Our Lady's Bug

 We were watching the British show Taskmaster and suddenly the participants began talking about "ladybirds." From my copious British mystery reading I knew they meant "ladybugs" but no one else in the family did. So, when we looked it up we found a wonderful etymology.

The common English name ladybird originated in Britain where the insects became known as "Our Lady's birds". Mary ("Our Lady") was often depicted wearing a red cloak in early art, and the seven spots of the species Coccinella septempunctata (the most common in Europe) were said to represent her seven joys and seven sorrows. In the United States, the name was popularly adapted to ladybug. ...  Names in some other countries may be similar; for example, in Germany they are known as Marienkäfer meaning 'Marybeetle' or 'ladybeetle'. — Wikipedia

I love the idea that back in the day a ladybug would have made people think, however briefly, of Mary. Whenever I see a ladybug I'm going to think about Mary.

 

Ladybird flying over cyclamen, 1690s

Portrait of Raminou the Cat

Suzanne Valadon, Portrait of Raminou the Cat
via French Painters

Prayers for the Victims of the Guadalupe River Flooding

As most people know, a flash flood of epic proportions swept away everything in its path. At this point, 80 people have died, including young girls from Camp Mystic. We have been praying for everyone affected, especially the souls of the dead and their families.

Find tangible ways to help.

Heavenly Father, we lift up the people of Kerrville, Texas, — and of everywhere the flood has touched — who have been affected by the devastating floods. We pray for their safety, comfort, and healing during this difficult time. May your love and grace be with them as they face loss and uncertainty.

Grant strength to the first responders and volunteers working to help those in need, and may your peace reign in the hearts of all who are hurting.

In Jesus' name, Amen

Dynamic Dachshund

Giacomo Balla, Dynamism of a Dog on its Leash, 1912
via Arts and Everyday Living

You've seen this here before and you doubtless will again. I love it so much.

Well Said: The Path

What you're missing is that the path itself changes you.

Julien Smith

I think this is one that we all know, deep down, but we all have to ponder it for ourselves. We never actually stop to consider the path and what changes we are agreeing to when we set ourselves upon it.

Fourth of July Number 1

Fourth of July Number 1, Florine Stettheimer

Notes on Mark: Unbelief and Power

The Brow of the Hill near Nazareth - James Tissot
This is where the people threatened to throw Jesus to his death in Nazareth

MARK Chapter 6

In the last chapter, Jesus has been changing people's lives and hearts as he healed, exorcised, and did other miracles. This chapter, Mary Healy tells us, sees that come to a grinding halt. 

The mighty works that hostile opponents, demons, diseases, and even death could not stop, are blocked--temporarily--by a greater obstacle: unbelief. It is not that Jesus' power is limited, but people are hindered from experiencing his power by their refusal to believe in him.

Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: The Gospel of Mark by Mary Healy

This, for me, is huge. All the power in the universe can be unleashed on these peoples' behalf and they refuse to let themselves experience it because they will not believe. Is this the reason that we don't see more miracles in our own age?

What about my life? Am I willing to believe, to stay open, to eagerly anticipate and ask for God's power on my behalf?

Sobering questions as chapter 6 looms ahead.

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Sources and Notes Index   

See America

WPA Poster

Scott is trading all his t-shirts in for Kurtas. Julie is a tight slap champion.

 We wonder "what would Ghandi do?" in episode 359 of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast while discussing Lage Raho Munna Bhai.

Mute Swan chicks following mother

Mute Swan chicks following mother, taken by Remo Savisaar

A longing for romance and wonder

What did I want?

I wanted a Roc's egg. I wanted a harem loaded with lovely odalisques less than the dust beneath my chariot wheels, the rust that never stained my sword. I wanted raw red gold in nuggets the size of your fist and feed that lousy claim jumper to the huskies! I wanted to get up feeling brisk and go out and break some lances, Then pick a likely wench for my droit du seigneur—I wanted to stand up to the Baron and dare him to touch my wench! I wanted to hear the purple water chuckling against the skin of the Nancy Lee in the cool of the morning watch and not another sound, nor any movement save the slow tilling of the wings of the albatross that had been pacing us the last thousand miles.

I wanted the hurtling moons of Barsoom. I wanted Storisende and Poictesme, and Holmes shaking me awake to tell me, "The game's afoot!" I wanted to float down the Mississippi on a raft and elude a mob in company with the Duke of Bilgewater and the Lost Dauphin.

