And I've Been Talkin' ...

... (as always) at Forgotten Classics ... about The Riddle of the Sands: In which Carruthers becomes a man of action. And about Shakespeare.

I've Been Cookin' ...

Eggplant-Parmesan Crisps.

I Ain't Afraid O' No Ghosts: Reviewing "Holy Ghosts"

What many of the faithful thought was lost after these reforms [the Second Vatican Council, 1962-65] was a sense of the supernatural--of an unseen, invisible world, the world of spirit. This is not to say that spiritual matters were abandoned. Far from it, but as the Church shifted its focus in the latter years of the twentieth century, did belief in angelic and demonic forces have a place in the modern world any more? Did miracles really happen or could science explain them away? Or, for that matter, was heaven a real place or a state of mind? As these issues were debated over the next few decades, the idea of a spirit world for many people began to lose power. And, many critics believed, so did God.

In a sense, this is the true heart of Holy Ghosts by Gary Jansen. While on the surface it is the story of a decades-long haunting, underneath Jansen begins wondering whatever happened to what everyone used to "know" about the supernatural world existing alongside our own tangible one.

Jansen begins as a hard-headed skeptic who was trained in ignoring the odd noises and quirks of his childhood home. Doorbells that rang with no one there, the sound of smashing glass in the middle of the living room where there was no glass to be smashed, and creaking stairs that sounded as if someone were walking on them when no one was there ... these were all standard occurences as he grew up; as the family gave reasonable explanations, he accepted them and learned to do likewise. However, when he is living in that same house as a married man with a child, the oddities grow worse and eventually neither Jansen nor his wife can ignore them any more.

The lamp was off in the toy room, which was just beyond our dining room, but there was a soft blue glow from the computer screen illuminating the wall I stood up and slowly walked across the floor, and the church bells had been replaced by the sound of drums. And it was getting louder. I stepped inside the toy room, where there was music coming out of the speakers. iTunes was on, and metallic guitars were pumping to the beat. It took me a brief moment, but the song registered in my head. It was "Hells Bells" by AC/DC. I remembered leaving the computer on before I stared reading but I was positive there wasn't any music playing. The vocals kicked in and, as I stood there listening to the sound, I felt the electric surge that I had mostly only felt in Eddie's room roll over me as lead singer Brian Johnson intoned, "I'll give you black sensations up and down your spine. If you're into evil then you're a friend of mine."

"You've got to be s******g me," I said to myself. "There is no way this is happening." I switched off iTunes, shut down the computer, waked upstairs, and got into bed with Grace. Eddie was sleeping soundly next to her. I put my arm over the both of them and, for the first time since all of this began, I felt afraid.

There are more things revealed in that house than are dreamt of in their philosophy, until Jansen begins wondering what the Catholic Church teaches about angels, demons, ghosts, and spirits. He is surprised to learn that the Church takes these things seriously and does not treat them as products of imagination. As we watch Jansen strive to understand and rid his home of the often terrifying ghosts, we also travel with him on the journey of discovering what it means to acknowledge the unseen world of the supernatural.

I truly enjoyed this book, although I used very bad judgment in reading it before bedtime. I don't think it would have bothered me as much as it did, except for the fact that I have had two experiences with ghosts or spirits myself. This confirms one of Jansen's comments on the accompanying publicity materials, which is that it is very common for him to share his story only to have the listener pipe up with an experience of their own. Like synesthesia, this is something that people rarely speak of, but may experience a lot more than we are led to understand. Reading this made me think of my own experiences again and that was an uncomfortable thing indeed.

Jansen offers his story with no apologies for taking a rather unorthodox route in dealing with the problem. He lets us see his indecision, his questions, and the reason he ultimately chooses the path they took. A more orthodox Catholic, what Jansen might call a "good Catholic" probably would have gone to a priest at some point and asked for a rite of exorcism or some other sort of aid. It is difficult to say what one would do in such a situation until one is faced with it. Theories are very fine until one imagines facing a priest and talking about ghosts. So much depends on the personalities of the people and their preconceptions (yes, even priests have preconceptions.) I think that Jansen made the best decisions he could with the information he had at the time and, ultimately, that is what we all do when dealing with crisis situations, for better or worse. (For those who have come to me with "pastoral concerns": I don't advise taking Gary's route and would have gone to my local priest or some other Church official who would have done an exorcism or whatever was called for.)

