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And Shall We Join The Ladies?
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July 30, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Mr WordPress
Hi, this is a comment.
To delete a comment, just log in, and view the posts’ comments, there you will have the option to edit or delete them.
July 30, 2008 at 7:50 pm
tancos
Nice place you have here.
July 30, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Your Host
Thankee! Welcome aboard!
July 30, 2008 at 9:13 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
You neglected to mention Parkinson’s greatest contribution to humanity, the formulation of the eponymous law that states: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” “Parkinson’s Law” first appeared in the Economist in 1955, then as part of a collection of several pertinent essays, “Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress,” published in 1958. It should be required reading for all gummint workers.
Congratulations on your blog. Johnson’s definition of the lexicographer as a “harmless drudge” applies equally well to us bloggers, I think. I have duly blogrolled you.
BB
July 30, 2008 at 9:54 pm
MCNS
Wonderful name for a site! Please pass the drowned baby and toasted cheese, and don’t stint on the suet. (For what is a blog without suet?) Cheers!
July 31, 2008 at 12:56 am
Don
Let’s see if by logging out of WordPress I can get the comments mechanism to acknowledge my proper identity.
July 31, 2008 at 6:48 am
OldDog
WordPress is very sedutive is it not? Nine digs here!
July 31, 2008 at 11:48 am
The Abbot
I think it is more a case of sharpening the spear than becoming leaner and meaner. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf waxes profound from time to time on the subject of the “Hermeneutic of Continuity” and the “Hermeneutic of Discontinuity.” In my understanding of it, there are folks who believe Vatican II was a rupture with past councils, and those who believe it was a continuation of what the Church has always been. Those who believe in rupture fall into two schools — liberals, who see the rupture as a good thing, and rad-trads, who see the rupture as a bad thing. The Church’s hierarchy in the 1960s and 1970s was influenced a lot by the liberals, but neither JP II nor Benedict XVI fundamentally believed in rupture. They disappoint liberals and rad-trads alike, because they steadfastly hew to the ground that there was no fundamental rupture. The Church is what the church was. If you believe the Holy Spirit oversees Ecumenical councils, as I certainly do, then you will see that there can be no fundamental ruptures, only differences in Emphasis. I read the conciliar documents like Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes and I see nothing that even implies rupture, never mind causes one. I look at things like the Catechism of JP II, the Theology of the Body of JP II, Summorum Pontificum of Benedict XVI and what I see is the Papacy saying to the “rupture” crowd on both sides is “You’re wrong, there is no rupture, there is only the church.” Benedict can recover the Traditional Latin Mass not because he believes Vatican II was invalid, but because he believes there was, at heart, no break with tradition, no matter how much the guitar mass crowd wants to believe there was, or the SSPX regrets that there was.
The Pope is the rudder, gently correcting the mistakes and steering away from the shoals. Because to believe in rupture is to throw out the validity of an ecumenical council, which naturally calls the legitimacy of the whole church into question. JP II and Benedict understand this. Many do not.
July 31, 2008 at 2:41 pm
GroovyVic
Anytime is a good time to dip into the CW again! Take it from me!
July 31, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Valley
I was checking out my brother’s blog, and saw the news (I usually hit the llamas after “shuffly”). Best of luck. I look forward to your thoughts on the faith and other things.
July 31, 2008 at 10:05 pm
The Maximum Leader
Dear God man! Is that a Cruikshank on your masthead?
Couldn’t find a decent Hogarth?
What is the blogosphere coming to.
July 31, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Naked Villainy » Blog Archive » Do Llamas really drink Port?
[...] writes two thoughtful posts (one on the Llamabutchers site and on on The Port Stands at your Elbow) that deserve a bit of reading and thought by bloggers who “share a [...]
August 1, 2008 at 1:27 am
Sister
I couldn’t help thinking that there were some similarities between you and the cat and your new ventures at tpsaye and of course the Tiber crossing. Not that it’s going to end in disaster, mind, only that you are taking some big and maybe scary risks. What the hell, you’re a Catholic now. How many lives does that give you? Ha!
August 1, 2008 at 1:55 am
lumps937
mackeral-slapper? Dude. I always heard it as “mackeral-snapper” so named for the eating of fish on Friday. “Mackeral-slapper” sounds, well, rather like something that would require confession.
BTW, for those those of us out here in blog land that are more than a little confused, what does the title of your blog mean?
August 1, 2008 at 2:16 am
Your Host
Valley – Thankee for your support. (I’ll be sure to wash it out before I return it.) Bu-DUMP-Bu!
Maxie – That’s Rowlandson, Sir, Rowlandson! Cruishank, forsooth!
Lumps – Thankee for the correction. Perhaps I got confused thinking of the Monty Python Fish-Slapping Dance. But remember, I’m still in my first year as an R.C. and am still wearing my pledge beanie. Mistakes are bound to be made.
As for the title of the blog, obviously you are not yet a Patrick O’Brian fan. Get thee to Master and Commander instanter. Once you are well into the series, you’ll twig the title.
August 1, 2008 at 2:50 am
Your Host
Ha, ha – nice catch!
As for the new blog? Meh – even if it never gains more than two or three together followers, I will be content. As for the more important conversion? Oh, I’m feeling pretty durn confident about that one.
See you next week!
August 1, 2008 at 3:30 am
Jay Stribling
Catton is good but Shelby Foote is better for battles in the west, I think.
August 1, 2008 at 1:01 pm
The Abbot
Yes!
“Do you exshpect me to talk, Sharuman?”
“No, Mr. Dwarf, I expect you to die!”
August 1, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Your Host
Jay, good point. I was thinking more of Catton’s bio of Grant than a theater-specific focus.
August 1, 2008 at 6:37 pm
GroovyVic
Oh. Is THAT what that smell was?
Ha ha ha ha ha ha HAW!!!
August 1, 2008 at 9:06 pm
The Abbot
This is my long weekend in Maine, actually — am in York right now with the mrs., headed out for steamers and lobsters shortly.
August 1, 2008 at 9:40 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
I thought that was York, it sure looked familiar. I’ll be in Ogunquit next week. Have a swell time!
August 2, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Monica
…’k, Tom, we get you’re an Anglophile, but do ya hafta go spellin’ things their way? Better start scratching and belching before we all start wondering if you’ve gone all pooftah on us.
August 3, 2008 at 12:42 am
phineas g.
Drop me a line when you get ready to discuss the decorations around here.
Oh and happy house warming, or something. I’ll try not to pee in the corner like I did at the LLama’s compound. Still don’t smell right………
August 4, 2008 at 2:27 pm
MCNS
Great picture! And I hope the Webkinz enjoyed the game.
August 4, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Your Host
Sigh…. It was “Webkinz” day with some kind of tie-in going to the National Zoo panda research. My suggestion that, as the gels already have so many Webkinz already, it would be nice to give these up to somebody else who might like them fell on utterly deaf ears.
August 4, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Your Host
Heh. I’ll see what I can do.
BTW, I’ve been waiting nearly five years for somebody to ask me why I refer to myself as “Tom” on the blog. Sooner or later, somebody is going to give in.
August 4, 2008 at 6:22 pm
ScurvyOaks
Le petit mort est devenu le grand mort.
August 4, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Your Host
Well played, Sir.
If I’d only taken French in school like my mother said I should, I’d have been able to come up with a nifty like that, too.
August 4, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Oh, if only the same fate would befall Episcopalian priestesses and bishops…
August 4, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Mrs. Peperium
I don’t know. The dog and I get along well. But then its been said I have a way with beasts…
August 4, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Your Host
Oh, there you are, Mrs. P! Did you know that your email thingummy isn’t taking messages from me?
August 4, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Mrs. Peperium
My, what intelligent email I have…
I’ll send you one with my ultra exclusive address.
August 4, 2008 at 8:59 pm
GroovyVic
I hope you, at least, didn’t wreck your vehicle on the way to the game.
Nice looking gang.
August 5, 2008 at 12:10 am
Mr. Peperium
Prepare yourself, Robert…or is it still Robbo here?…our old Piskie church has retained us as members to this day–still hit us up for funds, still ask us to attend their gala antiques benefit in aide of left-handed Serbo-Croatian Lesbians–or was it the Unshorn Sisters of the Apocalypse?–anyhoo, in our neck of the woods they settle for a name on a list these days…a warm body is an unexpected perk. Reminds one of the quaint intricacies of the 1960 Presidential election, no?
As for mackerel-slapping, I’ve been one since I honeymooned on the hill overlooking Mackerel Cove. Came very naturally.
August 5, 2008 at 12:20 am
Mr. Peperium
Yes, Catton’s continuation of Lloyd Lewis’ bio is a joy. True, his prose can run a tad purple at times (especially in his history of the Army of the Potomac). But his tone is always that of the non-professional historian just telling a great story. Pages fly by without you even noticing. Recently Geoffrey Perret went overboard by claiming Grant was the most remarkable man of the 19th Century–in the top 10, but not the hands-down winner–but I’ve always found inspiration in his life. The only book on Grant that’s better that the Lewis/Catton effort is the man’s own autobiography. A book admired by, of all people, Gertrude Stein.
Pap Thomas is one of my quiet heroes. Stayed loyal to the Union and suffered the consequences ever after–mistrusted by the Northern high command for his Southern roots and disowned by his Virginia family for his soldierly loyalty to the government he has sworn to defend.
August 5, 2008 at 2:47 am
The Bovina Bloviator
Interesting your disparate reactions to the scores of Lawrence and <Zhivago: they were both composed by Maurice Jarre (but perhaps you already knew that).
August 5, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Your Host
I knew that the same fellah had done both but was too lazy to look up his name. But there you go – one man, two scores. Like the first, can’t stand the second.
August 5, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Your Host
I’ve got Grant’s memoirs, too. When I go through my Civil War cycle, I generally read it in close conjunction with the Catton books.
August 5, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Basil Seal
Robbo, The film adaptation is what one would expect when one has to adapt 12 novels and 400 characters into 8 hours of television. The production values are high as one would expect from British television and the casting and acting are first rate, except for the use of different actors for Jenkins as he ages instead of using aging make up etc. There were some scenes dramatized in the film which took place off stage in the books and the chronology is changed somewhat in the film version. Due to the scope of the novels, the film seems more an abridgment than an adaptation in some respects. The film falters in the last reel, but then again, so did the books. Powell just didn’t do the Sixties…Not as good as the Brideshead adaptation, but then, what is? If you have read the books, it is worth a look. Simon Russell-Beale’s Widmerpool is quite amazing.
August 5, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Did I ever tell you when I was a kid this steamboat’s predecessor used to dock at Steamboat wharf before it went into the sea during one of the hurricane’s of the 70’s and we used to set up shop with seashell creations made by ‘children of maine lobstermen”? That is how we signed them. And, what may be even worse is that we spoke in Maine accents and talked of going to school inland and what time our dad’s had to get up to go fishing etal as they scooped up our wares… We even let them take our photos….
After the boat departed, we hit the general store for a penny candy run and the gas station for new fishing lures and then went fishing. Our nights were employed at the dining room tables making new crafts for the next boatload of daytrippers….a constant source of ready money for us….
August 5, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Your Host
Sort of a Down East version of little Samoans pulling the legs of boatloads of Margaret Meads, eh?
I hope you have made suitable penance since then…..
August 5, 2008 at 9:04 pm
The Gels Of Summah « The Port Stands At Your Elbow
[...] from Christian Schneider at Atomic Trousers that I thought worth sharing, especially in light of my own gels’ burgeoning baseball fanaticism: Okay, real quick story from this weekend that demonstrates what a [...]
August 5, 2008 at 9:18 pm
MCNS
Robbo, what day are you going? We’re thinking of taking in a Sea Dogs game ourselves next week.
I told my daughter about their giving out Webkinz at the Nats game, and how you had suggested your kids leave them for others who might not have any. “They didn’t leave them!?” she asked incredulously.
August 5, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Your Host
Well, we haven’t firmed that up yet, but I would guess Thursday, as it’s the only afternoon game while we’re around.
August 6, 2008 at 1:40 am
The Abbot
Connery voice: “I know thish book. Your conclushions are all wrong, Friend. Hood acted shtupidly.”
August 6, 2008 at 2:11 am
ChrisN
I am the proud owner of a 1/8 share of season tickets (sec 217) at the new park. I happen to like it a lot. I agree that it is not archetecturally distinctive in any way. However, the sight lines are excellent, the concessions and restrooms are convenient to the stands, and within a few years the neighborhood will provide excellent outside-the-stadium dining and entertainment options.
I have two minor quibbles. (1) There isn’t a view of the Capitol from the lower and club levels. Many of my friends like to blame the Lerners for putting up the parking decks, but the fact is that the (inevitable) office buildings on Half St. have an even more significant effect on the view. (2) The concourses in the club level are too narrow (admittedly, this is an issue on which few average fans will have any sympathy with me).
Of course, I wish the stadium had been built in one of the two Arlington sites that were proposed (Pentagon City, or across Route 50 from the Marine Corps War Memorial, where the view of the Mall would have been spectacular). But I knew all along that the People’s Republic of Arlington would never permit such a thing.
August 6, 2008 at 7:48 am
stillers
http://www.bushyrunbattlefield.com/WelcomePage.html
Your link to Bushy Run Battlefield didn’t work. Try this one. I grew up in the “wilds” of Western PA. Its still quite rural for the most part.
August 6, 2008 at 11:52 am
GroovyVic
Robbo…I’ve been there! It has to be one of the most well preserved and beautiful battlegrounds I’ve seen. Awesome Visitor Center as well.
Plus, it’s not far from where I live…
August 6, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Your Host
You, Sir, are starting to get obsessive. I thought you were going to work something in about, “One ping only, pleashe.”
August 6, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Your Host
Thankee, Sir Basil. I certainly shall toss it into the queue once I’ve finished the books.
August 6, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Good baseball news here in the Valley of Virginia is that The Valley League–a college, wooden-bat league like the venerable Cape Cod League–is establishing a team here in Lexington, the Rockbridge Rapids. The team will play at Wasington and Lee’s field.
August 6, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Your Host
ODT – Good news, indeed. They should have gone for uber-geek credits with the mascot by calling themselves the Rockbridge Artillery!
August 6, 2008 at 7:07 pm
ScurvyOaks
Hood was a very fine brigade commander (I may be partial because my great-great grandfather served in the 5th Texas Infantry under Hood) but was promoted far above his level of ability. Atlanta would certainly have fallen to Sherman, but Hood’s rash actions accelerated that outcome considerably.
August 6, 2008 at 9:18 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
I trust you’re familiar with the invaluable Mass Times website.
August 7, 2008 at 2:06 am
The Bovina Bloviator
Ugh! Pre-Raphaelites.
August 7, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Mrs. Peperium
That’s not art! Gesh…
August 7, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Old Dominion Tory
I dislike countering my frequent hostess. However, despite the absence of fresh fruit, it most certainly is art–at least as the RCBfA sees it.
August 7, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Old Dominion Tory
I daresay that, in retrospect, the Eastern Indians found the French presence to much less burdensome than that of the British and the Americans.
By the way, another splendid Robert Griffing print is of Montcalm meeting with his Indian allies near Fort William Henry. A New York-based artist, Len Tantillo, also has some excellent prints related to the Colonial era, to include one of St. Isaac Jogues.
August 7, 2008 at 1:28 pm
basilseal
Who needs fresh fruit when one has fresh Water-Nymphs? Grade A RCBfA approved art…Good eye Robbo!
August 7, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Robbo
Absence of fresh fruit? What about all those melons?
August 7, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Melons? You mean tangerines….
August 7, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Robbo
I’ve always felt that the tangerine is a very refreshing fruit.
August 7, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Robbo, why have a tangerine when you can have a honeydew?
August 7, 2008 at 2:40 pm
MCNS
Love me, love my honeydews.
http://www.muzetunes.com/playback.asx?c=2bvZuWDW6LavaQnF6WaNjDVLYHYNSGWLH6O5ci2G878=&f=B
August 7, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Dan
The Seadogs are a lovely take. Enjoy!
August 7, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Enjoy yourself, Robbo. According to various news accounts, Maine lobsters are relatively inexpensive this summer. So, ask Mrs. Peperium for her lobster salad recipe before you leave. It is delicious.
August 7, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Robbo
Oh, I like my fruit hand-sized.
August 7, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Robbo, my mom may be arriving on on the island on Sunday. If there’s a Connecticut car in the drive, stop by…
August 7, 2008 at 8:28 pm
The Abbot
My price experience: 1lb lobster, about $19.99, a 1 1/4 lb. lobster was $23.99. They were quite tasty.
August 8, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Why all this talk about produce? I thought we’re talking about art.
August 8, 2008 at 3:08 pm
MCNS
ODT, you know as a member of RCBfA that good art ideally involves (or evokes) fruit. Pondering Pre-Raphaelite water nymphs naturally leads one’s thoughts to the Cucurbitaceae family.
August 8, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Ah, I see. Thanks for the assist.
August 14, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Kelly
Dude, how many blogs do you have? Does Uncle Sam know about all your moonlighting?
August 19, 2008 at 11:47 am
The Abbot
Robbo,
I was disappointed, but mainly because you didn’t get to meet Mrs. C., and that she didn’t get to meet one of my “imaginary friends.” (And this jibe, despite the fact that she often drinks her coffee from an official Llamabutchers mug).
But no matter, we will make up for it in the future.
Your mass experiences in Maine were similar to mine. I wonder what happens when our parents generation shuffles off this mortal coil (and I do mean “shuffle”); I’m suspecting that the Church will look like it did in about A.D. 800 — pockets of Christians gathering to meet in a sea of barbarians, whole nations given over to the worship of idols. I may have to become a deacon at that point, only because no one else will be around to preach the faith.
August 19, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Robbo
Well, the Missus and I talked it over during the drive and decided that next time we were going to make a point of spending some hours in the area to take in the historickal sights – that way we should be able to meet up without all that dangerous mucking about with traffic probabilities.***
BTW, I did meet Mrs. Elk, and got the distinct impression that she still thinks I’m an imaginary being.
***Bonus points for spotting the semi-quote.
August 19, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Monica
I’ve become quite alarmed at the number of congregants who join hands and raise them; or hold their own hands akimbo, palms up, like they’re waiting for you to pass the salt. I’d say at least 25 percent of folks do this (I can see ‘em all from the choir loft). I can’t help feeling like this activity belongs to the bible-thumpy, non-denominational crowd, so I can’t figgah how it seeped in so well. Perhaps it did while everyone was busy singing “Be Not Afraid” and “On Eagle’s Wings.” Pheh.
I just attended a funeral that was chock-a-block with pop hymns. It made me want to revise the will to indicate no singing by the “house” at my funeral…hire a singer or cantor. This was such a sad funeral, I (and everyone else, I reckon) could barely squeak out the tunes. Don’t make sad people sing. ‘Nuff said.
August 19, 2008 at 5:52 pm
GroovyVic
Huh, well, Robbo, so much for the music and surroundings…did you hear The Word? You know, what you were there for in the first place?
And, while I do not like to hold hands with anyone else, I will, when I’m moved by the Spirit, raise my hands.
Too Bible-thumpy, I’m sure.
August 19, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Mrs. Peperium
If I had been standing next to you, would you have held my hand?
Next year, we have two options (provided we’re upi there at the same time which is what your mother wants, I might add)
1. We can make cheat sheets. Have all the responses and hymns typed out in Latin and respond accordingly. I’ll wear a mantilla too…and a high necked Maine potato sack….
2. Invite Father M to join us on the island. He can bunk with me. And we can have Mass on our porch right next to the Episcopalians.
Are you still having email troubles with me?
August 19, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Mrs. Peperium
If I had been seated next to you, would you have held my hand?
Next year we have two options before us, provided we are up there at the same time -which you’re mother wants I might add.
1. We make cheat sheets. Type out all the responses and hymns in Latin and respond properly at the proper times. I’ll wear a mantilla and a high-necked Maine potato sack too.
2. Invite Father M. to join us on vacation. He can bunk with me. That way, he can say Mass for us, down on the rocks -by our house- while the lobsters are boiling away in the lobsterbake we’ve prepared. When Mass is over, dinner is served.
Are you still having email difficulties with me? You’re not in my spam filter.
August 19, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Robbo:
Alas and alack, this strange custom of hand-holding during The Lord’s Prayer exists at my humble parish in The Valley of Virginia. Anyone coming in at that time might think the parish is having a hoe-down instead of celebrating Mass. Demmed rum, if you ask me.
As to the music, our parish’s is inflicted on us by a woman of a certain age who resolutely adheres to some of the most treacly stuff imaginable. She also leaves perfectly servicable Pslams by the wayside and, this summer, adopted a Gospel acclamation that always reminds me of the church scene in “The Blues Brothers.”
Still, soldier on. I recall that an English convert’s (might have been Evelyn Waugh) said to anyone considering converting to The Faith, “Please do so. It’s terrible.” Apparently, he meant to communicate the reality that the potential convert would find the same range of human foibles, bad preaching, and dismal music in a Catholic parish as he would in the established church, but that the convert would find the True Faith–to include meeting Our Lord in the Eucharist–nevertheless.
August 19, 2008 at 9:33 pm
volsfan
Vicky, you’re like the voice in my head that tells me to lighten up. I too often find myself getting really ticked off when I see, from my perch, people arriving in their Sunday best flip-flops, camisoles, and cargo shorts. Then I get all harumph-y about the pop hymns. I do try to tell myself that “self, at least they’re here, and whadda you know anyway about their love of God?”
But I confess we hates it. After all, we have a Pope who has been pretty clear about the direction he’d like to see liturgical musick take, and it seems like no one’s listening over here. And, come to think of it, while dress code may not be a hill I want to die on, musick (chant & traditional sacred music) just might be.
Relativism is a fine line. Indeed I don’t know what’s in everyone’s heart, but I’m uncomfortable with the “if it makes them feel closer to God, than it’s a good thing.” I recognize that perhaps this orthodoxy is more my loss than theirs. The dudes in cargo shorts aren’t grinding their teeth, after all.
August 20, 2008 at 12:22 am
Mrs. Peperium
Hey, if I was sitting next to you in the pew, would you hold my hand?
Ok, next year, if we are up there at the same time which is what your mother desires, we have but two options.
1. Make cheat sheets. Write out on cocktail napkins all the responses and hymns in Latin. Then act accordingly. I’ll wear a mantilla, flats, and a high necked burlap Maine potato sack just to ring home the over 45 Amish Catholic look….
2. Invite Father M. to join us on holiday. (He can bunk with me.) On Sunday, you and I can go down to the cove in front of our house where my family’s burn marks of the last 97 summers are still evident in the rocks (naturally) and we can prepare a lobster bake while Father M dresses in his Sunday best, literally. Then when he’s ready, he strolls down with all the rest of the Catholics in our entourage and says Mass for us. We’ll time it so the lobsters are concluded when the Mass is. Pop the bubbly as it’s dinner time….
August 20, 2008 at 2:15 am
Robbo
My dear Mrs. P, I ask you – if permitted to hold your hand, do you really think I would be in any state to properly receive Communion? Vade retro, indeed!
As to your options, I fear that you would not like my response to the first: out of shear perversity, I still cling to my classical pronunciations, and I fear that after my first few hard “k”’s and “w”’s for “v”’s, you would probably bean me with a piece of driftwood. As for the second, I suppose it rayther depends on the size of the flock and the speed of Father M’s delivery: At what point does the designated acolyte start the doings? During the Agnus Dei? Or perhaps, if the flock is larger, at a wink and a nod during the Homily?
August 20, 2008 at 11:32 am
The Abbot
We had, despite the latest guidance from the Congregation for Divine Worship,
http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2008/08/rome-ixnay-on-yahweh.html
one of the St. Louis Jesuits’ “Yahweh” hymns this Sunday. It wasn’t our usual music director, but his backup on acoustic guitar (naturally). Guess he didn’t get the memo. I substituted “the Lord” for Yahweh; got a few strange looks, but held firm to the principle of “Roma locuta est, causa finita est.”
August 20, 2008 at 12:33 pm
GroovyVic
I suppose if I was Catholic I’d be ticked too, but I’m not…so…..but I don’t wear flip-flops or hold hands with anyone, and I’ve gone to churches that meet in restaurant dining rooms…
I, at first, did not like the contemporary Christian music, but I got over that, but then again, not Catholic….
I don’t get freaked out over people raising their hands, but that speaking in tongues thing, now that gives me the heebie jeebies.
August 20, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Robbo
And what about snakes? Why did it have to be snakes?
Of course Vic is perfectly right in her original observation about the point of it all, one that I remind myself of when I catch myself grumping during the service.
