Something I Really Like - Thirst Quenching

Pomegranate Italian Soda from Tom Thumb. It is the best substitute for the now gone Central Market Pomegranate Soda. Deliciously tart, it is better than lemonade. Mmmm ...

In which Fraulein Dollman is shocked ...

... and the story begins to really pick up the pace. Yes, more of The Riddle of the Sands awaits you at Forgotten Classics. Enjoy!

Spontaneous prayer for an injured fan during a ballgame

A fan tried to snag a ball during the Rangers-Indians game and wound up falling 30 feet instead.

The TV screen showed Indians outfielder Trevor Crowe kneeling face down with his head in his hands.

“What’s he doing?” my 13-year-old son asked, unsure if he was seeing what he thought he was.

“He’s praying,” I confirmed. As emergency personnel at Rangers Ballpark rushed to the fan’s aid, Cleveland shortstop Jason Donald also appeared to be praying.

I have watched a few thousand — OK, a few million — major-league baseball games in my lifetime. Never before that I recall have I seen major-league ballplayers bow on the field in spontaneous prayer. ...

GetReligion

Luckily, it seems that the man ... and the people he landed on (that didn't occur to me when hearing the story on the radio this morning ... that he could land on people) ... are not seriously injured.

I was very moved by the fact that the first instinct from some players was to sink down in prayer.

How was it covered in the news? As always, GetReligion's got that story.

Something I Really Like - Around the House

The FlexGrip pen from Papermate.

I can't tell you how often Tom and I have griped because there weren't any inexpensive pens that actually worked well or felt right in our hands. The last time Rose was home she was looking for these so she could resupply. When it came up in conversation, others of Hannah's and Rose's acquaintance confirmed the FlexGrip as a treasure.

Once I found a supply at Target, I was really happy with them. They are all I ever wanted: lightweight, write without skipping (a problem for us lefties), slim, medium point, retractable, with a clip ... and cheap!

Something I Really Like: Boxers and TV

Specifically, a young male Boxer, Wash, who has just turned one year old. He is suddenly realizing that he's the "man dog" around the place and over the weekend took over guarding duties. It has been very interesting watching Zoe let him do it as she's always been the alpha-guard around here.

As to TV, Wash has always been more aware of the television than other dogs we've had. He particularly responds to dogs barking. Now that we have the 40" monster and dogs barking look life size, Wash will bound over to the television and brace himself on the console so he can bark back "in person." When the dog disappears mysteriously, he will then go looking for the interloper around the house.

It is all quite amusing watching this young 'un find his feet as a soon-to-be alpha dog.

Vampire$, Dallas and Catholics. Oh my!

1. God is real AND vampires are too.
2. A team of mercenaries, with pure hearts, are taking cash for cleaning up vampire infested towns.
3. The anti-vamp mercs are in league with the Pope and the Vatican, who know and support their efforts.

This was the section of Jesse's SFFaudio Essential review of Vampire$ that made me sit up and take notice. That, and the fact that Jesse rarely is as all-out enthusiastic as he was in this review, made me pick up a copy from the library.

Vampire$
Jack Crow leads a group of hardened mercenaries in hunting the evilest of all prey: vampires. Crow's only ally and employer, is the Vatican, specifically the pope. Most people do not know vampires are more than creatures of fiction so this makes "Team Crow's" job even more difficult, especially when it comes to getting cooperation from law enforcement. They don't let that stop them, however, and just do what a warrior's gotta do, which is to stop Evil in its tracks. That this is a military-style epic tale becomes clear as we see that the vampire hunters' violent, cursing exteriors can't hide their hearts of gold, especially for the other members of the team who are their true family. It is when Felix, a former drug smuggler, is added as an integral member of the team that the book takes off as he struggles with the concept that this may be the destiny he was born for.

The story is told in a clean, spare style which makes it no less riveting. There are plot turns and twists right up to the end of the book and many of them really surprised me because the style lured me into thinking this would be straight forward story telling. I also appreciated Steakley's sense of humor. For instance his use of rock and roll versus opera was a throwaway bit on the surface but reflected much about the people involved. As well, once I learned that Cat was a joker, I would anticipate his comments as soon as I saw he was going to speak. His puns were corny but used in original ways and that is a rare talent.

My only complaint is that there is one section where we hear an "inside story" about how a vampire takes over prey and establishes a base to work from. This seemed overly long and the concept and pattern were repeated with far too many examples. As this was a highly sexualized part of the tale, it seemed simply like an excuse to include lascivious details which quickly bored me. However, I must also add that this section was far less explicit than one would find in a comparable work today, or so it seems to me, and I appreciated that.

