NY Giants-20, Dallas Cowboys-33 ... YEAH, READ IT - 33!

I. am. stunned.

And happy.

VERY. VERY. HAPPY.

Go Cowboys!

(And thank you, Jason Garrett.)

Now, Jerry, let's talk. When are we getting a new kicker? Seriously, c'mon.

Bill Bryson Does Not Always Equal Snark ...

... but it's a rare occurrance as all too often his attempts at humor fall into that mean-spirited vein.


As Darwin points out in a well put post. My comments? In his comments box. Along with the title of the one nonsnarky book of Bryson's I've read. Which was excellent. Go and read.

Unstoppable

Denzel Washington and Chris Pine versus runaway train. That’s enough, isn’t it? How much more do you need?

Exactly. What Decent Films said.

I've been drawn to the ads just by the two stars and secretly expecting to be disappointed. SO. VERY. HAPPY. to hear otherwise.

Not enough for you? Go read the review.

What's Goin' On: Conan's Premiere Opening

Not having cable and also lacking a predilection for staying up late, I am not going to be watching Conan's new show. However, I really found his desk washing ad funny.



So when a friend told me about his opening bit, I watched ... and laughed. You will too.

What's Goin' On: Louis L'Amour's Short Stories

I have been on a short story jag since getting the Kindle. As I've mentioned, I find that format a big improvement over hulking "best of" collections for science fiction, mysteries, and fantasy. Browsing the Kindle store, I came across Louis L'Amour who I have never cottoned to much in novel-long format.

Truth to tell, I have never given him much of a chance. I had a period of reading Zane Grey when I was in junior high. I still love Gwen Bristow, several of whose books are set in the Old West. But Louis L'Amour ... maybe it was his name? I don't know ...

One of the Kindle's best features is the ability to download samples. The Louis L'Amour short story collection I sampled (the first of seven or eight I saw available) contained two stories in their entirety. It worked. I can't explain it but these simply told but human stories grabbed me, interested me in the fate of the protagonists, and had me trying to work out how the inevitable ending would come about. That was the interesting thing ... you knew how the stories would end up. It was how L'Amour got there that was riveting.

What a wonderful surprise it was to discover a new author. Even better, one who has a large library of books for me to explore. I'm still not sure about the novels, but I am sure the short stories will suck me into reading the longer format eventually.

I know that L'Amour has a huge fan base and nothing makes that more evident than the price of those Kindle collections. Not the usual $9.99 for a current book. No, these are all $14.99. Nothing testifies to popularity like a long-dead author's works holding an above-market value.

I put that collection in my wish list so I can find it later. I have several short story collections to finish up. Then, the next one I buy ... is gonna take me to the wild West.

"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." — Tertullian

"Since Tuesday evening, there have been 13 bombs and two mortar attacks on homes and shops of Christians in which a total of six people were killed and 33 injured," a defense ministry official said. "A church was also damaged."

An interior ministry official earlier gave a casualty toll of three dead in 12 of the attacks across the Iraqi capital early on Wednesday.

The attacks come less than two weeks after 44 Christian worshipers, two priests and seven security personnel died in the seizure of a Baghdad cathedral by Islamist gunmen and the ensuing shootout when it was stormed by troops.

On November 3, Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the cathedral hostage-taking and warned it would step up attacks on Christians.

Google News

God bless and protect our brothers and sisters who are in such fear and danger now.

(Via David Scott of Catholic News Agency and EWTN News where they are keeping a close eye on proceedings and related stories, such as the general assembly of Interpol being addressed by a Vatican archbishop.)

Everywhere I Look, I See ... Exorcists

• Our Catholic women's book club just met last night to discuss The Rite. (BTW, if you live in Dallas don't be shy. Come to the next meeting!)
• I was just told that The Rite is being made into a movie. Not sure how that will work out, but still ... it was unexpected.
• The USCCB is asking for a few good exorcists (actually priests willing to be trained as exorcists) to step up.

What's Goin' On: Outsourced

We find this comedy about an American manager who has been sent to India to manage his company's novelty business telephone room pretty amusing. Although the novelty items for sale are highly sexualized and crude ... which is not very amusing ... there is a sweetness and innocence about many of the cultural misconceptions and miscommunications. As Tom said, it is that innocence that makes the best comedy.

