Question of the Day: on the side

You can have only one condiment for the rest of your life. Which do you pick?

We're not talking seasonings like salt, pepper, and herbs here. This is about mayo, mustard, ketchup, hot sauce and the like.

The Matrix, Light Sabers and ... The Vote Reaper

I can't help it. This guy just cracks me up ... (via John C. Wright).

In Which Nations Shoot the Breeze

From the hilarious Wondermark Lite. Click on the cartoon to enlarge or click through the link to read it at Wondermark Lite.

Worth a Thousand Words

Achilles tending Patroclus wounded by an arrow
Identified by inscriptions on the upper part of the vase. Tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix, ca. 500 BC. From Vulci. (Source: Wikipedia)

You Know, I Never Thought of It LIke That!

Leave it to John C. Wright to point out ...

In other words, if your whole political economy is based on putting a burden of debt on unborn generations, does not the existence of your political economy rest on the idea that the unborn generation shall and must come to be? If the Big Brother you worship and serve cannot remain solvent, indeed, cannot survive at all, unless the next generation outnumbers the current, is it not treason to Big Brother to remain infertile? ...

Read it all here.

Worth a Thousand Words

Wild Autumn Beauty
Taken by the talented DL Ennis at Visual Thoughts

I am increasingly approving of The Nutrition Diva

She is part of the Quick & Dirty Tips podcasting family. I enjoy several of those podcasts as a matter of fact.

What makes me point out The Nutrition Diva? She uses common sense. And science.

I like that.

For instance, I had fallen prey to high fructose hysteria (to my shame, as I now realize) and she helped shake me into common sense (emphasis added):

... As is so often the case, a little chemistry helps makes things a lot clearer. Table sugar, or sucrose, is actually made up of two types of sugar molecules; it’s about equal parts glucose and fructose.

Regular corn syrup, the kind that you can buy on the grocery store, has a different profile. It’s much lower in fructose than table sugar. You heard me correctly: Corn syrup is naturally quite low in fructose. And that makes it a poor substitute for table sugar. Things made with regular corn syrup don’t taste the same as things made with table sugar.

The breakthrough for food manufacturers came when they figured out how to produce a corn syrup that was higher in fructose. High-fructose corn syrup actually has about the same amount of fructose as regular table sugar—making it a viable alternative for food processing. Because corn syrup is so much cheaper than cane sugar, manufacturers quickly adopted it and high-fructose corn syrup has largely replaced cane sugar in manufactured foods.

But here’s what gets lost in the high-fructose hysteria: Foods and drinks made with high-fructose corn syrup are, in general, no higher in fructose than foods made with regular sugar. But they are cheaper. ...

Or this bit of information about how much water to drink? Now, this one I knew. But it was refreshing to hear a little known bit of information being brought to light through a venue that is fairly popular (or so I'd bet):

... I bet you’ve heard it said that you need to drink at least eight glasses of water a day in order to stay properly hydrated. Perhaps you’ve also read that by the time you feel thirsty you’re already in an advanced state of dehydration, or that most of us are chronically dehydrated. Chances are also good that you’ve been told that drinking caffeinated beverages like tea and coffee cause you to lose more fluid than you take in.

What would you say if I told you that all of these widely held truths are little more than urban legends?

I can almost hear your shocked expressions! The dehydration myth has become so firmly entrenched in our collective consciousness that it may indeed come as a surprise to learn that there is very little scientific support for any of these notions. ...

Yep.

You don't have to listen to the podcast if you'd rather read. Full transcripts are available for each show.

Now This Would Make for an Interesting Shower

When a woman in Marino, a small Italian town south of Rome, turned on her kitchen tap, she got a spurt of wine instead of water. "Miracolo!" she shouted, and ran outside to tell others. Word quickly spread, and soon residents all over town were filling bottles and containers with Frascati, the local white wine made from trebbiano and malvasia grapes.

... Plumbers were supposed to have connected the 3,000 liters of Frascati to the town fountain for the annual harvest festival, but they accidentally hooked it to the water supply instead....

Story from Slashfood as well as a nice piece of art as illustration.

