Ok, Good Charlotte Fans, Here You Go

The most looked for thing on my blog in the last few weeks? These two photos. Go figure. Maybe it was the shock of seeing those photos connected with a blog called Happy Catholic. Anyway, that's why I'm reposting this blog entry. Gotta keep the people happy, doncha know?

This Good Catholic Boy ...

Benji Madden, Good Charlotte

... wrote this song ...

"Wondering"

If you want me to wait
I would wait for you
If you tell me to stay
I would stay right through
If you don't wanna say
Anything at all
I'm happy wondering

Since I was a young man
I never was a fun man
I never had a plan and no security
Then ever since I met you
I never could forget you
I only wanna get you right here next to me

[chorus]
Cause everybody (a-whoa-oh-oh)
Needs someone that they can trust and
You're somebody (a-whoa-oh-oh)
That I found just in time
If you want me to wait
I would wait for you
If you tell me to stay
I would stay right through
If you don't wanna say
Anything at all
I'm happy wondering


Now my life is changing
It's always rearranging
It's always getting stranger than I thought it ever could
Ever since I found you
I wanna be around you
I want to get down to the point that I need you

[chorus]

Don't tell me
The bad news
Don't tell me anything at all
Just tell me
That you need me
And stay right here with me

[chorus]

... about his dog. Awwww. Read the chorus again ... I think those are his dog's words there. Double awwwwwww.

Why do I say he's a "good Catholic boy?" Well, I'm not positive but here's his twin brother with his tatoos of the Virgin Mary on one arm and the sacred heart of Jesus on the other. So, just guessing here...

Joel Madden, Good Charlotte

Thanks to my "beat reporter", Rose, for this one, presented as supporting evidence when revising her "Mom mix" playlist ... just keeping me current, ya know! (And if you like these pictures you ought to get an eyeful of the posters on her wall!)

Are Protestants to blame for church divisions?

Yes. And so are Catholics.

"'However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers ... All who have been justified in faith by Baptism are incorporated into Christ'" (CCC 818); they are our "separated brethren."

"Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church" (CCC 819). The Protestant limbs that broke off from the Catholic tree can still have enough life-giving sap (God's truth and grace) from the root (Christ) through the trunk (the Catholic Church) to be the means of salvation for their members. The Church of Christ "subsists in" (CCC 816) the Roman Catholic Church most completely but not exclusively.

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

The Church as the ultimate reason for creation

"Christians of the first centuries said, 'The world was created for the sake of the Church.' God created the world for the sake of" [our] "communion with his divine life, a communion brought about by ... the Church ...

"'Just as God's will is creation and is called "the world," so his intention is the salvation of men, and it is called "the Church"'" (CCC 760).

The Church is the reason for creation, the reason for the Big Bang. The universe is a Church-making machine, and the Church is a saint-making machine.

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

The Church is necessary for salvation

Since we have no salvation without Christ,
And we do not know Christ without the Church,
It follows that there is no salvation without the Church.

This traditional formula of the Church Fathers (see CCC 846), "Outside the Church there is no salvation", does not mean that Protestants and others are not saved, because this formula is not an answer to the mind's curiosity about the populations of heaven and hell, but an answer to the sincerely seeking heart's question "Where is salvation? Where is the road? What has God done to show me how to be saved?" Similarly, Christ's words to his disciples about "many" choosing the "wide" road to destruction and only "few" finding the "narrow" road to life (Mt 7:14) are not the words of a statistician spoken to a census taker, but the words of a loving heavenly Father to his beloved children, warning them of danger. To the Good Shepherd even one out of a hundred sheep is too many to lose and ninety-nine too few to save (Mt 18:12).

In fact the Church explicitly teaches that many who call themselves non-Catholics are saved. Vatican Council II said that "they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it, or to remain in it" (LG 14), but also that "[t]hose who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience -- those too may achieve eternal salvation" (LG 16) -- not because conscience is an adequate substitute for the Church, but because conscience, too is contact with God.

Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Batman Begins

I read so many highly favorable reviews by so many diverse people, including Barbara Nicolosi who it seems never likes anything of this sort, that I was very surprised to find myself bored about two-thirds of the way through the movie. One more explosion, one more hallucinatory vision shown, one more over-the-top action scene ... it reminded me in a way of True Lies in which James Cameron just kept going with the action scenes until they had the reverse effect of that intended ... it was too much and I tuned out. Now, I liked True Lies but a little restraint would have made it a much better movie and that is how I felt about Batman Begins. I really liked so much of it, especially Christian Bale's star turn ... the way his appearance was so flexible he really looked different from portrayal of callow youth to rich playboy Bruce Wayne to in-transition ninja-training guy. Katie Holmes didn't add anything to her role but I did like the way her character would stand up for herself using her taser or grabbing a gun on the run when protecting the little boy (maybe he'll become Robin?).

Aside from the unrelenting action scene complaint, I hafta say that none of us understood the reason that whats-her-name (Katie Holmes) gave for not being able to hook up with Batman. I have never heard such twisted logic. "Umm, Bruce, you've turned yourself into everything that you should have and I'm missing that shallow guy I fell in love with so forget it." What the heck?

I thought the whole responsibility for power/living up to dead father's expectations theme was done much better in Spiderman 2, although I did like the constant reminder, "Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

HC Rating: *** (Liked it despite absence of flubber.)

What the Bleep Do We Know? More Than These Moviemakers Do.

Guest reviewer, Hannah, has strong feelings about What the Bleep Do We Know?

Her rating: * - Worse than Godfather III.
Her review:

I'm know a lot of people found this movie "eye-opening" and "enlightening", but it is the most pretentious mockery of a film I have ever seen. The makers of this film completely threw philosophy and logic out the window when they decided to support the claims of the so-called experts interviewed herein.

The first example of such woeful judgment calls is the tale of the Native Americans not being able to see Columbus' ships. The explanation is that the ships were too foreign to them, so their brains ignored them completely. Only when the shaman focused and pointed them out did the others believe and see. First of all, this is a myth hundreds of years old and from a non-credible source. Second, the logic of this story would make all new-borns blind, as the world is an alien place to them, much more so than a big ship is to an Indian. Later on in the film, the experts turn to a subject on which they do not even claim to have expertise. They begin derailing all conventional views of God. Whether they realize it or not, these include Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism of any sort. In other words, all of the worlds' most cherished religions are debunked in a few moments. These are no theologians, but people who, like everyone else in the world, simply think their reasoning is the best. And what is their reasoning? They don't give any. They simply rave about how wrong and insulting it is to our pantheistic, universe- encompassing God of Spinoza's fancy that there are those who would still follow the old ways. Conflicting views are simply out of the question. When thoroughly examined, these people are some of the most close-minded I have ever beheld. No substantial logic is ever laid out, so we just have to believe that they somehow obtained extensive knowledge about a subject that has remained elusive to humanity since the beginning of time. Sounds reasonable.

The animation portion of the movie is disgusting and poorly-executed. I am a huge fan of animation, and these little "things" disgusted me and made me want to turn the movie off and burn it. This section alone would have caused me to want to suppress the memory of this movie forever, had not so many other hideous flaws done the trick already. I do not claim to have all the answers nor to be the ultimate judge of logic or reason, but check your facts, people, and use your heads. This movie makes no sense and is designed to be appealing to those with no background in philosophy or specialized sciences. As a student and lover of both, this movie makes me sick.

While researching the movie, Hannah found additional information:

I found out while reading many of the 350 reviews, that the movie was basically an infomercial for Ramtha. You know, the 35,000 spirit of the Cro-magnon warrior of Atlantis that the main expert was "channeling". None of the experts names and so-called qualifications were revealed until the end because they were all followers of J.Z. Knight's cult, except for one, who has loudly complained that his interview was edited to give the false impression that he supports the cults beliefs. Wow. That explains a lot. This was my favorite Amazon review:

If you are interested in listening to professors talk in circles, then ultimately admit that quantum physics is impossible to explain, then this movie is for you. "How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?" one of them says. Was he really quoting Alice in Wonderland?