My only quibble with the book is that occasionally Jansen uses language which, frankly, surprised me not so much because it was just this side of swearing, but because it felt at odds with the rest of the flow of the book. It was as if he were trying to push for "edgy" language, but honestly that was not needed. The story itself, told in all honesty, is edgy enough without those lapses which always took me out of the book and stopped me for a second before I would plunge back in.

Jansen's honest tale is one that I highly recommend. What I appreciate most is the way that he used his supernatural encounters as a springboard to look for what the Catholic faith teaches and for a way to incorporate it into his everyday life. This is how Catholics should live, no matter what we encounter, and Jansen gives us a fine example of it. As he points out, the Church is reacquainting us with some of the things that were inadvertently ignored or misplaced in the reforms after the Second Vatican Council. If we believe in God, then the Bible has much more to say about other supernatural beings. It is something worth pondering and Holy Ghosts is a well told tale that is a good reminder of those truths.

Knocking "Schultze Gets the Blues" Off Our Family's List as Worst Movie Ever Rented ...

... here comes Man Push Cart.

Ahmad is a Pakistani immigrant who dispenses coffee and bagels and suchlike from his food cart in New York City. He has to haul it manually to his corner and back.

That's the essence of the plot.

We could not but agree with BBC reviewer Digby Lewis who, in part, commented in his review:

A modern day retelling of the Sisyphus myth - in which a man spends his days heaving a large rock uphill, only to watch it roll back down the slope every time - Ahmad (Ahmad Razvi) is our ill-fated cart-pusher, who succeeds only in having a thoroughly miserable time of it in the Big Apple. ...

... Unfortunately, the characters are so tediously one dimensional, poorly scripted and amateurishly acted, that the most sympathetic character is a neglected kitten.

Or the San Francisco Chronicle review which observed:

... The makers of "Man Push Cart" seem so dedicated to making a film that defies Hollywood conventions that the finished product lacks enough entertainment value to justify price of admission. ...

Would that I had seen this before having believed all those other critics who I know know think that a dreary movie going nowhere is the height of artistic achievement.

I don't have a problem with watching a movie about the downtrodden immigrant experience, which was all we could conclude the director was aiming for.

However, I have a huge problem being subjected to a movie about a stupid, downtrodden immigrant experience (spoilers follow, but you won't care because you're never going to watch this, right? Please promise us you won't watch it ...):

• When you make the payment on that food cart, then get it insured, just as you were advised to do. You have some money in that box you leave lying around your room (which I was continually expecting him to return to find stolen ... they missed that one ...).
• That uninsured cart? Don't go jaunting off after a toy vendor around the corner to buy your son a toy ... and then be stunned when you find that New York City's criminals whisked it away when you were gone.
• That fellow Pakistani you met? He's a phony and you had tons of clues. If you were the Bono of Pakistan, as he explained to someone, then you should have had lots of time to learn how to identify a phony. You didn't figure that out? Like I said ... stupid.
• That phony's pal who is going to reestablish your singing career if only you will do menial work in the meantime? Not only phony, but just a jerk who is using you. Again. Tons of clues. TONS.
• That Spanish girl you like? She likes you. TONS of clues. And you like her. We know you do. So when she is dating that phony you both know, don't just stand there giving her longing looks and shoving her away when she tries to kiss you. That would be ... oh, right ... stupid.
• The kitten? Ok, we're giving you a break on that one. Although if you did know someone who was wise to the ways of two-week-old kittens, why didn't you ask him for some info earlier? But as I said, we're giving you a break. We like guys who rescue 2-week-old kittens.

There was more, but not much more because little happened in the movie ... we watched the guy in his daily grind which was not pleasant, but we didn't see him learn a darned thing. Except not to leave his cart alone when he's going to buy a trinket. He didn't progress. He didn't improve his lot or anyone else's. He didn't get beaten down by the man. He was just ... a victim of his own stupidity.

There's an hour and a half of my life I won't get back. Ever.

What grows really well at 105°?

Eggplant.

Lots and lots of eggplant.

What to do with it?

