emphasizes the discipline of waiting, which is a common theme of Advent. After experiencing many different instances of helplessness, Bonhoeffer explains his time of struggle and waiting to the Christian who waits for the redemption of Christ.

With thanks to Westminister John Knox Press, we are pleased to offer God Is in the Manger as our December Free Audiobook of the Month!

Life of Pi Discussion

Hey everyone ... if you saw Life of Pi, you may want to check out the comments on my review.

They suddenly came to life with such thoughtful discussion of many of the religious elements. I'm lovin' it!

Just hold the presses another hour ... or two ...

Scott and I discuss The Paper at A Good Story is Hard to Find. Directed by Ron Howard, this is an underappreciated gem with an all-star cast including Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, and many more.

Letterboxd

I've often wished for a film equivalent of Goodreads.  For those unfamiliar with Goodreads it is a social network for sharing books and reviews. I'm fairly addicted to it and for the first time could understand those who were addicted to Facebook. There is something about checking out the stream of conversation and reviews of books that I crave.

Is Letterboxd what I've been looking for? I sure hope so.

Letterboxd is a social network for sharing movies. You can use it as a diary to record comments about films as you watch them, to check out what friends are watching, etc.

I just got an invitation a few days ago and I think it might be in the early stages since I don't have many friends in there yet. But the six of us are getting started.

Take a look around and see what you think. Here's my home base.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Conversing with God in Advent: Praying the Sunday Readings with Lectio Divina

Conversing with God in Advent: Praying the Sunday Readings with Lectio DivinaConversing with God in Advent: Praying the Sunday Readings with Lectio Divina by Stephen J. Binz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Bible ends with the words of Christ, "Yes, I am coming soon," and with the ancient prayer of the Church, "Come, Lord Jesus!" (revelation 22:20). The word "Advent" is derived from the word adventus, which means "coming." In Advent we're reminded of how much we need a savior, and we look forward to our Savior's coming in majesty even as we prepare to remember his coming in humility at Bethlehem.
Stephen Binz is a passionate advocate of Lectio Divina, the ancient practice of studying and praying using Scripture. The point of lectio divina is to personally encounter God and that is something I can relate to very well since I can't count the number of times I have had "aha!" moments of connection when I'm reading. Now, lectio divina isn't precisely that sort of thing, so it is something that I work at. I want to read too fast, I don't want to stop and reflect, and so forth.

This is where Stephen Binz's books are so valuable. He has a love for this practice which shows in the way they are written. First he takes readers deep into the meaning of Advent with our ancestors in Israel longing for Messiah and early Christians longing for Christ's return, with our own expectant hope of Christ's coming which lends itself to valuing the present, with lighting candles against the darkness, and with the cycles of scripture which give us the great prophets messages of Messiah.

Next, with the Advent background in mind, Binz walks readers through the simple steps of lectio divina: lectio (reading), meditatio (reflection), oratio (praying), contemplatio (resting in God), and operatio (witness in daily life). There is much more to it than this simple list, obviously, and Binz does a wonderful job of taking you through each step.

The treasure for Advent and Christmas, however, are in the specific material Binz has prepared for each Sunday of those seasons. The Lectio does not simply contain the readings for that Sunday but also provides some background material to help readers understand both historical and personal context. Meditatio has some prompting questions to aid reflection on scripture until "they become a mirror in which we see our own reflection." And so forth.

I am especially appreciative that this book has the complete A, B, and C cycle readings thus illuminated. This book becomes a tool that can be used every year. I am really looking forward to going through Advent and Christmas with this book. Highly recommended.

How "the Pope Canceled Christmas" and Other Bad Media Reporting

You know media coverage on the Pope’s new book has spiraled out of control in misreporting when Reuters issues a corrective piece lambasting the bad reporting. The Reuters piece is actually quite good.
Jeff Miller, The Curt Jester, pointed the Reuters piece out. It is great to read the official media actually taking the time to do a corrective piece. As Jeff says, it is a good story.