Highly recommended for those who like vampire tales, mercenaries with hearts of gold, Texas, and old-school use of the Catholic Church in fighting Evil. Not necessarily in that order.

For more about this author and Texas and the Church, just keep reading.

(Warning: this book contains sex, vampires, and rock and roll ... and all the bad language and violence which those things imply. Yes, I loved much of it because it felt very appropriate to the situations, but if you will not: avoid this book.)

Dallas.
I found myself surprised and intrigued by even more than the plot twists and turns that add pleasing dimension to the story. Steakley doesn't name names but his descriptions are enough to let you know that he has rooted the story in fact whenever possible. Jack Crow's favorite hotel is the Adolphus in Dallas. The pope's description leaves no one in doubt that we are reading about John Paul II.

For one thing, it looked as if author John Steakley knew Dallas. My first clue was reading his description of the Dallas bishop, when "Team Crow" goes by the bishop's residence to pick up their package of silver crosses sent straight from Rome.

The silver had arrived from Rome through the local see. The bishop was a new man who knew nothing about Team Crow or, for that matter, his parishioners. Persuaded by his aide that anyone with enough clout to receive a package from the Vatican through diplomatic channels was worth knowing, he grudgingly consented to share his sumptuous evening feast with Crow & Co.

It took less than fifteen minutes in his presence for Team Crow to know all the important facts about this man. He was cold. He was haughty. He was better than his flock, more cultured, more intelligently pious, more .. how shall one put it? More aristocratic.

The bishop was an idiot.

I felt a jolt of recognition. I told Tom briefly about the book, said it was set in Dallas, and copyrighted in 1990. Then I read him the description, and waited. It took only a second and then we both burst out laughing. It was a spot-on description of Bishop Grahmann who was installed in the Dallas diocese early in 1990.

However, that is also a common sort of character to encounter so I chalked it up to coincidence. It was when I saw that a wealthy character was introduced who lived in a secluded part of Inwood Road then I knew no coincidence was involved. John Steakly knew Dallas well because anyone from outside the area would have most probably placed the residence in Highland Park.

I asked Tom if he thought this author might be from Dallas and when I spelled his name, Tom said, "You mean as in Steakley Chevrolet?" (Now defunct but a Dallas staple car dealership for many, many years).

Oh. Right. I knew I had heard that name before.

Further research showed Steakley was from nearby Cleburn, Texas, which anyone who reads the book will recognize as a major setting and one where the police force is highly praised. For any Dallasites reading I will add that John Steakley lives in McKinney now. So he knows whereof he writes about Dallas.

Catholics.
(slight spoilers in this section)
It is not only Dallas that you get the feeling John Steakly understands. There is a dependence on the Catholic Church in the way that vampire tales of old used to convey. Good versus Evil. God versus the Unholy. Love, suffering, sacrifice, and redemption.

In the flicks that church forgot podcast review of 'Salem's Lot, Peter Laws pointed out that this was one of the first horror movies to devalue the nature of the sacraments into a reflection of personal faith. Actually, to put it as St. Augustine did, a sacrament is "a visible sign of an invisible reality." They have intrinsic value in and of themselves because they are blessed. (This might make them sound as if they are "magic" but that would be another misunderstanding and is not true ...)

The movie reflects Stephen King's book on this point of personal faith and sacraments. I was not Christian until long afterward but I still remember being vividly impressed by this speech from the book made by the master vampire after he has overpowered the priest, a man of shaky faith further undermined by alcoholism:

The cross--the bread and wine--the confessional--only symbols. Without faith the cross is only wood, the bread baked wheat, the wine sour grapes. If you had cast the cross away, you should have beaten me another night. In a way, I had hoped it might be so. It has been long since I had met a opponent of any real worth. The boy makes ten of you, false priest.

I took this as a statement of fact and it took several years of Catholicism to overcome a tendency to revert to this wrong concept.

There is no such shakiness in this book. The requirement for bullets made from the silver rendered by melting crosses which had to have been blessed by a bishop or higher does not also include that the gunman be a believer. The sacramental value is contained within the ammunition itself.

Furthermore, Steakley had no way of knowing in 1990 that Bishop Grahmann would never work well with his flock and that other major grievances would arise from his tenure. I, myself, had to struggle mightily with forgiveness on several fronts for this man. I will not spoil the moment by telling about the occasion in the story, but Steakley redeems the bishop in a spectacular way that out and out forgives the bishop for his lack of character. Well before that, he gives the bishop humanity which shows after the truth of the situation is understood.