August 20, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I Can Explain « Fiddle Dee Dee
[...] Can Explain Jump to Comments So, Robbo blogged a bit about going to church while he was on vacation, and I’m afraid I jumped on my spiritual high [...]
August 20, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Monica
I do like Christian pop and rock (Caedmon’s Call is a favorite), but I play it at home. At church, I like chant and traditional sacred music. “Pomp” and “ceremony” have really become dirty words, and people make fun of the brocade and candles and whatnot. Now it’s spun as rather foppish. I think we’ve lost the feeling for what Ceremony can do for us and our approach to glorifying God.
But I still don’t want singing at my funeral!
August 20, 2008 at 2:26 pm
MCNS
Robbo, good to see you at the ballpark the other night!
I asked Mrs Elk and her theory, that is hers, is that you do indeed exist. Of course, everyone in our family believes in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, too.
August 20, 2008 at 3:30 pm
MCNS
Robbo & Mrs P ~
If you were still Piskies you could have something like this:
http://www.stcross.org/photos/beachmass/beachmass0014.jpg
August 20, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Hey Elk, when did Martina Navratilova get the dog collar?
Nice touch with the Happy Meal bags holding the pita bread and the Paul Masson carafe holding the grape juice…I bet the presiding surfer chick (who is really more of a chuck) just said “Behold the cowabunga of the Lord.”
August 20, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Since we’re going existential here, if Robbo exists, does this mean I exist?
August 20, 2008 at 5:01 pm
MCNS
Robbito ergo sum.
August 20, 2008 at 5:05 pm
MCNS
Or for those of you following along in Latin:
Hoc est enim Cowabunga meum.
August 20, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Ah, the old “I drink, therefore I am.” wheeze….well, I drink…
August 20, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Old Dominion Tory
In the immortal words of Ted Kennedy, “Make mine a double!”
August 20, 2008 at 8:40 pm
basilseal
What’s all this about drinks? Where and when and I’ll handle the how…
August 21, 2008 at 2:34 am
Valley
Even up here in the frontier country of North Pole, Alaska, every Sunday I have to politely turn down the proffered hands, plus make sure that my children keep their hands to themselves too. Our parish is, appropriately enough, St. Nicholas
Then we have the “run all over church and see everyone you can” Sign of Peace. Then I accept the offered hands, however I rarely offer my own.
Then right before the final prayer the Priest says, we sit down, applaud for the visitors to our fair state, who all look like fish out of water when Father zeroes in on them. After that we have our “items of interest or good news”, such as “I lost a tooth last night”, or “My third cousin 10x removed is coming to visit for a night”.
When visiting my parents on Warrenton last month, I was pleasantly surprised that there was no holding hands and was a visibly devout parish.
August 21, 2008 at 1:47 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
But I still don’t want singing at my funeral!
I guess you’re right, Monica, and I am leaving instructions a traditional Latin Requiem (if at all possible) be celebrated at my funeral. Still, this recovering Episcopalian wishes there were some way, at some point in it, href=”http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/j/j012.html”>”Jerusalem the Golden” (Ewing) could be lustily sung by the congregation. It doesn’t seem doable, however. Ah well, perhaps people can hum it softly to themselves as they file out of the church.
August 21, 2008 at 2:51 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Robbo, mind if I have another crack at it?
I guess you’re right, Monica, and I am leaving instructions a traditional Latin Requiem (if at all possible) be celebrated at my funeral. Still, this recovering Episcopalian wishes there were some way, at some point in it, ”Jerusalem the Golden” (Ewing) could be lustily sung by the congregation. It doesn’t seem doable, however. Ah well, perhaps people can hum it softly to themselves as they file out of the church.
August 22, 2008 at 12:38 am
Mrs. Peperium
Well, I’m no military man nor am I am expert at tailoring terms, but I am an expert at greatcoats. Seriously. Greatcoats are the greatest thing known to woman, in fact. Really. I would assume that shot-at-dawn cut has far more to do with woman’s fancy than some *yawn* court martial or military thingummy.
August 22, 2008 at 1:15 am
Little Gidding
The 1. holding hands thing at the Lord’s Prayer, raising them up, then lowering them, 2. Fitful attempts to mimic the orans posture of the priest when the congregation replies “And also with you,” and 3. the running around hugging everyone at the Peace, all go together in my mind. In my experience, they’re all over the country, although obviously not in every parish. I’d like to know where they came from. Someone once said they migrated in from the twelve-step program via the “De Colores” programs. Does anyone know, as a matter of historical curiosity?
On a related note, the egregious abuses of glassware on the altar and liturgical dance–and even the bit about introjecting the “let’s-make-the-strangers-stand-up-and-introduce-themselves-and-give-them-applause”–these are all remarkably consistent and rigidly adhered to around the country (in the parishes where they occur), so I have always failed to understand how anyone could believe that they were expressions of freedom and personal authenticity, even if that was what they thought the Mass should be all about, so I’d really like to know who it was (and is?) that is writing the memos encoding these things–or however it’s being disseminated, because it surely is not arising spontaneously.
August 22, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Robbo
Well, Mrs. P, if put in those terms, who exactly would a woman fancy shot at dawn?
I am minded of a memory from col. Early one Saturday morning as I made my way down to the boathouse for crew practice, I saw a young lady emerging from the DKE house on High Street. She slammed the door and literally stamped her feet in rage. After emitting a high-pitched, “Ohhhhh!” she stormed off – presumedly in the direction of home. Off the stage, nowhere else have I ever seen such a display.
The young lady was not wearing a greatcoat, S-A-D in cut or otherwise, as the weather was fairly clement, but she certainly seemed amenable to forming up a firing squad.
August 22, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Mrs. Peperium
What makes the greatcoat great for women…
“But the merit of the curricle did not all belong to the horses; Henry drove so well – so quietly – without making any disturbance, without parading to her, or swearing at them: so different from the only gentleman-coachman whom it was in her power to compare him with! And then his hat sat so well, and the innumerable capes of his greatcoat looked so becomingly important! ”
In some circles it is thought that the men who wear a greatcoat well need to be shot at dawn to protect women’s virtue…
August 22, 2008 at 7:58 pm
ScurvyOaks
I agree with you completely. A Friday afternoon time waster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcyjIER7vLI
It’s the Don Giovanni Cage Match: Fin ch’han dal vino Sing-off:
“Nine great Don Giovannis sing the famous Champagne aria. Only one will emerge victorious…
In chronological order:
1. Ezio Pinza, cond. Bruno Walter 1942 (live)
2. Tito Gobbi, cond. Wilhelm Furtwängler, 1950 (live)
3. Cesare Siepi, cond. Wilhelm Furtwängler, 1954
4. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, cond. Ferenc Fricsay, 1959
5. Nicolai Ghiaurov, cond. Carlo Maria Giulini, 1970 (live)
6. Samuel Ramey, cond. Herbert von Karajan, 1987 (live)
7. Thomas Hampson, cond. Nikolaus Harnoncourt, 1989
8. Håkan Hagegård, cond. Arnold Östman, 1990
9. Bo Skovhus, cond. Michael Halasz, 2000″
August 22, 2008 at 11:33 pm
GroovyVic
Damn, I think my husband’s attitude about female apparel must have rubbed off on you during lunch.
August 23, 2008 at 1:49 am
Robbo
Oh, well done, Scurvy!
This particular aria has always struck me as a trap laid by Gangerl: in most of the performances I’ve heard, the Don either tries to rush it and fails, or else proceeds so slowly as to take away the necessary vivacity. My notes on the Sing-Off are as follows:
1. The technical limitations of the recording make it difficult to judge fairly.
2. Too slow.
3. Too low and mushy – not what I would consider a Mozartian voice and orchestra. (Well, it’s Furtwangler – what the hell do you expect?)
4. Very good tempo and execution.
5. Good. A bit rushed. So-so acting.
6. A bit slow and surprisingly unemotional.
7. Very fast, but still in control. Good acting.
8. Good. Clear, even though very fast.
9. A bit slower, but pretty good acting.
When I was a kid, my recording of Don G. was the one led by Georg Solti and the London Philharmonic. Bernd Weikl was the Don, and while I thought he did a very good job elsewhere, I always thought this particular aria got away from him a bit.
The fellah I have yet to see perform in this role is Rodney Gilfry. (Here is a link to a YouTube of him doing this aria: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/rodney-gilfry-fin-ch-han-dal-vino-don-giovanni-1994/2211174838.) I have him doing Almaviva in the J. E. Gardiner vid of Le Nozzi di Figaro and think him excellent, and believe that he has just the right combination of charm, style and latent brutal strength to make an excellent Don G.
August 23, 2008 at 2:09 pm
beth
Do they have a matching men’s headdress? Cause *that* would make a lovely picture floating down the Potomac.
August 23, 2008 at 3:54 pm
MCNS
Must have been that Village People act at Hadlock Field!
August 23, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Robbo
Alas, the Missus would, as I say, be dem fetching. However, were I to wear a rig like that, the entire Potomac valley would be filled with a gigantic Nelson Munz “HA, ha!”
Mr. Elk – Could you see the policeman at the front coming apart during that guy’s first appearance? It was extremely funny and at the same time kind of creepy.
August 23, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Kathy
Being the daughter of a seamstress, I would suspect that it has something to do with how one would have to sew the seams of a coat made of such heavy wool. I’ve seen a couple of greatcoats at the Salvation Army and the like, back in the day, and they’re monstrously heavy, due to the thickness of the wool needed to withstand all types of inclement weather and prolonged use. Standard issue WWII-era wool being thicker and heartier than the types available nowadays. I can tell you that you would need a heavier, more substantial, type of needle to sew this type of wool, which is, roughly, as thick as some types of leather, not to mention heavier thread. As such, the seaming would not only lend itself to a more-military type of fit, but would also stand-up more, just because of how it was sewn.
But that’s not nearly as poetic as Mrs. P’s explanation.
August 23, 2008 at 11:35 pm
basilseal
My Dear Robbo, please ignore Mrs. P, you know I do…In this instance please keep in mind that British Officer uniforms were bespoke, or cut specifically for a certain person. They were form fitting and could be re-cut as the man put on weight, etc. Same with a suit. They were custom made by the gentleman’s tailor. In this story Nick is buying a used coat, one that was “cut” for someone else. His reference to a “shot-at dawn” cut means that it is not a very good fit and does not drape well. Picture if you will the standard image of the firing squad with the hapless Tommy standing blindfolded with a large unbuttoned greatcoat hanging about him…Thus you can see the “shot-at dawn” allusion used by Powell here. Cut refers to the cutter marking the measurements and style along with other considerations such as the way one stands on the cloth with chalk and then cutting them out. The cutter is a skilled craftsman who really shapes your suit although you will probably never meet him.
August 24, 2008 at 11:22 pm
The Abbot
There is a reason the church blesses real objects; it is because Christ came to sanctify and hallow all of creation. Physical sacramentals are signs of that hallowing, but like all true signs that point to the Christ, they are signs that are more than signs; symbols which contain realities. Things can indeed be hallowed. Paul’s handkerchief was used to treat demoniacs and to heal the sick; not because the handkerchief was magic but because it was a sign of Paul’s faith, hallowed for a purpose. As with so many things, those things which are often accused of being medieval superstitions are indeed rooted in Scripture (cf. Acts 19:11-12). Much of this is forgotten by the modern church, but my 1945 edition of the Rituale Romanum has an entire volume (480 pages, half English, half Latin)dedicated to the blessings of persons, animals, and objects both sacred and common. Blessing of large and small crosses? Check. Blessings of stables and electric dynamos? Check. Signs that are more than signs. Signs that are indicative of deeper realities.
Weird? Oh, indeed. But if we believe the universe was created by Him ex nihilo, what could possibly be impossible?
August 25, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Mrs. Peperium
“It strikes me that these poet Johnnies know a thing or two.”
Yes they do. And now you know why I married one.
August 25, 2008 at 2:26 pm
basilseal
My Dear Robbo, in case you were unaware, that poem is on the wall of the smoking room at the RCBfA Club, in gold leaf, near the Louise Brooks collage…Look the next time you’re there. Which reminds me that there are a few ladies of my acquaintance that I knew before they were virgins. Funny, that…Good eye for art and literature, as always…I’m sure Adonis will Tame her Shrew.
August 25, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Kathy
That’s marvelous, Robbo. I’m glad it’s found a place in all of your lives.
Thankee for the linkie, as well.
August 25, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Old Dominion Tory
That image is a splendid marriage of the athletic and the artistic. Puts me in the mood for a Saint Tammany cocktail. Now, where did I put that walrus tusk?
August 25, 2008 at 5:41 pm
ScurvyOaks
Glad you enjoyed it, Robbo. You’re right that tempo is very tricky. (As one of the youtube commenters put it, I hope Hampson made it to the men’s room.) All in, I think I like 4 and 5 the best of those.
And thanks for the link to Gilfry, who sounds great. I should get that Figaro video.
I didn’t really come across Don G. until senior year of college. (Growing up, I had decided I didn’t like opera because the Puccini and Verdi that my dad listened to held no appeal for me at all.) I got to know Don G. listening to Thomas Allen as the Don with Haitink conducting at Glyndebourne: http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Giovanni-Allen-Vaness-Haitink/dp/B000002RMT/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1219685048&sr=1-6
So Allen is still in many ways what Don G. is supposed to sound like, to my ears.
August 25, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Horses have such great ass*s.
August 26, 2008 at 11:54 am
The Abbot
Similar in theme and substance to Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_His_Coy_Mistress
Wonder who was copying whom. I’m guessing Marvell was ripping off Herrick.
August 26, 2008 at 11:58 am
Monica
I got a-tingly just reading this! And I just turned the laptop around to (non-denominational) husband with a “Ha! So there!” so he could read Abbot’s comment. Maybe he’ll stop muttering about idol worship for a while.
August 26, 2008 at 5:24 pm
beth
If the HSET can’t find ways to make Dickens, Shakespeare, and Faulkner (among others, but those are the easy ones!) relevant to her students, then perhaps it’s time to retire. Seriously, each one of those authors addressed problems that are still alive and well today — which is, of course, what pushes them into the category of classic literature.
As for laments 2 and 3, well…reference previous comments about perhaps being time to retire. Honestly, to some degree it sounds as if the HSET is simply too lazy to refine her choice of teaching methods and look for ways to point out similarities between people today and the people written about by said classic authors.
While kids may not fall in love instantly with every classic they’re forced to read, there is liable to be one gem among the hundreds that speaks to each – and they’ll never find it if they’re not made to read them.
Beyond that…when did teaching become a popularity contest?
August 26, 2008 at 6:23 pm
american fez
why do the soldiers in medieval paintings always look like edie sedgewick?
August 26, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Sarah G.
I’ve always loved Stubbs. He really understood the structure and form of animals most notably horses.
August 26, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Naked Villainy » Blog Archive » Superficially profound
[...] August 26th, 2008 Superficially profound Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was thinking as he read the lastest post on the Battle of Crecy over on Robbo’s blog… [...]
August 26, 2008 at 10:59 pm
The Maximum Leader
Mmmm… Sedgewick pie…
Oh… Not that type of pie…
August 27, 2008 at 1:51 pm
lumps937
I truly hope you chose wisely on the service plan you bought. The killer will be the text messages. One of my buddies bought a cell phone for his 11 year old and a tad annoyed when the first month’s bill included $300 for text messages. It seems his plan caused him to pay for each message, sent or received, from the phone. He was not pleased paying for such in-depth intellectual discussions as “where you at?” and the de rigure “OMG.”
The Young Master, who has had a phone since he was ten, doesn’t even bother to keep it charged. Blessed, I am.
August 27, 2008 at 2:01 pm
lumps937
I didn’t bother to read the original article, mostly because angsty english teachers make my skin crawl. Perhaps the problem is that the teacher isn’t sufficiently emphasizing why the Great Books are studied, as you pointed out. Kids are more willing to put up with stuff if they know why.
The Young Master has been exposed to classics since he was young (he particularly enjoyed Hamlet) and his school starts teaching some Shakesphere in 5th grade. My wife has helped a friend of hers who teaches 8th grade at another school with Shakesphere appreciation from a performance aspect, and why those old words reflect the same concerns the kids have today. Classics can be taught, without dumbing them down, but it takes effort.
BTW, the Young Master starts Gilgamesh today (7th grade) and will get to Beowulf sometime this year.
August 27, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Those stockings are all wrong. Gesh. Every devout Roman Catholic, particularly the Amish variety, knows that nun should be wearing fishnets as a sign of her profound respect of and devotion to the See of Peter. You know, that whole fisher of men thingummy.
August 27, 2008 at 8:21 pm
The Maximum Leader
Okay Mrs P. That comment cracked me up.
August 27, 2008 at 8:22 pm
MCNS
Mrs P, remember those Catholic Amish costumes for kids that enable little Johnny to dress up like his favorite martyr? Well the biz appears to have taken off. They now have lots of costumes for adults — a number of them on clearance — and they even carry stage coagulated blood in case you’re going as Padre Pio for Halloween.
Robbo, bring home some of these costumes for the kids. Mrs Llama will really go for them, without a doubt.
August 27, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Robbo
My six year old would be all over the “Lily of the Mohawks” rig, but only if we let her carry a tomahawk, too.
I could probably sneak a couple others past the Mrs. if I claimed they were LOTR costumes: St. Bridget is close enough to Arwen and Our Lady of Guadalupe could pass as Galadriel.
Amish fishnets? Who’d a thunk it!
August 28, 2008 at 7:59 am
stillers
Jenna Jameson is also pregnant. For some reason, a movie comes to mind; The Thing.
August 28, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Mrs. Peperium
She’s just old-fashioned. Only an old-fashioned socialist won’t get married without a ring but will have a son without one.
August 28, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Robbo
Ah, tradition!
August 28, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Lynellen
I really need a new planet to live on.
August 28, 2008 at 7:23 pm
ScurvyOaks
Camiile Paglia has said it so well:
“Supporters of the arts who gleefully cheer when a religious symbol is maltreated act as if that response authenticates their avant-garde credentials. But here’s the bad news: the avant-garde is dead. It was killed over forty years ago by Pop Art and by one of my heroes, Andy Warhol, a decadent Catholic. The era of vigorous oppositional art inaugurated two hundred years ago by Romanticism is long gone. The controversies over Andres Serrano, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Chris Ofili were just fading sparks of an old cause. It is presumptuous and even delusional to imagine that goading a squawk out of the Catholic League permits anyone to borrow the glory of the great avant-garde rebels of the past, whose transgressions were personally costly. It’s time to move on. “
August 28, 2008 at 7:35 pm
basilseal
Now we must work to get everyone to pronounce “Evelyn Waugh” correctly…
August 28, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Robbo
Aren’t there lessons a few doors down from the Argument Clinic?
August 28, 2008 at 9:14 pm
The Abbot
One of my favorite Onion pieces comes to mind:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33238
Not that I think that Jerry Springer: The Opera necessarily reaches the truly avant garde. Most likely it’s a simple swipe at America as seen through the haze of Britain’s pretend cultural superiority, which actually no longer exists. Britain slalomed past us on the slippery slope of moral and cultural defeat long, long ago.
August 28, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Robbo, recalling your Episcopal 101 bible study that the true sin of Sodom and Gomorah was a lack of hospitality, there is a very effective word to employ when one is offered a Sodom and Gomorahesque form of hospitality : No.
Do you really think there is any future friendship with a couple who already read you so poorly?
Today it’s the Jerry Springer Opera. Tomorrow it will be Yanni’s Christmas Show at the Kennedy Center. And when that happens, you can kiss all your erudite musical posts goodbye…no credibilty….nope…nada….gone…zip..zippo….
August 28, 2008 at 11:39 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
The opinion of one who has difficulty navigating the not-so-difficult waters between “you’re” and “your” should be of little interest to most, especially of tripe like this.
August 29, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Robbo, did you see David Brooks this morning? Yanni got a mention….:
“…We got to know Barack and Michelle Obama, two tall, thin, rich, beautiful people who don’t perspire, but who nonetheless feel compassion for their squatter and smellier fellow citizens. We know that Barack could have gone to a prestigious law firm, like his big donors in the luxury boxes, but he chose to put his ego aside to become a professional politician, president of the United States and redeemer of the human race. We heard about his time as a community organizer, the three most fulfilling months of his life.
“We were thrilled by his speech in front of the Greek columns, which were conscientiously recycled from the concert, “Yanni, Live at the Acropolis.” We were honored by his pledge, that if elected president, he will serve at least four months before running for higher office. We were moved by his campaign slogan, “Vote Obama: He’s better than you’ll ever be.” We were inspired by dozens of Democratic senators who declared their lifelong love of John McCain before denouncing him as a reactionary opportunist who would destroy the country…”
August 29, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Old Dominion Tory
I cannot think of anything more excruciatingly dull than a musical with a pretense to being an opera that recycles–and recycles and recycles–a single, very tired and quite tiresome European-born cliche: America is the font of vulgarity.
As soon as the ratings for “Big Brother” in the UK plunge and the circulation figures for The Sun sink to the double digits, I’ll be content to be lectured on popular culture by patronizing middle-brow Britons. Not before, however.
In the meantime, a question about the Americans who pay good money to be insulted by this thinly-disguised burlesque show. Do they do so out of self-loathing or in order to boast of their cultural (perhaps, moral) superiority over their neighbors? And, if the latter, whither their charity?
August 29, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Little Gidding
And then there’s the uber-obvious fact that Marylanders don’t seem to know how to drive. Their cars’ accelerator pedals appear to have only two positions–off and on.
August 29, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Robbo
Actually, the problem with Maryland drivers is their utter lack of predictability. No matter how fast or slow they are going, no matter whether they are on a highway or a two-lane road, in a parking lot or a drive-way, one can never EVER take one’s eye off of them because one never EVER knows when they’re going to do something utterly, insanely random.
Fast driving, I can deal with. Crazy driving gives me heartburn.
August 30, 2008 at 2:31 am
Little Gidding
As I recall, the pater familia’s traditional firearm of choice for this purpose is a 12-guage and the ammo is rock salt. No need to contemplate homicide. A load in the gluteus maximus is normally all that etiquette requires.
August 30, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Little Gidding
“We sit by and watch the Barbarian, we tolerate him; in the long stretches of peace we are not afraid. We are tickled by his irreverence, his comic inversion of our old certitudes and our fixed creeds refreshes us; we laugh. But as we laugh we are watched by large and awful faces from beyond; and on these faces there is no smile…” Hillaire Belloc
August 31, 2008 at 3:28 am
Sarah G.
One word:
Dachshunds
August 31, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Mr. Peperium
Leave the little critters alone. They’ve manage to do what no human has ever done : Make a damn fine cider.
August 31, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Monica
Sarah beat me to it: get a dog. We had a very fat groundhog visit the backyard every afternoon. We called him Edgar (24’s not the same without him). Sometimes he brought his youngster, Edgar Jr. One day, I had the dog on the back deck, not knowing Edgar was under it. He lumbered out, and Georgia chased this poor fatty-fat up against the fence. He had not time to find his usual wide exit portal, I suppose, so in a last stand, turned and bared his little teeth at Georgia. Miraculously (for a lab) Georgia heeded my calls to come back, and Edgar ran off.
We NEVER saw poor Edgar again. I think he had to go to the groundhog funny farm. Sometimes Edgar Jr. would wander into the yeard, but I guess it wasn’t the same without ol’ dad. And ol’ dad was probably never the same, either.
Now I miss both Edgars.
September 2, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Old Dominion Tory
For a canine approach with a little more historical zip to it, try Theodore Roosevelt Terriers.
September 2, 2008 at 1:58 pm
GroovyVic
I hope, for everyone’s sake, that there are no problems. Glad to hear you have a good public school system down there.
I’ll be thinking of your oldest today.
September 3, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Mrs. Peperium
No, no, no… Dennis Moore is the man who England needs:
September 3, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Robbo
Sorry, Mrs. P, I’m afraid the Ministry of Risk-Sanitation will require that Concorde be sent to the knackers. Also, some concerns have been raised about potential lupine-allergies.
September 3, 2008 at 9:21 pm
The Maximum Leader
“The Honourable Company” by John Keay. I think this is the book I read about 1995. I might have it on the shelf at home. I’ll check the title. It was very informative and detailed. I don’t recall it being a particularly fun read however as the style might be a little stilted even by historical academic standards.
I’ll look at home and see what I’ve got. I think I might have two or three books on The Company…
Of course… I also have a copies of the Pirates of the Carribean movies. It features the East India Company too you know…
September 3, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Robbo
Do you know, for some reason I have never actually made it all the way through any of the POTC movies without dozing off?