Let me sum it up for you: Thinking positively about a memory, event, or the future is better than thinking about it negatively. Wow, what a mind blowing concept. I think I learned that when I was 12 yrs old.

Now can I go up to Rantha's camp in Washington and get locked in the place? I'd be happy to sign her contract not allowing me to leave the facility, use electricity, etc. I think I'll sit under the $100,000 chandeliers in the horse stables and ponder if reality is real.

Hero Revisited

Tom hadn't seen Hero and that was all the excuse we needed to rent the DVD again. He was less impressed than the rest of us but liked it well enough. The vivid visuals made us wonder about the symbolism of the colors and so we went a-Googlin' and found this:

In many of his films, Zhang Yimou has used the color red as a means of making a vibrant symbolic statement. However, according to the fact file on IMDB.com, the spectrum of the color motif in Hero has been expanded to include red as a symbol for imagination, blue for perceived reality, white for truth, and green for enlightenment and peace.

Source

We also found references to other symbolism that we hadn't particularly wondered about but that proved to be very interesting as well.

The chorus of the king’s servants are not meant to be comical, as it would seem to many, but rather emblematic of the will of a population under political stress.

The fight scenes are not meant to be presented as if these people enjoyed supernatural powers. Rather, they are the memories of the individuals and—more importantly—mythic figures of the people of China who endow them with abilities and traits far beyond the scope of the average person.

Source

Infallibility

Vatican Council I defined what Catholics had always believed: that the pope, like the ecumenical (worldwide) councils, is infallible (preserved by God from error) when defining doctrine or morality for the whole Church. He is not personally infallible, but his office is.

God did not let us wonder and wander in darkness about the most important truths we had to know in order to fulfill our most important task in life, union with him. No human lover would allow that if he could help it. Neither did God. Papal infallibility, like every other Catholic dogma, is properly understood only by the primacy of love...

When the Church is infallible

1. "The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful..., he proclaims in an absolute decision a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals" (LG 25).
2. "The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops, when together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme teaching office" (LG 25).
3. Even doctrines not explicitly labeled infallible can be binding on Catholic belief because "[d]ivine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter,...when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a 'definitive manner,' they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium teaching ... of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful 'are to adhere...with religious assent' (LG 25)" (CCC 892). Wise and good parents do not explicitly label everything they say to their children as "infallible", yet wise and good children trust them. Similarly, we should trust Holy Mother Church, the Church of the apostles, saints, and martyrs, the Church with a two-thousand-year-long-memory, much more than we trust our own opinions.
4. The sign the Church attaches to an infallible teaching is Christocentric: "When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine 'for belief as being divinely revealed,' and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions 'must be adhered to with the obedience of faith'" (CCC 891).
   

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Mini Book Reviews

Quick comments about the last few books I've read:

• 57. Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich - Stephanie Plum may be looking for a new job but it's business as usual. More cars are blown up in this book than usual and the family works itself to a fever pitch preparing for Valerie's wedding. For me this book didn't pick up until the last third when Stephanie gave up sugar and was forced to take up another stress-reducing activity. I'll let y'all find out what that is. Any Stephanie Plum fans will find this worth reading though not up to the last book's standards.


• 56. Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski - Mike Yankoski and his friend, Sam, set out to find out what it is really like to be homeless in America by taking to the streets with minimal supplies and living in four American cities sleeping on the streets, earning their way with their guitar playing, and getting a deeper glimpse into what it means to be a Christian. This came highly recommended by martha, martha (sidebar) and is HIGHLY recommended in return by me. It will make you think twice the next time you want to turn your head and avoid that homeless man or woman coming toward you with their hand out. Also worth noting is their conclusion about handouts after months on the street. They advise giving food, water, gift certificates to restaurants or grocery stores, or taking the person to a place and buying them a meal. They do not advise giving cash because half of the time the person will be using it for drugs. This was the subject of much debate here several months ago and I'm glad to have confirmation of my granola bar/bottled water policy.
  