Turn away from the heat, into the ... freezer. At Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

These Just In: Two Books I Can't Wait to Read

I was surprised but pleased when I opened the package containing Holy Ghosts yesterday. Gary Jansen wrote a stellar book about the rosary which I remembered well, but I couldn't imagine why he was writing a book about ghosts. Turns out, Jansen's time living in a haunted house (yes, really) helped him dig deeper into his own faith and lack of belief in "things unseen." I began reading my standard "book sampling" of the first chapter to see if I wanted to read more. When I came to myself some time later, I had finished half the book. Obviously, this is a gripping story on several levels and I will review it here later.

Ok, and I just want to say ... anyone who has a good idea their house is haunted and then goes up in the middle of the night to the attic to pull out a reference book? They're not firing on all cylinders ... even if they are looking for the Catholic Dictionary. I'm just sayin' that I was kinda freakin' out the whole time I was reading about it (and not without reason, y'all).



Everyone here knows I'm a big fan of Mike Aquilina's writing. As a matter of fact, I put his book The Resilient Church in my "To Reread" stack just the other day. That book looks at how the Church has overcome past trials, some of which were brought upon Her by our own sinful selves. It is a great resource (and reminder) for those times when someone throws up a painful past with facts that might not really be accurate. Or when they aren't aware of what was done to correct a particular problem.

Roots of the Faith looks as if it will make a good "bookend" read since it takes a "time travel" look at some very familiar Catholic concepts like the Mass, confession, and teachings against abortion and then goes back to see what the early Christians actually practiced and believed. How does he know? The Church Fathers, of course, wrote a lot of it down and if there's something we can count on Mike for, it is knowing what the Church Fathers said about things. This looks like something we can use when coming up against those folks who like have been taught that the Catholic Church has changed everything around from the way it was in the early days of the Church.

A Little Book Talk

Catching up on the last few week's reading (or listening):

• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: I  tried it before but either wasn’t in the right mood or was expecting something different. Hannah read it, loved it, shoved it on my nightstand, and nagged me about it (with that hopeful, wistful, little puppy look that a mom can’t say no to…) so I gave in. I found the writing was charmingly understated and amusing. It is about magic, English practitioners of magic, books about magic, and set in England during the Napoleonic war. Principally, the conceit of the story is that there was an English form of magic but it has been lost. The only true practitioner who has been found is Mr. Norrell who learned everything from his precious books. Eventually we also meet Jonathan Strange who is surprised to find that he has a natural aptitude for magic. Eventually the two men meet and have an interesting relationship that is partly friendship and partly competitive.
  
  After about 200 pages in, I was struggling as the author did much meandering from the plot at a length that doesn't move the story along, although it did add atmosphere. The author based her writing upon the style at the time the story is set ... Dickens, Jane Austen, etc. ... which helps account for the meandering and footnotes, many of which are hilarious or tell interesting stories. I finally switched to the audio book and enjoyed it immensely more than in simple reading. I think I do better with meandering books when on audio for some reason. It certainly helped with Charles Dickens when I was reading A Tale of Two Cities. At any rate, the narration was simply excellent and I believe that helped me a great deal as I practically became addicted to it.
  