It may have something to do with having only seen them late in the evening after an adult beverage or two, but still……..
September 4, 2008 at 1:11 am
lumps937
I’m kind of the same way. I call it “feeding the elephant.” I’m pretty sure I stole that line from Heinlein.
September 4, 2008 at 10:34 am
Michael
I would be very careful about becoming ‘involved’ with the Honourable East India Company as the very next thing you know, you will become a poppy eater and simply must know about that other triangle trade. From then on, its down hill. You will have to learn about all of the great companies of the day and who granted their charters. Take a guess, which company is extant to this very date?
September 4, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Old Dominion Tory
I recommend Philip Mason’s book “The Men Who Ruled India,” a 1985 abridgement of his two-volume history of the same title. If you can find the earlier book, you’ll probably want the first volume subtitled, “The Founders.”
You also might be interested in “Dawning of the Raj : The Life and Trials of Warren Hastings” by Jeremy Bernstein.
September 4, 2008 at 6:12 pm
The Maximum Leader
I’ll take a guess at Michael’s question. Of the great English joint-stock companies I can remember the only one that might still be operational is the Muscovy Company. Although I can’t imagine that they still sell wool to Russia. Or I should say that I can’t imagine that the only product of the Muscovy Company could be wool.
Of course, it is possible that the Muscovy Company went belly up in the Revolution.
There is also a chance that there is some other company out there that I can’t recall right now. The only ones I can recall are the East India Company, the Virginia Company and the Muscovy Company. If there are others (and I don’t see why there wouldn’t be) I just can’t think of them.
September 4, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Robbo
No, the Reds got the Muscovy Company, but ya got me what’s left. If the opium trade is involved, ‘d better go dig out my copy of Flashman and the Dragon to find the answer to Michael’s question: I’ll bet it’s in the footnotes somewhere.
September 4, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Old Dominion Tory
I believe the only chartered company from that great and glorious era of merchant-adventurers is The Hudson Bay Company.
September 4, 2008 at 8:35 pm
ScurvyOaks
Good question re selective nobility of the savages.
I assume you’ve read “War before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage” by Keeley. If not, I recommend it highly. Old Jean-Jacques gets his clock cleaned.
September 4, 2008 at 8:50 pm
The Maximum Leader
I believe you are correct ODT. I don’t know why I had a big block against “The Hud.” They are all over Canada afterall.
The Hud is on my “list” by the way. They would not sell me a “points blanket” over the internet. They told me I had to buy from a US company and not directly from Canada.
September 5, 2008 at 12:20 am
lumps937
I’m of three minds about this. On one hand, the earlier and earlier sexualization of our children is simply getting out of hand. These kids are seeing and hearing more than I ever did as a ten year old. On the other hand, some of these kids are also sexually active, even at ten years old. There are the occasional stories in the local fishwrap about kids that are caught, in school, in sexually-compromising positions. On the gripping hand, the Young Master’s school has a program that includes abstinence (called Building Healthy Relationships) that is taught beginning in sixth grade. The instructor, who also presents the program in the local public schools (minus the religious/spiritual elements) opined that one of the reason that abstinence programs are portrayed as failures is that abstinence is only presented quickly, and only once or twice. She is of the opinion that repetition of the message, over several years, is the only way for the message to be effective. I more or less agree with the concept, so we allowed the Young Master to participate. His general impression? Icky – he’s got a few more years (I hope) until the message will be needed.
FWIW, the local Catholic schools start their sex ed program in fifth grade.
September 5, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Robbo
I spent a good deal of time asking around about this and most people I know say the same sort of thing as you. The more I chew on it, the more I begin to agree. Perhaps I’ve just been living under a log all this time, but I really did not expect to have to deal with these things for another couple of years.
Sigh…..My Little Girl is starting to grow up. Like I say, I picked a helluva week to quit drinking.
September 5, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Michael
Bingo! ODT, please amble down and collect your “I say old, Chap. Jolly good job and well done.” Hudson’s Bay Company does indeed exist and is run by a bunch o ‘muricans or so says Wiki. My (secret, hoped for) historical point was that the company was founded under a grant or royal charter during the reign of Charles II. Such charters were, I have been told, the very progenitors of the articles of incorporation so relied upon today.
September 5, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Father M.
The quote is from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I am glad you didn’t finish the sentence…
I hope Speaker Pelosi ends up yelling “palomino!” (Spot the quote…)
September 5, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Robbo
Welcome to the new digs, Padre!
September 5, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Mrs. Peperium
You know, Nancy Pelosi has has so many facelifts, when she blinks her eyes, she pulls up her pantyhose. Hope that doesn’t throw the bishop over his lesson plan.
September 5, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Robbo
Isn’t ODT entitled to a beaver pelt?
September 5, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Ultimate Driving Machine
Can’t I have just a little peril?
September 5, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Robbo
No, like Nancy’s pantyhose, it’s too perilous. .
September 5, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Robbo, upon closer examination, this does not look like much of a woodshed moment. The dupes at NR fell for the spin…
Snippets from the Archbishop’s letter:
“On the television program “Meet the Press,” on Sunday, August 24, 2008, Speaker Pelosi spoke of herself and the bishops of her Church in these words: ‘So there’s some areas where we’re in agreement and some areas where we’re not, and one being a woman’s right to choose, and the other being stem cell research.’ In April of this year, in a teleconference with Catholic News Service and other media she made a similar remark: ‘I have a sort of serenity about the issue. I come from a family who doesn’t share my position on pro – choice. The Church sees it another way, and I respect that.’”
“… Mr. Tom Brokaw, the moderator of “Meet the Press,” asked Speaker Pelosi, “When does life begin?” She responded: ‘We don’t know. The point is that it shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose.’ Later: ‘I don’t think anyone can tell you when life begins, when human life begins.’ Mr. Brokaw: ‘The Catholic Church at the moment feels very strongly that it begins at the point of conception.” Speaker Pelosi: ‘I understand. And this is maybe fifty years or something like that.’”
So Pelosi is most clear that she and the Church do not agree on more than one serious teaching. And, she adds, in 50 years the Church will catch up to her…lnteresting how the Archbishop did not mention her butchering of Senator -Saint Augustine’s teachings…now back to the letter
“Speaker Pelosi’s remarks called forth many responses, from Catholics in the pews as well as from bishops. As a result, on Tuesday, August 26th, two days after ‘Meet the Press’ had aired, the Speaker’s office issued a statement on her behalf. It contained this sentence: ‘While Catholic teaching is clear that life begins at conception, many Catholics do not ascribe[sic] to that view.’ That statement suggests that morality can be decided by poll, by numbers. If ninety percent of Catholics subscribe to the view that human life begins at conception, does that makes Church teaching truer than if only seventy percent or fifty percent agree?”
“Authentic moral teaching is based on objective truth, not polling….”
(snip)
“Since August 24th many Catholics have written me letters and sent me e – mails in which they expressed their dismay and concern about the Speaker’s remarks. Very often they moved on to a question that caused much discussion during the 2004 campaign: Is it necessary to deny Holy Communion to some Catholics in public life because of their public support for abortion on demand? I want to address that question in the light of the 2004 statement of the U.S. bishops, “Catholics in Political Life,” and their 2006 statement on preparing to receive Christ worthily in the Eucharist, “Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper.” Both statements can be found on the bishops’ website, usccb.org, and they lead the reader to conclude that this is a sensitive and complicated question, and does not lend itself to sound bites, headlines or slogans.”
“In their 2006 document, “Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper,” the bishops begin by reminding Catholics that “the celebration of the Mass is the center of the life of the Church.” The Eucharist joins each of us to the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross, unites us with the Risen Christ, and unites us with one another in Christ. Each reception of Holy Communion looks forward to our union with Christ forever in heaven.”
(big snip)
“The practice of the Church is to accept this conscientious self – appraisal of each person ( Canon 912 ). Thus, in this matter the state of the person’s awareness of his or her situation is of fundamental importance. As the bishops say most forcefully in the 2006 document, ‘we should be cautious when making judgments about whether or not someone else should receive Holy Communion.’”
(snip)
“Nevertheless, the bishops go on to say: ‘If a Catholic in his or her personal or professional life were knowingly and obstinately to reject the defined doctrines of the Church, or knowingly and obstinately repudiate her definitive teachings on moral issues, however, he or she would seriously diminish his or her communion with the Church. Reception of Holy Communion in such a situation would not accord with the nature of the Eucharistic celebration, so that he or she should refrain.’ Why is this repudiation of Church teaching such a serious matter? The bishops respond: ‘To give selective assent to the teachings of the Church deprives us of her life – giving message, but also seriously endangers our communion with her.’”
(snip)
“…In his or her conscience, properly formed, a Catholic should recognize that making legal an evil action, such as abortion, is itself wrong.”
Pelosi doesn’t recognize this is wrong or that abortion is evil. It is a right. Is Pelosi’s blindness because she has a malformed conscience or is because the hierarchy of the Church has turned a blind eye on pro-abort Catholic politicians for decades? Does Pelosi understand she doesn’t, or at least, did not used to have to recognize it? She did present herself for Communion along with all the rest of the usual suspects at the D.C. Papal Mass. Back to the Archbishop…
“What of Catholics who find themselves questioning the teachings of the Church, or experiencing uncertainties and questions about them? The bishops answer, ‘Some Catholics may not fully understand the Church’s doctrinal and moral teachings on certain issues. They may have certain questions and even uncertainties. In situations of honest doubt and confusion, they are welcome to partake of Holy Communion, as long as they are striving to understand what the Church professes and to resolve confusion and doubt.’”
There is confusion here certainly, but not honest confusion. There’s certainly no striving on Pelosi’s to resolve it. She’s waiting for the Church to catch up to her. Again the Archbishop…
“Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and my predecessor as Archbishop here in San Francisco, wrote in 2004: “No bishop is eager to forbid members of his flock from receiving the precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, who invites us into communion with Himself and his Body, the Church, as grace and salvation.”
Fair enough. But then it all turns for the worse…
“In that same year, the U.S. bishops acknowledged that pastoral sensitivity, and they endorsed the following approach to this question of denying Holy Communion: “Given the wide range of circumstances involved in arriving at a prudential judgment on a matter of this seriousness, we recognize that such decisions rest with the individual bishop in accord with the established canonical and pastoral principles. Bishops can legitimately make different judgments on the most prudent course of pastoral action.”
Pelosi understands this decision resting with each individual bishop aspect very well as she cited it recently on C-SPAN -from The Hill:
“The Speaker recently said she, unlike other Catholic politicians who support abortion rights, has not clashed with her church about receiving communion.
“In an interview on C-SPAN that aired earlier this month, Pelosi was asked about how some church officials have raised objections about whether former presidential contenders — such as Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) — should receive communion.
“Pelosi, a Roman Catholic whose district includes most of San Francisco, said she has not encountered such difficulties in her church.
“’I think some of it is regional,’ she said, ‘It depends on the bishop of a certain region, and, fortunately for me, communion has not been withheld and I’m a regular communicant, so that would be a severe blow to me if that were the case.’”
So the Archbishop is dealing with a woman who is well-informed on all aspects of this situation. There is no place for her to hide…as a regular communicant. Back to the Archbishop…
“‘Nevertheless, we all share an unequivocal commitment to protect human life and dignity and to preach the Gospel in difficult times.’ From that statement I conclude that it is my responsibility as Archbishop to discern and decide, prayerfully, how best to approach this question as it may arise in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.’ I regret the necessity of addressing these issues in so public a forum, BUT THE WIDESPREAD CONSTERNATION AMONG CATHOLICS MADE IT UNAVOIDABLE [a very poor choice of words that seem to make this is our fault – not Nancy Pelosi’s wicked ways or that there is a serious pastoral failure here and the fault lays with the Episcopate and not the laity). Speaker Pelosi has often said how highly she values her Catholic faith, and how much it is a source of joy for her. Accordingly, as her pastor, I AM WRITING TO INVITE HER INTO A CONVERSATION WITH ME ABOUT THESE MATTERS.
1. WHY CAN’T HIS SECRETARY CALL HER SECRETARY AND ACTUALLY SCHEDULE A MEETING?
2. WHY AN INVITATION? INVITATIONS CAN BE TURNED DOWN. OR PUT OFF. AND IT WOULD BE PROVIDENT OF HER TO DO EITHER SINCE WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. AN ELECTION WHERE SHE’S GIVEN HER FULL SUPPORT FOR A MAN WHO VOTED 3 TIMES TO DENY THE RIGHT TO LIFE TO CHILDREN WHO SURVIVED ABORTIONS.
MAN, IS GOD GOING TO GO AS EASY ON US? IF SO, I COULD HAVE STAYED AN EPISCOPALIAN AND SO COULD HAVE YOU.
I’ll stop yelling know. BAck to the Archbishop…
“It is my obligation to teach forthrightly and to shepherd caringly, and that is my intent. Let us pray together that the Holy Spirit will guide us all toward a more profound understanding and appreciation for human life, and toward a resolution of these differences in truth and charity and peace.”
The caring and forthright thing to do here is to tell Pelosi, for her sake, to not to present herself for Communion until she realises the very real gravity of very her errors. And, to zip a lip on talking about abortion and stem cells publicly from the perspective of a regular communicant of the Catholic Church.
September 6, 2008 at 2:48 am
chuck
Apparently there has been a bit of misunderstanding and over-hyping about the significance of the recent relative quiescience of the sun, and there is lots of debate about when the new solar cycle should ramp up to the next solar max (bringing lots of sunspots and solar flares with it). NASA is now reporting that there is nothing particularly unusual about the current level of solar activity. In fact, a small, short-lived spot developed during August but was not officially numbered. See
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/11jul_solarcycleupdate.htm
All I know is that those of us with solar filtered telescopes have been pretty bored–right now the sun looks mostly like a large Sunkist orange!
Love your new website by the way. Best wishes for its success. I still like running with the “herd” though! Yip! Yip!
September 6, 2008 at 3:37 am
Robbo
Oh, my.
Mrs. P, I tell you truly that I believe – when it comes down to it – that getting caught up in this kind of legal cat-and-mouse, while perhaps pleasing to some people (including both Ms. Peloooosi and certain clergymen) is, in the end, a mug’s game.
Why? Because I also firmly believe in Paul’s statement that God is not mocked.
September 6, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Mrs. Peperium
I agree wholeheartedly that God will not be mocked. And continuing on in that thought and using the word mock as frustrating the hopes of, the laity of the Catholic Church will not be mocked either.
For ordinary Catholics, to participate in an abortion causes automatic ex-communication. Automatic. The only way back is through the confessional. Does this mean unrepentant Catholics who have participated in abortions still present themselves for Communion?
Sure. Given the number of legal abortions in this country since 1973 it’s probably not unreasonable to guess that several 100’s of thousands do it most Sundays. In many of those cases there may be, as the Archbishop suggests, honest confusion.
But with Nancy Pelosi we know there is not. She knows exactly what she is doing and that she is at odds with the Church on several issues…notice I didn’t earlier mention her support for gay marriage and that she vows to kill, I mean, repeal the defense of marriage act…Nancy according to her own words on C-SPAN knew her Archbishop wasn’t going to yank the Communion cup from her any time soon. The world watched the spectacle of the ‘regular communicant’ Nancy Pelosi kiss Pope Benedict’s ring (with an uncovered head) and then she presented herself, along with her fellow rogues gallery of pro-abort Catholics, for Communion at the Papal Mass.
If Nancy Pelosi’s Archbishop had been doing his job all along, she never would have presented herself for Communion that day, or any given Sunday. And she might have thought twice about kissing the Pope’s ring.
The first member out of the box condemning Pelosi’s most recent words ought to have been her Archbishop, not Cardinal Egan or the others. It probably was their criticisms and show of moral courage that finally flushed him out.
Cynicism is a word I reject as it leads to alcoholism. I just prefer to look at reality. And the reality is that in the next few months it is more than likely that we will all be treated to a full-blown revisit of Camelot with what will in efect be, a Catholic State Funeral for another pro-abort Catholic politican, Ted Kennedy.
And after the smells and bells and tributes to the great man, most of us Catholics who do try to live according to the teachings will be left scratching our heads saying, what gives?
September 6, 2008 at 11:11 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Mrs. P, to use an especially appropriate word for you, Robbo and me: bingo!
September 7, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Guys, great news. I think this issue shall soon be solved. I’m having Mass (and light refreshments) next week with (ret.) Cardinal Szoka. I’m sure he will give me the phone number of who ever it is at the Vatican that sits on recalcitrant Archbishops and I’ll ring him up and explain exactly what is going on over here. Father M., do you advise a mantilla or hat?
September 8, 2008 at 4:44 am
Father M.
How about a pickelhaube? It’ll show that you mean business.
September 8, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Mr. Peperium
You know…I don’t think I need to wear a pikelhaube to make the Cardinal understand I mean business…I plan on speaking on behalf of oh…what would be a convincing number?….2 million run-of-the-mill American Catholics…
September 8, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Sorry…that was me.
September 8, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Robbo
Mrs. P, if you ARE going to wear a pikelhaube, I certainly hope you’ll also wear breeches and riding boots.
September 8, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Mrs. Peperium
I still have my spurs and crop, and monogrammed (kid you not) hoof pick….
September 8, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Father M.
From the Vatican edition of “Clue”: The murderess was Mrs. P. in the sanctuary with a hoof pick…”
September 8, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Oh my gosh. Clue was one of my favorite games. I was always Miss Scarlet. But occasionally I went with Colonel Mustard or Mrs. Peacock….
September 8, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Robbo
I never really played Clue much as a kid. Now, I can’t disassociate the game in my head from the movie Murder By Death. As I read your comments, I have a vision of Truman Capote yelling at Peter Sellars’ Sydney Wang, “IT! IT is confusing! Say your goddam pronouns!”
September 8, 2008 at 10:51 pm
ScurvyOaks
Mrs. P,
Please understand that I’m a fan of yours and, although a cradle Episcopalian, I could not now be, and am not, a member of TEC. But on behalf of my theologically orthodox friends who are still slugging it out from within TEC, I’d suggest that this:
“MAN, IS GOD GOING TO GO AS EASY ON US? IF SO, I COULD HAVE STAYED AN EPISCOPALIAN AND SO COULD HAVE YOU.”
was not you at your most winsome. Just sayin’.
September 9, 2008 at 2:19 am
the gripping hand
ain’t nothin’ better. Alas, the Young Master would rather watch than play.
September 9, 2008 at 2:59 am
Robbo
Well, it may be that the gel comes to the same conclusion after a few games. But I hope not.
September 9, 2008 at 4:31 am
Sarah G.
Miss Rebecca will be doing a bit of softball this spring. We could keep her in little league, but we thought she would enjoy being with girls. It would be a nice break from all her brothers.
Of course she could change her mind.
September 9, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Another solution from the Vatican version of “Clue”: Irish Elk in the narthex with a walrus tusk.
September 9, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Dear ScurvyOaks,
I’m sorry if I offended you. That was a comment for Robbo and I given our common path in life. This is why Robbo and I cannot go on vacation together because, as my mother always said, it’s only fun until someone loses an eye. Besides, Robbo and I would fight over who gets which bedroom.
September 9, 2008 at 1:57 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
He wonders what will happen to the country now that these ideas have effectively ceased to mean anything.
It could represent an opportunity for the Catholic Church to reach out to separated brethren in dying Protestant churches and welcome them back to the Bark of Peter. That will not happen, however, if Catholic leadership in the US continues drilling holes in the hull in emulation of the sinking Protestants.
September 9, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Robbo
Actually, he talks about both Catholic and Evangelical efforts to pick up refugees, but he’s not particularly sanguine.
September 9, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Robbo
A child – and a GIRL child at that – change her mind? Perish the thought!
September 9, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Robbo
“Mr. P. In the Sea-View Room. With a lobstah pot.”
September 9, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
The mutineers’ descendants were doomed to live on the Pitcairn Islands, so I guess it all evened out.
September 9, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Old Dominion Tory
For those interested in the facts about Bligh and the mutiny (to include his epic open boat journey), I heartily recommend Caroline Alexander’s book on the subject, “The Bounty.”
September 9, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Robbo
I believe I’ve read and maybe even posted on an article a couple years back about the fact that the peculiar dialect of the Fletcherite descendants of Pitcairn – a mishmash of Cockney rhyming slang, Cornwall burr and South Seas – is in danger or dying out or some such.
September 9, 2008 at 5:20 pm
MCNS
They appear to have shared nicknames with the Palin kids.
September 9, 2008 at 5:22 pm
ScurvyOaks
Mrs. P, thanks so much for your gracious reply!
September 9, 2008 at 5:25 pm
ScurvyOaks
Young Mr. Murray is badly in need of a shave as well. Both he and Wawrinka, another fine young player, are much too scruffy for tennis.
September 9, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Little Gidding
For almost four decades–ever since I read Hall and Nordhoff’s Men Against the Sea–there have been very few times, when looking in the mirror and liftting the razor to my face, that I have not suddenly remembered this passage:
“On this day Mr. Bligh performed an act of heroism in having himself shaved by Smith, his servant. There was neither soap nor water to soften his beard. He ssat on the floor in the stern sheets, his head held between Peckover’s knees, while Smith crouched beside him cutting through the dry hair, stopping every moment to strop his razor. The task required the better part of an hour; and none of us, seeing bligh’s sufferings, was tempted to follow his example.”
September 9, 2008 at 6:44 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
It brings new meaning to the expression “going down.”
September 9, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Robbo
But in either case, I would expect the bill to be pretty painful.
(Oh, somebody puhleeeeease stop me!)
September 9, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Mrs. Peperium
He’s taking a long walk off a short pier….
September 9, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Robbo
So as a candidate would you say that he is “pierless”?
Oh, lawdy, I’m on a roll today!
September 10, 2008 at 8:26 am
Jay Stribling
Dear Sir,
While I find much entertainment in your blog, I must bring to your attention that you use a light gray type when you are posting quotes or blocks of text extracted from other sites. While this looks nicely avante-garde (high toned) it is just a screaming B**CH for my nearly 60 year old eyes to read.
Have mercy sir! Black (or at least dark blue or DARK gray) type is so SO SO much easier to read.
Merely a comment from one of the great unwashed in the hinterland.
Jay Stribling – Jackson MS
September 10, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
Use this picture to determine what color you want your blockquote text to be:
http://www.tbi.univie.ac.at/TBI/hex_color_chart.png
Write down the six letter/digit code.
Within this file, wp-content/themes/pub/tarski/style.css, change the color code in the following text:
blockquote {
margin: 0 0 1.2em 0; padding: 0 60px;
font-family: ‘Times New Roman’, Times, serif; font-size: 1.2em; color: #a8a8a8;
}
September 10, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Robbo
“Que?”
(Spot the quote.)
September 10, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Now you’re from Barcelona?
September 10, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
You should be able access it from the WordPress admin page, presentation, then theme editor.
Que? does not ring a bell with me. Three Amigos?
September 10, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Robbo
Ha, ha, Mrs. P! I speeeek good Eeeeenglish! I leeearned eet from a boooook!
Stand by, FLG, and I’ll dig up a youtube clip…..
September 10, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Ultimate Driving Machine
I admit that I have had some concerns about our Methodist Church. The Pastor avoids preaching on any topic that may be offensive or possibly divisive to the congregation. It is all very “feel good” fluff, but not a lot of spiritual meat. I don’t think I am quite up to swimming the Tiber, but I have been thinking of a return to my maternal family’s Lutheran roots.
September 10, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
That sound you heard was my palm smacking my forehead in a moment of embarrassed revelation.
September 10, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Robbo
Well if you ever do consider talking to an RC priest, be sure and mention my name – I believe I get a couple years off Purgatory for each new member I bring in. ; )
September 10, 2008 at 7:24 pm
The Maximum Leader
Spam… Really now… We all know that Jimmy Dean hot and spicy links go well with lobster thermidor…
I once tried something like this with my lovely bride. She proceeded to tell me I should be so lucky…
September 10, 2008 at 7:56 pm
the gripping hand
And I’m sure you’ll find the couch comfortable…
September 10, 2008 at 8:46 pm
basilseal
Frankly, I have to admire a man whose first name is “Beef”. Not to mention the fact that he also bitch slapped the Frogs from time to time…
September 10, 2008 at 9:11 pm
ScurvyOaks
Speaking of Ludwig Van, have you run across Furtwangler’s Coriolan Overture from 6/30/43? Powerful is an understatement:
September 10, 2008 at 9:12 pm
The Maximum Leader
My couch is mighty comfy.
It is near the big screen tee-vee… So I’ve got that going for me.
September 10, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Robbo
Little known fact: His full Christian name actually was “Beef-A-Roni”.