I wanted Prester John, and Excalibur held by a moon-white arm out of a silent lake. I wanted to sail with Ulysses and with Tros of Samothrace and eat the lotus in a land that seemed always afternoon. I wanted the feeling of romance and the sense of wonder I had known as a kid. I wanted the world to be what they had promised me it was going to be—instead of the tawdry, lousy, fouled-up mess it is.

Robert Heinlein, Glory Road

What he wanted was the Catholic Church, as G.K. Chesterton could've told him. It's got all the romance and sense of wonder (and mystery) you could want.

I didn't go to religion to make me happy.

I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.

C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock

As is often the case with C.S. Lewis, truer words were never spoken (or written). Good thing the rewards are inestimably better than that.

El Cementiri Vell de Poble Nou (Barcelona)

El Cementiri Vell de Poble Nou (Barcelona)

I'd really love to walk through that cemetery!

Kicking @$$ for the Kingdom

What if becoming a saint isn't about escaping ordinary life but about discovering the extraordinary within it? What if the path to holiness runs straight through your daily work, family relationships, and community connections?

That's the adventure I'm inviting you to join. ...

Let's be clear about something: becoming a saint isn't for the faint of heart. It requires courage, resilience, and a healthy dose of spiritual grit. It means confronting your own weaknesses, battling real spiritual enemies, and choosing the harder, higher path when every instinct screams for comfort and convenience.

In other words, it means kicking @$$ for the Kingdom.

This isn't about aggression or domination. It's about bringing the same intensity, focus, and determination to your spiritual journey that elite athletes bring to their sport or warriors bring to their mission. It's about refusing to settle for spiritual mediocrity when God is calling you to greatness.

A new newsletter begins over on Substack. Brandon has been heading up our parish's young adults ministry for some time. Plus being involved in many other things. He wants his newsletter to foster change and communication, to build community. Give it a try.

Cypress at L’Arcade

Cypress at L’Arcade by Belinda Del Pesco

It is a human weakness of ours to be always crying out for complete novelty ...

It is a human weakness of ours to be always crying out for complete novelty, an entire disservice from our past. Our old traditions have become so dusty with neglect, so rusted with abuse, that we are for casting them on the scrap-heap and forgetting that they ever existed. The Church conserves; she bears traces still of the Jewish atmosphere in which she was cradled; traces, too, of the old heathen civilization which she conquered. And in her own history it is the same; nothing is altogether forgotten; every age of Christianity recalls the lineaments of an earlier time. People think of her as if she kept a lumber room; it is not so; hers is a treasure-house from which she can bring forth when they are needed things old as well as new.

Ronald Knox, Captive Flames

Visit in the afternoon

Visit in the afternoon, Edward B. Gordon

So many people have gone on vacation and I hope they're having as much fun as this little fellow.

Romans, Christians, and Virginity

It would be hard to estimate, I think, how much of its unpopularity in Roman society the Christian faith owed to its tradition of virginity. You know the horror the world feels when somebody becomes a Catholic; you know the horror the world feels when somebody goes into a convent: combine those two, and transplant them into a society which is heathen and regards the Christian religion as a dangerous and debased cult and you will realize what the pagans thought of a resolution like St. Cecilia's.

Ronald Knox, Captive Flames

That statement seems shockingly appropriate for our times as well as those of St. Cecilia.

Brown Hare

Brown Hare, taken by Remo Savisaar

It wasn't a hare but a medium-sized rabbit that hopped across my front patio this morning, sampling weeds, eating potted plants, and generally unafraid of me banging on the window. A very urban, experienced rabbit.

Catholics' standard of purity

The world knows that Catholics have a high standard of purity. But the world is not going to be impressed unless it is assured that Catholics keep it.

Ronald Knox, Captive Flames

It is a curious thing ...

It is a curious thing about the attitude of our non-Catholic friends towards the Catholic Saints; they always strive to discredit, in one of two ways, their witness to the faith. Either they will say: "This was a very unpleasant, narrow-minded man, of ridiculous personal habits; and it that is what Saints are like we would sooner hear no more of them," or they will say: "Yes, this man was indeed a Saint; but then he was not really a roman Catholic. He was just a good Christian, as my wife and I are; he only happened to be in communion with the Pope because everybody was in those days." ... And the Church gets no credit either way.

Ronald Knox, Captive Flames

Fascinating. He nailed it.

An Elephant

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn - An Elephant

I came across this in this great list of Rembrandt drawings which shows which major art pieces the sketches are thought to be associated with. Really interesting.