What's Goin' On: Sherlock Holmes Updated on BBC

We've really been enjoying the first two episodes of the updated Sherlock Holmes on Masterpiece Theatre. As we've been taping it and then watching later, I haven't seen the third and last installment in this mini-series. Yes it has its problems here and there, but overall I think it is very true to the spirit of Holmes and Watson as Doyle wrote them. I can forgive a great deal when the entertainment is as good as this.

I tend to agree with Hannah who said, after we finished the second episode, that she preferred this series to the recent movie Sherlock Holmes (you know, the one with Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law). There is a very similar spirit shared between the series and the movie, but on the whole, I prefer the series. And I hope there are more to come in the future.

God Speaks. But What Has To Happen Before We Listen?

... God spoke through Mozart and Bach, through Caravaggio and Monet, through Shakespeare and John Donne, through St. Thomas Aquinas and Pope John Paul II. He speaks in many languages: mathematics, chemistry, biology, astronomy; paint, paper, film; stone, wood, and metal; the bloom of a rose and the fall of a leaf.

But has ever he spoken to me?

Ah yes, but he had to use a language he only reserves for his hardest cases: the language of pain and suffering. Pain, as C.S. Lewis says, is God’s megaphone. Make no mistake, Our Lord does not cause our suffering, but he uses it to reach us.

Thomas L. McDonald opens up so that we may have a chance to hear also. A beautiful piece, honestly written.

Weekend Joke

From Dr. Boli's Celebrated Magazine, I have lifted this fascinating commentary on how to attract cardinals to your backyard. Click through to his blog to see a photo of the little fellow you can attract using the techniques below.

Dear Dr. Boli: In light of the pope’s recent creation of new cardinals, perhaps this would be an appropriate time to ask: how can I attract cardinals to my garden? —Regards, Miss Jane C., North Carolina.

Dear Madam: The Cardinal or Cardinal Grosbeak (Cardinalis cardinalis) is generally a solitary bird, and thus difficult to attract in great numbers. Occasionally, however, certain extraordinary circumstances can impel cardinals to gather in a large flock, known to ornithologists as a “conclave.” A conclave of cardinals is one of nature’s most colorful sights, and it would be well worth your trouble to reproduce in your own back yard the circumstances that bring cardinals together in conclaves.

The gathering is normally touched off by a prominent obituary, and you may be able to bribe the editor of your local broadsheet to insert such an item for the price of a reuben sandwich. The obituary is not enough, however: cardinals have certain expectations when they gather in conclaves, and if you do not meet those expectations the cardinals will simply pack up and go home.

Foremost among these expectations is good catering. The St. Louis subspecies may be content with hot dogs and nachos, but most other varieties require daintier fare. A professional caterer will be able to advise you on selections of foodstuffs, but a good basic list would include sunflower seeds, pine nuts, and torta alla Monferrina.

Cardinals also require adequate press coverage for their conclaves, or they will quickly show signs of boredom and soon after depart for some more public location.

Incidentally, the supposed power of the pope to “create” cardinals is the subject of one of the interesting differences between Catholic and Protestant theology. Catholics believe that the Holy Father is ornithologically infallible and can create cardinals at will, whereas Protestants hold that only God has such creative power. (Certain Anglican theologians hold that the pope does have the power to create cardinals, but that such power is territorially limited in extent.) Your backyard bird feeder is thus one of the chief battlegrounds in the great contest between the separated branches of the Christian faith.

It's All Downhill From Here

A little midweek humor, courtesy of Doug Savage.

To the many people to whom I owe responses via email ...

... please bear with me. This big catalog is not exactly eating my soul, but it is eating up any extra time for the fun things in life ... like answering emails.

I promise I will answer. Eventually. :-)

Name Your Favorite Saint, Get a Free Book From Paraclete Press

Today is the day we remember the Saints - that "great cloud of witnesses" whose lives and stories encourage our faith. 

In celebration, we invite you to:

1. Place an order for $30 or more on our website - 
today and tomorrow only - Nov. 1st and 2nd.

2. At checkout in the specified box, tell us:
Who your favorite Saint is AND which Paraclete book about a Saint you would like us to add to your order for FREE. (click here for a list of our books about the Saints!)