Jeff actually commented on the bad media reporting in his review of Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives. I recommend his review to anyone interested in the book. It sounds really wonderful and like a good Advent book.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Seven Glorious Days: A Scientist Retells the Genesis Creation Story

The watery planet that would bear the label "Earth" some five billion years later was nothing short of a creative miracle. The ten billion years that it took the universe to produce a habitable planet is about the shortest possible time for that gargantuan task. Skeptics who say humans must be irrelevant because they did not exist for most of the history of the universe don't know what they are talking about. It takes a few billion years to make the first stars and about five billion years for a newly minted first-generation star to fuse itself into a supernova. It then takes a few billion years for the cloud from that supernova to reassemble itself into a second-generation star like our sun, surrounded by rocky planets rich in organic molecules, and, in rare cases, water.

=============

The most awe-inspiring aspect of this long, strange trip is the constant presence of mathematical laws, guiding and controlling every aspect. When we examine the world at the "top level," so to speak, the mathematics is invisible. ... On the surface, nature is, to be sure, noisy in the sense of being cluttered, busy, and seemingly without patterns. Even beautiful scenery--picture a mountain lake with snowcapped mountains in the background--rarely seems "organized." But as we apply our scientific knowledge to the cluttered world we experience and drill down to the bedrock of our understanding--eliminate the noise--we find something quite wondrous. At the end of the great hallway that takes us from the social sciences to the natural sciences, through biology and chemistry and ultimately to physics, we find ourselves at last in the presence of a most beautiful and unexplained symphony of mathematics. Across the dark abyss, this mathematics comes clearly into view, out of nowhere, explaining the world around us while remaining unexplained itself. It is part of the Logos of creation.
I have a general interest in science but have only a layman's grasp of what happened between the Big Bang and now. As a Catholic convert coming from a completely secular mindset, I especially appreciate the hope and optimism that come from seeing science not simply as coldly rational facts, but in the context of a bigger plan.

Author Karl Giberson comes from an almost completely opposite background than mine. Raised to believe in the literal truth of the Bible, he was a young-earth creationist. College science classes convinced Giberson that Genesis was a story recounting faith rather than science. However, science was often reduced to coldly rational explanations that were not engaging people about their place in the scheme of things, which he found unsatisfactory as well.

Seven Glorious Days bridges the gap between science and faith so that Giberson and I find ourselves meeting in the middle, amazed at the mechanics of creation and awed at the sense of purpose that can be traced. Giberson communicates this by giving an overview of what scientists have discovered about creation, from the Big Bang to human evolution.

As I read about what has been discovered about the underlying structure following the creation of the universe, and how it led to our planet's eventual creation followed by the generation of life, I felt a sense of exhilaration and excitement. There is beauty accompanying the logic of the laws of physics. By the time Giberson reached the "symphony of mathematics" mentioned above, I was thrilled. Not only did I have a grasp, albeit simple, of the science, but I had a sense of why many scientists themselves believe there is more than cold, hard facts to the universe.

Reading Giberson's commentary about how life flourished just about as fast as conditions would permit, I was suddenly struck by the odd notion that perhaps we are not finding life in other star systems because we are the first. This never occurred to me before and, as a devoted science fiction fan, it turned my world upside down. Could it be that we are the much vaunted "Old Ones" which many science fiction novels show their protagonists tracking down? A humbling notion and also a fascinating one, showing that we do not really know where our place is in the universe.

At this point in the book, I was catching up on my daily Catechism reading and came across a passage that dovetailed precisely with Seven Glorious Days.
310 But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil cold exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better. But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world "in a state of journeying" toward its ultimate perfection. In God's plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the eixtenceof the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection.
That sense of "a state of journeying" perfectly expressed the sense I received from Seven Glorious Days. The next paragraph brings that "journeying" home to our own lives.
311 Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey toward their ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential love. They can therefore go astray. Indeed, they have sinned. Thus has moral evil, incommensurably more harmful than physical evil, entered the world. God is in no way, directly or indirectly the cause of moral evil. He permits it, however, because he respects the freedom of his creatures and, mysteriously, knows how to derive good from it....
As much sense as this made to my Catholic sensibilities, I was quite surprised to see that it was a foretaste of the remainder of Seven Glorious Days. Speaking of evolution and man's unique characteristics, Giberson fills in the scientific gaps which lead to the above mentioned journey we humans take. I do not want to spoil it for anyone so I won't explain further. Indeed, I see that I have taken up quite a few pixels in my enthusiasm so far. Suffice it to say that Giberson's overview uses scientific facts to show where the whole glorious ride of creation has been headed since the beginning.