The elephant is on his own. Just a fun sketch with no painting done.

Scott flies to the moon. Julie gets ready to blow it up.

 We discuss  Scum of the Earth by Alexander C. Kane in episode 358 of A Good Story is Hard to Find. Join us!

Dinornis Elephantopus

Dinornis Elephantopus, Roger Fenton, photographer, 1854 – 1858
J. Paul Getty Museum

Perhaps Hell and Heaven are the very same thing ...

Perhaps Hell and Heaven are the very same thing: light, truth; but it blesses those who love it and tortures those who hate it.

Peter Kreeft, I Burned for Your Peace

I've had conversations where this has come up as an idea, but never so succinctly put. It is worth considering. Am I open to truth? Do I recognize my sins? As I've mentioned before, I am just modern enough to have trouble going to confession not because of having to speak my sins aloud, but because I often don't know what they are. I wind up asking Christ to open my eyes, shine the light, and let me see the truth of what is keeping me from getting closer to Him.

Lagniappe: Great curved scrolls of feet

Then the carpenters return to making more tables—tables on which to spread our pottery, a drawing-table for Mac, a table off which to dine, a table for my typewriter. ...

Mac draws out a towel-horse and the carpenters start upon it. The old man brings it proudly to my room on completion. It looks different from Mac's drawing, and when the carpenter sets it down I see why. It has colossal feet, great curved scrolls of feet. They stick out so that, wherever you put it, you invariable trip over them.

Ask him, I say to Max, why he has made these feet instead of sticking to the design he was given?

The old man looks at us with dignity.

"I made them this way," he says, "so that they should be beautiful. I wanted this that I have made to be a thing of beauty!"

To this cry of the artist there could be no response. I bow my head, and resign myself to tripping up over those hideous feet for the rest of the season!

Agatha Christie, Come Tell Me How You Live

Supine Bull

Something to go with today's Agatha Christie quote.

A supine bull, one of the Nimrud ivories found by Sir Max Mallowan
taken by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg)

What fascinated me about this, aside from the actual artwork which I find charming, is that Max Mallowan was Agatha Christie's second husband. I love thinking about her cleaning this piece as she described in her book Come Tell Me How You Live, which was about going on digs with Mallowan. You can see more of them at Wikipedia:

Mallowan's wife was the famous British crime novelist, Agatha Christie (1890–1976), who was fascinated with archaeology, and who accompanied her husband on the Nimrud excavations. Christie helped photograph and preserve many of the ivories found during the excavations, explaining in her autobiography that she cleaned the ivories using a fine knitting needle, an orange stick and a pot of face cream.

Sam Weller

Sam Weller, from a watercolor, c. 1890.

My favorite Pickwick character. Though there are many close-runs for favorite - Mr. Jingle comes to mind. He is as funny as he is despicable!

Lagniappe: A Very Pleasant Thought

I woke up thinking a very pleasant thought. There is lots left in the world to read.

Nicholson Baker, The Anthologist: A Novel

That is how I feel when I think of how much Dickens I have left to read. It is a very pleasant thought.

Swanson TV Dinner

Swanson TV Dinner 1963

We all know the best is the chicken pot pie, but I like the ad. It takes me back to a simpler time.

Lagniappe: The Patron Saint of TV Dinners

When I asked my friend’s mother why there was a little statue of The Virgin Mary on top of their Sylvania, she corrected me in a tone which faintly suggested that her family were better Catholics than mine would ever be. “Oh, Honey, that isn’t the Virgin Mary. That’s St. Clare of Assisi– she’s the patron saint of television.”

I approached the plastic idol with what I hoped was a reverential pace to examine her more closely. She held one hand upward in a gesture of blessing and her face looked up to the heavens. Or perhaps she was simply keeping an eye on the antenna which was fastened to the roof directly above. It was impossible to tell. I tried to pick her up, but discovered that she wouldn’t budge from her place.

I’d heard of people having their eyes glued to their television sets, but never their feet. It was a day of firsts.

When I came home, I took my usual place at dinner – the seat farthest from my mom. It was the lowest position in the family pecking order, but it also happened to be the only chair at the table which afforded a clear view of the family room and the television in it, which was always miraculously turned on and which I always (just as miraculously) got away with watching. I could now tune out the conversation of my older siblings and tune in to early evening network programming knowing there was a new saint in my life who was watching over me as I ate in silence, just like (as I would learn many years later) the sisters of the Franciscan Order founded by her, The Poor Clares.