Looking Both Ways

You Know You're a Republican If ...
You favor free speech,
except for burning the flag or criticizing U.S. military policy.

You Know You're a Democrat If ...
You favor free speech,
except for ugly words about minorities, the disabled, or endangered species.

You Know You're a Republican/Democrat If...

Audiobook Review: The Standards of Creation

My review can be found at SFFaudio. This is right up there with T.M. Camp's "Assam and Darjeeling" as one of my favorite books of the year. I don't want to give anything away but I believe that Christian sci-fi fans are going to be especially delighted at some of the twists of this story. I know that I was!

Worth a Thousand Words

Motts: 1st Completed Commission Piece by Neil James Hollingworth

I not only love this artist's painting style but the fact that companies are still commissioning artwork. Nice.

It's All Downhill From Here ...

A midweek joke, thanks to Terri. I am heading out now to do a little investing ...

If you had purchased $1,000 of Delta Air Lines stock one year ago, you would have $49 left.

With Fannie Mae, you would have $2.50 left.

With AIG you would have less than $15 left.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drunk all the beer, then turned in the cans for aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have $214 cash.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

A Little Useless Information

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information. -- Oscar Wilde

FLAIR • When first used in Middle English, the word had nothing to do with fashion, it referred to a heightened sensitivity to smell. It comes from the Latin fragrare, a verb meaning "to produce an odor." The same root generated the English word "fragrance."

The Word Origin Calendar

Hope and Imagination

I didn't watch the debate last night or even remember it was on until reading the paper this morning.

We had the privilege of being invited to the annual seminarians' welcome dinner. It was a silent auction/live auction/door prize gala event.

I was surprised to find out that our diocese seminary also educates seminarians from other cities such as Austin, Houston, and Little Rock.

I was also surprised to find that having fifteen seminarians enter this year was considered big numbers and good news. Perhaps that is because I have been used to reading about the big numbers in places like Denver and Nebraska. However, with the old bishop out and the new bishop in, everyone is confident that many more vocations will be nurtured in the near future.

I was not surprised to hear the overwhelming and thunderous applause for Monsignor Duca, now the bishop of Shreveport, but solidly from Dallas before that. He is well known and loved. It was a pleasure to hear his talk as he is a simply wonderful homilist.

He remembered how he first became attracted to the priesthood when he was in his early teens. Then he spoke movingly of how much he appreciated not having his dreams swatted down by his family. As he put it, he was allowed to imagine what the future could be. His imagination could range far and, as he put his hope in God, it could come to fruition for him to be where he is today.

This is something that Tom and I have seen on a much lesser scale. I recall some friends telling us that their son wanted to study music. Then the mother asked if we thought that they shouldn't discourage him and turn him toward something more practical.

Our position has always been that if kids can't dream when they are young, when will they dream at all? How does one get in the habit of it if not allowed to be bored and daydream during summer vacations ... and then to go on and dream bigger and more realistically when a teenager? That is when the fire of inspiration takes hold of a soul. It is when one discovers a true love lurking deep down that can't be found without listening to the voice of imagination and dreams.

Those dreams may or may not ever come to pass in the way we imagine. However, not allowing the child to follow their own star, to use a hackneyed phrase, to have their own successes and failures, is to do them a grave disservice that they may regret their entire lives.

We argued compellingly on behalf of their son's music, needless to say. That attitude is why we have one daughter studying Wildlife and Fisheries Science and another studying Film Editing. Practical? Mmmmm ... not so much. An expression of who each of them is and what they love? Indubitably.

To look at a priestly vocation any differently is equally regrettable. As Msgr. Duca put it, "Think of a time when a priest touched your life in a positive way. It might be a big moment you remember or a series of small events. Think of how it changed your life and how that good priest has changed the lives of others. Now look at your son. How could you not want him to do that for others?"

Of course, that is paraphrasing. It was much more heartfelt and eloquent and I was glad that everyone was looking at him so I could blink back the tears in my eyes.