I have been remiss in not yet mentioning Giberson's framework, in which he rephrases God's seven days (or epochs) of creation in ways which encompass science. Here is a sample.
Day 2

Then God said, "Let matter emerge, with precisely defined properties that will empower the development of everything else in the universe, laying a secure foundation for changes that will eventually lead to living creatures, following the patterns laid down by the Logos.

And there was evening and morning, beginning and ending, of the second epoch of creation.

And God saw that it was Good.
As you can tell by now, I find Seven Glorious Days to be very good, very inspiring, and a "must read" for anyone who ever struggles to explain to nonbelievers that science and faith are not nonexclusive. Highly recommended.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Praying Through Advent: O Radiant Dawn by Lisa Hendey

O Radiant Dawn: 5-Minute Prayers Around the Advent WreathO Radiant Dawn: 5-Minute Prayers Around the Advent Wreath by Lisa M. Hendey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a very handy book that I recommend to anyone who wants to get in the habit of regular reflection during Advent. Lisa Hendey has written a series of 5-minute prayers designed for daily use by individuals or families, even those with young children.

The family gathers round the Advent wreath, lighting the candle, a song is sung, and a scripture reading is provided to be read aloud for prayer and contemplation. There are reflection and conversation prompts, both for adults and for children. A closing prayer provides more food for thought as it sums up the daily readings.

It is a simple enough formula but Hendey has put it together with obvious care. It is nice to have something structured yet brief enough to include in busy daily schedules. This will also be a good opportunity to reflect upon the O Antiphons, which are included as part of the prayer reflections during the appropriate days immediately before Christmas.

This is a good book that I could see becoming a family tradition from year to year. I'm looking forward to using it myself beginning Sunday when Advent is finally here.

There is a bulk discount offer until December 15, 2012. You can order O Radiant Dawn for only $1 when you order 10 copies or more using the promo code catholicmom12 when placing an order at Ave Maria Press.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Skyfall

Q: Age is no guarantee of efficiency.

Bond: And youth is no guarantee of innovation.

Q: Well, I'll hazard I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pajamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field.

Bond: Oh, so why do you need me?

Q: Every now and then a trigger has to be pulled.

Bond: Or not pulled. It's hard to know which in your pajamas.
We got a chance to see the new James Bond movie this weekend. Others have given more complete review, and I can recommend Roger Ebert's (though I skipped his paragraph on the opening action sequence and would advise you to do the same unless you enjoy spoilers).

As he said, "This is a brand-new Bond with love and respect for the old Bond. "

Exactly.

Skyfall is a brilliant, exhilarating combination of new and old which remakes the franchise while somehow coming full circle and putting Bond back where he began. All this while still moving definitely forward in time.

I thoroughly enjoyed the way Bond and M had to battle suggestions of both people and institutions being "too old" and "outdated." M's speech quoting Tennyson is nothing short of genius and it captures exactly the uncertainties of our age where we aren't sure who is a villain and who isn't. Also, as Rose mentioned in our conversation this weekend, if we were British there were times when we'd have been applauding. The movie is unashamedly positive about the necessity of defending and loving Britain, even if one doesn't go on and on about it. (So British, that.)

This is a Bond movie you must see, if you have even the slightest interest in the franchise. And, possibly, even if you don't.

Blogging Around: The "Leftovers Are Good" Edition

Some of these are things I've been meaning to mention, a few are new (after all the best way to eat leftovers is with a little something to make it all seem new, right?).

Joseph Susanka is Blogging
I'm pretty excited since I like his movie commentary.

Sceptre E-Books 
This is great news for anyone who loves the In Conversation with God devotional series the way that I do. You can find the e-books in the usual places.

Catholic Bookstores
Don't forget that your local (or online) Catholic bookstore are often run by local families. They are a great place to do your Christmas shopping.

For example, check out Aquinas and More's Cyber-Monday specials.