Michael Procopio, Food for the Thoughtless

This is an old entry and it looks as if the blog is not around. But the quote remains amusing no matter what. 

Lagniappe: Faithful even in their infidelity

... according to the characteristic modesty of a Frenchman, Albert had quitted Paris with the full conviction that he had only to show himself in Italy to carry all before him, and that upon his return he should astonish the Parisian world with the recital of his numerous love-affairs. Alas, poor Albert! none of those interesting adventures fell in his way; the lovely Genoese, Florentines, and Neapolitans were all faithful, if not to their husbands, at least to their lovers, and thought not of changing even for the splendid appearance of Albert de Morcerf; and all he gained was the painful conviction that the ladies of Italy have this advantage over those of France, that they are faithful even in their infidelity.

Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

I'd forgotten that Dumas has a sly humor like this. He made me laugh twice in this brief bit.

At the Flowermarket

At the Flowermarket, Heinrich Hermanns

I'd love to be in Paris right now. I guess my mind is on vacation!

Lagniappe: The minister's bride and lunch

The minister's bride set her luncheon casserole down with a flourish, and waited for grace. "It seems to me," murmured her husband, "that I have blessed a good deal of this material before.

Irma Rombauer, The Joy of Cooking

It made me laugh to think of leftovers as twice blessed, especially with a father who frowned upon leftovers. Perhaps from contrariness, perhaps just because I like the flavor that comes to many dishes from settling for a day, I love leftovers. Luckily my husband does too!

Horses in a Meadow

Edgar Degas, Horses in a Meadow, 1871

Not ballerinas? What is up with that?

Lagniappe: "The old sweet song," said Holmes.

"If it takes me all my life I shall get level with you!"

"The old sweet song," said Holmes. "How often I have heard it in days gone by. It was a favourite ditty of the late lamented Professor Moriarty. Colonel Sebastian Moran has also been known to warble it. And yet I live and keep bees upon the South Downs."

Arthur Conan Doyle, The Last Bow

Just because it is delightful. Which is how lagniappe works!

Durer's Rhinoceros

Albrecht Dürer's 1515 Rhinoceros woodcut

I love Durer and I love a rhino. It's inevitable that this would show up here!

Lagniappe: Trees and Mordor

A construction project on my campus once destroyed some grass and trees near the library building, perhaps a necessary but certainly regrettable preliminary to expansion of the library. On the board fence surrounding the project, a number of slogans were painted. One near the entrance said simply, "The Gates of Mordor." Unfair, perhaps, but Tolkien — who was moved to write "Leaf by Niggle" when a tree near his home was cut down — would have understood.

Richard L. Purtill, Lord of the Elves and Eldils

I still remember sobbing when a utility truck cut off the tops of a long line of majestic trees one summer when I was young. My mother tried to comfort me and I knew it was a practical action, considering the frequency of ice storms in rural Kansas. However, I still felt for those trees.

Black Cat

Black Cat (Kuroki Neko),
Hishida Shunso, 1910

Cats are cats everywhere. The only difference is the backgrounds against which we see them in all the cultures.

Julie and Scott win the Unique Podcast Award for their Flannery O'Connor - Star Trek blend.

 We discuss Star Trek: First Contact in Episode 357 of A Good Story is Hard to Find. Join us!

A Studio Idyll. The Artist's Wife and their Daughter.

Carl Larsson, A Studio Idyll. The Artist's Wife and their Daughter.

This is so beautiful, both in the mother and daughter and in the husband's love as he paints the portrait.

Lagniappe: The gentleman's smile and the shine on his boots

And if the observer chanced to be ill-natured, as well as acute and susceptible, he would probably suspect that the smile on the gentleman's face was a good deal akin to the shine on his boots, and that each must have cost him and his boot-black, respectively, a good deal of hard labor to bring out and preserve them.

Nathaniel Hawthorne,
The House of the Seven Gables

We all know what to think of Judge Pyncheon now ... watch out! That sentence was so perfect I just had to share it.

Lagniappe: Mr. Street's philosophy and Mr. Chesterton's

"I will begin to worry about my philosophy," said Mr. Street, "when Mr. Chesterton has given us his." It was perhaps an incautious suggestion to make to a person only ready to write books upon the feeblest provocation.

G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

I came across this quote when reading Maisie Ward's biography of Chesterton, titled Gilbert Keith Chesterton. I can't tell you how enjoyable this book was. Maisie Ward's sense of humor, insights, and pure affection for G.K. Chesterton made her the perfect person write his biography.