September 11, 2008 at 12:32 am
The Abbot
Two words for you, Robbo.
Mario Batali.
Buy either Molto Italiano, or the Gabbo cookbook, and it will revolutionize your view of food.
I’ve found my wine habit has now invaded my eating — I look for things that will go well with my wine. Mr. Batali is not only a chef, but a world class gourmand.
September 11, 2008 at 3:22 am
The Bovina Bloviator
Robbo, it’s a pity most people’s knowledge of BW’s recordings is limited to the stereo ones he made in LA, from the late ‘fifties until his death in 1962. Walter was old, frail and in poor health by then and it is sadly evident. In addition, the ensemble, the Columbia Symphony Orchestra, was really just a pick-up band (albeit not a bad one) assembled from the various studio orchestras in Hollywood and lacking the coherency you find in long-established orchestras.
To really do the man justice, try to get hold of his mono recordings of the Beethoven Symphonies, recorded 1941-53, with the New York Philharmonic. They were originally released on Columbia and recently re-released by Music & Arts but, unfortunately, extremely difficult to obtain in the US, they not yet being in public domain here. Those recordings blow away the later stereo versions and show the man for the superb musician he really was, the one Mahler himself trusted to conduct his works.
September 11, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Michael
Granted, from my distant perch, I don’t always know the goingson of the sec. But, it seems to me that (as a former dem-there-I said it in public, damit!) the dems are in full crisis mode.
Rove’s new article appears to sum it up nicely. (I won’t spoil it, go read and enjoy.)
Hmm. Mumus and mules. … That should work. now to accessorize! …
Have I just cross-brained myself?
September 11, 2008 at 2:04 pm
GroovyVic
We drove through the Shanksville, PA area on 9/11/02…and it was surreal. We’d just missed President Bush, but the show of community support was overwhelming.
September 11, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Lynellen
Thanks for the photo of Shanksville…don’t think I’ve seen that one.
September 11, 2008 at 8:34 pm
ScurvyOaks
I’m impressed, Robbo. You got to this story before Andrew Cusack did, and it’s core Cusack subject matter: Scottish! Catholic! pageantry! titles! heraldry! Jacobites! Knights of Malta!
I have to admit that, republican and Protestant though I am, I like all that stuff, too.
September 11, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Father M.
Robbo you are definitely channeling Cusack and Christine and like them, all of the above listed items by ScurvyOakes are a few of my favorite things.
September 11, 2008 at 8:55 pm
basilseal
I must agree Robbo, The Ladykillers is one of the best evah…He also plays Mr. Baldwin in the movie version of Waugh’s Scoop…
September 11, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Robbo
Great Heavens, Sir Basil, I never even knew such an adaptation existed! Thankee for the tip!
I have just nipped over and tossed the moovie into my Netflix queue. With Denholm Elliott and Michael Hordern in it, I hope it is as promising as it sounds.
September 11, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Robbo
Ah, but I’m still just a paduan apprentice – even we get in a lucky light-saber parry now and again.
September 11, 2008 at 9:42 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Hmm, I clicked the link I provided above and either Mark Shea has gone into an entirely new line of work or else I made a mistake. I’ll take another stab at it.
September 11, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Anchovy
Ah yes, that movement (the second of the Second) is probably my favorite in all his symphonies. What a delightful moment when the second theme appears, the little menuet that’s one of Beethoven’s most graceful and least self-conscious tunes. I’d rather hear it slow than fast, though I’ve not heard Walter’s recording and I imagine, knowing others of his, that one could certainly take it toooo slow.
My favorite similar experience is hearing a recording of the Rachmaninoff 3rd concerto and thinking it so awful it must be the Hilfgott, only to find out it was Horowitz.
September 12, 2008 at 8:37 am
stillers
I keep reading about this memorial they want to build there. It sounds rather ‘artsy’. I would hope they would just build a simple memorial in the middle of the field. Thats all that is necessary. Its pretty country up there, you don’t need anything elaborate.
September 12, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Robbo
I haven’t kept up with the memorial story although I recall that some people were up in arms a few years ago because the proposed design took the shape of a crescent. Which I must say that I find a bit tasteless myself.
September 12, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Are you saying his hooves off a beat causing him to drop a bar?
September 12, 2008 at 4:51 pm
GroovyVic
Ooooo…Shaun Cassidy, my seventies swooner!
But what? No Donny Osmond????
September 12, 2008 at 6:18 pm
basilseal
Yes, Lord Weber holds the distinction of destroying Broadway and the London Stage both in a matter of only a few years. Thanks Andrew. And believe me, this is pretty damn hard to to when you use the same music over and over in all your shows. And this does not begin to cover the heinous, deserving of death crime which is called “Cats”…T. S. Eliot did not deserve that.
September 12, 2008 at 6:31 pm
basilseal
Robbo, recently I met a young lady who I thought was quite fetching. She was very pretty with long dark hair. A little later I saw her and she had her hair pulled up and she had one of those Chinese characters, or satanic symbol things (I don’t know what they are) tattooed on the back of her neck. It was quite large and very noticeable. Just ruined the whole thing for me. I really don’t care what it means, it looks like hell in any language…I just don’t get it…Almost as gross as those tongue or eyebrow spike things which are mandatory for getting a job at Borders.
September 12, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Robbo
Ooooooh…..
September 12, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Robbo
Anchovy – I’ve always thought that while Beethoven’s First was a conscious tribute to (or riff on) Haydn, the Second was more Mozartian in flavor. Certainly the second movement has that lyric quality one associates with Mozart.
September 12, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Anchovy
His keyboard music is much the weakest part of his corpus. And his corpus sure was huge.
September 13, 2008 at 1:12 am
Anchovy
That’s an interesting idea. It seems to me that Haydn is on the whole as lyrical as Mozart, though perhaps less psychologically complicated. Not that that’s a bad thing–Haydn’s sonatas are much more approachable (and playable) than Mozart’s, so I can’t complain. But you’re probably right in that Beethoven is psychologically closer to Mozart than to Haydn, and his lyricism has that Mozartian tinge of emotional ambiguity that Haydn didn’t have.
September 13, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Mrs. Peperium
When you’re instrument rated, give me a ring. I’ll buzz the islands with you.
September 15, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Mr. P does 30 minutes each morning on the treadmill (while watching the Flintstones , Rocky & Bullwinkle, or Mr. Magoo) and he’s still quite the guy. Helpful hint: No incline is needed as it will only cause trouble with your back.
September 15, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Robbo
I’ve started doing 45 whilst listening to musick. This morning it was Beethoven’s 7th plus a bit of the first movement of the 8th. The 7th is excellent for exercise: If you find the right recording, even the second movement won’t bog you down.
September 15, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Tom
Of course the European tribes were different from (and inferior to) the tribes of the New World. They were of the caucasian persuasion, alas.
September 15, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Kathy
You might want to trade in the treadmill for an elliptical. Much, Much, MUCH easier on the knees. I have crappy knees myself (I’ve dislocated my right kneecap I don’t know how many times) and I’ve found that the elliptical has a nice gliding motion, whereas you pound away on the treadmill. So much nicer and you don’t hurt after a workout.
September 15, 2008 at 5:50 pm
MCNS
Hang Fenimore Cooper then, and celebrate a more jovial birthday!
September 15, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Dan
I’m going to venture a guess and say that the sword cane is probably illegal. Unfortunately. But any stout length of wood will do as a weapon in a pinch.
September 16, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Mr. P was holding Francis Parkman in his hand when we first met. As a reuslt my favorite mountain to climb at Acadia National Park is none other than Parkman.
September 16, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Much the same thing happens to me in the autumn, Robbo. I begin to reach for works that deal with colonial history–and to enjoy them with a drink of half Dominion Brewery Oak Barrel Stout and half Woodchuck Cider (the Dark and Dry variety).
September 16, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Robbo
I generally reach for the single-malt, meself. Need to keep the ol’ anti-freeze topped up, you know.
September 16, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Yup. That’s the book Mr. P was holding.
September 16, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Old Dominion Tory
For an evening’s reading, I often pour a large brandy–in order to ensure that the blood keeps circulating into the ol’ noggin at a pace that allows for proper absorption of the book’s contents.
One recommendation for a book on a related topic, seeing as this year marks the quadricentennial of the establishment of Quebec, would be Samuel Eliot Morison’s biography of Samuel Champlain, explorer, soldier, devoted servant of his king, honest broker with the local natives, supporter of the Jesuit missions, and a Catholic convert.
September 16, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Robbo
ODT – As you mention brandy, I shall now indulge in some horrid name-dropping. When I went to London to spend the year between college and law school, I first stayed as a guest of the parents of a crew-mate of mine for a couple of weeks until I could find digs of my own. One weekend, I suppose to get rid of me, I was fobbed off on their friend Sir Philip Goodhart, longtime Tory MP for Beckenham, and his wife, and went to stay at their place near Oxford.
The Goodharts were hosting some sort of informal dinner for various visitors that weekend, and I found myself seated next to Victoria Hennessey of the cognac family. She could not have been much more than a few years older than me. Quite beautiful and waaaaaay out of my league.
All these years later, I don’t remember a thing about our conversation. Indeed, the only thing I remember about the entire weekend is making (and downing) Pimm’s Cup with Lady Goodhart.
September 16, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Robbo–You’re too hard on yourself. That was some splendid name-dropping. And any story that ends with quaffing Pimm’s Cup is a good one.
September 17, 2008 at 12:37 am
Lynellen
Spectacles such as this must ALWAYS have pictures posted on blogs.
September 17, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Dear Robbo,
Starting from the point that I know nothing and this should always be factored in (heavily) when I’m dispensing (free) advice, I would say what you’re looking for in regards to communicating with Mrs. R is not in a book, it’s in you. The fact that you don’t have the right words in the right order to convey to her what she and the gels are missing may simply mean that the time is not right yet for you, Mr. Lawyer, Attourney, Counselor, Esquire heck… -sue-the-pants-off-the-guy-if-he-doesn’t-see-things-your way to try and convey it to her.
The lofty always say patience is a virtue. And indeed it is. Though, I’ve found patience is much more of a necessity. Time..give yourself and her some time…
September 17, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Robbo
I shall see what I can do.
September 17, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Robbo
Thankee, Mrs. P. And you’re right: I’m still so gob-smacked by the richness in comparison to the thin gruel with which I used to be contented that I haven’t even come up with a way to put it in words yet.
Obviously, this will take some time and effort. To which of B-16’s ministers should I send my bills?
September 17, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Old Dominion Tory
I have read Dr. Howard’s If Your Mind Wanders at Mass and enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s a relatively short book, but it is crammed with excellent insights on the Mass.
September 17, 2008 at 2:30 pm
the gripping hand
Consider it demanded…
September 17, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Robbo
Oh, I should have mentioned that while I am busy polishing my sales pitch, a more immediate plan might be simply to unleash Father M on Mrs. R. I reckon that if I can manage to get her into the same room with him, she’ll be so overcome by his debonair style and sharp looks that she’ll be willing to agree to just about anything.
September 17, 2008 at 3:57 pm
The Maximum Leader
I’m not sure about me demanding photos… They would be enjoyable to see. A You Tube video would be better – that way we could hear the musical accompanyment.
September 17, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Jordana
Mrs. P is right, of course, but if you want get one of his books, I’m rather partial to Lead, Kindly Light.
September 17, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Little Gidding
Given the way you’ve framed this, Howard’s Lead, Kindly Light: My Journey to Rome has the advantage of briefly and movingly telling why he swam the Tiber. He wrote his rather longer On Being Catholic, also good, much longer after the swim. It reflects, chapter by chapter, on aspects of Catholicism that, to me, seem keyed to resonate with someone who has spent years in the Episcopal Church.
As far as the family goes–I, alas, am in the same situation as you are. After reverting to Catholicism some years ago, on Sundays I continued to go to an Episcopal service with my wife and two children, after having first gone to Mass by myself. Like you, I have often had the opportunity to hear two sermons on the same readings. It was very enlightening to see the difference in approach unfolded from the pulpit over and over again. That difference, I think, boiled down to a Catholic confidence in the scripture, as opposed to an Episcopalian chariness. My family has sometimes come to Mass with me. As for my wife, she’s “happy for me,” but clearly hasn’t undergone anything like the crisis of Faith that ultimately drove me to the barque of Peter. While she’s said she wishes we both went to the same church, and has, from time to time, considered going to RCIA classes, she certainly knows there’s far more involved than just switching denominations.
Mrs. P’s comment strikes me as a sound one. I know there have been moments when my wife has seen something in Catholicism that has moved her and drawn her closer to appreciating it, and maybe, God willing, those moments will multiply and strengthen, but they have occurred at times that I wouldn’t have been able to predict, and generally not as the result of my having set out to argue doctrine. But, she’s very keenly aware, for example, of how different the reverence for the Eucharist is in my church from how it seems in hers.
September 18, 2008 at 12:52 am
ChrisN
MacNelly is a figure who’s revered at the University of North Carolina’s journalism school, even though, like some other noted journalistic figures such as Charles Kuralt and David Brinkley, he didn’t actually graduate from there.
He was in college in the late 60’s, and while on the student newspaper, he had a rich supply of issues to work with as an editorial cartoonist – not only the Vietnam War protests, but also a series of strikes by low-paid university janitorial and kitchen staffs that received substantial support from the student body. His work was so good that the editor of the local paper, Jim “Shu” Shumaker, hired him without a degree. “Shu” was the inspiration for the similarly named comic strip.
September 18, 2008 at 1:02 am
ChrisN
You said “the more I read about ‘Little Mac,’ the more I despise the man.”
It has occurred to me that the more Sears has written about him, the more he despised him. I feel Sears made his name as a Civil War historian by making better use of McClellan’s personal papers than any other historian to date, and familiarity has bred contempt. In “Landscape Turned Red,” McClellan comes across as timid. By the time Sears wrote “George B. McClellan: The Young Napoleon,” he stopped just short of outright calling McClellan a coward.
If you visit Antietam, be sure to take a side trip to the Pry House, McClellan’s HQ during the battle. It’s on the opposite side of Antietam Creek from the battlefield, several miles away. One web site describes it this way: “At an unquestionably safe distance from the battle that would develop, the Pry House offered a marginal view of the ground held by the Confederate forces below.”
September 18, 2008 at 2:07 am
Father M.
Well, thank you, Robbo. I stand ready to help. By the way, has she heard Fr. S. or Fr. McA.?
September 18, 2008 at 10:52 am
The Abbot
A great battlefield to visit; small enough that you can envision the whole field in your head, and very well preserved and maintained. I always try try to stop by when I’m in that odd corner of Maryland. (I used to work for a company that had one of its big office sites in Frederick, which isn’t far). I think McClellan was a great planner, trainer and logistician; he lacked the ruthlessness and driving will of a Grant or a Sherman, though. In fairness, he was also up against Lee, who could make anyone look bad; had he faced a second string Confederate General (Braxton Bragg, say), I think he would have fared better. He built what Grant and Meade used to beat Lee. For that he deserves a smidgen of credit.
September 18, 2008 at 10:53 am
The Abbot
The charm of the series is primarily in its author’s inventiveness. I think it will be tough to re-create.
September 18, 2008 at 10:54 am
The Abbot
Dude, don’t bogart the Bag-End.
September 18, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Old Dominion Tory
I think that historians should be a little kinder to McClellan. The Abbot’s point is a good one. McClellan forged the instrument that ulitmately defeated Lee in the field when it was welded to the indomitability of Grant. Furthermore, he fought his battles against Lee in 1862, when both sides were still figuring out how to maneuver and command large formations. On the other side, even the venerated General Lee made his share of blunders during the Seven Days campaign–e.g., the assault at Malvern Hill–and Jackson’s performance at the same time was not on par with his during the Valley Campaign.
As to the Battle of Antietam, please recall that if A.P. Hill had not come up when he did, there was a very good chance that the Army of the Potomac could have flanked Lee. To be a great commander, a soldier needs to be lucky and that day Lee was luckier than McClellan.
September 18, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Robbo
Thankee to all of you.
Fr. M – She has only been to Mass once – at the Easter Vigil when I was sworn in. It was the first time she’d ever seen anything even remotely like the ceremony and I’m pretty sure that, given her already conflicted state, she wasn’t paying all that close attention to what Fr. McA was saying.
The eldest gel has come along with me once or twice. Perhaps when the timing is right I might casually suggest that everybody else attend as well. “No need to buy – just come in and browse.”
September 18, 2008 at 1:01 pm
The Maximum Leader
I’m offended at people living in a national park…
September 18, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Robbo
What you guys say about McClellan’s organizational skills is quite correct. It is also quite true that he was extremely popular with the troops themselves. Perhaps he would have been best suited as somebody’s chief of staff.
As to his battlefield abilities, tho, I believe that his primary fault was not inexperience or the fact that he was up against Lee, or even the vagaries of Fortune, but rayther a hesitancy to commit based largely on his own ego: George McClellan’s reputation came first and the strategic goals of the Union came second and he wasn’t going to risk destroying the former for the sake of the latter.
Of course, I also loathe his Copperhead politics and his effort to do down Abe Lincoln in 1864.
September 18, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Robbo
Tim! Tim! Benzedrine!
Hash! Boo! Valvoline!
First, Second, Neutral, Park!
Hie Thee Hence, You Leafy Narc!
Just felt like saying that……
September 18, 2008 at 3:31 pm
beth
I’ve enjoyed the 3 episodes I’ve seen so far – though I was annoyed that they made it appear as if none of the kids went along on the overseas ambassadorships, when in actuality I believe 3 of them went. But still, it’s very well done, I thought. I’m looking forward to seeing the last episodes when I have a chance.
September 18, 2008 at 4:00 pm
The Maximum Leader
I grew more and more disappointed with the series as it went along. Like McCulloughs book, the story seemed to run out of steam once the Revolution was won.
I hope I didn’t ruin it for you.
September 18, 2008 at 6:16 pm
ScurvyOaks
I had strongly mixed feelings. Some aspects of the series were great, but it should have explained that it was based not only on McCullough’s book but on Forrest Gump. I.e., the habit of inserting Adams personally into situations where he was not — it drove me crazy.
One of the real strengths of the early episodes was the furniture. [Yes, I did say the furniture.] Thanks to Colonial Williamsburg, they used a lot of stuff that was exactly right. There is one federal candlestand in their bedroom that shows up a few years too early, but that’s a very minor problem compared to what usually happens in these period shows. Alas, the series keeps using the 18th Century furniture throughout. Now part of the point may be the Adams family’s lack of money and/or Yankee thriftiness, but there are some settings other than the Adams home where they really should have come up with good early 19th century furniture.
September 18, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Mrs. Peperium
HA! Why have bacon when you can have sausage is what I always say. Take this Abbot – I am making (right now if fact) sausage and Aborio (and basil) stuffed summer tomatoes for dinner. Those with simple yet earthy green salad with house, as in my house, vinaigrette and some wine and I’ve got dinner for Mr. P.
Yes, Maxy, I was planning on posting the recipe.
September 18, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Robbo
Mrs. P, I believe that I may second you on the sausage preference, but I feel that I will need to explore the issue more thoroughly (i.e., eat lots more sausage AND bacon) before I can give a final verdict.
Speaking of which, have you tried venison sausage? Awfully yummers.
September 18, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Anchovy
Riseholme, or Tilling, whichever you prefer.
September 18, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Not venison but wild boar. Am quite fond of wild boar….had a wild boar and blueberry pate served as part of the first course at our wedding.
September 18, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Mrs. Peperium
She was into girls.
September 18, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Robbo
Indeed. And by the bye, while my widowed mother has no intention of ever remarrying, she has mentioned more than once that she might be interested in meeting a Georgie Pillson type.
So if you have any suggestions, send em along.
September 18, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Robbo
Domitia: Senex! Come away from that house of shame this instant!
Senex: Oh, but Dear! I was just standing here saying, “Shame, shame”.
September 18, 2008 at 9:09 pm
MCNS
See the communion scene from “Flesh and the Devil” (1927).
Oh, my.
September 18, 2008 at 9:40 pm
The Maximum Leader
Mrs P. – I await reading all about it…
Robbo – When you decide to do your research, call me.
When I get my hog this year I’m going to smoke my own hams and bacon. I am so looking forward to it.
PS – had both venison and wild boar sausage. I am fond of wild boar as well. I knew a great polish butcher once who made a great wild boar and apples sausage.
September 18, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Robbo
Elk – The video’s been pulled. Must be awfully hot stuff!
September 18, 2008 at 10:40 pm
MCNS
Robbo, it seems to be working now.
September 18, 2008 at 10:41 pm
MCNS
But you’ve got to follow the link, not try to view it in the popup, apparently.
September 19, 2008 at 2:53 am
Robbo
Ay, Carumba!
September 19, 2008 at 3:36 am
Old School Lady
Sadly, Hamilton does not fare well in the mini-series. Few of his achievements and many his failings (and they were legion) are on display. At least it does not descend to soap opera and bring up the Reynolds Affair. There are many instances of dramatic license, but overall it was historically honest. The moment when John and Abigail reunite in France was the only mis-step dramatically. It just took me out of the story. On first viewing, I too found the series to slowdown after the Revolution. A second viewing was more rewarding, perhaps because my expectations were adjusted.
September 19, 2008 at 6:54 am
stillers
Geeeez. Its a pity whats happening to the UK. I was stationed in the UK for 3 glorious years (1990-93) & I do miss those the pubs. Good times!
September 19, 2008 at 12:10 pm
The Abbot
Oh believe me, I’d love to use sausage, or panchetta, or prosciutto instead, but the bacon was in the fridge and getting into the “needing to be cooked” state. This was an improvisation to get rid of a leftover.
Tonight I’m modifying a Batali recipe to get rid of some pork chops, and serving it over polenta. Stay tuned. If you’re lucky, you might also get a pumpkin soup recipe . . .
As for basil bread and garlic bread, Robbo, I make no apologies. Mrs. C. has a near-Transylvanian aversion to garlic, and therefore I’m always finding ways around it. Shallots in most recipes. I’d grow the garlic myself if it was just me.
September 19, 2008 at 12:13 pm
The Abbot
Done ‘em both; as Frank Sinatra might say.
The miniseries is pretty good; particularly, I think, in its portrayal of Franklin and Jefferson. The book is excellent — if McCullough is right, you come pretty quickly to the conclusion that Adams was the necessary man for the revolution to happen.
September 19, 2008 at 12:17 pm
The Abbot
Rodney Dangerfield voice: “She musta been somethin’ before electricity.”
September 19, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Actually, she was frigid. This is why she moved on to girls.
September 19, 2008 at 12:54 pm
The Maximum Leader
So what you are saying Mrs P is that she was a switch hitter? Comfortable on both sides of the plate so to speak…
September 19, 2008 at 12:57 pm
The Maximum Leader
I just watched the clip… Oy!
September 19, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Maxy, where do you live? Under a rock?
September 19, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Robbo
Frigidity is the root? I always thought it was supposed to be because their fathers didn’t pay them enough attention.
September 19, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Fathers not paying enough attention is how you get nymphos.
September 19, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Mrs. Peperium
OK, start the habit of carrying McDonald’s gift certificates -those cannot be exchanged for drugs or alcohol. During the holidays, upgrade to Boston Market. Your mind will be relieved. It worked for Mr. P.
September 19, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Robbo
Neat idea.
September 19, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Abbot, I’ve decided to make Nantucket carbonara for dinner….Nantucket carbonara employs pancetta and scallops…the saltiness savoriness of the pancetta cuts the sweetness of the scallops, perfectly.
September 19, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Sarah G.
I’m all for giving out food. I’ve explained to my children I’ll feed a hungry person food, but I won’t use my money to feed a person’s addictions.
September 19, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Robbo
What do you get when they’re both frigid AND ignored?
September 19, 2008 at 7:46 pm
The Abbot
Sounds wonderful. Pork improves virtually everything, and would be a great counterpoint to scallops.
September 19, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Princess Diana.
September 19, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Robbo
Oh, Mrs. P! Now I’ve gone and got coffee sprayed all over me shirt front.
September 19, 2008 at 8:57 pm
The Maximum Leader
I suppose I do live under a rock. I never knew about Garbo… Honestly…
September 19, 2008 at 8:58 pm
The Maximum Leader
I believe Sophia Loren is RCBfA approved. If not, I’ll gladly support any amendment to the by-laws to incorporate Ms Loren’s body (of work).
September 19, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Maxy, do me a favor please. When you incorporate Sophia’s body, give me her lingerie. That woman has the greatest undergarments known to man.