Sudden Monday - A Place for Flash Fiction
Ryan Charles Trusell, who many of us know from his Ora et Labora et Zombies project, has flash fiction on the brain.
Sudden Monday is a brand new weekly link-up, hosted by Labora Editions and devoted to sudden fiction, also known as flash fiction, or the short-short story (in this case, fewer than 500 words.) In the future, I will post a new short-short story every Monday with a link-up at the bottom for others to do likewise.
Sudden Monday submission guidelines are here.

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI
Another thing that really struck me was when he was writing about passages in the Old Testament that seemed to have no context and meaning until the truth was revealed in the New Testament. I just love the term he used ”Word in waiting.” He wrote about how Mary’s yes really was the dividing line between the Old and New Testament. This seems to me to be kind of an ironic reversal. The Old Testament was pregnant with the Word until Mary’s Fiat and the Word was conceived. This is a clumsy analogy on my part, but what the Pope had to say about the “Word in waiting” really made me see some of these passages in the Old Testament in a new light.
Jeff Miller's review both smacks the media for wrong reporting and then tells us what is wonderful about this book. I can't wait to read this!

The Crimes of Galahad by Dr. Boli 
This is the memoir of Galahad Newman Boustead, a young man who decides to live his live scientifically, according to evil principles. Dr. Boli is a favorite stop of mine on the internet and this book sounds hilarious. Turns out, as Will Duquette's review tells us, it is much more.
Although the book made me laugh, it’s by no means a farce; in retrospect, it’s a serious meditation on the relationship between virtue, goodness, and grace, on the limitations of purely human virtue, and on human nature and the natural law. I suspect I’m going to be pondering it for some while.
Judge Upholds Part of Law On Birth-Control Coverage
A federal judge Monday rejected Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.'s request to block part of the federal health-care overhaul that requires the arts-and-craft-supplies company to provide insurance coverage for the morning-after and week-after birth control pills.

U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton denied a request by Hobby Lobby to prevent the government from enforcing portions of the health-care law mandating insurance coverage for contraceptives the company's Christian owners consider objectionable.

The Oklahoma City-based company and a sister company, Mardel Inc., sued the government in September, claiming the mandate violates the owners' religious beliefs.

In his ruling, Judge Heaton said that while churches and other religious organizations have been granted constitutional protection from the birth-control provisions, "Hobby Lobby and Mardel are not religious organizations."
Associated Press story via The Wall Street Journal
I read this last week but the point about the dangers of a nanny government are clear. Only "religious organizations" are allowed to express their religious beliefs. And employees couldn't possibly decide whether or not they want to work for Hobby Lobby based on their insurance coverage. We knew this was coming but it's another step down that slippery slope. Thank you so much President Obama for taking care of us whether we want it or not, whether we need it or not. Kudos to Hobby Lobby's owners for standing up for their religious rights.

Friday, November 23, 2012

In which a young girl goes in search of fire from a horrible witch!

The Sea Hag at Forgotten Classics. Many thanks to Joseph for this folk tale. I love hearing the stories he chooses and his insightful comments.

Fog at Julie's house, fog at Scott's place.

Nonetheless they manage to grope their way through a conversation about Bleak House by Charles Dickens.

Get it now at A Good Story is Hard to Find where they also discuss the movies they saw last.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Life of Pi

The Writer: You're a Hindu Catholic?
Pi: We get to feel guilty before hundreds of gods.
When I entered the theater I knew virtually nothing about the movie, except that there was something about a boy on a raft with a tiger. As it turns out, that is all I needed to know for this astonishing, thought provoking movie.

Pi (Suraj Sharma) is a sixteen-year-old Indian boy, who survives a shipwreck only to find himself adrift on a lifeboat with a 450 pound, ferocious Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. Pi's intelligence and ingenuity are stretched to the limit in surviving on the open seas while figuring out how to coexist with a tiger who is getting hungrier every day.

This story is told by the middle-aged Pi (Irrfan Khan) to an aspiring writer (Rafe Spall) who has been told that Pi's story is worthy of a book. He also has been told, "you had a story that would make me believe in God" which is not quite tossed out as a challenge, although he hastens to add that he does not believe in God. This framework provides a neat parallel to the story Pi tells, which begins with young Pi's constant search for God as he grows from a little boy to a teenager.