  At the end the book suddenly picked up the pace with one thing happening after another. It ended in an unexpected way with some story lines being firmly concluded while others were left to drift off. Usually this would bother me but, in a sense, it was very true to real life, which makes me reflect upon the fact that the way the story was told was very like having someone tell it to you in person. They take little byways of explanation that may not have too much to do with the story and then come back to the point. In listening to the book this made for a delightful and somehow restful story. This was wonderfully narrated and that doubtless helped quite a bit. Recommended but only for those who do not object to long, meandering stories with a lot of footnotes. (Four out of five stars.)
• Quo Vadis:  Read for our Catholic women's bookclub, this is a historical fiction based around a young, headstrong Roman soldier who suddenly falls for a fetching young Christian girl. He then pursues her while she is alternately attracted by him and then repelled by his less attractive characteristics ... and there are many to be repelled by, believe me. It is set against the backdrop of Nero who is constantly hoping to be further inspired by a poetic muse (even to the point of considering burning down a city ... yes, we're going all the way on this one). This is a book that deserves to be rediscovered in the strong comparison of characters (Petronius versus Vinicius versus Nero, etc.) and beautifully written prose. Or would that be "beautifully translated prose?" Probably both. Anyway, there is clear foreshadowing of Rome being burned from the moment we meet Nero so it is not a spoiler to comment that I had never given any thought to the complete chaos that would ensue from attempting to flee a burning city ... this vivid portrayal has held me enthralled. I  greatly enjoyed the depiction of ancient Roman life under Nero and the unfolding story of passionate love which gradually takes on a spiritual dimension also. This book is very inspirational in its look at Christianity and also at free will, especially in the martyrdoms toward the very end. I found Petronius' character wonderful to the end, though will say little more here as I don't want to give away any spoilers. I, myself, was guessing up until the end at who would live and who would die.
• Inner Compass:  A review book from Loyola Press that I received some time ago. I've been interested in Ignatian Spirituality for a while and this has a more general take so far than some books I've read. Silf has a way with imagery and of helping one mentally "enter" the situations she presents. All this helps to get a clear view of where we stand, where God is (yes, everywhere), and how we can better connect. Although the imagery can be helpful, eventually I hit a spot in the book which made me wonder about the author's ability to truly pass it on well. At one point she retells God and Satan's conversation from the beginning of the book of Job, which is what begins Job's suffering. However, her portray of God is so very ... human ... God hasn't thought of something that Satan mentions to him, He wonders and doubts, etc. Really? God doubts? This makes Silf the world's absolute worst reteller of that story. Read it for yourself and see that there are no such motives for God as she ascribes. Since she is essentially retelling us Ignatian spirituality from St. Ignatius's work, it makes me wonder if she is doing a similarly careless job filtering it for us. Therefore, it makes her entire work suspect in my eyes, until I am able to compare it to St. Ignatius's writings. Which, obviously, is where I would  turn if I was interested in further pursuing this course. Not sure if I am, actually, as I read this because it was a review book ... 
• Miss Marple-The Complete Short Stories: I read all these in different editions, many when they first came out long ago. They prove just as entertaining now as they did then, and in many cases I don't remember the stories well, which is a bonus. There is no one for sniffing out wickedness in basic human behavior like a spinster lady who has lived in a little village, as gentle Miss Marple continually must remind those around her.
• The Moving Finger: I haven't read an Agatha Christie in years, having read them all repeatedly through my youth and young adulthood. I suddenly was taken with the urge to revisit the Miss Marple mysteries and this is the first full-length novel that came to me from the library. This is told from the point of view of a brother and sister who have moved to a small country town and find that there is a anonymous letter writer plaguing everyone with salacious innuendos. This eventually results in sudden death and murder. I was surprised to see that I didn't remember the murderer, or at least I thought I didn't. Turns out I actually did, but Christie moved me away from that choice with such finesse and sleight-of-hand that I was really unsure until the end and changed my mind several times during the course of the book. It was interesting to reread after such a long absence from her style and see how well she painted character and place with very few strokes, saving most of her effort for the mystery. Most enjoyable and highly recommended.
• The Body in the Library: my second foray into revisiting Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mystery novels. When Col. and Dolly Bantry find the body of a young woman in their library one morning, Mrs. Bantry fetches Miss Marple to solve the murder. I had absolutely no recollection of this mystery. Once again, even when looking for the simplest, most logical solution (as Miss Marple would do), Agatha Christie hornswoggled me and I was fooled. Simply brilliant storytelling using a minimum of description but yet leaving the reader with clear mental images of the people and locations (or at least inferring so much tone that the reader is free to do it for themselves).

In which Carruthers discovers what "seven" means.

Episode 131 is up at Forgotten Classics, as well as something to remind us that Guys Can Read. Enjoy!

Recently on the Home Screen

When both girls were home, our movie viewing went way up. That seems possibly counter-intuitive but they have extensive collections and we all like to force movies on each other which simply must be seen. I present to you here the good, the bad, and the ugly (or shallow).