September 20, 2008 at 6:28 am
Alcohol Posts » Gimme A Dollar
[...] Robbo wrote a fantastic post today on “Gimme A Dollar”Here’s ONLY a quick extractThe Nashville Downtown Partnership, for instance, has launched a publicity campaign, “Please Help, Don’t Give,” which explains through posters that money given to panhandlers often supports drug and alcohol addictions. … [...]
September 20, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Fear and loathing in Georgetown
The definitive test of old school-ness is whether you shave with a brush and straight razor.
September 21, 2008 at 12:54 am
Sarah G.
I have helped Meryl swap out her Jeep’s top a few times and apreciate what a bear of a job it is, so kudos to you.
Can we fix it? Yes we can!
September 21, 2008 at 9:24 pm
GroovyVic
Ah, youth. It’s wasted on the young.
September 22, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Hmmn…you know I don’t think this was fair at all. As a former Episcopalian sunday school teacher (middle school as in grader 6-8 no less) who accompained her snot-nosed and sexually active charges on skiing and summer camp holidays while their parents partied it back up at home, there is no excuse for tears on the part of teachers.
Ever.
That daughter of yours sounds like she’s got some backbone. Throw it into gear and have her come up with the lessons from now on. Gesh…crying in Sunday school. What ever will be next?
September 22, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Robbo
Alas, for better or for worse, all three of my gels react to the first sign of weakness the way a school of piranhas reacts to a bleeding capybara.
September 22, 2008 at 6:27 pm
beth
The best advice I was ever given about being a teacher was that kids, like dogs, smell fear. While I sympathize with churches generally being short handed as far as SS teachers…this woman sounds singularly unsuited to the activity.
Not that the girl-child was right, but you handled that.
However, rather than bursting into tears, it seems the teacher ought to have recognized it as boredom and given her an assignment that challenged her. Or at least somehow managed to gird up her backbone and not cry. Sheesh.
September 22, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Lynellen
I wasnt aware that Sunday School lessons ever got any more “challenging”. They never did at the churches where I grew up.
Even in the adult small groups I’ve been in, discussing a book by Foster was considered at the outer edge of difficulty and doing a Kay Arthur inductive Bible study was apparently beyond difficult.
September 22, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Robbo
Perhaps I just need to turn the nuns loose on her a bit earlier than I had planned……..
September 22, 2008 at 10:35 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Your friend would be a welcome addition indeed to the Holy Catholic Church, should God move her in that direction but please, Robbo, make sure the RCIA classes she attends are decent ones, they range from abysmal to superb. Believe me, and you know as well as anyone, it can make a huge difference (I wish your friend could just pop up to NYC every week and attend RCIA classes at the Church of Our Saviour)!
September 23, 2008 at 12:40 am
GroovyVic
You hosted coffee hour? You’re a better man than I am. I got kicked off hospitality at my old church. (Just one of the reasons why I told Pastorman to stuff it.)
September 23, 2008 at 3:26 am
Father M.
Um, Mr. Bloviator? Not that this is an orthodoxy competition, HOWEVER, I can pretty much guarantee that the RCIA at Robbo’s parish is on par with Church of Our Saviour, if not better.
September 23, 2008 at 4:29 am
The Bovina Bloviator
Delighted by the news, Fr. M! Now, what do we do about all those miserable RCIA programs not as good as yours or even second-best Our Saviour’s?
September 23, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Robbo
Thankee, Padre. Yes BB, nothing to fear along those lines in my neck of the woods.
September 23, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Sarah G.
Ew is right. I have biking clothes that I only wear biking. Maybe I’ll venture forth to the dump, but that’s it. And I always shower afterward, hence it is a morning bike- walk kids to the bus stop and then I’m off.
Ok I did once stop by tennis to drop off water for one of the kids mid-ride, but I tried to steer clear so as not to offend.
September 23, 2008 at 1:58 pm
AKL
How exactly did a 6 year old reduce an unrelated adult to tears? (I’ll admit that my own have reduced me to tears – but generally not in front of them, unless for dramatic effect).
September 23, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Robbo
Well, that is a bit of a puzzler. There were actually three teachers there and I gather that the other two, although not pleased with the gel, were also scratching their heads at the reaction.
In case anyone is interested, we’ve now made the gel write a letter of apology. And while we had thought we might bump her up a level, I believe the plan now is to concentrate on giving her more to do to keep her occupied in class. Even Mrs R, who has no real Biblical training, said she was sure she could fadge up an assignment for a six year old if called upon to do so.
September 23, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Uhm, let’s examine the evidence shall we? Robbo knows how to use silverware, he’s gone to college and then some, he’s clean enough, holds down a job in our government where it is true you can’t be fired, but still, and he can construct a sentence. Mrs. Robbo from all reports and photographic evidence excels Robbo in all of these areas and on top of that, she is a teacher. All teacher’s students know how to both act out and behave better than any of their peers. So while it is true, Robbo’s youngest may have set the Sunday school classroom on fire thus reducing the Episcopalian in charge to nerves of Jell-o and weeping like a professional funeral follower, I’m guessing the problem really isn’t with the six year-old.
After all I know Episcopalians in the biblical sense.
And to prove it wasn’t the littlest Robbo’s fault and clear the gel’s name and get this woman the hospitalization she needs, all we need to do is to get Robbo to pay a friendly call on the woman in her home — use the delivery of the I’m Sorry card with a large bouquet of flowers as your entrance, Robbo. Then once inside say you need to use the little Sunday school room and excuse yourself for a minute or 10. Rifle through her medicine chest, turning the place upside down if you have to as your daughter’s reputation and family honour is on the line. Or, better yet since you’re a Catholic now and you cannot go up to the Communion rail, sit in the very pew behind this lady in church and when she and your family go up for Communion you go through her purse….
Or consider running an blind ad in the church bulletin asking if anyone has any info on this woman – add it pays well to have info on her….
September 23, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Robbo
Or perhaps during the passing of the peace I could give her a big ol’ hug and go through her pockets simultaneously.
September 23, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Or unhook her bra and see if that makes her cry…
September 23, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Andrew Cusack
While John Le Carre usually talks a lot of nonsense, in what you’ve excerpted here he is absolutely, 100% spot-on.
Better late than never. Still, you’d think he’d be happy that Britain is turning into the Soviet Union he apparently considered defecting to. Perhaps he’ll jump ship to Russia now; his tax rate will probably be a third of what it is in the U.K.
September 23, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Robbo
Well, I have been known to make a young lady cry by politely declining to unhook her even after being invited to, so perhaps the opposite might hold true as well.
September 23, 2008 at 4:32 pm
The Maximum Leader
Coleridge could belt out some good stuff… But only on the opium…
September 23, 2008 at 6:15 pm
The Abbot
Well, I think that there has certainly been an erosion of civil liberties in England — consider the security cameras everywhere, the outlawing of guns, the no-go areas that are falling under Shar’ia law, the rampant crime, etc., but they don’t come from conservatives. Tyranny can come from any ideology; Le Carre’s range of vision is just unusually blighted.
That’s probably not strong enough.
Anyone who sees moral equivalence between the old Soviet Union and England, even in its twilight; is simply a degenerate.
September 23, 2008 at 6:21 pm
The Maximum Leader
I think I have a Nixon button that has that exact slogan on it somewhere…
September 23, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Mrs. Peperium
I don’t think those were young ladies. I think those were girls were trying to earn their rent.
September 23, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Robbo
Reeeeally, Mrs. P. I admit to a dissolute yoot, but I can assure you that my adventures were those of the heart, not the wallet.
September 23, 2008 at 7:36 pm
GroovyVic
While I haven’t sent Son to school with any political clothing or whatnot, apparently he started a political conversation over lunch. Yeah, he claims Barack Obama is the reason gas prices are so high.
Keep in mind that he’s a fourth grader.
And while we are staunch Conservative Republicans in this house, neither Husband or I have held Barry O! responsible for gas prices.
September 24, 2008 at 12:15 am
ChrisN
I took Metro to work on “Car Free Day” yesterday. But then, I take Metro to work most days. Gas is pretty darn expensive, and the gubmint pays me to use public transport. Because the gubmint doesn’t pay me to bike in from Alexandria to downtown every morning, my decision not to is easy (well, easier).
September 24, 2008 at 2:20 am
Robbo
Yah, I’m the same way, ChrisN. I’d have a longer ride in from the burbs, but I am told by local biking fanatics that it can be done. Not with my knees, I think….
September 24, 2008 at 8:19 am
stillers
“…that calling a given candidate a “stupid head” is no real argument on the merits, and that civilized people may disagree on policies without descending to abuse.”
It isn’t?? Nuts. How about booger brains?? I work among followers of the Lamb of Chicago. It can be a wee bit maddening.
September 24, 2008 at 8:31 am
stillers
RUSH did a tune on the album A Farewell to Kings thats based on that Coleridge poem. Iron Maiden did a version of “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” on the Powerslave album. Interesting pieces of useless information to clog up your site.
Your welcome!
September 24, 2008 at 11:23 am
groovyvic
Booger brains? We’re talking about Joe Biden??
Oh, that was really childish. Sorry about that, really. It’s early.
September 24, 2008 at 11:49 am
beth
Quote courtesy of those fine folks who Might Be Giants.
The rest was interesting – I have to say that while I know even old New York was once New Amsterdam…that’s about all I’ve ever known surrounding the whys and wherefores of it.
September 24, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Honestly, the billboard we saw in Massachusetts beats that :
100% beef.
I turned to Mr. P and asked, “What was it before?”
Clearly the jackasses running the account these days have no clue what their jobs are or what advertising is.
As for the type not being capitalized, that was a popular typographical treatment in the ’60’s. It was scoffed at and driven out of town by the Yale School of Design by the ’80’s. Only losers, the tasteless or stupid employed it.
I think those 3 words sum up McDonald’s nicely. If you can’t tell, I used to work on the account, even designing McDonald’s Happy Meals. They made me actually work in one…in Boston…I had to make the burgers and chicken sandwiches…during the lunch rush….that was not the day to have a hankering for the classic taste of a McDonald’s hamburger…the Mexican fry cooks who jobs were to supervise me kept making fun of me….
September 24, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Robbo
Yes, although technically TMBG just did a cover. The original was sung by The Four Lads and debuted in 1953.
Don’t worry – I had to look that up. I like the TMBG version just fine, myself.
September 24, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Robbo
My dear Mrs. P, the thought of you wrestling with rows of Happy Meal component parts fills me with a certain mirth. Did you have to wear a hairnet?
September 24, 2008 at 2:53 pm
beth
You know, I think I actually knew that in the recesses of my brain – since my history teacher in 11th grade (when the song was new) made passing mention to it in class one day and we were all astounded that, even shriveled and old (poor lady was probably 45), she was kinda hip. Then she went and ruined it saying it was a song from her childhood.
Still…TMBG is all that matters.
September 24, 2008 at 2:54 pm
April
My husband pointed out that just because something is 100% beef does not make it 100% meat.
Love the blog!!
September 24, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Robbo
I once played the TMBG version for my grandmother, then about 80 or so. She immediately recognized it and began to shimmy.
September 24, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Robbo
Thankee, April.
September 24, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Hairnet? Puh-leaze, a pony tail.
September 24, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
Today is National Punctuation Day
Just FYI
September 24, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Robbo
Uh, not to alarm anybody, but according to WordPress somebody wandered in here on the search term “nude photos of mrs. p in amherst ohio”
Somebody’s got some ’splainin’ to do.
September 25, 2008 at 1:50 am
Mrs. Peperium
Hmmn…’splainin’ is what you want huh? Well all my ‘photos’ are ‘pictures’ done in oil and in the back of my husband’s closet….until his son is at college.
How’s that?
September 25, 2008 at 2:40 am
Robbo
“I see and I say nothing.”
September 25, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Father M.
Mrs. P., It would be fun to break in and paint nun habits on those paintings in the back of Mr. P.’s closet.
September 25, 2008 at 4:23 pm
The Maximum Leader
Why would your daughter be commenting on this painting in the first place? It doesn’t strike me as one that would be hanging in Chez Robbo.
September 25, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Robbo
Certainly not. My only interest in “The Scream” is the fact that the redness of the sky seen by Munch might have been attributable to the eruption of Krakatoa in 1889. Other than that, I don’t care for the style and as for the sentiment, it invokes in me the urge to slap the painter and say, “Dammit man, get a hold of yourself!”
I have no idea where the gel picked up on it.
September 25, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Mrs. Peperium
I’m guessing the next meeting of the RCBfA shall be held in Mr. P’s closet. I’ll start working on the menu now. Any requests?
September 25, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Rachel
It is great, isn’t it. I bought it for my parents and “borrowed” it back after they finished with it.
September 25, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Robbo
Sometimes de-gifting is a necessary part of life.
September 26, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Michael
What? Do scientists read poetry?
And, your mother got called down on it by a poetic scientist?
The next thing you know they will be talking about all creation.
Hmph.
September 26, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Happy bBirthday/b, Admiral!
[...] Robbo wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptToday is the anniversary of the birth, in 1748, of Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood. Here is a nice little biography. And here is the Royal Naval Museum’s page. Collingwood is usually overshadowed in popular history b…/b [...]
September 26, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Jordana
Psst. Where’s the image?
September 26, 2008 at 6:01 pm
The Abbot
Yeah, they blew this scene in the movie, no question. They juiced it up with cheesy special effects and lost the impact of it, plus, as you note, they make it seem like she almost said yes. Then Blanchett seems unduly pleased when she says “I passed the test.” Galadriel is deeply conflicted about passing the test; she knows that to pass into the West is to lose Lothlorien; she is a queen, and feels the loss of her kingdom greatly. She does what is right and understands that the Valar have forgiven her, but she isn’t psyched about it. Peter Jackson simply doesn’t understand the scene.
He is similarly tone deaf to many other places where the characters exhibit the ability to make moral decisions — in Jackson’s portrayal, the Ents decide not to go to war, Faramir takes Frodo prisoner, Aragorn rejects a leadership role, and Elrond is potrayed as a prick throughout the movie. It’s only the pure Hobbits, in the film, who keep people on the straight and narrow. Which is nonsense — the Hobbits, while generally good, are, in a sense, children — they’ve been protected by the vigilance of the Rangers from the dangers of the world. Their moral growth is partly accomplished by their interactions with great moral examples throughout the book — Gandalf, Aragorn, Elrond, Galadriel, etc. By appreciating Galadriel’s willingness to sacrifice her kingdom so that Frodo’s quest has a chance, Frodo comes to appreciate his quest better. Frodo is made better by understanding Galadriel.
One of the things that makes Tolkien’s world great is that there are people in it capable of making the correct moral decision gracefully, even though it comes at a personal sacrifice.
Jackson doesn’t seem to get this — he seems to see the hobbits as some type of noble savages who manage to bring out the best in the otherwise cynical and worldly — either that, or he thinks that’s all that we, the audience, are capable of understanding. Either he lacks a fine moral understanding, or he’s insulting us.
I think that Tolkien lived in an age that was more civilized. Which is why we all learned so much from him growing up.
September 26, 2008 at 6:17 pm
The Abbot
The Marian attributes are, in a sense, divided between the Vala Elbereth, Galadriel, and Eowyn.
Eowyn, you ask? The showdown with the Witch King is, in a sense, like Mary stepping on the head of the serpent in Revelations. Mary is, in that sense, a warrior. She also takes on aspects of Jeanne d’Arc, though Tolkien always disliked the French, so he’d probably deny it.
Christ is similarly divided — Gandalf is resurrected (and transfigured), Aragorn harrows Hell and brings forth the Kingdom, and Frodo walks the path to Gethsemane — which makes, in a sense, the Ring like the cross. But, just as Galadriel is not Mary, Frodo is not Christ — he cannot do it alone; he is not God.
Start going down this route with Tolkien and all kind of weird things pop up. Sam Gamgee is either Simon the Cyrene or St. Peter? The Balrog is Pilate? Boromir is Judas? Saruman is . . . Luther?
Gets pretty silly after awhile.
September 26, 2008 at 6:18 pm
The Abbot
“She also takes on . . . ”
meaning Eowyn, of course, not Mary.
September 26, 2008 at 6:44 pm
jen
See, I’ve always liked that scene in the movie. I didn’t see it as The Abbot – I always thought that Galadriel was relieved to pass the test and grieved at losing Lothlorien. But maybe I saw it that way because I read the books right before seeing the last two movies.
I really need to reread those books again soon.
September 26, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Robbo
Works okay for me. Is it better for you now?
September 26, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Anchovy
I like them all, even the relatively unwelcoming 1st. The 3rd and the 4th are both very good, but the 3rd is not quite so…severe. At any rate there’s very little schmaltz anywhere in Brahms.
September 26, 2008 at 11:16 pm
ScurvyOaks
I’m very fond of all of them, especially the monumental 1st. And even the 1st has a softer side; I’ve sung my baby daughter to sleep with material adapted from the 3rd mvt of it.
September 26, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Anchovy
Monumental, yes. But perhaps you’ll agree that the opening of the 1st movement is forbidding–as well it might be, if you feel the burden of Beethoven on your shoulders. Each time I hear the whole thing, however, I have to agree that once it surmounts that initial summit, it warms up considerably.
And let’s don’t leave out the 2nd, at once the most genial and weird of them all.
September 27, 2008 at 12:15 am
ScurvyOaks
The opening of 1/1 is forbidding, but also thrilling. You know he’ll have plenty of substance to discuss after such an introduction.
Re the 2nd, yes, genial and weird, indeed.
Oddly, the 3rd is the one I’ve never warmed up to as much. Perfectly pleasant, but it never seems to be quite what I’m most in the mood for.
September 27, 2008 at 12:36 am
Anchovy
Interesting. To my mind the 3rd is the quintessential one, the most Brahmsian, the most human. And the 3rd movement is as poignant and graceful a dance as ever was. Perhaps your moods are seldom autumnal–that would certainly mean that later Brahms is unlikely to be your fancy. But on some soon cool autumn afternoon, as the leaves fall and the sun sets, give it another listen.
September 27, 2008 at 3:28 am
The Bovina Bloviator
“Cortez” works better in the following literary excursion as well, I think:
September 27, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Pages tagged "my fair lady"
[...] bookmarks tagged my fair lady There’s Something About Galadriel saved by 5 others GovernorWatts bookmarked on 09/27/08 | [...]
September 29, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Crybaby.
September 29, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Robbo
Oh, no. I smiled through my tears.
September 29, 2008 at 2:55 pm
ScurvyOaks
I will indeed give it another listen, Anchovy, because I do have quite a few autumnal moods, and there is late Brahms I greatly enjoy. For example, the Op. 120 sonatas are true favorites of mine, especially the viola arrangement rather than the clarinet. The middle movement of the E flat sonata is wonderfully moving and autumnal.
September 29, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Michael
That is just plain ol’ funny.
September 29, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Monica
I’ll be watching to see your lauditory posting on Artemesia Gentileschi’s birthday (it’s not until June 8). Just jokin’, but do you like any women artists? This is the only thing I feel ever-so-slightly defensive of from a gender POV. Women artists have sorta had the short end of the stick, but I do not wish to dwell on it, since it is simply a reflection of the times in which they lived. I do wish more people knew about them, though!!
Topic: By creating a “National Museum for Women in the Arts” (have you been there? It’s in the old Masonic Temple), women artists have been/not been served well because their art has been “segregated.” Discuss.
September 29, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Robbo
I confess that I could not even name a woman artist other than Mary Cassatt or Georgia O’Keefe. Damn this patriarchy that keeps me in ignorance!
September 29, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Monica
Indeedy, those are the only 2 just about anyone can name. Look into Elizabeth Vigee-LeBrun, Gentileschi (you’ll love her “Susanna and the Elders”, Suzanne Valadon, Rachael Ruysch, Berthe Morisot, and one of my favorites, Lilla Cabot Perry. I probably spelled most of them wrong!!
September 29, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Robbo
Actually, I do recollect reading about Gentileschi within the past year and having seen her suitably gruesome treatment of Judith and Holfernes. I believe there was an exhibit in Dee Cee? Something along those lines.
September 30, 2008 at 12:08 pm
groovyvic
Oh, I hate those things! I feel for you!
September 30, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Mrs. Peperium
I have even worse news : You didn’t need to swim the Tiber.
Nope.
FLG, being a heretic like you once were, and thereby unable to join the RCBfA came up with another solution to satisfy his art fancying; Heretic Boys for Art. HBfA for short.
Why didn’t you think of that?
September 30, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Robbo
Speaking of heretics, my former rector showed up unexpectedly at the Sunday evening potluck we hosted for members of RFEC. Mrs. R reports spotting him in the library sitting with my shelf full of Papist reading material right at eye level.
Whether this had anything to do with it, I don’t know, but he didn’t say goodbye to me before leaving.
September 30, 2008 at 2:24 pm
GroovyVic
I’m telling you, a good beating cures what ails ‘em. You saw my kids, judge for yourself.
*giggle*
September 30, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Robbo
Wait, which one should I smack – the grump or Little Miss Sunshine? Or perhaps both?
September 30, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Michael
Perhaps you might try something altogether different like Sudoku.
I like “WebSudoku” because of it’s four levels: easy, medium, hard and evil.
Frankly, I find the medium and hard puzzles to be of more or less equal weight with the medium gauged puzzles being a bit more of a challenge than expected because of the numerical symmetry of options.
Evil, of course, must be reserved for genuine down time just like a good book to savor the win or the read.
Remember. No extra marks. All work must be thought out. (You don’t read with your lips, do you? Or, DO you?)
In any case, a mental ’sorbet’ is just the ticket for those daily rides to and from.
Burn a bunch of copies. Its contagious.
September 30, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
HBfA is not open to all on the other side of the Tiber. A classical education is required. Furthermore, we will have no Godless heathens.
September 30, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Mrs. Peperium
FLG, I think you’re being a bit hasty in not allowing Godless heathens in HBfA. Godless heathens are into serious pagan art and serious pagan art has always featured women with about twelve nipples instead of the Orthodox two. Who doesn’t want a woman with 12 nipples?
But better than that, they are into serious pagan sexual rites which could make the annual regimental do of the HBfA more doing so to speak. True most of those rites revolve around the seasons and involve in acting like animals far more often than acting like people but that might be a nice change for you.
September 30, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Robbo
Ah, those scandalous doin’s in the ruins of Pompeii…….
September 30, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Robbo
As my eldest daughter would say, “What? WHAT?”
I have a big book of crosswords with which I usually attempt to take my mind off flying, but the concept of a numbers-based game has never appealed to me.
September 30, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Hey FLG, may I put forth a prospective member for the HBfA?
He’s my cousin (we share the same grandmother from the Salem Witch Trials) so you know he’s a lot of fun. Plus he just had a baby girl. Well his wife did. He’s a ‘palie but not one of those ‘palies…
It’s fellow blogger Nasty, Brutish and Short. I’ll send him an email….
September 30, 2008 at 7:18 pm
GroovyVic
All three of ‘em!
September 30, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
Sure, but his admission is contingent upon producing a satisfactory portfolio.
September 30, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Robbo
Well, Mr. NBS has been absent from his post for some while now, so he’s got some serious catching up to do.
September 30, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Mrs. Peperium
He’s not absent. He’s locked out…..
September 30, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Robbo
Yes, well he needs to get his finger out and jimmy the locks or smash a window or something, because his contributions are sorely missed.
September 30, 2008 at 8:58 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
I find it astounding you would even considerabandoning a Waugh novel. For God’s sake, I urge you to finish it!
I find a good time killer on the train in NYC is the (London) Times crossword puzzle, found in the New York Post. They are excruciatingly difficult and I consider it a triumph if I can answer even one or two clues. A real workout for the brain, which (I am told) may slow the onset of seniltyrtrtedytd ooiijojjiojlx,l&*xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
September 30, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Robbo
Yes, those Times crosswords are killers – quite a bit different from the ‘Murican variety.
September 30, 2008 at 9:43 pm
basilseal
Yes, that’s a dilemma all right…Scoop being one of Waugh’s funniest…But please let me know what you think of Sailor of Austria when you do finish it. I would be interested in your learned opinion…
September 30, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Anchovy
Yes, yes, yes. The viola versions are superior. A fairly rare instance in which the alternate version is better than the original. And that very middle movement is my favorite. Although I’m a sucker for the opening of the Fm one too–great fun to play, if you have a violist handy. And, if we’re on string things, the opening movement of the Op. 38 cello sonata.
Not to overlook, either, Opp. 121 and 122. Anything from Op. 117 on, really. And plenty before that. I could make a list…
September 30, 2008 at 10:39 pm
ScurvyOaks
I’m a big fan of his early chamber music, too. I greatly enjoy Op. 26, the least-often-performed piano quartet, as well as Op. 25 and Op. 60. Needless to say, the piano quintet is unique and compelling and occupies a niche all its own. I’m glad you mention Op. 38; it’s been too long since I’ve listened to it.