Obviously we know that Pi survives the shipwreck because he is telling the story. However that soon becomes forgotten as we are swept up in Pi's struggles. Wound around and through this are amazing images of the world all around him. Using 3-D technology, we are shown vertical views from the bottom of the ocean to the heavens above, with all the inhabitants in between. These views through ultra-clear water add to the wonder and mystical tone of the entire story, as Pi's despair and hope alternate while he surrenders himself to God's will.

Meanwhile, viewers wonder what in this tale will be compelling enough to convince the writer to suddenly believe in God. The answer to that question is one that kept us thinking and discussing the movie the rest of the evening and the day after.

I was really surprised to find a movie with such emphasis on faith and God from such a famous director. I suppose that shows that it really is revolutionary these days to have faith. As I watched, I kept thinking of the stories of Job and Jonah from the Old Testament. This story is a modern version of those tales because it is an examination of modern attitudes to faith, free will, and our response to God. Kudos to Ang Lee for providing an incredible adventure story that didn't soft pedal the religious elements of the book from which it was derived.

PG rating on this movie and I'd say that as long as your kid is ok with animals acting like animals (nature red in tooth and claw), then you're good to go.

SPOILERS

The key to the movie, and especially to the puzzling dual story solution given at the end, is the family dinner when Pi's father talks about the need to be rational. Pi's mother says that he is right if one wants to know the truth about the outside world. However, she adds, faith is good for knowing the truth about what is inside you.

This duality is continued through elements like Pi's name. Piscine is named for the French swimming pool his uncle loved because it was full of such clear water. That name shows Pi's connection to the natural world and his ability to look through the depths for what is really there.

His shortened name, for the number Pi, shows a more rational side, but also Pi is an "irrational number" as the narrator told us ... which made me think that pi is actually a stunningly good way to refute people who want to solely believe in facts, without considering that "truth" comes in many ways. The idea that a number just keeps going and can't be "solved" is in itself a sort of refutation of those who want everything nailed down. Do you chop it off at a few decimal places or do you let the numbers keep spinning out and keep searching the bottomless well for truth?

This also demonstrates Pi's intelligence and that he understands how others think and how to influence them. As well, we are shown he is well versed in the natural world when we see his father teach him with the tiger and the goat.

These elements raise the possibility that Pi's "other story" told to the Japanese investigators is completely fabricated to tell them what makes sense to modern ears and will fit into a report.

In the end, we are left with a new version of "The Lady or the Tiger?"

Either story may be true or false. The interpretation we resonate with is an indicator of our own souls.

The Life of Pi is much like the Old Testament, full of stories of daring and danger which do not make sense to our modern souls which like to weigh everything against concrete, understandable scientific measures. We are ready to call such tales Myth, but does our interpretation see the whole story? We accept the Big Bang, measurable echoes of which still linger, if we know what to listen for. However, Genesis says that God spoke the universe into being.

Creation begins with sound in both cases; one is measurable by science, one by the human heart who looks deeper, is willing to be vulnerable, and who is willing to chance all on God's love. Neither negates the other although there are those who will choose one and call the other false.

As we are reminded, none of us knows why the ship sank (or how the universe began). All we know is what happened afterward from our own vantage point.

Such is the story of Pi. It is not about what you choose to believe, as much as it is about where one finds Truth. Much in the same way that Genesis is a story of faith and not about the Big Bang, we can hold that both stories are true or that only one is. Which one do you choose?

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Odds and Ends

10 Sci-Fi Fantasy Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon

A fun list from Paste Magazine which counts down ... and ends up with a show that any frequent visitors here will recognize as a much mourned cancellation. I was pleased to see Better Off Ted, Angel and Wonderfalls included since I enjoyed them greatly in their day. And Carnivale is a show I've always meant to watch, even with the lack of resolution when it was canceled. I can take it.

LibriVox Saved My Sanity

A love letter to the free audiobook resource that volunteers (and love of books) built. Like Gaëtan L. Charlebois, I also love LibriVox as you may have gathered. His praise of Elizabeth Klett is well founded, but allow me to direct your attention to my own favorite LibriVox readers.