• Dr. No: the first of the James Bond movies, this is a pleasure to watch for the introduction of many now-institutional elements. The "gun barrel" credits, theme music, Sean Connery, the first "Bond" girl (Ursula Andress), and hip visual style all have been carried on and modernized over time. Surprisingly this movie was produced on a low budget, which is quite a contrast to the ramped-up, legendary high budgets that are now lavished on Bond movies. The time it was made also makes it somewhat of a time capsule presenting what we might call "socially unaware" attitudes about race and gender. Well worth watching in it's own right as an entertaining spy story.
• Gattaca: In the near future, everything is determined by your DNA analysis, beginning with your parents' choosing to give you life. Several of us had been meaning to watch this for some time and we all liked it with much conversation resulting over the next few days. This will be part of the "movies you might have missed" series.
• Crazy Heart: save yourself some trouble and watch Tender Mercies instead. Jeff Bridges does a creditable job of portraying washed-up country singer Bad Blake, who calls Waylon Jennings to mind for those of us who know about his hard life. However, this movie skates along the surface and rarely dips below that to show us anything new about motivation or character. Bad's life changes seem to come fairly easily, especially his romance with the much-younger journalist played by Maggie Gyllenhall (which produced many cringe-inducing moments for us all) and the super-supportive attitude of former band member, Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell). The music is good and it isn't a bad movie. It just isn't what it could have been.
  
• Mary and Max: an eight year old Australian girl and a 40 year old New Yorker strike up a pen pal friendship that carries them over 20 years. See my review here.
• Angel - Season Five: not a movie, but it was on our home screen. Rose and I dedicated a fair amount of time to finishing the last season of Angel and it became a homecoming ritual that I enjoyed a great deal as we polished off an episode almost every weekday. I mention it because the last episode of the series stunned me with how perfectly it worked. I'm not sure that Joss Whedon would appreciate my saying it, but Angel offered an unbelievably Christ-like sacrifice for his fellow man in order to give the forces of evil a jolt. It occupied my mind for several days because of that.

This Just In: The Faithful Traveler, season 1

I well remember how enjoyable I found The Faithful Traveler dvd featuring the Miraculous Medal Shrine in Philadelphia. A good part of that enjoyment came from Diana von Glahn's sparking personality and the thoroughness of information.

I easily understood why EWTN snapped up the concept and had The Faithful Traveler produce an entire season of travel for them. Sadly, I do not have cable so was not able to watch it.

Happily, I have just received the dvd for the first season. Though I haven't had a chance to dip in yet, I am eagerly anticipating finding out more about wonderful Catholic places to visit in the U.S. If you are interested and missed the EWTN showings, or just want your own copy to watch again, check out the Faithful Traveler website.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

She's celebrating her 22nd birthday this year. We did a big celebration last week when more people were in town but it is still HER day around here.

If I lived near Nolly Cakes then I would actually plump down the cash for this truly wonderful cat cake ... as it is, she asked for tiramisu, which we got from the best place in Dallas for that delicious desert.

I'm am repeating this viewing of the things she loves best, slightly updated ... simply lots and lots o' critters. (Don't just pick these up and pass them on, please. Click through on the links to check permissions, some of which I have obtained personally for this blog alone.)

Happy birthday , Hannah!

Cat Closeup

Owl

Goose

Colt

Mallard in Flight

Brown Hare

Pelican

Dinner Guest

Crystal River Heron

Hawk Landing

Pink Dolphin

Geese

A little something extra about pausing to recharge your batteries.

Lagniappe about The Power of Pause at Forgotten Classics.

My Top 2 Blogging and Podcasting Tips

I've been blogging for six years and podcasting for three. My goodness, where does the time go?

During that time, I have been asked by others for tips on both blogging and podcasting. The tips for both are the same as I rarely focus on the mechanics of getting the thing done.

Tip #1
Be yourself. Follow your passion.

There are tons of bloggers out there. But there is no one like you, so let us meet the real you.

Enthusiasm waxes and wanes over time for any activity. If it isn't one that you truly care about then your blog will fade steadily away as other matters come along and it gets shoved to one side. Sharing something you truly care about keeps both you and your audience interested. Nothing can replace true enthusiasm and you can't fake it.

Tip #2
Be a good neighbor.

Link back, acknowledge contributions from others, and don't ask for favors that you aren't willing to do for someone in return. If you aren't sure if someone will mind you showing their stuff, then ask for permission (this applies to artwork more than anything else, but some writers will show a copyright on their pages ... notably authors and food blogs.)