• 55. Captain from Castile by Samuel Shellabarger - classic book about a young soldier whose family runs afoul of the Spanish Inquisition. He winds up with Cortes discovering Mexico and goes through not only adventures but individual growth during that time. Written in 1954, this book has a good sense of perspective. Highly recommended, this has been a favorite of mine for many years.

For cookbook minireviews go to Glad Gastronome.

Church authority: The basis for the doctrine of the Trinity

The authority of the Church was necessary for us to know the truth of the Trinity. This most distinctively Christian doctrine of all, the one that reveals the nature of God himself, the nature of ultimate reality, was revealed by God clearly only to the Church. It was not clearly revealed to his chosen people, the Jews. It is not clearly defined in the New Testament. God waited to reveal it to the Church.

Scripture contains the data for the doctrine of the Trinity; but that is not enough, for every heretic, too, throughout history has appealed to Scripture. As a matter of historical fact, it has proved impossible for men to know the nature of the true God without the true Church. The dogmas of the Trinity and the Incarnation (and the two natures of Christ) were in fact derived from the Catholic Church.

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Post-Vacation Vow

I am going on a diet. From this day forward, I pledge there will be no pork chop too succulent! No donut too tasty! No pizza too laden with delicious toppings to prevent me from reaching my scientifically-determined ideal weight! As God as my witness, I'll always be hungry again!

Homer Simpson

This is a pretty universal experience wouldn't you say?

Abilene Update

We're in the Holiday Inn Express at Abilene, Kanas, impatiently awaiting the opening time for the Eisenhower Presidential Library (9 a.m.). We're grooving on the cable (first the history channel for a little Roman/Gaullic conflict, now Animal Planet for the skinny on the Tasmanian Devil ... very, very scary animals).

The hotel manager said that this hotel is always full because of the big draw that the Eisenhower Library creates. Lots of people like us will detour just enough to visit. Not only did Eisenhower save civilization and lead our country, but he helped saved his hometown of Abilene by creating a steady tourist trade.

We got an upgrade to a Executive Suite because of a room shortage (not because it's too full at the moment but because two maids called in sick this morning and they still don't have all the regular rooms cleaned up ... pity the poor breakfast cook who got a call after her father's birthday party to come in and clean rooms). Anyway, this room gets a much high rating than the Embassy Suites we stayed in at the Plaza in KC. Sad for the Embassy Suites but nice for us at the moment.

Most amazing is that I'm blogging from a Holiday Inn in Abilene, Kansas. Yes, wireless high-speed Internet is available everywhere. Though it is free here as a marketing pull (all the hotel billboards for a long way around push their FREE internet connections). Another improvement over Embassy Suites where we paid ten dollars a day ... good thing Tom had business to check on.

Another Postcard from KC

Hey, at least I'm not "live blogging" the reunion.

Yesterday we went to Pierpont's, a very nice restaurant in Union Station, the old railroad station. The station is very grand and has many shops but what fascinated Tom and me was the hallway that had the doors where you used to board the trains. At night with no people around you really could almost go back in time to when this place was just as busy as DFW Airport is today.

Reinforcing that is the General Pershing Memorial which is on top of the hill across from the station. It is imposing and grand and also done in that 1920's style. Really a wonderful sight to see and reflect on. It was so sad to look at the inscription that talked about "The World War" and realize all the joy of the war being over that was reflected in the monument was so short lived as WWII happened so soon afterwards.

My brother-in-law was astonished that this existed in KC and my mother never even knew it existed despite all the time they spent in and around KC during our formative years. It makes sense, though, because General Pershing was from here, Truman was from Independence just down the street (so to speak), and Eisenhower was from Abilene ... all those people coming from Kansas. And being in the middle of the country with the railroad as the main form of transportation, KC was vital to the war effort during the first World War. You tend to forget that these days.