Adventhology

Ryan Trusell from Ora et Labora et Zombies doesn't rest upon his laurels. Adventhology is a new "micropublishing adventure that brings together four short pieces by four well-known Catholic bloggers, united by the common theme of the season of Advent and its culmination at Christmas. Each piece is published separately, as its own small booklet, of fine paper with a hand-printed softcover." Written by Dorian Speed, Brandon Vogt, Dan Lord, and Simcha Fisher. Read more at Adventhology.

By the way, Ryan has got a new look for his website and begun blogging. Check it out.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Life of Pi and Movie End Cards


I can't give a review of this movie until Nov. 21, when it opens on the week of Thanksgiving, but I can highly recommend it.

Hard to imagine Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Brokeback Mountain) doing a movie that is so completely infused with faith and the search for God, but that is the crux of the movie.

It is PG and we were told at the screening that it is a "family movie."

Be aware that it is a family movie as done by Ang Lee, which is to say that it takes nature seriously and treats it realistically as much as can be done in this tale.

Think "The Yearling," "Old Yeller," or "Bambi" (remember that even Walt Disney killed off Bambi's mother; the book was much more realistic). I wouldn't advise taking small children to see this film.

Don't be afraid to see the 3D version. This movie is gorgeous.

Just wanted to give movie goers a chance to fit this into their schedule.

===================

On the way out we scored one of the above movie posters.

However, the image from the very end of the credits was one that we applauded. The Life of Pi's card had a plain black background, but you get the idea. We'd read about this initiative to show why movie piracy is important to stop and that the reason your movie ticket costs what it does. I like it.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Thing I Don't Understand #7*: Complaints About Small Type in Books

I hear nothing but praise for large type and damning of small type in books.

At the book club, I showed my Collectors Library edition of Jane Eyre,delighting in the small format, someone dismissed me with, "Oh you still can read small type."

As if I haven't heard this one before and she couldn't see the glasses on my face.

Then this morning I read someone who said, "I couldn't read the small type. Must be my aged eyes."

My question: is this not the modern age? Have we not got reading glasses? Why the complaints?

As someone who has worn glasses since the 4th grade for nearsightedness and whose eyes have aged in the expected manner so that I now have some farsightedness, I wear trifocals (smoothed over so y'all can't tell ... ha!)

Man up, get some reading glasses and stop forcing those of us who do to lug around gigantic books with monstrous type of the sort that used to be featured only in the Dick and Jane stories for tykes.

(I'm talking about the "average" here, not the unusual exception condition ... so we need not go there.)

* Numbered in no particular order except that I'm sure there are six other things I don't understand more often than this. Be glad I didn't drag you through those questions so early in the day! :-)

Thursday, November 8, 2012

An Everlasting Feast by Tamar Adler

Tamar Adler was inspired by M.F.K. Fisher's How to Eat a Wolf. Is she a worthy successor to the legacy of eating well using simple ingredients?

My review is at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Jane Eyre or Katniss?

What do our heroines say about our culture?

Heroines Past and Present is the topic of discussion at A Good Story is Hard to Find.

Joseph Susanka and two other guests (including my own daughter Rose) join Scott and me for our first "topic" discussion.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

No one wants their first words of the day to be, "Damn it" ...

... when they hear the election results on the clock radio. (Yes, we still have one of those.)

But there were the results and there I was.

It took a while to regain perspective and recall that I am, in fact, a monarchist. As one of that family, my duty is to convey His Majesty's wishes as best I can in this minor principality to which I have been assigned.

I do my best. And sometimes it can get me down. But I answer to a higher power, a monarch who has all our best interests deep in his sacred heart.

For now, that is enough.

And I curse no more.


NOTE
If you don't click through on the "monarchist" link this post might not make sense. I count on HC readers to be thorough! :-)

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

An Election Day Prayer

From The Curt Jester.
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.

– St. Teresa of Avila
Reading Yours is the Church by Mike Aquilina last week, I was struck by a comment he made about not letting things like current events get you down. The Church has been here for 2,000 years. Before us, God guided the Hebrews for ... what ... 2,000 years before that. We do the best we can with what we've got in front of us and trust in God's providence.