That made it even more of a pleasure to speak with a former classmate of Hannah's, Zack, who is embarking on discerning his vocation. What a nice boy he is. I couldn't get him to speak up about himself because he was so interestedly asking questions about Hannah and her studies. His mother told me later that whatever he discerns, they are proud of him. And she added, as any good mother should, that if he discerns his vocation, "He would be a good one. He really would." She had an eager smile in her eyes and it was easy to see that Zack was not one of the young men there who had to battle their families simply to get to the seminary.

We would all do well to have that eager attitude about any vocation for ourselves and for our families. God's future, his plans, are always so much bigger and more surprising than anything we can imagine. It is we who box ourselves in with vain attempts to "be practical" and safe.

As Msgr. Duca reminded us, we need to have hope and imagination.

And, to dig a bit further back, to another well loved Catholic priest, we need to remember, "Be not afraid!"

Question of the Day: Bradbury vs. Gaiman

Jesse brought this up on SFFaudio's podcast and we had a spirited email discussion about it.

Result?

I may wind up on that podcast next Monday. They'll be sorry when they see just how often I interrupt ... but I would try to behave myself.

Anyway, I now bring the question to you, many of whom are devoted science fiction readers.

Which would you choose?

Living in a universe without Ray Bradbury writing.

Or living in a universe without Neil Gaiman writing.

For those in the know, who are clutching their brows in an agony of indecision, I feel your pain. Congratulations! You are true sci-fi geeks.

For those, like my husband, who are laughing at the idiocy of being in agony over this question. Congratulations! You are not sci-fi geeks.

I will put my answers in the comments box later, since I've had the benefit of pondering this question. Though, to tell the truth, it took me, like Scott on the podcast, about two seconds to come up with my answer and justification for it. As it did Hannah, who agreed with me ... I knew I'd raised that girl right!

Worth a Thousand Words

Ural Owl
Taken by Remo Savisaar.
Click through on the link for his blog and more stupendous nature photography.

Jesus and the Catholic Church Podcast

Somehow it slipped right by me that Jeff Vehige was now podcasting. I really like reading him and am looking forward to listening ... just the thing for my early morning "prayer walks." Hey, I can't pray the entire time ...

The blog posts evidently support the podcast information though you need not have listened to get plenty from the posts.

You can subscribe here

Via Scott Danielson at Rivets and Trees who I bet was the person asking for subscription methods. If so, well done, sir!

Why is the Pope Reading the Bible in Italian on TV?

Because if he read from the New American Bible in English the American bishops would sue him.

Ok, that's at least partially a joke.

Not that I'm annoyed about the way the bishops treat well-meaning Bible-podcasters or anything. (Yes, they'll actually sic the law on you ... )

But it is pretty cool that they are actually going to read the entire Bible in a marathon on Italian television.

Pope Benedict XVI will kick off a week-long reading of the Bible on Italian television starting Sunday, with readers to include three former presidents and Oscar-winning actor Roberto Benigni.

Some 2,000 people will take turns reading the Bible's 73 books, from the Old Testament's Genesis to the New Testament's Book of Revelations, at Rome's Holy Cross in Jerusalem basilica.

The pope will record the first reading at the Vatican.

Read the whole story here.

For a more indepth look at why the Bible reading is happening, check out the always reliable Get Religion.

Teach Your Children Well ... Reviewing "The Fathers" by Pope Benedict XVI

Finally, [St.] Basil was of course also concerned with that chosen portion of the People of God, the youth, society's future. He addressed a Discourse to them on how to benefit from the pagan culture of that time.

He recognized with great balance and openness that examples of virtue can be found in classical Greek and Latin literature. Such examples of upright living can be helpful to young Christians in search of the truth and the correct way of living.

Therefore, one must take from the texts by classical authors what is suitable and conforms with the truth: thus, with a critical and open approach--it is a question of true and proper "discernment"--young people grow in freedom.

With the famous image of bees that gather from flowers only what they need to make honey, Basil recommends: "Just as bees can take nectar from flowers, unlike other animals which limit themselves to enjoying their scent and color, so also from these writings...once can draw some benefit for the spirit. We must use these books, following in all things the examples of bees. They do not visit every flower without distinction, nor seek to remove all the nectar from the flowers on which they alight, but only draw from them what they need to make honey, and leave the rest. And if we are wise, we will take from those writings what is appropriate for us, and conform to the truth, ignoring the rest."