Happy All Saints Day!
From all of us at Paraclete Press

Now that's what I call putting your money where your mouth is! Head over to Paraclete Press to take advantage of this saintly bargain.

Weekend Joke

Which is a cartoon this week, from the fabulous Doug Savage who has been in the Halloween spirit for days now.

"Troy make me proud. Be the first black man to make it to the end."

I have never watched the show Community but around 7:30 last night Hannah came through saying, "Isn't 30 Rock on now?" (We tape Bones and can only tape one thing so ... 30 Rock is our one live TV show of the week.)

We rushed back and found that instead we were watching Community's Halloween episode. It was absolutely hilarious. When the person giving the party mistakenly feeds the guests Army biohazard materials thinking it is taco meat, everyone begins turning into zombies.

Hannah likes Community but says this show is a real gem among their episodes. Certainly it was for our household full of sci-fi/pop-culture geeks. Never has switched programming turned out so well for us. They're showing it online and I highly recommend you include it in your holiday viewing this weekend.

Lincoln Memorial Saved from Zombies

... things got deadly serious when the two dozen bloodied, tattered, undead wandered down 23rd St. NW and tried to cross the street to invade the Lincoln Memorial.

"Who is the organizer here?" the U.S. Park Police's Sgt. David Schlosser demanded to know.

He was met by silence; one zombie chewed on her sleeve.

No I'm not kidding. Read it all at The Washington Post. Via the Zombie Parent's Guide.

Gulliver's Travels, Socratic Method, the Interwebs, and That Big "Light Bulb" Moment

I have been interested for some time in the Ignatius Critical Editions series. This interest began when I read Uncle Tom's Cabin and then later was researched the book for reading it aloud on Forgotten Classics. I was intrigued by this description.

The Ignatius Critical Editions represent a tradition-oriented alternative to popular textbook series such as the Norton Critical Editions or Oxford World Classics, and are designed to concentrate on traditional readings of the Classics of world literature. While many modern critical editions have succumbed to the fads of modernism and postmodernism, this series will concentrate on tradition-oriented criticism of these great works.

I was not really sure what "tradition-oriented criticism" meant but I thought it would be interesting to  compare with the other materials I came across. [Turns out they are talking about traditional classical education style materials.] However, I wasn't sufficiently impelled me to pursue a copy at the time because there was so much material to cover for UTC.

I never could shake the series from the back of my mind, however, and recently got the Ignatius edition of Gulliver's Travels because my interest was piqued upon having a discussion on an SFFaudio podcast where one of the participants claimed it was a celebration of existentialism. That was far from my understanding of the book. Satire, yes. But existentialism? I last read Gulliver's Travels when in high school (on my own though, with no deeper understanding than that of enjoyment). This critical edition with several essays and some excellent contextual information seemed just the ticket for revisiting the book with a critical eye as to just what Swift was really talking about. I also got the study guide which looks very interesting at first glance.

This has proven incredibly fruitful from the beginning .... and I admit that I am just getting started by perusing various essays and the study guide. Understanding the context in which Swift wrote is invaluable in having a proper perspective on whether we can trust Gulliver as a narrator. Additionally, without knowing about the real world events with which Swift was in heavy debate, we can't properly understand the four countries that Gulliver visits.

However, it was when reading the Study Guide's introduction, Why a Great Books Study Guide?" that a big light bulb went on for me.

This manner of learning is greatly facilitated when the reader also engages in a dialectic exchange—a live conversation (in person or now online)—with other readers of the same books, probing and discussing the great ideas contained in them and, one hopes, carrying them a few steps further. This method of learning is often referred to as the Socratic method, after the ancient Athenian philosopher Socrates, who initiated its use as a deliberate way to obtain understanding and wisdom through mutual inquiry and discussion. This same "questioning" method was used by Christ,* who often answered questions with other questions, parables, and stories that left the hearers wondering, questioning, and thinking. He already knew the answers, as Socrates often did. The goal was not merely indoctrination of the memory with information, facts, and knowledge, but mind- and life-changing understanding and wisdom.