Within the context of the story, this works well in moving the plot along. However, taken from the standpoint of one who was aware of the bishop both as non-Catholic and as a convert, it is a very generous stance. It is a stance of forgiveness and understanding that is far beyond that extended even today by some people toward the bishop. It was a humbling moment, actually, to realize that I am not sure if I'd have had that character show that Father Adam is right when he says, "There is a reason why people become priests, Kirk." It is a thoroughly Catholic understanding of the priesthood.

Those examples are just a few of the ways that Steakley unwaveringly sets the Church as the driving force behind this epic battle between good and evil. Just as those who enjoy horror read Dean Koontz's books with a Catholic focus, so can they enjoy this particular book. He knows whereof he writes about the Church.

Something I Really Like: Two Women Talking

In other words, coffee with a friend.

I don't usually have time to go to lunch during the day and my evenings tend to be rather full. I am, however, able to squeeze in an hour before the work day begins for coffee with a friend.

I must thank a good friend for being so persistent about getting together that I was forced to reevaluate my schedule. I now find this time once a week (or every other week) to be just what I needed in connecting one-on-one with people I don't usually get to talk with.

It is simply wonderful.

Elements of Faith: A Catholic Women's Book Club

Having evidently turned into a Goodreads junkie, I have just created a group for our local Catholic women's book club.

Not only will this make it easier to have between meeting book talk, but it allows us to open the club up to those who can't make it in person, such as most of the readers of this blog.

Even guys may find themselves interested in our book selections.

Feel free to check out the group's bookshelves and join up if you are interested.

AudiobookSync.com: 18 FREE Audiobooks (2 per week over the summer)

Wow!

Everything from Shirley Jackson to Robert Louis Stevenson and including The Hunger Games, which I've been interested in since both Scott Danielson and Steven Riddle posted rave reviews about it.

Jesse says that you have to jump through a few hoops to get the books but I can do that thing. He's got the steps outlined and it doesn't look too bad, especially if the result is 18 free audiobooks. Check it out at SFFaudio.

The Best Thing About Eclipse? This Review.

Then we cut to Bella and Edward doing homework in a meadow. Must Edward and Bella ruin everything? (Yes.)

Also, he doesn't even let her do homework, which - look, dude, it's your own business if you want to spend your immortal years repeating high school in an endless cycle that would haunt the nightmares of any normal person who has been to high school just the one time, but some of us are just trying to pass Affectless Poetry Reading 102, okay?

Genevieve Valentine has that certain something that makes me enjoy readig very long posts about movies that I care nothing about. Yes, she's that entertaining. Here's a bit more that amused me ... and then you can click through and read it all for yourself ... with captioned photos!

Since the last movie, all the Cullens changed their hair. Carlisle also changed his accent (he's using Madonna's British one from 2005). He's not the only one, though; halfway through a flashback to his time in the Confederacy, Jackson Rathbone picks up a drawl that he decides not to put down, so for the last third of the movie it's like he's looping Val Kilmer in Tombstone.

Something I Really Like - Bookishly

Quo Vadis

I am greatly enjoying this book so far which we have begun for our Catholic women's book club. Talk about a great summer read!

It is an epic tale from the days when Christianity was new ... of Romans, Christians, slaves, and ... lions in the arena. I never realized that this was written in Polish and, as it says on Amazon, "The novel has as a subtext the persecution and political subjugation of Poland by Russia." Interesting ...

A little info I just stumbled across that gives me some interesting context:

Quo vadis? is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?" or "Whither goest thou?". The modern usage of the phrase refers to Christian tradition, related in the apocryphal Acts of Peter (Vercelli Acts XXXV), in which Saint Peter meets Jesus as Peter is fleeing from likely crucifixion in Rome. Peter asks Jesus the question; Jesus' answer, "I am going to Rome to be crucified again" (Eo Romam iterum crucifigi), prompts Peter to gain the courage to continue his ministry and eventually become a martyr.

A little something extra about urban farms and real nature.

A bit of lagniappe from Forgotten Classics.

It's All Downhill from Here

Some midweek humor from Aggie Catholics where Marcel has a hilarious (and authentic) list. His observations are what put these over the top, needless to say. Here are my favorites ...

30 - Saint Gall
-He was brazenly bold.

17 - Saint Kenny
-Only his mother called him "Kenneth"

15 - Saint Conon
-That was close. I thought it was "Conan".

14 - Saint Bru
-Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "What's up Bru?"