So I'll go to vote at lunch and trust that we will all do our best ... in charity ... in love ... in wanting the best for each other, even if we disagree on how best to do it.

(I'm just glad I don't have to vote on some of the issues that Rose was reading to us from the L.A. County voters ballot info. Ugh.)

May God bless us and our country.

Now get out there and vote!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Suicide by Choice? Not So Fast

I received this link last week from a friend who said: "An interesting article in the New York Times by a man who suffers profound disabilities. The writer explains he is against the assisted-suicide bill pending in Massachusetts (I think) because of concerns that disabled patients might be coerced into death."

It was enlightening indeed.
NEXT week, voters in Massachusetts will decide whether to adopt an assisted-suicide law. As a good pro-choice liberal, I ought to support the effort. But as a lifelong disabled person, I cannot.

There are solid arguments in favor. No one will be coerced into taking a poison pill, supporters insist. The “right to die” will apply only to those with six months to live or less. Doctors will take into account the possibility of depression. There is no slippery slope.

Fair enough, but I remain skeptical. There’s been scant evidence of abuse so far in Oregon, Washington and Montana, the three states where physician-assisted death is already legal, but abuse — whether spousal, child or elder — is notoriously underreported, and evidence is difficult to come by. What’s more, Massachusetts registered nearly 20,000 cases of elder abuse in 2010 alone.

My problem, ultimately, is this: I’ve lived so close to death for so long that I know how thin and porous the border between coercion and free choice is, how easy it is for someone to inadvertently influence you to feel devalued and hopeless — to pressure you ever so slightly but decidedly into being “reasonable,” to unburdening others, to “letting go.”

Perhaps, as advocates contend, you can’t understand why anyone would push for assisted-suicide legislation until you’ve seen a loved one suffer. But you also can’t truly conceive of the many subtle forces — invariably well meaning, kindhearted, even gentle, yet as persuasive as a tsunami — that emerge when your physical autonomy is hopelessly compromised.
Do go read the whole thing, especially if you live in an area where this is an issue to be voted upon tomorrow.

I Greet You, People of the Past

I will not turn my clock back. I will be living one hour in the future. I greet you, the People of the Past. Your ways are quaint.
Best Twitter Quote of the Day ... via Joseph Susanka.

Health-Care Law Spurs a Shift to Part-Time Workers

Some low-wage employers are moving toward hiring part-time workers instead of full-time ones to mitigate the health-care overhaul's requirement that large companies provide health insurance for full-time workers or pay a fee.

Several restaurants, hotels and retailers have started or are preparing to limit schedules of hourly workers to below 30 hours a week. That is the threshold at which large employers in 2014 would have to offer workers a minimum level of insurance or pay a penalty starting at $2,000 for each worker.
The Wall Street Journal's story Health-Care Law Spurs a Shift to Part-Time Workers discusses a change that never even occurred to me in considering the Affordable Care Act. When does health insurance hurt workers? When employers are squeezed so that they can't take any other measures.

Reading the article, I thought these employers were jerks. And then I got to the examples.
Pillar Hotels & Resorts this summer began to focus more on hiring part-time workers among its 5,500 employees, after the Supreme Court upheld the health-care overhaul, said Chief Executive Chris Russell. The company has 210 franchise hotels, under the Sheraton, Fairfield Inns, Hampton Inns and Holiday Inns brands.

"The tendency is to say, 'Let me fill this position with a 40-hour-a-week employee.' "Mr. Russell said. "I think we have to think differently."

Pillar offers health insurance to employees who work 32 hours a week or more, but only half take it, and Mr. Russell wants to limit his exposure to rising health-care costs. He said he planned to pursue new segments of the population, such as senior citizens, to find workers willing to accept part-time employment.
And I had to think differently. This employer is offering insurance in good faith. But the government's Affordable Care Act would penalize him for something that half of his employees are essentially turning down. They evidently don't need it.

And the employers are going to have to find ways around it to survive.

A bad situation forced upon all of them by the lack of thought that went into the Affordable Care Act.