Ward was a personal friend of the Chestertons and the book came out just six years after his death. That timing allowed her to have H.G. Wells and Bernard Shaw share stories and letters from their friendships with Chesterton. Both authors also read the chapters featuring them, so we know they approved of the way their friendships with Chesterton were represented. I really need to reread this book!

Silver Moth

Katharine Hepburn dressed as the "Silver Moth" in CHRISTOPHER STRONG.
Designed by Walter Plunkett, 1933
via Silver Screen Modes

Can you believe this is Katherine Hepburn? It is her first starring role and I'd say it would be worth seeing the film just to see the other costumes at the masked ball she attends.

Do go to Silver Screen Mode to see the rest of the 10 Wildest Costumes in Film History. There is fascinating background as well. I notice the posing is often the same from movie to movie. Ah well, when one is wearing a simply fantastic outfit, part of the key is proper posing in a doorway.

I'll just indulge here in sharing my other favorite. Not the wildest but I simply love it. She looks like a bejeweled butterfly.

Evelyn Brent in SLIGHTLY SCARLET Costume design by Travis Banton, 1930

Lagniappe: General Sherman on Reporters

If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast.

General Sherman

Noon - Rest from Work

Vincent van Gogh, Noon–Rest from Work (after Millet)

This looks very comfy. Much more so, I imagine, than it really felt with the hay sticking into one's clothing and the sun beating down. But I'd be willing to try it and see for myself!

Spring in Paris

Camille Pissarro, Place du Theatre Français, Spring

In the "wish I was there" category — Paris in springtime which, not coincidentally, is when I first went there. It was Easter weekend so the French had closed the place down. Germans, Japanese, and we were left stranded every morning on the steps of the Louvre wistfully looking at locked doors and paging through guidebooks to see if anything might be open. No formal sightseeing was available but luckily Paris itself is enough. And it was.

Prince Muhammad-Beik Of Georgia

Prince Muhammad-Beik Of Georgia, Reza Abbasi, 1620

Everything about this painting is beautiful. The curving shapes that parallel each other, the graceful posing of the hands, the young man's clothing, the colors ... just wonderful.

Set All Afire by Louis de Wohl

I originally read this in 2014 and it hit just as hard upon this rereading so I'm sharing it with you again.

This is a historical fiction account of St. Francis Xavier who, inspired by Ignatius of Loyola to "set all afire," took the faith to India and Japan. I really enjoyed this quick moving book with accurate depictions of past societies and attitudes. I especially liked the looks into the way that Hindus would have seen the Catholic faith. These days it is considered incorrect to embrace one religion as being True (or "truer") than others. However, de Wohl illustrates just what Christianity brought to the common people which helped open them to the light and love of God.

Since I first read this our family has become enamoured of Indian films from all parts of the country. I was delighted to find that I was familiar with the geography of his travels and with at some movies from a few of the languages and cultures mentioned. It gave me a greater sense of Francis Xavier's experiences.

I also really loved the way that a big obstacle would appear and he would set his jaw and dive in, sure that God would support his efforts on behalf of the downtrodden. It was inspiring. It reminded me of Mother Cabrini. “Are we doing this?” she would ask, “or is it the Lord?”

It also made several points which I found illuminating in the context of a recent conversation with someone who adheres to a metaphysical idea of different levels of consciousness mixed with belief in reincarnation. (Which always makes me think of Bender's, the robot from Futurama, mot juste: "If I'd thought I had to go through a whole other life, I'd kill myself right now.")

A Brahmin is talking to Francis Xavier:

"For the sake of my soul and for the sake of the soul of India, answer me: if God became incarnate on earth and suffered for all men, be they Brahmans or Sudras or any other caste, then is final salvation possible for a man even if he has not achieved perfection by himself?"

"No man can achieve perfection by himself," said Francis gently. "But by cooperating with Our Lord and on the strength of Our Lord's death on the Cross a man will be acceptable to God."

"If he can do that, there is no need for him to be reborn on earth,"" said Ramigal slowly.

I had thought of the example of Jesus telling the "thief" on the cross that he would be with him in paradise that day, but not of the larger answer to the reincarnation question. God fulfills the lack in man so that we don't have to do it all by ourselves. And what a relief that is.

Ramigal converts and later writes to Francis Xavier:

Do you remember the first talk we had, in Tiruchendar, when I mentioned reincarnation, and you taught me that by the Grace of God all could be achieved a single life? Now that I am Father Pedro, I can see so clearly that more than one incarnation can be compressed into a single life. In a sense, a new life started for me when I joined an ancient and wise man high up in the North. But in baptism I was truly reborn from water and in confirmation I was truly reborn from the Holy Spirit....