This is a no-brainer, right? Like holding the door open for someone or saying, "please" and "thank you."

You'd think so, but there are some folks out there ... some very big name folks, surprisingly ... who don't do this. When you're blogging, you are part of a community. No matter where the community, including cyberspace, manners still count. Especially if you are part of the Catholic blogosphere. And people do notice, believe me.

I know this because I have many very good neighbors, both Catholic and not. A very few of those who provide very good examples for us all include:

• The Anchoress
• The Curt Jester
• The Deacon's Bench
  
• SFFaudio
• Momentary Taste of Being
  

Rediscovering An Old Favorite: Cribbage

Cribbage works on several levels, with interlocking strategies that are a delight to manipulate. As with any card game, you're subject to the luck of the draw, but you can bend that luck in ways other games don't allow. A bad draw doesn't have to correlate to a bad hand. The choice of which cards to unload to the crib (as dealer or non-dealer), what order to lay down cards, and which points to attempt all factor into the strategy.

There really is nothing quite like it in the realm of card play. Despite its layered scoring system (which allows cards to score points more than once) and its unique terminology, it’s a fairly easy game to learn and teach. It also plays like gangbusters. People familiar with the rules and scoring system can knock through a full scoring track in about 15 to 20 minutes.

Thomas L. McDonald recently learned how to play cribbage and has a delightful post up discussing the game. I am indebted to his discovery because it made me suddenly remember that was one of my favorite card games from growing up. My parents played and then we all learned to play. I vaguely remember teaching it to Tom when we were first married ... and then we had children and cribbage-playing time went out the window.

I found and dusted off our little travel-board for scoring, pulled out the Hoyle's Book of Games from the game shelf, and sat down with Rose to rediscover the game that I barely remembered how to play. It was easy to pick up again and easy for Rose to learn. As Thomas points out, within 15 minutes we were both playing as if we'd been doing it nonstop all along. As well, my family had never played with "muggins," "his nobs," and "his heels" so that adds a fun dimension ... as well as one which Rose remembers much better than I do most of the time. Which makes me a muggins more than I'd like!

It really is much simpler than the plethora of scoring rules makes it seem so give it a try if you haven't encountered cribbage before.

The Connection Between Science and Science Fiction

Lagniappe with Michael Flynn's thoughts on science and science fiction ... to be found at Forgotten Classics.

We're Alive - returns August 23 for season 2

What? You haven't listened to We're Alive? No time to waste then in catching up with this excellent audio drama. (Yes, it's got zombies. That is just part of the audio goodness awaiting you.)

Synopsis:
A small riot in LA has spread past its containment. Three reserve soldiers are called to their deserted duty station. Believed to be the last remaining armed servicemen in the area, Michael, Angel, and Saul witness the true cause of the riot; people are starting to change and attack each other.

Armed with only what they can carry, they set out to secure an apartment building and rescue survivors scattered amongst the shattered remains of civilization.

In a world turned upside down, every day is a struggle, as those who have taken refuge in “the tower” find out that their safe haven is under constant threat. In this place, however, the strengths of those who stand together, might just be enough to live long enough to see things start to change.

From the Mailbag: A Tremor of Bliss

I received a review copy of this book last week and just wanted to quickly mention that the introduction and first chapter trial reading (to see if I wanted to keep going) surprised me with how much I thought the author got right and how much I enjoyed reading. More later, but I did want to give a sample to anyone who might be interested in trying it out. I'd like to put the entire introduction here as that is what won me over, but will just put these tidbits. Hopefully, you will get a glimpse of what interests me in the book.

This book began as a chapter I didn't want to write. ... My book was about how both sides of the Catholic culture war could achieve peace by—well, by following the teachings of the Church.

The first chapter in the book was going to be about sex. I wanted to write about sex first not because I found it the most interesting, but because I wanted to get it out of the way. I still had a reticence about sex that wen back to the way I was raised, by parents who were by no means prudes, but who also never talked about sex. I also am a sinner and a faulty vessel and wanted to avoid sounding like a conservative scold about sexual matters. So the first chapter would be about sex and then I could go on to less chaotic and terrifying topics.