Today my brother and his brave wife have taken all the kids to Worlds of Fun (local amusement park) while the rest of us are left to our own devices. Tom and I are meeting The Happy Capitalist and Merry Stitcher (check my sidebar) who are my old college friends from KU (we're not gonna go into how long ago that was!

Kind of funny during all this family interaction to look at how everyone has changed and in what ways ... how one family is very much like ours while another kind of reminds me of the family dynamics I grew up in. It's interesting.

Postcard from Kansas City

Hey y'all! We're having a blast here in K.C. Since our family is so small there are only 14 of us all total and there are no planned activities so this is like having a great vacation with your entire family. Very cool.

Won't bore everyone with the details but my sister's family and ours went to the zoo yesterday while waiting for the others to arrive in K.C. I think she had the best summary of the experience: "It's like they went for the San Diego zoo but forgot to put in the animals." I have never walked so many long concrete trails through very nice landscaping and seen so few animals ... especially at a ZOO!

Best Indian restaurant name ever (found in Westport):

Korma Sutra
The Sensual Food of India

Lords of Dogtown

*** Liked it despite absence of flubber. (see rating key at bottom)

The Lords of Dogtown is a movie about the Z-Boys who started the skateboarding craze in Venice, California, in the 1970s. If you are at all interested in the Z-Boys, skateboarding or Heath Ledger (the movie's one "name") then you probably will enjoy this gritty look at that time. The movie did a great job of showing us the boys' disparate backgrounds and problems and how they handled their eventual fame with the accompanying sex, drugs, and partying.

Not really being interested in any of those things I still found the movie to be well done and compelling, though it could have used a little less skateboarding for my taste (hence my rating). It is a really well done piece though and, not being a Heath Ledger groupie (unlike some in my household!) I was really impressed with his performance in a less than glamorous role. He was totally believable as the surf shop owner who first forms the skateboard team and then has to face who he really is in the wake of their rise to fame.

Extras: a killer soundtrack from that time period and cameo appearances by the actual Z-boys (if you're in the know).

______________________________
HC Rating System
(from The Simpsons, what else?)

**** Listen, we've been meaning to have a talk with you about your reviews. Everything's a rave! Nine thumbs up, what the hell is that? (newspaper editor to Homer)
*** "Liked it despite the absence of flubber..." - Mel Gibson reading Prof. Frink's review
** Christian: You desecrated a classic film. This is worse than "Godfather III."
Mel Gibson: Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa! Let's not say things we can't take back.
* "Your movie was more boring than church. All you did was yak, yak, yak. You didn't even shoot anybody." -Homer Simpson's comment on movie screening

The Spirit and the Church

The Holy Spirit is to the Church what the soul is to the body. He is the Church's soul, the Church's life. The Church is "the Temple of the Holy Spirit" (CCC 737). Our bodies, too, are temples of the Holy Spirit (see Cor 6:19), because we are cells in the Body of Christ.

The Holy Spirit infallibly guided the Church's earliest ecumenical councils to formulate the doctrine of the Trinity -- including the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Why do Catholics believe in the Holy Spirit? On the authority of the Holy Catholic Church, which teaches it. And why do Catholics believe this Church has infallible authority? Because the Holy Spirit, and not any human spirit, is her soul.

"[T]he Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament" (CCC 738).

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Second Rate Movie is No Treasure

NATIONAL TREASURE
HC rating: Worse Than Godfather III **

I had so many people recommend this movie that against the movie critics' better judgment we rented it this weekend. I like Nicholas Cage and had a sneaking desire to see it so I can't blame it all on everyone else. Ho hum. Second rate plot. Lackluster acting except from John Voight who, with the lack of actual material to work with, seemed to be channeling the father from "Everybody Loves Raymond" and Sean Bean who turned in his usual excellent performance, though with an equal lack of decent material he was reduced to a lot of teeth gnashing. Distinctly boring puzzle pieces and mystery to solve. Nicholas Cage seemed to think that being scholarly involved a lot of sleepwalking in this part. The movie makers evidently were under the impression that if they mashed bits of a lot of classic movies together they could come up with a winner. Wrong.