This struck me mightily when I read it as the "different levels of consciousness" issue was swirling through the back of my mind. Again, God does it all in one go, if we cooperate with him. Wow, Christianity really does have it all! And I kind of love that.

At any rate, it is a fascinating and adventurous tale and one I can recommend.

Hindrance: Sentimentality

How would such doing look had it been left to the religious sentiments if not downright sentimentalities of the pious? To have an idea, we really should examine some of the devotional leaflets. Everything would be extremely wordy and moving, the fearful and gruesome aspects of suffering would be stressed wherever possible, Jesus’ love would be the constantly reiterated theme. A pious importunity would accost Him, praise and pity Him, place all sorts of touching phrases in His mouth. The texts of the missal speak quite differently. They are clear and concise. Their tone is that of profound emotion, dignified and controlled.

Romano Guardini, Meditations Before Mass

Guardini was writing before Vatican II so the idea of focusing on extreme suffering is not accurate anymore. Instead what we have is extreme sentimentality swung in the other direction, on the loving Jesus with songs that spend a lot of time patting ourselves on the back for being followers and participants in his ministry. Regardless of the example, his point about sentimentality is right. It is not sentiment but is a semi-manufactured and indulged desire for emotion that can cloud our vision.

I'm really enjoying my slow journey through this book. You can read it here online.

El Patio

Taken by Traces of Texas

 I love this photo. It is not only so Texan it is so evocative of a place where I'd love to try the Tex Mex!

Notes on Mark: Hearing Jesus' Voice

Raising of Jairus' Daughter by Paolo Veronese, 1546

MARK 5:40-43
I love the point that Barclay makes here, derived from the actual language used in the gospel. It makes an already amazing scene turn into a touching scene of love that Peter has kept alive in memory.

There is a very lovely thing here. In the gospel itself, "Maid! Arise" is "Talitha Cumi," which is Aramaic. How did this little bit of Aramaic get itself embedded in the Greek of the gospels? There can be only one reason. Mark got his information from Peter. For the most part, outside of Palestine at least, Peter, too, would have to speak in Greek. But Peter had been there; he was one of the chosen three, the inner circle, who had seen this happen. And he could never forget Jesus' voice. In his mind and memory he could hear that "Talitha Cumi" all his life. The love, the gentleness, the caress of it lingered with him forever, so much so that he was unable to think of it in Greek at all, because his memory could hear it only in the voice of Jesus and in the very words that Jesus spoke.

The Gospel of Mark
(The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.)

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index   

Bookplate of Hikmet Şimşek

Bookplate of Hikmet Şimşek by Hasip Pektas, author of a book on bookplates

Hikmet Şimşek was a Turkish conductor of Western classical music, of course. I mean, we might not get the details but we all know he was a conductor just from this charming art.

Julie and Scott work hard to keep stuff out of people's minds.

 In Episode 356 of A Good Story is Hard to Find we discuss The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

Noryang: Deadly Sea

THE LONG-AWAITED FINAL CLASH.

Winter of 1598, the story of Yi Sun-shin's last naval battle during the Japanese invasions of Korea that happened in the Noryang Strait.

Yi. Nimitz. Nelson.

Who is the best admiral? It's impossible to say. They all have my complete admiration. But Admiral Yi also has my heart.

This is the final chapter in the movie trilogy about Korea's Admiral Yi. It began with The Admiral: Roaring Currents. The second movie, Hansan: Rising Dragon, was a prequel that was just as gripping as the first movie.

What a director. He manages to show huge sea battles in a way that conveys the incredible chaos while making the strategy crystal clear. That's important because Admiral Yi's genius only becomes clear as the battle proceeds.

It is a slow start for foreign eyes trying to sort out the Korean, Japanese, and Chinese situations during the first half hour. That flows over you with many characters you don't understand and then it begins to get sorted out.

(Be sure to watch the post credit scene.)

Bookplate of Edgar Rice Burroughs

Bookplate of Edgar Rice Burroughs

Could any bookplate be more appropriate than this? No. Absolutely not.

Full respect for freedom

On her part, the Church addresses people with full respect for their freedom. Her mission does not restrict freedom but rather promotes it. The Church proposes; she imposes nothing. She respects individuals and cultures, and she honors the sanctuary of conscience. To those who for various reasons oppose missionary activity, the Church repeats: Open the doors to Christ!