... Dear brothers and sisters, I think one can say that this Father from long ago also speaks to us and tells us important things.

In the first place, attentive, critical, and creative participation in today's culture.

Then, social responsibility: this is an age in which, in a globalized world, even people who are physically distant are really our neighbors; therefore, friendship with Christ, the God with the human face. ...

One of the things that may surprise the reader of this series of homilies given by Pope Benedict XVI is just how much pertinent information can be packed into a short piece. As one flows into the next we are treated to a history of the growing understanding of the revelation of Jesus Christ. We also watch the struggles taken on for the truth, not simply against pagans, but with those who have developed heretical doctrines.

Each homily, nicely edited to read as an essay, encapsulates the Father's life history, influences, and career. Pope Benedict then focuses on a key area of influence which that particular Father has had on the faith. Most importantly, he shows just how significant this influence can be to modern society and to each of us personally if we reflect upon it. I was reminded of just how little human nature has changed over time as I repeatedly felt the applicability of these teachings to our lives today.

As wall, we are reminded that none of us is perfect and these Church Fathers are noting if not human. Pope Benedict is not shy about pointing out a person's failings, though he always does so with charity and in order to emphasize a topic for our personal reflection.

An interesting item to note is that every single Father strongly emphasizes prayer. Each has his own particular focus or style, but the constant refrain from person to person serves as a strong reminder to us that this is a vital area where we must persevere in order to come into a good and loving relationship with God.

Notwithstanding all the theological richness of his [Origen's] thought, his is never a purely academic approach; it is always founded on the experience of prayer, of contact with God. Indeed, to his mind, knowledge of the Scriptures requires prayer and intimacy with Christ even more than study.

He was convinced that the best way to become acquainted with God is through love, and that there is no authentic scientia Christi without falling in love with him.

In his Letter to Gregory, Origen recommends: "Study first of all the lectio of the divine Scriptures. Study them, I say. for we need to study the divine writings deeply... and while you study these divine works with a believing and God-pleasing intention, knock at that which is closed in them and it shall be opened to you by the porter of whom Jesus says, 'To him the gatekeeper opens.'

"While you attend to this lectio divina, seek aright and with unwavering faith in God the hidden sense which is present in most passages of the divine Scriptures. And do not be content with knocking and seeking, for what is absolutely necessary for understanding divine things is oratio, and in urging us to this the Savior says not only 'knock and it will be opened to you,' and 'seek and you will find,' but also 'ask and it will be given you.'"

The "primordial role" played by Origen in the history of lectio divina instantly flashes before one's eyes. Bishop Ambrose of Milan, who learned from Origen's works to interpret the Scriptures, later introduced them into the West to hand them on to Augustine and to the monastic tradition that followed.

It is a pleasure to see that Pope Benedict doesn't just include the better known Fathers, although he does go into extra depth for some of them such as St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Augustine. He takes care to highlight the richness of the Eastern Church by including such lesser known Fathers as Aphraates "The Sage" and St. Ephrem, the Syrian.

It says much for Pope Benedict's abilities that he was able to synthesize such a vast amount of information about the Fathers the history of the Church, and the application of their teachings to modern life in general and our own lives in particular. What a gift this collection is for those who read it thoughtfully. Each of the essays is fairly short so that they could easily be made part of a daily devotional reading if desired. As well, this book is a nice companion volume to The Apostles, a previous collection of Pope Benedict's homilies.

Highly recommended.

This review was written as part of The Catholic Company product reviewer program. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on The Fathers by Pope Benedict XVI.

Other Catholic Company reviews may be found here.

Worth a Thousand Words

Alchemist's Laboratory IN: 'Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae' by Heinrich Khunrath, 1595.
From BibliOdyssey where there is a whole gaggle of Alchemy Laboratories on display.

Personally, this just screams steampunk to my mind. But it's the real thing ... from way before the steam, much less the punk!