You can do much, much better by renting one of the movies they were trying to copy.

• A great adventure movie: Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark
• A great movie with a quirky father-son chemistry: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Fabulous mystery to solve with two adversaries working against each other: The Fugitive
• Humor, romance, puzzle solving mystery: Romancing the Stone
  

______________________________
HC Rating System
(from The Simpsons, what else?)

**** Listen, we've been meaning to have a talk with you about your reviews. Everything's a rave! Nine thumbs up, what the hell is that? (newspaper editor to Homer)
*** "Liked it despite the absence of flubber..." - Mel Gibson reading Prof. Frink's review
** Christian: You desecrated a classic film. This is worse than "Godfather III."
Mel Gibson: Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa! Let's not say things we can't take back.
* "Your movie was more boring than church. All you did was yak, yak, yak. You didn't even shoot anybody." -Homer Simpson's comment on movie screening

How to "Get" the Holy Spirit

We cannot "get" him; we can only let him get us. He is God. Only God can give him. Christ gives him. He comes from the Father through the Son...

The Spirit is free. He is God's gift. There is nothing we can do to "get" him; we must simply ask, in faith, like a child trusting his father's love. That same is true of the Spirit's gifts, such as wisdom: we get them simply by asking and believing: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith" (Jas 1:5-6).

But be careful what you ask for, because God will take you at your word. The Spirit's job is to sanctify, to make saints, and saints are not safe! They are like the One who makes them. God is not safe. Rabbi Abraham Heschel says: "God is not nice. God is not an uncle. God is an earthquake."

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

I think we all get to feeling so "familiar" with God that we forget who we're dealing with sometimes. That's why I like Rabbi Hershel's reminder, "God is an earthquake."

The Spirit and Scripture

When a Spirit-filled Christian reads the Word of God -- the Word this very Spirit inspired -- the book seems to "come alive" and "light up" from within itself. This is because its primary Author is really present in the reader, alive, interpreting his own words...

Catholic Christianity:A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Peter Kreeft

Does it get any cooler than that? Nope.

Best Summer Movie Ever!!!

MR. & MRS. SMITH
HC rating: Nine Thumbs Up ****

Better than Bond. More fun than True Lies. More gorgeous than ... practically anyone (except Tom Cruise ... or actress of your choice - not really my forté, actresses).

No real need for more details but let me just say that when Hannah and Tom go to see this movie next week (and they will), Rose and I will be going too. It was just that much fun.

UPDATE: Barbara Nicolosi thinks the movie was a "Reece's Peanut Butter Cup" while her friend, Sean, goes for the chocolate truffle. Of course, I'm with Sean on this one. She also thinks a Christian would have made a better movie...

... If we made that movie, we would be more interested in the marriage issues than the shoot-em-up sequences. We would be more interested in showing how real love makes being an assassin by profession impossible. Then, I think it would be okay for us to do.

Perhaps so but it would not have been the same movie and I think it would have been virtually impossible to do in a way that would be appealing to the same crowd. She's talking about a different movie, one that I'd like to see, but not this one. I really expected this movie to take the "War of the Roses" turn (a movie I despised) and was very pleased when it didn't.

______________________________
HC Rating System
(from The Simpsons, what else?)

**** Listen, we've been meaning to have a talk with you about your reviews. Everything's a rave! Nine thumbs up, what the hell is that? (newspaper editor to Homer)
*** "Liked it despite the absence of flubber..." - Mel Gibson reading Prof. Frink's review
** Christian: You desecrated a classic film. This is worse than "Godfather III."
Mel Gibson: Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa! Let's not say things we can't take back.
* "Your movie was more boring than church. All you did was yak, yak, yak. You didn't even shoot anybody." -Homer Simpson's comment on movie screening