John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio

I'm slowly working my way through JPII's encyclicals. This one about the Church's missionary mandate was good in a lot of ways.

Monk and Cat Bookplate

A bookplate
created by Daniel Mitsui

I love the cat on the monk's shoulder. That touch of humor makes the bookplate sparkle. If you haven't visited Daniel Mitsui's website you are missing a chance to support or at the very least enjoy a modern artist who works in the old style.

You’re a thief just as another man is a stamp collector or a hunter.

“You seem to be fairly well known here,” said Jimmy.

“Yes,” replied Angel ruefully, “a jolly sight too well known. You’re not quite a stranger, Jimmy,” he added.

“No,” said the other a little bitterly; “but we’re on different sides of the House, Angel. You’re in the Cabinet, and I’m in the everlasting Opposition.”

“Muffled sobs!” said Angel flippantly. “Pity poor Ishmael who ‘ishes’ for his own pleasure! Pathos for a fallen brother! A silent tear for this magnificent wreck who’d rather be on the rocks than floating any day of the week. Don’t humbug yourself, Jimmy, or I shall be falling on your neck and appealing to your better nature. You’re a thief just as another man is a stamp collector or a hunter. It’s your blooming forte.

Edgar Wallace, Angel Esquire

As I said earlier this week, Edgar Wallace can be very funny while telling a crime mystery.

Garden Path

Der Gartenweg, Edward B. Gordon

The artist says: "And at the end of the path, behind the bamboo grove, there live the fairies."

I simply love the cool peacefulness of that garden.

Work distinguishes man from the rest of the creatures.

Work is one of the characteristics that distinguish man from the rest of the creatures, whose activity for sustaining their lives cannot be called work. Only man is capable of work, and only man works, at the same time by work occupying his existence on earth. Thus work bears a particular mark of man and of humanity, the mark of a person operating within a community of persons. And this mark decides its interior characteristics; in a sense it constitutes its very nature.

John Paul II, Encyclical Laborem Exercens

This had never occurred to me before. I've seen a lot of things singled out as distinguishing us from animals but not work.

Tulips in a Pot

Tulpen im Topf, Edward B. Gordon

The painter says: Their heads shine in the sun like stars that had no desire to fly into the sky."

And maybe that's why I like the painting so much.

And the Winner Is — 1938

 Our family is working our way through Oscar winners and whichever nominees take our fancy. Also as they are available, since these early films continued to be hard to find.

This year's movies had another delightfully mixed bag ranging from drama to screwball comedy. There are some treasures in the bunch but some real duds too.

Nominees not viewed: One Hundred Men and a Girl wasn't available, Dead End which we'd seen as part of our William Wyler viewing, A Star is Born which story we just don't like after having seen so many other versions.

WINNER

A fictionalized account of famous French writer Emile Zola and his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair.

What a dud. Boring, staid, and clearly an "important cause" movie. Almost every other nomination should have beat this. This has become code in our household for a boring movie — "It's no Life of Emile Zola." 

 NOMINEES

Unfounded suspicions lead a married couple to begin divorce proceedings, whereupon they start undermining each other’s attempts to find new romance.

The movie that got Cary Grant noticed. It was funny with a clever screenplay but the chemistry between Irene Dunne and Grant was the real bit that made it sparkle.

The ups and downs in the lives and careers of a group of ambitious young actresses and show girls from disparate backgrounds brought together in a theatrical hostel.

In some ways it was like a light-hearted version of All About Eve. I liked the boarding house environment, seeing so many people who would go on to be stars, and the dialogue. I LOVED Andrea Leeds as Kay. It was well acted and entertaining.

British diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash land in the Himalayas, and are rescued by the people of the mysterious, Eden-like valley of Shangri-la.

Who knew Shangri-La could be so boring? The beginning and end were great but the middle dragged it down to the bottom with The Life of Emile Zola.

The O’Leary brothers – honest Jack and roguish Dion – become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire.

Not bad, but not as good as the previous year's nominee San Francisco, which it was clearly patterned on. It's a real Cain and Abel story set in a fictional story of the O'Leary family (yes, Mrs. O'Leary and the cow that start the Chicago fire). 

China, during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The arranged marriage between Wang Lung, a humble farmer, and O-Lan, a domestic slave, will endure the many hardships of life over the years; but the temptations of a fragile prosperity will endanger their love and the survival of their entire family.