September 30, 2008 at 10:50 pm
tancos
The song of the Riders of Roi-Tan, from Bored of the Rings.
September 30, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Diane
I adore British-style cryptic crosswords.
Why not take both books with you, and read one on the way in, the other on the way home? Granted, it’s extra weight, but it will relieve the weight on your conscience if you were to abandon the first in favor of the second, or the angst if you make yourself finish the first before starting the second.
October 1, 2008 at 2:49 am
Nasty, Brutish & Short
Oh aren’t you all too kind. I am indeed locked out. Also, without time to blog and/or really figure out how to get back in. Plus I am “in trial.” That means I get to behave badly until the trial is over.
Also, I’m not sure I would help with some raproachment with the RCBfA, as Sir Basil Seal does not care for me. So I am not sure I would help The Cause.
I can say, though that when I was the editor of the conservative paper at Sewanee (which I founded) that our local yokel printer was indignant when we tried to print a photo of (if I remember correctly), Titian’s Venus of Urbino. Does that get me any cred?
October 1, 2008 at 8:21 am
stillers
I’ve owned cats. They wouldn’t be any where near the water in the first place.
October 1, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Can’t you just see the old family resemblance between NBs and I?
NBS, (and you too FLG) this is not the 21st century. We will have none of this rapprochement between RCBfA and HBfA. They are Catholics. You are heretics. Or Protestants if you prefer. Why in the old days you guys killed each other with relish. And that jovial spirit should still remain alive and kicking between the 2 clubs today.
Now that’s there’s 2 of you in the HBfA, you’ve got work to do. You must get your staff (chef or head bartender) to infiltrate the RCBfA. Once safely ensconsed and enjoying the trust of the RCBfA, they must then slip all the RCBfA-ers mickeys. Once the RCBfA-ers are near comatose then they make off with not only their artwork and mascot but all the silver spoons.
When they awake, have a handbill announcing the HBfA’s next art viewing laying on their laps. Oh, and make sure your staff knows to do this on a night that Father M. is not around. You may be heretics but even you must know it’s not kosher to slip a Catholic priest a mickey.
Oh, and FLG, you are mistaken. There is no guilt involved with the RCBfA. If you don’t believe me, just ask Father M. And as an aside, the only true blue stuffed to the gills with guilt Catholics I’ve met are those career feminist whack jobs who, before Vatican II, would have found themselves happily ensconced in the nunneries.
October 1, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Old Dominion Tory
I welcome the formation of HBfA because, as those on the wrong side of the Tiber consider various works, they will inevitably notice that much of the worthwhile art in the world was sponsored and preserved by The Church and Catholic monarchs or created by Catholic artists. This will–or, at least, should–prompt many of them into considering what in the Catholicism caused these phenomena, and, if they are able to lay aside traditional Whiggish views of history, cause them to reconsider the Church as a whole.
In short, I can easily see a time when HBfA becomes a superb tool of Catholic envangelization. Imagine the story these new converts will tell, “Looking at nudes in Baroque art started me on my journey to The Church. Who knew?”
October 1, 2008 at 3:02 pm
MCNS
Mrs P,
Paganism aside, who doesn’t want a woman with 12 beers?
I believe Belloc had a suitable toast for such occasions.
October 1, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
ODT’s comment reminds me of the end of Love in the Ruins. “The monks began gathering books again.
October 1, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Christopher Buckley is a prententious ass living off his father’s shirt tails.
Thank you. I feel better now.
No I don’t.
He can’t write a sex scene worth reading. He must be lousy in bed.
Now, I feel better.
October 1, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Mrs. Peperium
That should read “pretentious”.
October 1, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
Your apparently instantaneous Buckley hatred was prompted by something in particular? He’s not a member of HCfA.
October 1, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
That’s HBfA.
October 1, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Oh, if I wasn’t ticked enough, now I’m over the top.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers just called the house looking for my husband.
Guess what? He’s not a teacher. Nor a pupil in the school system and not a resident of Detroit.
So, you ask, why did they want to speak with him?
Easy.
They wanted to know if he required an absentee ballot.
Since he wasn’t home they asked me if I required one.
No.
Then she asked if I planned to vote this November?
(This is sounding totally illegal at this point, don’t you think? She is supposed to be educating the illiterate children of Detroit – and liberals wonder why Detroit has a 21% graduation rate….)
“Yes.”
She wanted to know if I was planning on supporting Senator Obama?
“No.”
She thanked me and hung up…
Our house shall now be fire bombed….
Oh, and why am I ticked at the pansy, Christopher Buckley….yes any married man that talks like he does is a pansy- ask my mother.
He’s voting for Obama because Obama is more conservative….
October 1, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Mrs. Peperium– You should have said, “Yes,” to the question about voting for Senator Obama. Then, someone might have arrived at your house on Election Day with an envelope bulging with bills as a ways of rewarding Mr. P’s civiv virtue. And, any cash taken from the union is cash in a much more deserving place.
October 1, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Anchovy
Hm…hardcore. Most people never listen to the early stuff. Some of it is a bit awkward, but it’s endearing for all that. I like both the sextets, especially the opening of Op. 36. Like bees buzzing in summer. And Op. 60 is in a class by itself. The strinq quintets are also fine–the opening of Op. 111 is a great theme for wide-open spaces. For obscure, how about Nänie? Worth hearing if you don’t know it. A fine oboe solo to open, for one thing.
October 1, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Hadn’t thought of that….
I must admit I was wrong about Christopher Buckley. It appears he’s not a pansy as just today the story broke that he knocked up his Random House publicist and the child, a boy, is now 7 years old. But it appears Mr. Buckley is a complete cad and total bastard in his treatment of the boy which would be his son and Christopher’s father, WFB, doesn’t come off looking so hot either.
October 1, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Oh, so now that we know the truth about Christopher Buckley, he should be supporting Obama. It’s just he should be more honest in his support. He’s supporting Obama because they are both bastards and cads. Obama, if one reads his book like Christopher did, has a brother George who he wrote about glowingly. What Obama the millionaire left out is that George now lives in a 6 ft square hut in Africa on an income of $12 dollars per year.
October 2, 2008 at 3:11 pm
ScurvyOaks
Oh yes, Nanie is great. I can’t let the opportunity pass without noting the enduring greatness of the German Requiem, from beginning to end. And there’s some charming music in Der Schönen Magelone, Op. 33, to go for another obscure one.
October 2, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Ok, recalling how I’m convinced my Monsignor wants to see me installed in a nunnery, I have now decided, based on the tales of nuns told to me by the ex-communicated Catholics of my youth, that Monsignor may really be on to something. You see, there is this boy who has no discernible conscience. More than that, he does not sit while he eats. Not sitting when eating for the under 7 crowd, especially eating things like string cheese and whole apples, is a major choking hazard. So, we’ve got a an under 7 with no discernible conscience and running around the lunchroom while eating. A few weeks back I spoke with the ex-nun Vice Principal about this child not listening to me about sitting down and eating. She said …Oh, he doesn’t even listen to me.
Last week boy with no discernible conscience took his not sitting and still eating to the dark side. Yes the dark side. Didn’t know there was one huh? Well there is and it is most dark because now I have to be a nun. Let me explain… He tormented the other boys at another table. The one whose seat he took from him and was pulling across the cafeteria until I grabbed it away from him, finally snapped, psychologically from all the teasing poking, tormenting and taking of his chair. So boys will be boys and a free for all ensued. Which resulted in about 6 little boys getting a major talking down by the Vice Principal…and threats next time it’s the Principal’s office….and you know from my own experience how much fun that is — oh and by the way, got totally busted today for bringing my pit bull, The Reverend Sharpton to pick up and letting her play with the children on the playground. She’s much nicer than her namesake and the kids love her but now she’s been banned from school…am not joking and I pay $$$$$ for this treatment—anyhoo, the boy with no discernible conscience was not among the group of boys who got a talking to and that got my ears pricked forward, as he had started the whole thing…
So today, I watched him do his moves on another table of boys while eating a sandwich. And I decided Marshall Law was required. So I walked right up to him and pointed to his chair and said with the sternest voice I could muster, “Down _________!” He stopped and looked up at me with a face full of shock. It was all I could do to not say as I know I would have been sent to the Reflection Room and maybe even expelled, “You may get away with this with everyone else but I am going to be your worst lunchroom nightmare this year”
Then the most shocking thing of all happened. He went and sat down and ate his lunch like a proper school boy. The other boys around him looked as shocked as he and wisely they all stayed seated too.
So later, I told a lunchroom friend about all the trouble I was having with this child. She said “Don’t you know he’s autistic? Great. Just great. You’re beating up on the handicapped kid now.”
I responded that under my care he was able to behave like all of the rest of the children.
I am most definitely pre-Vatican II in my child-rearing….
October 2, 2008 at 9:40 pm
beth
Glad you were able to find a solution to the dilemma…though the sick in bed part is no fun. Hopefully you’re doing better!
Wish I had something cheery to add – but I’ve got a bit of melancholy myself.
October 2, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Anchovy
That’s a set I don’t know–his songs, being all scattered about, haven’t had as much of an effect on me. They’re probably more obscure than they should be, but then again few things are harder to find than a truly good Liedsinger with the necessary Brahmsian chops. Not many try, even fewer succeed.
The Requiem is odd–perhaps that’s a truism when speaking of Brahms–but I like it anyway. I once heard it performed in the same gym George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door of, and if it can survive those awful acoustics, it can survive anything.
October 3, 2008 at 2:12 pm
JB in Florida
I have coffee with my parents twice a week. My dad and I have a great relationship and love one-up-manship on each other. Words are our weapons.
So he was teasing my mom and said she got the pick of the litter.
And my response…. Yeah, but she picked the RUNT!
My dad was laughing so hard I had to quit…don’t need him to die laughing.
October 3, 2008 at 8:41 pm
MCNS
I managed to get Cary Grant, wonder of wonders.
By the way, the link is acting up ~ You might try this version:
http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-classic-leading-man-test
Cheers ~ Mark S
October 3, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Father M.
I got William Powell but thought I’d get Bing Crosby or Barry Fitzgerald.
October 3, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Mrs. Peperium
William Powell…
October 3, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Mrs. Peperium
If I were a lady, then Rosalind Russell…
October 4, 2008 at 1:38 am
Father M.
Alas, I will be unable to go to St. J. for Midievalpalooza. However, I have no doubt it will be a hoot.
October 4, 2008 at 2:06 am
Jordana
Good for Mrs. R! Busy times ahead — as if they weren’t already.
October 4, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Sister
Please DON’T send your overly sensitive OTHER niece anything obnoxious for the holidays as I already have to weed out “Gifts That Will Make Her Cry” and give them to Goodwill. Having said that, please DO send Brother payback for those *~@! monkeys.
Good on the ‘Ster for getting in! Please pass on our congrats!
October 4, 2008 at 9:45 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Jimmy Stewart for me, Robbo.
October 5, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Monica
Didn’t Beth say that in Little Women?
October 5, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Robbo
Meb, but the fact that the quote is in a German accent should be taken as a hint.
October 6, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Excellent: I’m William Powell.
October 7, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Forth, Eorlingas! « The Port Stands At Your Elbow
[...] readers will recall that a few days ago I was fretting about what kind of voice to use for the Third Marshall of Riddermark. (At [...]
October 7, 2008 at 2:01 pm
the gripping hand
It always seemed to me that Tolkein was fascinated by the Norse and Saxons and patterned Rohan after them, although the Norse were never horsemen. However, it seems reasonable to see the Rohirrim as either Franks or Saxons, given their relative acceptance of Roman customs without the resistance of the Germanic tribes. However, I disliked that Tolkein made them illiterate, since I thought that such long contact with Gondor would have resulted in more interest in writing, if only to record the sagas.
October 7, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Robbo
It would be my guess that during the reign of King Eomer one might expect to see writing introduced to Edoras along with many more attributes of Gondorian civilization. I think that Rohan’s involvement in the Great War and the personal relationships between Eomer and Aragorn (and Eowyn and Faramir, for that matter) herald a closer bond between them and translate into a resulting “bump” in Rohan’s refinement. The difference between the Rome/Franks and the Gondor/Rohan comparisons, of course, is that Gondor doesn’t fall, but is restored to a greater glory even than that of its first flower.
October 7, 2008 at 2:55 pm
beth
I’m simply filing all your suggestions away for the future. I didn’t comment as I had no clear thoughts to offer — I’m still working on keeping the voices of the Fox (in socks) different from Knox different from Sam I Am and the dude who does not like green eggs and ham.
October 7, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Robbo
If it helps, I think it was the Henson people who put out some puppet-version Cat In The Hat tee vee shows a while back. My parents had a stock of them which we used to keep the gels entertained in their younger days when we visited Maine. I have since modeled all my own CITH efforts on the voice used in that production.
October 7, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Jordana
Oh, that does sound delicious!
October 7, 2008 at 4:45 pm
The Abbot
Plus, Peter Jackson leaves out Ghan-Buri-Ghan completely.
Can’t wait to hear what voice you use for him.
I think your take on Theoden and Eomer is a good one. I never pictured the Rohirrim as being particularly Germanic in their accents, though they clearly are.
Though I’m not sure I accept the Gondor as Rome argument completely — one could argue that Arnor is Rome and Gondor is Constantinople.
Which makes the Rohirrim the Russians, I guess.
October 7, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Rheinman
I remember reading somewhere that Tolkien imagined the Rohirrim as what the Anglo-saxons would have become if they had had horses and would have been able to fight off the invading Normans. I don’t recall if Gary (a.k.a. Tolkien Geek) has anything to say on this subject.
That said, wonder how doing Jeeves as Eomer would mess with the gel’s world view.
October 7, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Totally unrelated:
October 8, 2008 at 3:20 am
Robbo
My dear Mrs. P –
I am terribly sorry that the topic of Canadian footbridges is of such limited interest. I will strive, in teh future, to post on items with more general appeal.
(Aaaand, if you will check in over at teh Llamas, you will see that the LMC has that very episode covered already. TPSAYE is basically a little echo-chamber. What small presence I may hold in the marketplace of ideas is still found over at the LB’s.)
October 8, 2008 at 3:35 am
Robbo
Abbot – Yes, I’m being monstrous sloppy both with the blurring of Teutons and Norsemen as well as Rome and Constantinople, but you get the general idea. But if Minas Tirith is Constantinople, does that make Mehmed II the Witch-King of Angmar?
As for Ghan-Buri-Ghan? Already have him pegged: Mako as Akiro the Wizard in ‘Conan the Destroyer’.
Rheinman – Jeeves as Eomer?….Ah…..”There is no time, Sir, in which horsetails do not matter.” Oh, me aching braims…….
October 8, 2008 at 2:24 pm
The Abbot
Longtime Llama Butcher readers know the answer of course.
On a related note . . .
http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/katzkids/about.htm
Still in circulation!
October 8, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
To play Devil’s Advocate:
Is the extinction of one quarter of all the known species on Earth really make you feel any better?
October 8, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
That’s does, not is the extinction…
October 8, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Robbo
The qualification would at least be more honest. But that’s not the way it’s typically reported. I don’t know how to put a link in a comment, but here’s a sample of what I mean if you care to cut n’ paste into your browser:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/10/06/endangered.mammals/index.html
October 8, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Robbo
Oh, never mind. I see that WordPress is way ahead of me.
October 8, 2008 at 5:37 pm
ScurvyOaks
Here in Dallas, it has finally gotten down to the mid-50s overnight, with highs in the low 80s. This was sufficiently autumnal, by Texas standards, for me to listen to the 3rd Symphony again. And right you are, Anchovy; there’s a lot to like, and a lot that is quintessential Brahms. Thanks for pointing me back to it.
Ever listened to Rinaldo, to mention another obscure one? I’m thinking of picking up a recording of it. It’s not one I know.
October 8, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Andrew Cusack
The “Southern Ocean”?
I admit, I had to look that one up.
October 8, 2008 at 6:05 pm
The Abbot
As usual, Father Z. has fascinating commentary on this story, also
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/10/holy-smoke-are-traditional-catholics-losing-hope-fr-z-responds/
October 8, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Robbo
Wow, indeed. Go read, everybody.
October 8, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Robbo
If I remember correctly, Patrick O’Brian’s Desolation Island was somewhere above latitude 60 degrees south, and therefore within the Southern Ocean. (If not, it was jolly well close enough.)
October 8, 2008 at 8:43 pm
The Abbot
I didn’t know Dick Cheney played the cello . . .
October 8, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Robbo
Hehehe…It is mildly disturbing that your Llama memory goes that far back.
October 8, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Father M.
Just to comment on some aspects of the article… I have no doubt that there is a big leftist streak in the U. K. bishops and I am sure that most of them are not friendly toward the old Mass. That having been said:
First, cathedrals aren’t always the best place to have a Tridentine Mass. Some of them are modern and ill-suited especially when there is an old, nice church nearby. The Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool looks like a washing machine agitator. You wanna have at the new Oakland Cathedral of Christ Our Light here in the US of A? Yuck.
Second, I don’t know about Britain, but here the seminarians are all learing the old Mass and there is a frenzy of priests going hither and thither to take classes in the old rite. Personally, I find that demand is sometimes overstated. Tridentine Mass goers seem to think that everyone wants to go to the old Mass in the same way that the modernists seem to think that everyone wants to sing “On Eagle’s Wings” every Sunday. Anecdotally, from some of my seminary classmates, gobs of people show up at the old Mass first out of curiosity or from other Tridentine Mass communities to show support, and then attendance dwindles and you are stuck saying a fourth Sunday Mass for a handful of people in some locations.
Third, the Tridentine community is so notorious in their complaning and in-fighting that some priests who love the old Mass will only offer it in private. There are several websites that nastily criticize specific priests if they forget a rubric. One lf the holiest and most traditional priests in our diocese was ripped apart in his first public Tridentine Mass for not doffing his birettum to the proper depth at the proper time. If someone wishes to complain about the way their priest doffs his birettum they better be going after their fellow Mass-goers first; the ones in the blue jeans and Hawaiian shirts. Attendance and an old Mass DEMANDS suit and tie for the gentlemen and hats or veils and gloves and dresses for the ladies. Oh, and ABSOLUTELY NO BUTT-LEANING against the pew when kneeling. I remember the footage of Bishop Salvatore Matano offering the Extrordinary Form Mass in the Cathedral in Burlington, VT last year. The crowd looks like they just came in from digging turnips.
October 8, 2008 at 10:36 pm
The Abbot
All good points, Father M. It takes a good parish to support it properly every week. I think, though, that the generation coming up, weaned on the new mass, won’t be as picky as some of the old guard Rad Trads when it comes to the TLM. There can be a happy medium.
As an aside, I actually happen to have in my refrigerator some turnips from my sister-in-law’s organic vegetable farm from outside Burlington. So I got a chuckle — the crowd might very well indeed have been digging turnips.
It’s not for nothing that Vermont is called New England’s refrigerator.
October 9, 2008 at 12:06 am
Mrs. Peperium
Father M., you’re the best.
October 9, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Robbo
Well, now.
I suppose that all I can do is to thank Heaven even more that I’m where I am. Although now I’m thinking I had better take a sextant along some Sunday to ensure that the biretti are being doffed to the proper depth.
October 9, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Happy bBirthday/b, Saint-Saëns!
[...] Robbo wrote an interesting post today onHappy bBirthday/b, Saint-Saëns!Here’s a quick excerptMy Quote-of-the-Day email guy notes the 173rd anniversary of the birth of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns with a tribute I consider to be filch-worthy:. I produce music as naturally as an apple tree produces apples. b…/b [...]
October 9, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Father M.
Hey Abbot,
As usual, yes, it’s a noisy few…
I was just digging for a metaphor and not seeking to criticize the deeply rooted turnip-growing traditions of Burlington. I am sure your family grows excellent turnips and hopefully they don’t dress for Mass in turnip-digging attire.
Mrs. P., thank you.
Robbo, you are in a wonderful place. It was Fr. S.’ mentor and former pastor who ran afoul of the post-Missam critics.
October 9, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Albert Cooper
These treacherous Bishops,and Priests,stubbornly refuse to celebrate or allow the Tridentine Mass.Instead they prefer to spread Modernism,Liberalism,to the faithfull with false dawns,of personal concience (its alright for me because etc) and to seek excuses for sin
Still sticking to the belief that after all these years of experimentation,with vocation to the priesthood and the religious life at an all time low,mass attendance dwindling,particularly with the young,who seem to give up the faith directly schooll days finish, that all will come right eventually!!
I live in the diocese of East Anglia England,and the cathedral church of St John the Baptist (formerly my parish church) as elsewhere Bishop and clergy drag their heels and resist any attempt to have a Tridentine Mass celebrated.Its paifull to see these misguided men at “services” with stupid,benign,grins on their faces.There are never sermons on what sin is,or its consequences,just a one size fits all,mix and match teaching
October 9, 2008 at 3:49 pm
ScurvyOaks
Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 4 has some glaring weaknesses, but I like it a great deal all the same. For me it stands for the proposition that music can go deeply into memory (like smells, for example). When I was working in Paris during the summer of 1983, I picked up a cassette of Saint-Saens Piano Concertos 2 and 4, just to expand my knowledge of his music. I instantly liked No. 4 a lot and listened to it all the time. I mentioned this in a phone conversation with my mother, whistling the hymn tune from the finale. She explained that she had played a record of this piece frequently when I was very young. Of course, I had no conscious recollection of that, but it surely explains why I reacted so enthusiastically to hearing it again at age 21. Not surprisingly, this experience caused me to make sure that each of my kids has heard a lot of great music from an early age.
October 9, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Robbo
Scurvy, I had a similar experience with an old 8-track tape of Schumann’s Fourth that my father had a habit of playing on long car trips. I remember thinking when I was very young that the third movement was all about dancing elves.
October 9, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Anchovy
Ravel was far above Saint-Saëns in talent and taste–and that certainly includes the Bolero, which I would rate above anything of S-S’s. There’s certainly more of Algiers in it than in the whole of S-S. One thing that S-S had more of than Ravel was humor (not wit), which is worth something. He’s likable like cotton candy, sweet and ephemeral.
October 9, 2008 at 7:08 pm
GroovyVic
Ugh! I have to sit through the commercials for this tripe during repeated Hannah Montana viewings. Zac Efron fills me with the urge to bitch slap.
And those effing Jonas Brothers…..my teeth are rotting from the sweetness of it all.
Is it any wonder I’ve dug my Iron Maiden CD’s out of storage?
October 9, 2008 at 7:09 pm
GroovyVic
You just described my early 20’s. Good times….goooooood times…
Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it, Rob.
October 9, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Jordana
And this is why I love homeschooling. My children have never heard of High School Musical or any of that rot.
October 9, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Robbo
Jordana – I know several homeschoolers who take a similar position, but it leads me to a question: sooner or later your children will be exposed to the big, bad world. How do you go about preparing them for what I would think will be the very considerable shock of it?
I ask not to challenge, but out of genuine curiosity. Perhaps a blog post would be in order?
October 9, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Robbo
I’m afraid those records are permanently sealed, but I assure you I do not speak out of complete naivete.
October 9, 2008 at 7:41 pm
GroovyVic
Oh Robbo, you naughty thing…
October 9, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Robbo
; )
October 9, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Damon
Holy crap, what a whore!
October 9, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Christine
I don’t speak from naïveté either, but I’m emotionally incapable of such flings. Frankly, I think pretty much every woman is–and if she thinks she can pursue these sorts of relationships without emotional scarring, it’s because she’s already been scarred to the point of having hardened herself emotionally. Dawn Eden is perceptive about these things, having lived them herself.
October 9, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Christine
Oh, and ABSOLUTELY NO BUTT-LEANING against the pew when kneeling.
LOL. Agreed–though I think the one exception goes to the heavily pregnant; at seven months, kneeling for long with all that extra weight puts quite a strain on the back, and leaning against the pew seat brings welcome relief.
October 9, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Robbo
Christine – I had to deal with a pair of knees skinned at my daughter’s softball practice a couple weeks ago. The kneeler in the pew was bad enough, but we have a marble altar as well. Yee-owch!
October 9, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Friends without benefits?
Oh you mean the girls we use to call sluts?
Guess what?
We still do….
October 9, 2008 at 9:59 pm
MCNS
Perhaps off topic ~ or maybe not ~ but you’ll get a kick out of this one, Mrs P:
http://tsutpen.blogspot.com/2008/10/where-boys-are-11.html
October 9, 2008 at 10:19 pm
The Abbot
I got a kick out of “his Ayn Rand fixation”, especially considering my bit about Atlas Shrugged in my last post.
