Oh Look ... Some People Who Actually Watched a Show Before Condemning It Out of Hand!

Now there's a rarity. I have seen two common reactions to The Book of Daniel throughout the blogosphere. Outright condemnation based on a short summary, a trailer, and hearsay ... OR ... a wonderment over the outrage that this terrible show is any worse than the rest of the dreck on television (also pronounced by people that have never seen it).

Frankly, I found the professions of wonderment more than a little disingenuous. After all, this show does have Jesus as a character. I'm guessing that the potential for outrage is just a bit more since the writers could put quite heretical statements in God's mouth rather than having it come from mere humans.

In vain have I waited for someone who actually watched the show to pronounce it either good or bad. Now, far from the scenes of the main pronouncements, I find a few bloggers had the interest and honesty to do that very thing. Check out these reviews from:

• TO at Lamland. Scroll down toward the bottom of the post .
• Minivan Dad at What Is and What Never Should Be
• Nathan at Sacramentum Minimum
• Red Guy in a Blue State
• From the Back Pew
• An Aid to Memory

As for me, I had minimal interest in the show but was interested to see the knee-jerking spreading quickly throughout the Christian blogosphere. I meant to tape it but real life got in the way of remembering to set up the VCR. And I doubt that my interest will be piqued because it is the sort of soap opera-ish show I don't really enjoy.

But it sure was nice to get reaction from real television-watching Christians instead of hearsay. Thanks guys!

The Real Scoop on the Three Kings

Fascinating.

Mmmm, Mmmm, Good!

A recipe for Kansas City Steak and Vegetable Soup is up over at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Defending the Faith: More Dialogue

A final point about dialogue: it can help foster what has been called "ecumenical apologetics." Ecumenical apologetics is not apologetics engaged in by ecumenists; it is a way of engaging in Catholic apologetics. It begins with the elements of truth in non-Catholic religions and tries to show that the full, integral expression of those truths is found in Catholicism ... Ecumenical apologetics does not start out with "You're wrong, and let me show you where you went astray." It begins with something like this: "What do we agree about? Let's look at that. Then you can tell me where you think the Catholic Church is off the mark or where you have problems with it. Then I'll tell you why I think the Church is correct and where it seems to me you may be missing something."

How Not to Share Your Faith:
The Seven Deadly Sins of Apologetics
by Mark Brumley

A Hack With Pretensions

... it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one.

I'm afraid this idea is rejected by lots of critics and plenty of writing teachers, as well. Many of these are liberals in their politics but crustaceans in their chosen fields. Men and women who would take to the streets to protest the exclusion of African-Americans or Native Americans (I can imagine what Mr. Strunk would have made of these politically correct but clunky terms) from the local country club are often the same men and women who tell their classes that writing ability is fixed and immutable; once a hack, always a hack. Even if a writer rises in the estimation of an influential critic or two, he/she always carries his/her early reputation along, like a respectable married woman who was a wild child as a teenager. Some people never forget, that's all, and a good deal of literary criticism serves only to reinforce a caste system which is as old as the intellectual snobbery which nurtured it. Raymond Chandler may be recognized now as an important figure in twentieth-century American literature, an early voice describing the anomie of urban life in the years after World War II, but there are plenty of critics who will reject such a judgment out of hand. He's a hack! they cry indignantly. A hack with pretensions! The worst kind! The kind who thinks he can pass for one of us!

Critics who try to rise above this intellectual hardening of the arteries usually meet with limited success. Their colleagues may accept Chandler into the company of the great, but are apt to seat him at the foot of the table. And there are always those whispers: Came out of the pulp tradition, you know ... carries himself well for one of those, doesn't he? ... did you know he wrote for Black Mask in the thirties ... yes, regrettable ...

On Writing by Stephen King

I am not really reading this for the writing tips, valuable though they are. I am reading this because I simply love reading Stephen King's nonfiction writing. I remember how much fun he made the history of horror in Danse Macabre, which I will be rereading sometime this year. I read it long ago when it first came out and was enchanted. This is just as enjoyable.

It's Like He Read My Mind

How did he know that I've been collecting mosaic images for months? (Not!)

College Catholic predicts the year ahead for many fellow bloggers. These are dead-on funny with my favorites being his predictions for LA Catholic and the City of God.

Blonde Joke

This has got to be the greatest blonde joke ever told.

2005 Food Blog Awards ... Polls Are Open

Go vote here.