This should have won. We left it for last because this sort of movie doesn't usually appeal to me - long dramatic sagas of families struggling to survive, especially since I'd read the book long ago and hadn't liked it much. How wrong we were. By the end we were loving it. (My full review is here.)

The arrogant, spoiled son of an indulgent absentee-father, falls overboard from a transatlantic steamship and is rescued by a fishing vessel on the Grand Banks. The ship is at sea for several months and can't return to port. His experiences as part of the crew and especially under Manuel's tutelege, turns him into a mature, considerate young man.

As with every other movie this year, this was head and shoulders above the actual winner.

I found it engaging in a way that few coming-of-age movies do for me.  I also really loved the view into the fishing community — the good-natured rivalries, the shipboard culture, the way the fishermen come back together with their families after months at sea. Definitely recommended.

=======

All the Oscar viewing is here.

Tulips

Tulpen, Edward B. Gordon

We're way past tulip season here in Dallas but I love seeing this reminder that spring is coming around the world.

We are like men fighting a fire ...

We Catholics, in our effort to convert England, are not like furniture removers, paid by the hour, slowly and gingerly piling things onto a van. We are like men fighting a fire, desperately keeping at bay, here and there, the flames of unbelief and social disorder, while we hurriedly rescue all that we have time to rescue. The fire will get ahead of us if we stop to contemplate our work.

Ronald Knox, Captive Flames

Boy oh boy, do I know how he feels. Our whole culture feels as if it is on fire while we dart in and out trying to rescue all we can.

Cartoon Bookplate

Via Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie

Doesn't every book lover need this book plate? I know I do!

Conflicting Bargain Sales

She turned hurriedly, it seemed to Tillizinni, to introduce her mother — a lady dressed in the abrupt fashion which was suggestive of conflicting bargain sales.

Edgar Wallace, The Tomb of T'Sin

I read Edgar Wallace for the adventure and clever mysteries. I forget that he can be slyly funny at the same time.

Helen Louise Taylor Bookplate

The Library of Congress, Bookplate of Helen Louise Taylor

I can't lie on the floor that gracefully but this bookplate makes me want to try!

The surprising effect of an American pope

By Edgar Beltrán / The Pillar

It was really strange to watch the evening news and see the interviews with Leo XIV's brother and friends in the Augustinian order in Chicago. He'd taught at a local Chicago high school. All were overjoyed and also rather dumbfounded at knowing the pope so personally.

I've read similar stories about the two popes previously elected in my Catholic lifetime — Benedict and Francis. All were nice but left me relatively untouched. 

The stories from the news last night somehow made it more immediate to me. As if I knew him too. Then I realized this Leo XIV is just a couple of years older than I am. We have the same cultural touchstones in growing up in the Midwest (Kansas and Missouri for me). He's gone to 4th of July parades, eaten hot dogs and hamburgers (what does he like on his Chicago style dog?), had favorite sports teams, saw Star Wars at the movies, watched Bewitched on TV.  Or many similar points of connection. 

It is a distinctly odd feeling to have such things in common with Our Holy Father.

Bookplate of Charles P Searle

Bookplate of Charles P. Searle (1904). Sidney Lawton Smith, 1845-1929, engraver.
Etching with engraving. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

We all want this bookplate, don't we? I know I want that library. I also love that the reader's book is engraved with a large CPS. Click on the image to see the details better.

Habemus Papam! Leo XIV.

 Like most people I know next to nothing about this new pope except that he is American! That stunned me and my friends because, like many American Catholics, we figured that it wouldn't happen in our lifetimes!

I am praying for him as he shepherds the Church.

Offering what will cost you something

Virginity is an ideal which the pagans had no right to misunderstand. For, in theory, they too, honoured it; and it should have commended itself to their heathen instinct for sacrifice. For the point os a sacrifice is that the victim should be spotless, the best of its kind. You must not offer what you can well afford to spare, but what will cost you something. ... In order to give up something to God, we forego not the sinful pleasures whch we have no right to in any case, but the lawful pleasures which he has given us to enjoy if we will.

Ronald Knox, Captive Flames

Talk about setting modern ideas on their ear with an argument that is completely logical.

Katz Bookplate

Louis Katz
Punning bookplate dated 1922 , artist's initials EK

The only thing better than a classic bookplate is one that contains a pun on the book owner's name! This is from Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie where you will find many more cat bookplates on display.

Let There Be Light - At My Price Per Gallon

Bookplate of John D. Rockefeller. Artist: GETZ. Pratt Institute.
via Books and Art

Yikes! This strikes me as the definition of hubris.