8 - Saint Gwynnin
-Can I buy a vowel?

6 - Saint Olav the Thick
-Just don't call him that.

The Intersection of the Mass and Technology

An Italian priest has developed an application that will let priests celebrate Mass with an iPad on the altar instead of the regular Roman missal.

This story has been around for a while. I didn't comment on it. Tom, ever thoughtful of the historical side, pointed out that the Church has to adjust to technology occasionally, as we all found out after Gutenberg gave the push to printing books rather than hand copying them. My own thoughts were that a book doesn't need to be charged or rebooted if it runs out in the middle of Mass, which would be a horrendous thing to have happen.

Other than that I didn't give it much thought. The Curt Jester, iGeek supreme (and I mean that in a good way), has been mulling this over to some purpose, however, and has a thoughtful piece that is worth reading. For instance, his photo of electric candles took me back to a downtown church in Chicago with those innovative items ... which were tacky beyond redemption and just didn't have the same feel as a real candle.

Here's a bit and then do go read his reflections.

In a Church with sacraments and the sacramental view of things the types of materials used at Mass are not insignificant questions. The type of material used for the chalices should be made of solid and noble material that is not easily breakable or corruptible, is another example of how the Church takes seriously these questions.

Something I Really Like - Blueberry Crisp

Especially when made with the absolutely delicious blueberries from the CSA. Hand-picked, plump, the best quality I've ever had.

Here's the recipe I use.

Something I Really Like - Easy on the Eye

Otherwise known as ... a front porch full of plants!
Our front porch is more of a courtyard really. It has a brick wall which separates it from the street and our front windows provide a lovely view of the empty fountain and ... old bench ... and ... bricks.

I have meant to plant it in the way of the New Orleans courtyards. What stopped me is that I was waiting for some extra money.

After over 10 years of waiting I finally figured out there is never extra money for plants and pots so I turned to my new favorite technique: amortizing purchases.

It worked for the new TV ("if we keep this TV for 20 years, we're crazy not to make this investment!).

It worked too for these plant which I finally gave in and bought a few weeks ago. Hannah went with me and, knowing my nurturing style, would cry in triumph "No deadheading required!" or "Water weekly in case of drought conditions!" or "Easy care plant!" as she drew my attention to the various selections.

She was also careful to look for butterfly attracting plants and we have already seen a few adventurers on the porch. It turns out I have a liking for native plants ... which helps on keeping them alive.

Among our treasures:

• African Iris (this was our big ticket item)
• Herbs: Genoese basil, Thai basil, thyme, rosemary, sage (this reminds her of my mother's house and garden), cilantro
• Balloon flowers (blue)
• Coneflowers (purple) ... this smells heavenly
• Echinacea (an orangey-yellow type called Harvest Moon)
• Lobelia
• Some sort of vine-ish plant which I should be able to train to grow over the wall and will be covered with white flowers

It completely transforms the view from the living room, as you might imagine, and I am only sorry I didn't get the amortizing thing 10 years ago when we moved in.

Ah well, onward and upward!

Brandywine Books Captures the Essence of You Are What You See

Scott Nehring's strategy, through this book, is to try to equip Christians to understand what is going on in their minds and hearts when they watch a film. To analyze it, to determine the filmmakers' intent, and to judge what they've seen. Movies can corrupt us, but knowledge and discernment are valuable antidotes. In order to help us acquire knowledge and discernment, he spends a fair number of pages breaking down classic story structure, to help us understand how movies are plotted, and how their hidden messages can be recognized.

A discerning review of a book I just picked up again and am enjoying immensely for many of the reasons Lars mentions. (And no I'm not being paid for P.R. ... I just love the book thatmuch!)

Notice: Forgotten Classics book group begun on Goodreads

I have been enjoying the smattering of conversation at the Forgotten Classics group, Forgotten Yarns, on Ravelry (thank you erqsome!) and thought I'd see if a group on Goodreads would yield interesting observations.

You can find and join it here, where I have just the basics up. Eventually I will have a list of past books and such things.

So drop by and speak up!

Something I Really Like - Bookishly

Goodreads.

It's like Facebook for readers.

Here is the link to my 2010 Goodreads shelf but do poke around and explore. For one thing authors have pages there to investigate. It's free to join and the book talk can be interesting.

Speaking of Facebook, you can link your Goodreads to your Facebook account so that everyone can keep up there as well.

An Unlikely Good Samaritan

From Paw-Nation via our resident just-short-one-credit Wildlife Biologist, Hannah.