If you're not familiar with the food blogging world, this is a great chance to check out some of the best, or find some new favorites.

Resurrecting an Idea

This was traveling around St. Blog's Parish last March. I like it and am posting it again.

Describe yourself with three quotes - serious, ironic, humorous, whatever - from various literary sources. I remember that some people described themselves physically. I preferred to go for the "inner man" (so to speak).

Here are mine:

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes."
Desiderius Erasmus

"If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use the pile driver. Hit the point once. then come back and hit it again. Then hit a third time; a tremendous whack."
Winston Churchill

"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."
C.S. Lewis

Like it? Pick it up and pass it on!

The Muse

What follows is everything I know about how to write good fiction. I'll be as brief as possible, because your time is valuable and so is mine, and we both understand that the hours we spend talking about writing is time we don't spend actually doing it. I'll be as encouraging as possible, because it's my nature and because I love this job. I want you to love it, too. But if you don't want to work your ass off, you have no business trying to write well — settle back into competency and be grateful you have even that much to fall back on. There is a muse,* but he's not going to come fluttering down into your writing room and scatter creative fairy-dust all over your typewriter or computer station. He lives in the ground. He's a basement guy. You have to descend to his level, and once you get down there you have to furnish an apartment for him to live in. You have to do all the grunt labor, in other words, while the muse sits and smokes cigars and admires his bowling trophies and pretends to ignore you. Do you think this is fair? I think it's fair. He may not be much to look at, that muse-guy, and he may not be much of a conversationalist (what I get out of mine is mostly surly grunts, unless he's on duty), but he's got the inspiration. It's right that you should do all the work and burn all the midnight oil, because the guy with the cigar and the little wings has got a bag of magic. There's stuff in there that can change your life.

Believe me, I know.

*Traditionally, the muses were women, but mine's a guy; I'm afraid we'll just have to live with that.

On Writing by Stephen King

It Ain't Necessarily So: Nuclear Power, Pollution, and Subs

Compare a thousand-megawatt coal-fired plant with a nuclear plant of the same capacity. Here is what each emits in the course of a year:

Carbon Dioxide:
Coal - 7 million tons
Nuclear - none

Sulfur Dioxide:
Coal - 12,000 tons
Nuclear - none

Nitrogen Oxides:
Coal - 20,000 tons
Nuclear - none

Solid Waste:
Coal - 750,000 tons
Nuclear - 50 tons

Meanwhile, the use of nuclear power continued without interruption in the U.S. Navy. Today 83 ships are equipped with 105 reactors, and there have been no incidents. These warships are welcomed at 150 foreign ports without encountering the local equivalents of Jane Fonda. On nuclear submarines, sailors work and sleep with their bunks only feet away from shielded reactors. They are allowed to receive an additional radiation dose of up to 5,000 millirems a year and report no ill effects.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science

Defending the Faith: Trying to "Win"

Few of us enjoy being bested in argument. Sometimes the experience can push a person further from the truth. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say, "Win an argument, lose a soul." In fact, it is much better to let someone discover the truth for himself than to try to browbeat him into submission to your case for the truth.

How Not to Share Your Faith:
The Seven Deadly Sins of Apologetics
by Mark Brumley

Oh Yeah, He Blends

Remember the trailer for Mel Gibson's movie, trailer Apocalypto? And how people said that you could see a spot where Mel had inserted himself into it?

I remember reading a few people saying what a glory hound Gibson was. A friend just went back and looked through that trailer frame-by-frame. He pulled the frame with Mel ...


All hound. No glory.

Totally funny.

Glyphnotes

Glyphnotes has a new address and it has been a while since I first posted this so I'm mentioning it again for those who missed it before.

• We’ll just match that PMS 2935 with a screen mix. Huh?


• What the heck is RSS? (Not to be confused with ROUS.)


• I figure there are three type of computer users:
  1. Those that know all the keyboard shortcuts and use them.
  2. Those that use the right mouse button, instead.
  3. Those that have trouble remembering all but the most basic commands.
  If you are in the third category, this short article opens a whole new world into using your computer.

Glyphnotes is Tom's answer to all the questions we see repeatedly in the course of doing graphic design work for print and on the web. Drop by and see what's up over there. It is pretty nifty (and this is not just the devoted wifey speaking). Just click on the sidebar to go to any article. Be sure to let him know if you like it or not ... we love feedback!