October 9, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Christine
Conversion of family members is no guarantee of a perfectly happy or peaceful family life. There are some close to me whose conversion followed mine, but was nowhere near the same. It’s mysterious why God’s grace works so differently in souls, but if there’s one thing I’m learning, it’s to be content, and even grateful, for my lot. The whole purpose of our lives, I think, is to learn to love as Christ loves–and if that means being as patient with other Catholic family members who continue to doubt, struggle, and disobey as Christ is with them, then that’s what I must do–and for as long as Christ wants it.
October 9, 2008 at 10:22 pm
The Abbot
Surely, Robbo, you have by now heard the expression “Offer it up for the souls in Purgatory . . . “
October 9, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Christine
Robbo–I think in that case (and perhaps the good Father would agree) you’d be excused. No one expects the elderly or infirm to kneel if it’s really painful. (Of course, if you’re doing penance…)
October 10, 2008 at 1:21 am
Father M.
The elderly, preggers and walking wounded all get a pass on the kneeling. Of course my sentiments are directed at the other 99.9%. By the way, Christine, I am very happy about your impending Blessed Event.
October 10, 2008 at 1:29 am
Father M.
Mr. Cooper: You certainly have me over a barrel with the “stupid, benign grin” but I think “treacherous” is an inaccurate and unkind description for the clergy who have given their lives to serve you even if they do not share your preference for TLM.
October 10, 2008 at 2:08 am
Jordana
That’s an interesting question and perhaps I can come up with a post on the subject. The short answer, I suppose, is that I am not homeschooling to keep them away from the big bad world, but rather, not being aware of some of the annoying culture is a side benefit. We don’t do much TV and I don’t go out of my way to find things that I know would annoy me, but the kids certainly encounter cultural influences outside of those provided by the home environment and I am not completely opposed to that. The kids aren’t little clones of their parents and they will like music and pop culture that I don’t care much for, such is the way of things. If they discovered HSM and loved it, I’d probably let them watch it and listen to it, but I won’t pretend that I’m not unhappy to be missing out on that stuff for the time being. Plus discovering such things later rather than sooner gives me more time to introduce them to things I think are better first. If they later decide they think Disney musicals are better than the Rodgers and Hammerstein or Lerner and Lowe musicals that I prefer (well, first they will be wrong), but at least they’ll have a basis for comparison.
October 10, 2008 at 3:23 am
Robbo
Great Heavens, did Christine let fall some seriously wonderful news that went sailing right over my head? My apologies and my best wishes!
October 10, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Unfortunately my entire email system crashed earlier this week and I’ve lost everything…including my address book…and so correspondence and announcements that had been planned and whatnot have not occurred and will not. Maybe ever. As this might be a sign from Heaven. So yes, Robbo, as usual, something regarding Christine’s words sailed right over your head.
The good thing thing is though we know Christine is not having Bristol Palin’s 123,695 child. So please alert Andrew Sullivan.
October 10, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Oh and Father M. in regards to your comments to Mr. Cooper…ditto.
October 10, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Except I do not think you have a “stupid, benign grin”…
Well, let me parce that some more….I can imagine times when you would wear a stupid,benign grin but it would not be when you are presiding over the Mass….more like when your are presiding over a tin of macaroons, huh?
October 10, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Ah..Robbo, head’s up! You are sailing into the Bermuda Triangle without a GPS. As your post on “friends without benefits” or Madonna’s Viagra tour because it would take a bottle of Viagra as well as a boatload of antibiotics to want to go where 56, 000 men have gone before, and the success of The Hollow Man, Obama so clearly demonstrates, the world is a big bad place.
I’m with Jordana on this one. She not trying to hide her children….she’s trying to raise moral people. A very big difference.
October 10, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Oh, I call them “friends without benfits” because the stupid women don’t even get a nice meal in return for being a slut.
October 10, 2008 at 12:33 pm
GroovyVic
So, what do you call a guy who subscribes to this line of thinking?
At some point in my dating life I got tired of waiting for the mythical Mr. Right and sort of, well, took on the attitude of a guy.
It’s a double standard, still. Guys are not looked down upon, but the women are sluts.
Well, always nice to have that confirmation about myself.
October 10, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Mrs. Peperium
“So, what do you call a guy who subscribes to this line of thinking?”
A feminist.
But now that our society is a gender-bending one, slut does work. Very nicely.
Groovy Vic, in all candor, I was using the word slut to make a very clear point. The point is it is not good for society (or our mainstream media) to promote promiscuity. Promiscuity not healthy physically, mentally or spiritually.
We’ve all grown up in the shadows of the Free Love generation. And we know the truth. There was nothing free about it. We should not keep that from today’s young.
October 10, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Robbo
“So, what do you call a guy who subscribes to this line of thinking?”
A cad.
October 10, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Christine
My husband has just decided he wants to homeschool–right after we enrolled our 3-year-old in Catholic pre-school. But our reasons are fairly straightforward: we both attended public school, learned very little, and wasted lots of time.
At home, my daughter’s already learning how to read sheet music and play the piano, play chess, read, and write. Instead of Britney Spears or Hannah Montana, she hums classical tunes (it helps that we don’t have cable, and never will).
October 10, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Robbo
Well, Mrs. P, I’m trying to raise moral people, too. And it’s because my GPS works pretty well that I am able to differentiate between the harmless shallows of silly bubble-gum pop like HSM and the dangerous shoals of Madonna, Britney and the like. (By the bye, the gels know perfectly well what I think of the pop stuff I let them indulge in. They also know very well that there is a very strict bright-line cut-off between what is tolerated around here and what is not.) Furthermore, as you can imagine from the sorts of things on I usually post, they get plenty of blue-water cultural sailing as well.
October 10, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Father M.
Mrs. P., I wear the countenance of celestial bliss when I encounter your macaroons.
October 10, 2008 at 5:24 pm
beth
I’ve been meaning to ask, and this seems like just as likely a place as any, but you have also read the Dark is Rising series (by Susan Cooper) with the girls, haven’t you? (If not, you really must.)
I imagine you’d have quite a bit of fun with the various voices therein as well.
October 10, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Robbo, my commented was never meant to infer you were not trying to raise moral people too. My comment was directed specifically to this:
“sooner or later your children will be exposed to the big, bad world.”
For the last 20 years or so, there has been an open season on traditional white males, folks with Orthodox Christian values and traditional white males and home schoolers. And those groups often overlap in reality though there is a good number of liberals who home school and make their goat cheese at the same time.
The most frequent charge/slander against the home schoolers is that they are trying to hide their children from the world. And maybe some are. And some are completely whacko. But others really believe in it for a variety of very good reasons. Because home schooling thanks to the slander and the idea it’s for neanderthals, it’s become a polarized issue. This is what I meant about the Bermuda Triangle. People rarely tell you what they truly think.
What I’ve been struck with lately, are parents who have sincere regrets about the socialization their children received in the public schools, private schools, and at college and University. As a result of the (toxic) socialization, those kids are permanently off their original tracks. And one can not help and look at all the safeguards that have been removed in the both public and private school system and think (for instance), Huh? Wonder if what happened to him, would have happened if Andover still had mandatory chapel like it used to?
I’ve yet to meet someone who home schooled who has regretted the way their children have turned out. I’m sure they do exist. I just am not deep enough into the home schooling world to know them.
Jordana has impressed me because she has a large and young family and she seems to get it all done. And that has to be because of her intelligence, her temperment and her sincere belief that what she is doing is the right thing.
Oh course, I haven’t completely ruled out the idea she’s a complete whacko.
October 10, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Robbo
No, I haven’t. Is it fantasy? I’ve never ventured beyond Lewis and Tolkien.
October 10, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Robbo
Oh, I’ve met Jordana and I can assure you that if she IS a complete whacko then I don’t want to be sane.
And I certainly have no intention of slandering anyone. As I said, I was asking out of mere curiosity: How does one prepare for the inevitable culture shock that is bound to attend eventually when one raises one’s children partially or totally shielded from the toxicity of society?
October 10, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Again I wasn’t accusing you of slander. I was addressing the slander against home schoolers in my own obnoxious way.
Honestly, I don’t know how much of a culture shock there really is. Go back to the Jane Marple theory : The same thing that goes on in the city goes on in the small country town. Hell, just look at small town Alaska. They have teenage pregnancy there just like New York City does.
My theory has always been teach the kids the good things because the world will teach them the bad. And if they are well acquainted with the good, they’ll have a better chance of rejecting the bad. It’s not 100% over even 85%, but its got to have better odds than marinating them in the culture.
October 10, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Robbo
Oh, it’s there – the culture shock, that is: I came from a very conservative, provincial childhood in the wilds of South Texas and I vividly remember the feeling of having completely lost my gyroscopic bearings when I set foot on campus at the People’s Glorious Soviet of Middletown – for the first eight or nine months, I thought that either the entire World had lost its collective mind, or I had.
Fortunately, I managed to recover and right myself. I had classmates, tho, from similar somewhat sheltered backgrounds who when confronted with these same buffets simply spun in.
Radically changing metaphors, I suppose that I am more of the cowpox-innoculation theory: teach them the good things, absolutely. But also expose them to some of the less virulent bad things and point out why those things are bad, so that they begin to get some understanding and, hopefully, build up some immunity. That’s why although I let the gels have their HSM, I also make sure they know I think they’re wasting their time on it.
I guess the point of my original post was alarum at the way the author seemed not to be just tolerating the thing, but actually embracing it herself, as if she wanted to be a pre-teen again, too.
October 10, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Did you see what Connecticut did today? My ancestors must be spinning in their graves.
Oh, and I wonder if we’d be in the mess we are financially if business schools like Harvard hadn’t abandoned teaching ethics like they did in the very early ’70’s…
October 10, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Jordana
Thank you for the kind words.
Rob, I’m not entirely opposed the to cox pox theory. In fact, I do tend to do that with art especially. I take the kids through the modern art museums so they can learn an early (and I hope permanent) disgust for large canvases of flat grey paint or other more appalling and ugly things that modern art encompasses. I don’t go out of my way with music as much and also not with TV and movies. I suppose those annoy me in a different way, so I don’t seek them out.
From all accounts, I suspect your girls are going to enjoy the good stuff more than the fluff. You sound like you are raising some lovely ladies by all accounts.
And really, I think most of us go through a period of culture shock when leaving the shelter of the parental nest. You do the best you can with them before throwing the kidlets to the wolves, but ultimately it is their choice whether they lose their heads for a season or for longer.
October 10, 2008 at 9:10 pm
beth
Yes, it’s a 4 (maybe 5) book fantasy – based on the legends of King Arthur but more centered on his predicted return and set in modern-ish age. (I say ish because I believe they were written in the 80s or thereabout).
I think you, and the girls, would find them fun.
But whatever you do, don’t waste your time on the movie they made last year (?) – they tried to stuff all the books into one movie and, well, tragedy resulted.
October 10, 2008 at 9:10 pm
beth
That should say “fantasy series” – though I’m guessing you figured that. The first is “Over Sea, Under Stone”
October 10, 2008 at 9:13 pm
GroovyVic
Awww…that brings back memories of Son singing “cee a cookie, a nuff a nuff a meeee!”
October 10, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Christine
Mr. Cooper: Kindly get a grip.
Fr. M & Robbo: Thanks. Yes, it’ll be interesting to have a third tiny body roaming around our house…
October 11, 2008 at 2:32 am
Ultimate Driving Machine
Let those among us with no youthful indiscretions cast the first stone, er, bad name.
I think we all have things in our past for which we would like a Mulligan, but, alas, all we can do is learn from our mistakes and try to keep our children from repeating them.
love ya, Groovy V!
October 11, 2008 at 10:33 pm
GroovyVic
Mrs. P, if you think for one minute that I would in any way teach my own children that promiscuity is a good thing, well, you’d better pull your head out of your rear end.
My comment was made in jest, and Robbo picked up on that. You’re the one who jumped on your moral high horse. Get over yourself.
October 11, 2008 at 10:40 pm
GroovyVic
And, FYI Mrs. P, I did eventually find a very nice man.
Of course, I’m not as soiled as you probably think I am.
October 12, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Christine
UDM: And then there are some who have things in their past they don’t regret at all.
October 12, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Mrs. Peperium
GroovyVic, thank you for your kind and gracious words. If you take a deep breath and then look at my very first comment on this thread again, you can clearly see it had nothing to with you. Nor was it referring to you or “casting stones at you”. It referred directly to Robbo’s title -Friends without Benefits and it was even put it in quotes so it would not be misconstrued.
Yes, I am guilty of employing a pejorative term for promiscuous women; slut. Slut has been a a part of the English language, and even used by all the better poets and writers since about 1500 which is why it is found in all of our better dictionaries as an acceptable term for loose women.
You (and Ultimate Driving Machine) were the one who took my comment personally. As far as my next comment on the thread, one can easily see I was speaking to the larger cultural issue when I said men who behave in this manner are feminists. Which is true. Feminism granted to men what they have wanted from most women for thousands of years; sex without strings attached. Feminism dressed up promiscouity as the path to true enlightenment. It is not. It is the path to coarseness, vulgarity, destruction of women, and death to the unborn. Robbo’s article “Friends Without Benefits” is just sex without strings attached repackaged to the younger generation. All the “Friends Without Benefits” phenomenon will accomplish is further destruction of women–mentally, spiritually, physically–primarily through the treatment of their bodies and bedrooms as public playgrounds and the treatment of their unborn children as inconvenient but ultimately disposable byproducts.
Your intended barb about my “moral high horse” was something I saw coming long before you employed it; and it glanced off of me as might a blunted, over-used arrow. You took offense my original comment because you are unable to see objective truth any other way than through the lens of your own personal experience and see those who try to live by objective truth as nothing more than folks who think they’re better than you.
You’re wrong about that one, too.
October 12, 2008 at 9:09 pm
groovyvic
You’d just better watch out when you throw out “slut” out there, no matter who it may or may not be directed at. Something like that is usually met with an ass kicking.
October 12, 2008 at 9:53 pm
GroovyVic
And as for any name calling, I’ve been called worse by better.
October 12, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Ultimate Driving Machine
First, apologies all around.
In context, I was referring to Damon and his “whore” comment and not to Mrs. P’s use of the word “slut”. I am dismayed by the ease at which we rip into eachother when I believe we are all on the same page. I didn’t sleep around because, like Christine, I am not capable of the “fling”. I have seen the damage promiscuity can do. However, I have made other mistakes and learned from them. Because I know that we are all imperfect, I don’t, as a rule, rub salt into others’ wounds…..even old ones. Groovy Vic would be the first to admit that the whole “friends with benefits” thing is not healthy for the mind, body, or spirit. She was making a joke and was beat up a bit in the comments.
Christine, I agree with you and I also believe that we can apply all of those same destructive effects, that Mrs. P so eloquently illustrated, to men who act with such emotional and physical disregard. I also think that we can be kind in our discourse and still make our point.
I’m right about that one.
October 13, 2008 at 12:17 am
Christine
UDM: Thanks for the thoughtful response. If you know Mrs. P, you know she has a sense of humor and often speaks tongue-in-cheek (forgive me for speaking on your behalf, Mrs. P, but I don’t think I’m being inaccurate here). Just lounge around her website a while (though I should warn the excessively sensitive to keep far away).
As to Vic, it isn’t my place to judge, because I’ve committed many an indiscretion in my own past. The difference, though, is that I don’t look back on them with fondness and encourage others to go that route (whether jokingly or not)…
October 13, 2008 at 2:25 am
Robbo
Ladies…Ladies!
What I was getting at by linking the article was not to call up a stone-fest on the subject of youthful indiscretions, many of which, if I wish to avoid the derisive laughter of my nearest and dearest, I at once admit. What bugged me enough about this article to post on it was the fact that it suggests such youthful irresponsibility ought to be perfectly normal behavior for people who are older and, presumably, wiser.
In my comments, I don’t seek to rub salt into past wounds. Instead, I seek to slap those people who apparently see nothing wrong with such horribly destructive behavior (i.e, sleeping around), and indeed appear to embrace it as a good thing.
October 13, 2008 at 1:13 pm
the gripping hand
So you feel my pain!* Actually, if you want to go a step beyond that, try “Lead Me, Guide Me” – makes “Gather” seem positively Gregorian. I especially like the phonetic spellings on some of the songs. You haven’t really been to a Christmas Mass until you’ve sung “The First Nowell.”
*To be fair, there are a couple of songs in “Gather” that aren’t uniformly awful – “Sing of the Lord’s Goodness” has a 5/4 time signature and sounds like it was written by Brubeck.
October 13, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Jordana
Sadly, we don’t even have a real hymnal. We have a music missal, which doesn’t include much good music and when it does, they have often tinkered with the lyrics — and we’re at one of the most traditional parishes in town.
October 13, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Robbo
We use the St. Michael Hymnal in my home parish. At least musickally, it reminds me intensely of the hymnal used in my old Episcopal church, many of the tunes being from the same sources.
By the bye, I apologize if I am boring anyone by starting hares of this sort, but now that I am across the Tiber I’m beginning to get a better sense of the various intramural struggles on the Roman side and OF COURSE I have to weigh in on them!
October 13, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Christine
I’ve heard wonderful things about the St. Michael Hymnal. My midwestern, small-town parish uses the “Voices” hymnal, which doesn’t contain any tunes composed earlier than 1981. Singing there is an exercise in patience for me.
No bother at all–I’m just about to do a post on inappropriate dress at Mass, against which I have railed a number of times in the past, but it always seems a timely topic…
October 13, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Jordana
The Fathers of Mercy use the St. Michael Hymnal and I’ve always thought it looked like a good one, although I haven’t had much chance to peruse it. Now that my husband has become a music nerd, we own an Adoremus hymnal and it seems to be fairly good although there are a few glaring typos in it.
October 13, 2008 at 3:01 pm
GroovyVic
Christine, if that’s what you think of me from one stupid comment on a blog…
Not that I have to defend OR explain myself, I do not look back on my past with fondness, nor would I encourage my own daughter repeat my behavior.
But let’s open that up, shall we? Hmmm, a father that ignored me, my desperate need to be accepted, even dare I say LOVED by someone…an abusive relationship in college where I was not only physically but verbally beat up as well. When I was told for months how worthless, stupid, what a stupid c**t I was, that no one would ever love me…huh, think there are any scars there?
And, Mrs. P, I’ve never terminated any pregnancies. Both of my pregnancies resulted in healthy children.
Tongue in cheek or not, I find both you and Mrs. P to be moralistic, judgmental prigs. Whether we have indiscretions in our past or not, throwing out “slut” and making judgments such as you both did is, frankly, wrong.
Deal with your own damn house and keep your nose the hell out of mine.
October 13, 2008 at 3:56 pm
See: Can-O-Worms, opening of… « The Feast of Nemesis
[...] My Dear Robbo, one might want to turn off the comments before someone puts an eye out…I wouldn’t bring that subject up again if I were you… Blogroll [...]
October 13, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Wait a moment on pulling the plug, please Robbo. I’ve earned the right to be heard.
October 13, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Mrs. Peperium
groovyvic, this might come as a big surprise to you, but until your 3rd comment on this thread, I didn’t even even know for sure you were a woman. I’ve paid scant attention to your previous comments on Robbo’s blog. Also, you still seem to be operating under the now gross misconception I’ve called you a slut. I never did. Nor have I had even a passing thought about your sex life. And the more you insist upon telling me about it the less I want to know. Trust me on that one.
UDM, thank you for clarifying your remarks and noting that it was Damon who called groovyvic a name; whore.
Christine, thank you. You may speak for me anytime. When my email returns please send me your address again. I also need your email address.
Robbo, thank you for letting me speak. Also you might be interested to know as a former English major that over the centuries slut has often been employed as a synonym for bitch.
October 13, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Fear and loathing in Georgetown
The second one, I completely understand falling asleep. The third film, I haven’t seen. However, the first one is genius.
October 13, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Robbo
My dear Sir Basil, I’d have turned them off some time ago but I seem to be locked out of my dashboard at the moment.
Ladies, I am officially striking up the swords here. Enough has been said, I think. No more, please.
October 13, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Christine
My dear Vic, I’ve already told you I don’t pass judgment. As to your original comments, my interpretation was a perfectly fair reading; in fact, I don’t see how anyone could have read them otherwise.
Out of respect for Robbo, let us move onto another subject…
October 13, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Ultimate Driving Machine
Robbo,
My sincerest apologies. I have been a bad guest.
UDM
October 14, 2008 at 1:33 am
Andrew Cusack
Of the home-schooled students I met at the University of St Andrews (almost all of whom were American), I was surprised how uniformly polite, decent, social, and just plain good these folks were. They were unquestionably better educated in the academic sense, but they also seemed to have a higher standard of behavior in every other capacity as well.
Judging by the end results I’d have to give home-schooling two big thumbs up. I only wonder if, having received practically no real education myself, if I would be able to do it. Here’s hoping I find a clever wife!
October 14, 2008 at 2:32 am
AKL
Robbo, before you crossed or while you are at your family’s Episcopal service, have you ever read the prologue/introductory materials to LEVAS? In the edition our old church had, the blatant racism was remarkable.
October 14, 2008 at 4:45 am
ScurvyOaks
Robbo,
Does the St. Michael Hymnal have St. Patrick’s Breastplate? I would find it very difficult to do without the Lorica.
October 14, 2008 at 11:57 am
Ultimate Driving Machine
I think they had a fine idea for the sequel and decided to try to stretch it into two sequels. I fell asleep during the final installment.
October 14, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Christine
Those pesky French! Conquering, subjugating, excelling in the culinary arts…
October 14, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Well put, Christine. Nothing like remembering a successful French invasion of England to put a high gloss on any day.
October 14, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Robbo
Look at it this way, ODT – they weren’t really Frenchmen, more transplanted Norsemen. So Harold WAS playing against the varsity.
And I’ve always had two words for Gallic uppityness: Jerry Lewis.
October 14, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Old Dominion Tory
And there’s always an antidote for English cultural uppityness: The Sun.
Seriously, here is a link to a most enjoyable program on the Norman Conquest, “The Norman Way,” from BBC Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/normanway1.shtml
October 14, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Robbo
“The Norman Way” sounds like the title of one of those old Brit comedy series starring somebody like Leonard Rossiter or Paul Eddington.
October 14, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Norman would be a somewhat befuddled fellow who continually devised new get-rich-quick schemes much to the dismay of his loving, but long suffering wife (played by Penelope Keith).
Anyway as to the Normans’ ethnic background, as I recall, they were indeed descendant of Danes and Norse, but they married into the local communities (to include the Franks) and soon enough were considered to be an entirely new group.
October 14, 2008 at 10:48 pm
The Abbot
Of course, any good Italian chef will tell you that the French expertise in cooking only began after Catherine de Medici brought all of the recipes and techniques with her from Florence . . .
October 15, 2008 at 11:34 am
beth
Have a safe and entertaining trip.
October 20, 2008 at 2:40 pm
GroovyVic
Oh dear, don’t tell Son. He’s chomping at the bit to get back to the DC area as it is!
October 20, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Robbo
Well if he does talk you into coming, be sure you’ve got your story straight about what those people are doing to each other in all those frescoes BEFORE you get to the museum. (I would suggest saying they’re just playing a game sort of like Twister.)
October 20, 2008 at 7:35 pm
GroovyVic
Ahhhh….well, perhaps not, then. Son insists that we fly, seeing as how Husband lost his temper the last time and swore at the NoVa traffic, and at this stage of the game I don’t see that happening.
Now if Husband would just take a gig at the Guard Bureau like his buddy we’d be all set.
October 20, 2008 at 9:32 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
“Tarsome,” eh? By any chance, does the name E. F. Benson register with you?
October 20, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Robbo
Well played, Sir. I figured someone would field a Georgie-ism if I sent it down.
October 20, 2008 at 10:34 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Quite so. Well, au reservoir!
October 21, 2008 at 12:35 am
The Bovina Bloviator
Did you see the BBC’s mini-series based on the Narnia stories, made in the 80s? While done on an ultra-low budget, they are wonderful and worth getting hold of (Amazons’ got them).
Anyway, as an aficionado of classical music product, you would appreciate, as did I, the music accompanying the Aslan’s execution is an instrumental transcription of the Crucifixus from Bach’s B Minor Mass; very effective and superbly appropriate, somebody did his homework.
October 21, 2008 at 10:06 am
stillers
Just think, they’re not even teenagers yet.
heh
October 21, 2008 at 3:22 pm
GroovyVic
Would it disappoint you also to know that there are two schools in NW PA that are named Iroquois and Seneca?