This may seem blindingly obvious to many but for me, as I said, it was a new idea in terms of my own participation. I suddenly realized that the internet and podcasts especially had plunged me head-first into mind-broadening inquiry through dialogue and considering other's questions or information. A few examples that sprang to mind:

• Heather Ordover at CraftLit is the one who began it all for me with her thoughtful commentary on classics. Heather gives background, thematic information and more, and then plays a few chapters of the classic under discussion in each episode. She is a teacher who loves facilitating conversation with her many listeners. They in turn give plenty of feedback and raise thoughtful questions of their own. Thanks to Heather, I revisited the dreaded Scarlet Letter that high school had ruined for me ... and found it to be good. Very good. Right now, in going through A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain, Heather is raising significant points about satire and the necessity for readers' to remember that the protagonist is not the author and not necessarily trustworthy. These points are especially timely for me as they will weave into my reading of Gulliver's Travels, which is just such a story.
  
• SFFaudio from Scott Danielson and Jesse Willis is a spot where I actively am engaged in Socratic method as I often participate in their "read alongs" where a few people connect via Skype to discuss a book that everyone read. Those who read science fiction know that more likely than not the good reads also are discussing larger issues. They are not afraid to delve deep into themes and how they resonate through life today. In fact, it was a discussion of Mindswap by Robert Sheckley that led me to pursue Gulliver's Travels and the existentialist claim. If that isn't an example of mind broadening, I don't know what is. Plus, their other episodes are just as likely to open larger vistas as they interview audiobook producers, narrators, authors, and anyone else of interest who comes their way.
  
• ChopBard (the cure for boring Shakespeare) from Ehren Ziegler is a newer addition to my podcast listening but I now have a completely new way of thinking about Shakespeare, thanks to Ehren's enthusiasm and practical comments as we proceed act-by-act through these great plays. I have listened to Hamlet and am about halfway through Romeo and Juliet (the play he began the podcast with). First, Ehren provide the context and translation we need in modern times (warning: Romeo and Juliet deserves an R rating if you are reading it right). More importantly, he uses the works themselves to delve deep into people, motivations, and big issues of love, existence, happiness, and suchlike. This necessarily makes listeners ponder and respond, leading again to Socratic method in my own thinking about how this is communicated not only in these great works but in others I have read, and in my life itself.

All this is by way of recommending that you sample the Ignatius Critical Editions, into which I am now digging with even greater enthusiasm. In fact, they have Macbeth available and ChopBard will be covering that after the next play (which will be The Tempest, beginning Oct. 27... hey, that's today! ... c'mon Ignatius, get me something on that play!). These books are the perfect gateway into enjoying classics, whether for the first time or rereading, and having at least one "light bulb" moment on the way.



*I suppose we might also call this the rabbinical method as well as Christ was following that teaching method.

Too Busy to Blog Day

Wait, that isn't a thing.

But I am too busy to blog.

Except I will tell you that Tom and I went to see RED yesterday and found it a delightful romp. Much more of a romantic comedy than we expected. Well, with guns, spies, and things that blowed up real good. So it was fun for all. (Plus Karl Urban. As I said ... fun!).

You know, if I couldn't read books by people whose politics I disagreed with, I'd read almost no science fiction at all ...

On the same day Juan Williams was kicked out, Elizabeth Moon got herself "uninvited" from speaking at 2011 WISCON, a feminist SF con. Why? For the sin of writing that the proposed Islamic center at the 9/11 site is "a rude and tactless thing to propose (and, if carried out, to do.)"

I'm not sure what that has to do with SF or feminism. Although, they labeled her a racist for it. Not sure what that has to do with SF or feminism either.

This isn't that big a surprise actually.

SF writers and fans often are heavily into the liberal side of politics and, I have found, always assume that everybody else thinks just like they do. The religious or conservative fans know who each other are but don't publicize that fact usually to the SF gang at large.

Now we see why.

I have only experienced a little of this, but I know others who are more involved and have sad, sad stories to tell.

Pretty ironic, eh? The group you'd think would be most open minded of all, those dedicated to thinking outside the box for literature, are just like everyone else.

Via Aliens in This World who has a good post on it. Whose links directed me to Instapundit whence I found the link to Moon's writing.