Winston and Me

The dauntless warrior was an unabashed sentimentalist. Throughout his life, he kept a picture of his Nanny in his bedroom. In the corridors of Commons, he discussed Hitler's savagery to the Jews, with tears rolling down his cheeks. During the Battle of Britain, returned form a town where he had seen the shambles of a small house and shop, all the walls blown off by a Nazi bomb, he cried to his Cabinet, "We must do something about that, now!" (This led to the novel and notable War Damages Commission.) It was typical of Churchill that he could not bear the unfairness of letting workers or tradesmen suffer losses as individuals in a war in which the nation's survival was at stake. And again, his car passed a long queue of shopgirls shivering in London's winter twilight, with the sirens howling and frantic searchlights stabbing at the ominous skies, and he asked what on earth the girls were buying, lined up at a time like this. An aide said, "Birdseed." Winston wept.

People I have loved, known, or admired by Leo Rosten

Talking with someone this weekend about a project we are soon to undertake together I got all fired up. This is something I have been hoping our parish would undertake for over two years now.

Let's face it, even without "wait and see" circumstances having pent up my ideas and hopes for so long, I tend to get ... passionate shall we say ... about my enthusiasms. The person I was talking with mentioned someone I've never met but with whom I share the exact same name. He said, "She's a lot like you. But less emotional."

Ouch!

I knew what he meant. He's right. Tom told me that it is a good quality since I don't let it run rampant (isn't he just the best husband? and with a good sense of survival! ha!). At any rate, reading the above about someone I admire like Winston Churchill somehow made it all ok. That's how he was. And it's how I am.

Just look at what he accomplished. May I be allowed to accomplish even a small fraction as much for this project.

Note: I'm reading this book because The Anchoress said that she loves it. I can see why. I'm hooked. Highly recommended.

So Many Opposites and Most of Them Have Married Each Other

There are two kinds of people in the world:

People with One Left Foot and One Right Foot,
and People with Two Left Feet

Note: the dancers and non-dancers always marry each other. Nobody knows why.

----------------------------------

There are two kinds of people in the world:

Dog People and Cat People

Don't trifle with either kind!

----------------------------------

There are two kinds of people in the world:

High Maintenance People — and Low Maintenance People

(For further insights into this concept see the movie When Harry Met Sally.)

----------------------------------

There are two kinds of people in the world:

People Who Will Spend Hours to Find That
Three Cents Needed to Balance the Checkbook —
and People Who Will Round Off to the Nearest Hundred Dollars
Just to Be Done With It

Tip: Don't argue about it. Neither of you will ever change the other!

1001 Ways to Be Romantic

Neither of us dances, Tom is for dogs and I am for both cats and dogs, we're both fairly low maintenance but I am much higher maintenance than Tom is (what a shock!), and Tom will always find that last three cents while I ... well, I won't go to the nearest hundred dollars but definitely have been known to just trust the bank and round off sometimes.

The Original Knit Wit

Yarn Harlot : The Secret Life of a Knitter
by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

If you have ever read the author's blog then you have a good idea of whether you'll like this book. She obsesses about her "stash" which fills the house, writes about the people she knows through knitting, and is either funny or touching about it all as the occasion warrants. An easy, light read, especially if you have ever knit anything in your life.

Busy, busy, busy ...

... having a life with my family at the moment (what a concept!). So I will be updating HC later ... got some gooood excerpts from things y'all ... and answering the many emails I glimpsed that I can't wait to read (Alexa, this means you!).

More later!

My Newest Favorite Photo of Papa

This makes me smile just looking at it. Via Shrine of the Holy Whapping.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Image from Chant Art

All the feasts of Our Lady are great events, because they are opportunities the church gives us to show with deeds that we love Mary. But if I had to choose one from among all her feasts, I would choose today's, the feast of the Divine Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin ...

When the Blessed Virgin said Yes, freely, to the plans revealed to her by the Creator, the divine Word assumed a human nature, with a rational soul and a body, formed in the most pure womb of Mary. The divine nature and the human were united in a single Person: Jesus Christ, true God and, thenceforth, true man: the only-begotten and Eternal Son of the Father and, from that moment on, as Man, the true son of Mary. This is why Our Lady is the Mother of the Incarnate Word, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, who has united our human nature to himself forever, without any confusion of the two natures. The greatest praise we can give to the Blessed Virgin is to address her loud and clear by the name that expresses her highest dignity: Mother of God.

St. Josemaria Escriva, Friends of God