But then something happened. While doing research, I came across some of the most poetic, beautiful, inspiring writing about human sexuality—and it was all written or said by Catholics. Much of it came from the years before Vatican II, the Church council from the early 1960s that supposedly modernized the Church. I had thought that before the council the world, and especially the Catholic Church, was lost in a puritanical darkness that dared not speak of the human body. Then I came across writers like Saint Teresa of Avila, who lived in the sixteenth century and used exotic metaphors to describe our seduction by God ...

... As I was doing research for this work, I was struck with another revelation: The most poetic an powerful expression of the Catholic idea of the nature of love is rock 'n' roll music. I grew up with rock 'n' roll and as I became a more serious Catholic as I got older I realized that rather than driving me away fro Christianity, the music drew me closer. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones (the bands that I grew up with), Coldplay, Van Morrison, Aretha Franklin, and Beyonce all sing most powerfully about one thing: love. It is the constant, inexhaustible theme of their sounds. If, as the Bible says, God is love, then God must love rock 'n' roll. As I explore in the book, this, of course, does not mean that rock 'n' roll is not rebellious music that challenges social custom. But more often than not, this challenging is a cry for a saner, more just, and moral society, not a more decadent one. ...

Gone Graduatin'!

Well, Hannah is anyway, and the rest of us are going along to see the deed done in style.

A few regular "features" will be popping up here today but I'll be out ... so play nice!

This Just In: Anne Rice is as Important as She Thinks She Is

A few years ago author Anne Rice returned to Catholicism. Now, in the last week or two news has come that she's backing out of Christianity altogether ... well, except for Christ.

Yeah, I didn't think it was that big a deal either so didn't comment, although of the many bloggers who mentioned it, I think that Brandywine Books said it most succinctly.

However, for our reading pleasure, a la The Onion's brand of satire, Carl Olson at Insight Scoop writes a side-splitter of an article about the consequences of Rice's actions. Here's the beginning to get you started. (Via The Daily Kraken.)

ROME, AUGUST 10, 2010 (WYT) — A growing number of anonymous Vatican officials are confirming the shocking news that the Catholic Church will be shutting its doors worldwide within the next few weeks. The worldwide institution, allegedly founded by an obscure Jewish carpenter in the first century, will cease to exist completely, a move that could affect the lives of thousands, even millions, of people.

Although the reasons for this surprising action are many and complex, several insiders are pointing to Anne Rice's recent Facebook announcement that she is leaving Christianity as a crucial factor. "The Pope realized, after reading Ms. Rice's powerful statements online, that the game was up," admitted one high-ranking Cardinal, who insists that although the news will likely upset many Catholics, most people should have seen it coming.

"Look, let's be honest," he says, sitting in his office, wearing a polo shirt and drinking a martini, "Rice called our bluff. For centuries we thought it was enough to say, 'Believe in Christ. Come to Church. Be good. Do what you're told.' But when Rice wrote that she was remaining committed to Christ while no longer being part of Christianity..." He took a long drink and stared wistfully at a signed picture of Pope John Paul II on his wall. "...that was powerful. None of us here had ever heard of or considered such a thing."

He acknowledged that the Vatican public relations machine had once again made a major error in how it addressed—or didn't address—Ms. Rice's explosive remarks, which have been viewed by thousands of people. "It's ironic, I suppose," he said, "that a Church that essentially established and saved Western civilization, founded the first universities, help bring about modern science, produced the greatest art and music know to mankind, built hospitals and orphanages around the world, and helped save the souls of countless millions has been unable to respond to accusations of being homophobic, misogynist, narrow-minded, hateful, bigoted, and lousy at writing hymns in a folk-rock style." He paused as if trying to decide whether or not to make another martini. "I know some die-hard believers will say, 'Hey, what about Augustine and Thomas Aquinas and Leo XII? What about the libraries filled with books of philosophy, theology, philosophy, and more? Well, really, who's paying attention to that these days?" ...

He can speak French ... in Russian

After yesterday's spirited conversation about the Old Spice Man, I turn to a fully clothed and also charming fellow ... The Most Interesting Man in the World.



Dos Equis is not as good at using all social media as Old Spice. For one thing they are missing the boat on having a YouTube channel (at least that I could fine). However, they definitely are as good at knowing an excellent ad campaign when they see it. This also makes me think of some of the great campaigns from the 1960's and 70's.