Just a bit of useless trivia for you.
October 21, 2008 at 3:31 pm
MCNS
”Never mind the manoeuvres, just go straight at ‘em.”
October 21, 2008 at 4:00 pm
The Maximum Leader
I went on Sunday. It was well worth it. Very enjoyable.
Alas, it was terribly crowded as you can imagine. I must report that there was an older lady with a cane (and wearing an Obama button) who poked me on the leg with her cane to get me to move (as I was apparently obstructing her view of the art). I notice her doing this to others as well.
I almost made it my mission to stand in front of her at every opportunity…
October 21, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Robbo
In my lexicon there’s no such expression as “useless trivia”!
October 21, 2008 at 6:20 pm
GroovyVic
Ah….see, this is why we get along.
October 21, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Sarah G.
Maybe I’ll drag the crew up there on election day after they all get flu-misted and I’ve voted.
October 21, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Anchovy
Looks like the commonly accepted explanation for Mohawk is that it’s of Algonquian origin and comes from a word meaning man-eater or cannibal. Guess no one was feeling the love that day.
October 21, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Robbo
Which makes sense, considering what it was like to be on the Mohawks’ bad side.
I believe it was not atypical for the early English name for a given tribe to derive not from what the tribe called itself but what its neighbors called it. “Sioux” for instance, means “snake” I think. I recall from the journals of Lewis and Clark that they came across many such names that translate more or less into “Those Bastards Who Live On The Other Side Of The Ridge And Steal Our Horses All The Time.”
October 21, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Anchovy
And many tribes seemed to give themselves names that more-or-less translate as “the people,” so one could hardly be blamed for favoring something more descriptive. Perhaps “Mohawk” is a bit beyond the pale, but still, probably not without some justification.
October 22, 2008 at 6:52 am
stillers
There is also a school called Mohawk in W. PA, GroovyVic.
October 22, 2008 at 12:53 pm
NOVA Curmudgeon
Having grown up in the midst of the original (and if tribal leaders have their way, will all again be) Iroquois lands now known as Central NY these names are second nature. Our home was in Onondaga County, we fished on Oneida Lake, sailed on Cayuga lake, walked on Mohawk carpets and visited Seneca Falls often.
October 22, 2008 at 3:46 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
The EO is rapidly heading towards Holmes’ universalism. If she can stall the proceedings against her or simply take a leave of absence, in a few years she will have nothing to worry about. She might even end up with a sinecure at 815: “Chair, Oversight Committee for Muslim-Christian Dialogue and Engagement” or similar tommyrot.
October 22, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Old Dominion Tory
As I recall, the Sioux were known to their neighbors as “The Throat Cutters.”
October 22, 2008 at 6:12 pm
The Abbot
I don’t get why this is so difficult. The bishop needs to sit her down, make her Read Suras 3-5 of the Koran out loud, and then have her read the Nicene creed. He then needs to say “So what’s your question here?”
The two religions are completely incompatible in their views of the person of Christ. Episcopals (unless I am much mistaken) recite the creed every Sunday — they aren’t Unitarian Universalists, but they instead accept the councils of Nicaea and Contantinople as being doctrinally correct, as being the truth. Christ is God. Christ was begotten, not made. He is consubstantial with the Father. Christ was much more than simply Adam, or a prophet.
Islam does not believe this at all.
I know the jest of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s that the definition of adulthood is to be able to hold two incompatible thoughts in one’s head at the same time, but this is carrying it a little far. You cannot proclaim two incompatible things as truth simultaneously. The principle of non-contradiction. Logic 101.
October 22, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Little Gidding
I’ve found that listening to Puccini–which I’m virtually required to do by my family–is much more enjoyable if I deliberately impose on my audial processing faculties the notion that I am listening to a satirical review.
October 22, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Robbo
Heh. I’m afraid I don’t have the mental discipline for that. Whenever I hear something like “O mio babbino caro”, I tend to start keening like a wounded animal.
October 22, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Robbo
Yes, the Creed is recited every Sunday in TEC. But at least based on my observation, I’m not sure how many of the regular attendees actually think about what it is they’re saying. (To be fair, I doubt this is a problem confined to TEC.)
And “truth” now? Well, that’s a word freighted with all kinds of subjective meaning, innit? Next thing you’ll be telling me that the Decalogue sets out rigidly-defined areas of right and wrong behavior.
Silly Abbot!
October 22, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Little Gidding
Episcopals (unless I am much mistaken) recite the creed every Sunday
Episcopalians, I am afraid, are united by the recitation of the Creed, just as they are by the recitation of everything else in the Prayerbook. But they are not united by any belief regarding the truth or untruth of anything in the Prayerbook, whether it’s the Creed or anything else. You can believe it or not, as it suits you. The “genius” of Episcopalianism, as it was explained to me, is this extreme minimalism, which amounts to getting a lot of people together in a building at the same time and mouthing what is written in the Prayerbook.
October 22, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Anchovy
Like all opera, it has to be seen to be fully appreciated. On the stage Puccini fares better than most, since the music is quite tightly integrated with the (often very dramatic) drama and makes much more sense in that context than apart from it.
October 22, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Robbo
Well of course that’s quite true, but even applying that filter, I have no patience for him. I suppose I should also disclose that I don’t really much care for opera in general – even Mozart’s opera seria tends to make me fidget.
October 22, 2008 at 10:06 pm
ScurvyOaks
“The principle of non-contradiction.” Exactly right, Abbot. That principle is the most important casualty of post-modernism.
In lieu of the extended rant that’s on the tip of my tongue, I’ll just observe that I find Ms. Redding’s story in equal measure sad and disgusting.
October 22, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Anchovy
Don Giovanni does go on a bit long–rather like that list of conquests–and the ending (post-Commendatore) doesn’t work very well. So if it ain’t your thing, it ain’t your thing.
October 23, 2008 at 12:28 am
GroovyVic
Watch out for Barbie, she’s another sneaky little sneak.
October 23, 2008 at 12:54 am
Little Gidding
In my opinion, Robbo, you should just be thankful that you don’t have to suffer through a performance of Verdi’s Requiem, which I’ve been alarmed to discover is coming back into popularity, and which is possibly as bad a rendering of the liturgy as the Gather hymnal.
October 23, 2008 at 1:26 am
Anchovy
There’s Verdi, and then there’s Berlioz. Which is worse? Time for a celebrity deathmatch.
October 23, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Robbo
We have a goodly number of Barbies in the house and for some reason the gels like to remove all their clothes. They also have a singleton Ken doll. There have been times when I’ve caught myself looking at him sitting in the basket where all those naked Barbies are kept and thinking, “Dude……”
October 23, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Robbo
Well I attended a performance of Berlioz’ Requiem at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception a few years back that was quite moving. I also enjoy his Symphonie Fantastique now and again.
On the other hand, one of my very favorite moovie reviews was The New Yorker’s comment on the Marx Brothers’ Night at the Opera: “Doing to Il Trovatore what OUGHT to be done to Il Trovatore.”
As for the ending of Don G, I’ll tell you Anchovy, after the highs and lows that ol’ Gangerl puts me through with the rest of the opera, I’m pretty much too exhausted to mind a little pro forma wrapping up at the end.
October 23, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Lynellen
Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!
October 23, 2008 at 3:32 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
…that’s a kind of vinyl ancestor of the CD
CDs??? They’re like soooo last century!
October 23, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Robbo
Heh. Here’s a proposition for you: The Spanish Inquisition sketch was one of the ones that the Pythons did much better on record than they did on tee-vee.
October 23, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Kathy
Ah, the Waakzamheid! That is, by far, my favorite battle in all the Aubrey/Maturin books. Such fierce battle, then such remorse when the ship is broken apart in the towering waves of the Raging Forties. Amazing writing.
Thanks for the visual, Robbo.
October 23, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Jordana
I think stripping Barbies naked is some how necessary. I’m not sure why that is so, but mine were always unclothed.
October 23, 2008 at 5:21 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Hate to be a contrarian, Robbo (not really), but I love Puccini, his are the most user-friendly of operas. I do agree with you about Mozart’s opera seria: paralyzingly boring, exceeded by baroque opera; the longest four hours of my life were spent at the Brooklyn Academy of Music suffering through Handel’s Orlando. However, Mozart’s opera funnia (as Peter Schickele would have it) are a joy.
Ultimately, though, it’s a matter of de gustibus non est disputandum. We can still be friends, can’t we?
October 23, 2008 at 6:30 pm
GroovyVic
At least you’re home to deal with this instead of it being heaped on Mrs. R. With Husband out of the country all household boo-boos fall on my shoulders.
October 23, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Robbo
My pleasure!
That is actually my second favorite battle, I think. My very favorite is still the one at the end of HMS Surprise when Jack takes on Admiral Linois’s squadron in the Indian Ocean, first alone and then with the aid of the China Fleet.
Did you know that O’Brian’s battle of the East India Fleet against a squadron under Linois really did take place? (Sans the Surprise and Jack Aubrey, of course.) And the Commodore of the merchies really did disguise his biggest ships as Royal Navy warships and really did signal “General Chase” when Linois sheered off. I’ve always loved that.
October 23, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Anchovy
Berlioz today, Mahler tomorrow, Schoenberg next week. O tempora! O mores!
October 23, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Anchovy
[Knock knock]
Who’s there?
Glinka.
Glinka who?
That’s what I want to know.
October 24, 2008 at 4:23 am
The Bovina Bloviator
Not just Mrs. P: Good God, where do you come up with this wretched stuff; and you complain of Puccini being sappy?
October 24, 2008 at 2:30 pm
basilseal
My Dear Robbo, pay no attention to them…Very fine RCBfA eye, as always…Although I am not quite happy with Waterhouse’s tree placement in this one…Not enough limb, as it were…A minor quibble, fine work sir…
October 24, 2008 at 3:36 pm
The Abbot
Closest I’ve been to a saint was seeing John Paul II on the Boston Common. I’ve met some good and decent people in my life, but there are very few saints in the traditional sense of the word. I can think of a few people I’ve known who have died, whom I certainly hope are in Heaven, but to claim someone is a saint is to claim to be able to look into their souls.
I have enough difficulty looking into my own.
I know if I get there, it will only be because a certain Lady’s prayers have been heard by the person who took my sins upon himself. I hope in them.
October 24, 2008 at 8:18 pm
jen
Actually, the Bible calls all who believe in Christ saints. Paul is one who used this term often in his epistles when referring to the church.
October 24, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Anchovy
Oh, for the days when a woman could be innocently named Lesbia.
October 25, 2008 at 12:16 am
The Bovina Bloviator
For me, the sound of a fortepiano is far too similar to the rinky-tink pianos used in barroom scenes in Hollywood oaters. I’ll take a Steinway D, thanks.
October 25, 2008 at 2:52 am
Robbo
D’ya mean like the one Mozart himself played?
Of course, it’s all a matter of taste, but I have always been fascinated by what one might call original intent when it comes to musick.
October 25, 2008 at 1:31 pm
bovinabloviator
Yep, the very one. Call me a Philistine.
October 25, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Christine
Reading St. Louis de Montfort’s The Secret of the Rosary will cure such idealists of their notions:
“The number of the elect is so small — so small — that, were we to know how small it is, we would faint away with grief: one here and there, scattered up and down the world!”
October 26, 2008 at 6:15 am
stillers
Oh, for the days when a woman could be innocently named Lesbia.
The Isle of Lesvos agrees.
October 27, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Old Dominion Tory
The nymph is a tad thin, but, all in all, a fine example of RCBfA-approved art.
October 27, 2008 at 4:11 pm
basilseal
Good Lord, you must be going to Versailles “Ver-Sales”, Missouri…
October 27, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Robbo
Sir Basil, you are certainly in the ballpark with the whole Napoleonic-Era-mangled-French thing…..
October 27, 2008 at 5:33 pm
basilseal
Ok, so you’re going to Vincennes “Vin-Sins”, Indiana…At least it’s not Cairo “Kay-Row”, Illinois…(which is mangled-Biblical-Egyptian-names) but still…
October 27, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Monica
He may smell a bit but I’m sure he has a heart ‘o gold!
October 27, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Christine
Dubois (Du-boyz), Indiana, perhaps? We have a Versailles, too…
October 27, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Robbo
Oh, well played, Madam! 10 points for the “Mr. Equatol” ref!
October 27, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Robbo
Mah name is Blanche, Blanche Du Boyz…….
October 27, 2008 at 8:02 pm
basilseal
Dubois is popular…It makes an appearance as Du-boyz in Illinois as well…
October 27, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Diane
Well, it’s certainly not Wisconsin. All our names are indian-inspired, and NO ONE can pronounce them. Askwabenon. Mukwonago. Kinnikinnic. Even I had to check the spelling on the last one.
October 27, 2008 at 11:44 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Something similar happened a few years ago on MetroNorth, the NYC commuter railroad. A fellow managed to drop his cell phone down a toilet and, unbelievably, reached in and tried to retrieve it. His arm got stuck and the train crew had to call the fire department, which used its Jaws of Life machine to cut the toilet into pieces and free the poor SOB. Outbound trains were delayed for hours during the rescue operation.
The most entertaining part came later when a MetroNorth spokesman recounted the incident to the press, explaining with admirable succinctness (especially for a gummint worker): “once the moron’s arm went down the crapper, so did our evening commute.”
October 28, 2008 at 3:04 am
AKL
Ah well what do you say when your 5 year old tells you that Illinois Avenue can’t be that one because Illinois doesn’t have an ess.
October 30, 2008 at 5:06 pm
NBS
Notice how she grips the tree with her right hand. She is ready to awake him, with the same grip!
October 31, 2008 at 3:21 pm
beth
Welcome home.
At least in the early 90’s when I was in the area for college, the toll booths used to accept Nekko wafers. Not that I have first hand experience with that, mind you. Ahem.
As for the trains…you just need to stay long enough to get used to them.
October 31, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Kathy
I’m shocked!
NO ONE gave you a rosary when you swam the Tiber???
How is it possible that the one gift everyone gets when they receive the sacraments for the first time is the one gift you didn’t get?
That is just so weird.
October 31, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Robbo
Well, to be fair, my sponsor did give me a pair of rosary rings (in addition to a crucifix pendant with Saints’ medals), but I don’t like them very much.
As for other folks, remember that most of my family and friends didn’t exactly see my swim as a cause for celebration.
October 31, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Kathy
True, but I figured Mrs. P. would have been all over it.
I should have thrown a rosary in the package. Sorry about that, I just figured I’d overlap and you’d have too many of them.
October 31, 2008 at 5:04 pm
basilseal
My Dear Robbo, I did receive a call from the Illinois State Highway Patrol concerning a foreign looking individual driving a rental car out of Chicago, reading Parkman, watching something about the French and staring forlornly at barns, cows, silos and what he thought were copses but are actually called trees in the Midwest…Did I know anything about it? And should they detain said suspect for being from out-of-state and obviously a geek? I told them it was only Robbo and not to worry, he works for the man in National City and he’ll go away…Quite harmless…Always glad to help…
October 31, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Robbo
Thank you for watching my back, Sir Basil. I had considered at one point asking one of the gentlemen of the law if there was a bosky dell anywhere abouts, but it sounds as if I was wise to refrain. (Ditto for trying to pay tolls by handing ‘nilla wafers to the nice booth attendants.)
October 31, 2008 at 6:10 pm
beth
Nononono, not Nilla wafers. Necco wafers (though I will say I misspelled it the first time around, maybe that’s it?)
Of course, if you’re not going to use the little drop and drive thingys, it’s moot. I doubt very much the attendants would take either.
October 31, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Robbo
What’s Necco, eh, Precioussss?
October 31, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Christine
Surely your parish has a basket of free rosaries somewhere. I insist you get some beads a.s.a.p. (and have them blessed by a preist), else I will send you some myself…
October 31, 2008 at 8:06 pm
beth
I linked them…they’re kinda like sweet tarts…except they taste nasty. Really the only reason i would buy them is to use in a toll booth.
October 31, 2008 at 9:12 pm
ScurvyOaks
New England Confectionery Company, long the pride of Cambridge, Mass. (until their 2003 move). It never occurred to me to use a Necco wafer in a toll booth. Brilliant, Beth, brilliant.
November 1, 2008 at 2:38 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Robbo, I was presented with an attractive rosary by my catechist the evening I was received into Holy Mother Church. It sits on my night table and I often admire it but also confess I have never gotten around to using it. I know in time I will but as a recovering Episcopalian, I think it best not to rush into these things; one day at a time and all that, don’t you know?
By the way, did you know Telemann was the first choice of the town council of Leipzig to fill the Canter’s position at the St. Thomas Church in 1723? He turned them down, as did the council’s second choice, a Christoph Graupner. Only then did they reluctantly give the nod to one J. S. Bach. A councilman carped at the time: “Since the best men cannot be obtained, mediocre ones will have to be accepted.”
November 1, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Robbo
BB – yes, I know what you mean. Baby steps. As a matter of fact, I had been hoping that somebody might present me with a rosary, but it’s not exactly something you can ask for and nobody did. Several times since I have been moved to simply go and buy one myself, but somehow it never feels quite right, missing that personal bond that a gift represents.
As for Telemann and Bach, yes, their career paths intersected several times, I believe. They were friends, too, Telemann standing as Godfather for at least one of Bach’s sons (C.P.E., I think, without checking). What has always struck me is how two such different people – in background, temperment, style, etc. – were nonetheless apparently fond of one another.
November 1, 2008 at 3:46 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Sort of like Buckley’s friendship with Galbraith.
P.S. “Canter” should be “cantor” in my comment. Die Herren Telemann, Graupner und Bach were probably not members of the horsey set.
November 2, 2008 at 11:29 am
basilseal
Robbo, I have a rosary sitting here which was blessed by the Holy Father himself…It is yours with all good wishes and prayers if you care to privately send me your mailing address…I believe you have my “sooper seekret” email there somewhere…
November 2, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Christine
Yes, it does. As a convert myself, in the beginning it was difficult to actually remember I have a guardian angel that accompanies me everywhere I go and sees and knows everything I do. I would often feel terrible for neglecting and ignoring him. Over the years, though, I’ve become more and more accustomed to calling his presence to mind and asking him for help. It does take conscious effort, but as with everything else, it does get easier the more one does it.
November 2, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Christine
Robbo, I brought back loads of holy water from the spring at Lourdes; if you would like some, please send me your mailing address and I’d be happy to pass it along, with a few other sacramentals…
November 3, 2008 at 2:58 am
Jordana
You think remembering the saints is hard for an Episcopalian convert — just imagine coming in from a low church Protestant background that doesn’t call anyone saints, except in the “All Christians are saints” way. It’s very hard to get used to, but my children seem to already have none of the hang ups their mother does. So keep talking to the girls about it all and when they some day decide to follow the old man into Catholicism, it won’t be so strange to them.
November 3, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Robbo
I may be farther along than I suspected: I understand that in her Sunday School class yesterday at RFEC, when asked what day it was, the six year old said, “It’s All Souls Day! And yesterday was All Saints Day!” My witness reports that the teachers (no, not the one she made cry – she quit), expecting the answer “All Saints Sunday”, were temporarily at a loss for words. When they suggested that was the correct answer, I’m told the gel stuck to her guns.
Also, the ten year old asked me recently why I keep muttering, “St. Cecilia, ora pro nobis!” when I help her with her violin practice.
November 3, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Christine
There’s an idea when I’m helping my daughter learn her scales on the piano!
November 3, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Bead Me « The Port Stands At Your Elbow
[...] the Tiber Many thanks to those of you who offered to send along rosaries in response to my post the other day in which I mentioned that I hadn’t yet got one. Perhaps you would like to hear the [...]
November 3, 2008 at 8:49 pm
The Abbot
Have you memorized the mysteries yet?
November 3, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Robbo
There’s no dishonor in cliffnotes.
November 3, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
There are plenty of things Mrs. P would call Obama, but scary I don’t think is one of them. Girlie? Maybe. Scary? Not so much.
November 3, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Little Gidding
Congratulations! Get more than one! Especially useful–for carrying through airport security–are ones with no metal, i.e., with wooden beads and cords. I confess that the one I usually carry around with me (in a little sheepskin pouch–so it doesn’t get all tangled up in stuff in my pocket) kept the metal detectors going off until I finally pried off the metal corpus. Didn’t like doing that, but there you go. Maybe you could find one with zero metal, I know they’re out there.
November 3, 2008 at 11:54 pm
basilseal
Ah Yes, we know who “Shirley Nagel” is, don’t we?
November 4, 2008 at 12:47 am
Mrs. Peperium
Wow! FLG understands me better than Basil or Robbo. Must be a Connecticut thingummy. FLG, from July 30, 2008 and read closely though it will make you ill as this was the opening of his show:
RUSH: Yesterday we had a caller on this program, Janet from Maine, and this is what Janet said.
BEGIN ARCHIVE CLIP
CALLER: I just wanted to posit a new idea about Obama, as to why he’s not sweeping us all off our feet, even though he was causing women to faint earlier this year —
RUSH: Tell me.
CALLER: — at the rallies.
RUSH: Tell me, tell me, say it, say it.
CALLER: He’s not likable. It’s really simple. The man is odious. He talks like a girl. You ran a clip yesterday of Gloria Steinem, excuse me, Jane Fonda.
RUSH: Jane Fonda, yes.
CALLER: Those two women are fairly interchangeable, and making the case for women’s radio, the need for women’s radio. Well, that could have been Obama opining on his version of foreign policy. It’s pure psychobabble.
RUSH: Well, now wait a minute. Normally I would discount any assertion that Obama is unlikable. But when it comes to women assessing political characters, personalities, you gotta give it some weight. You gotta give this some credibility. It would have never occurred to me that Obama is unlikable. But you don’t doubt women on stuff like this.
END ARCHIVE CLIP
RUSH: That’s exactly how it happened yesterday here on the EIB Network. One other thing, too, that I failed to notice during the call yesterday, when she said that he’s not likable, “he talks like a girl.” You know, if you listen to Obama, he is sort of a metrosexual type. I wouldn’t use the word pansy, but he clearly is not the kind of guy that a real conservative woman is going to find to be a real man, a real guy. He’s a touchy-feely kind of guy, and I think that’s relevant, too. Now, in listening to that call again, after that call, I endorsed that woman’s attitude, saying, don’t doubt women like this. I got plenty of e-mail from people saying, “Rush, that’s crazy. You’re never going to get anywhere by saying Obama isn’t likable.” From the Chicago Sun-Times today, Carol Marin: “‘Women Voters Aren’t Warming to ‘Cool’ Obama.’ — A few hours after leaving the “Women for Obama” luncheon, I ran into Sarah, not her real name. I’ve known her for a few years. A single mom, she free-lances, working as many jobs as she can to support two growing boys. She dreams of a permanent gig with benefits, but it’s still just a dream. A 37-year-old Democrat, she is also a college grad and a news junkie who has watched this campaign like a hawk. She surprised me with her anger Tuesday, saying she’s voting for McCain. To Sarah, Barack Obama is like the organic chicken at lunch. Sleek, elegant, beautifully prepared. Too cool.” My instincts again correct.
Dick Morris, Real Clear Politics: “‘Obama’s Women Problem’ — The problem is that older women don’t like Obama as much as younger women do. While 70 percent of women under 40 have a favorable opinion of the Democratic candidate, only 58 percent of women in their 40s feel the same way, and only 52 percent of those over 50 see him favorably. Usually, the gender gap runs at least 10 points in each age group and, more usually, averages a 15-point differential. The lower gap in this race does not indicate any special popularity for McCain or negatives on Obama among men. Men are voting the way they usually do. It’s women who are making the big difference and keeping this race tied.” Dick Morris. My instincts yesterday totally correct in trusting the instincts of the caller. Women, as they get older, have a problem with this guy. Los Angeles Times, Peter Nicholas and Mark Z. Barabak: “Obama Meets with Key Women,” is the headline. The thrust of this story is that he addresses sexism that existed in the Democrat Party. The women are still angry at the sexist treatment Hillary got, and, as such, Obama has to go and mollify them. So there is trouble with paradise, and our caller, Janet from Maine yesterday put her finger on it.
November 4, 2008 at 1:20 am
Mrs. Peperium
Please send her my regards.
November 4, 2008 at 5:31 am
The Bovina Bloviator
God bless yer ma!
And in that last sentence, I assume you’re referencing this:
A brief suspense, and then at last
The waiting’s o’er, the vigil past;
A careful aim. A spurt of flame.
It’s done. You’ve pulled the trigger,
And one more gnu, so fair and frail,
Has handed in its dinner-pail;
(The females all are rather small,
The males are somewhat bigger).
November 4, 2008 at 12:45 pm
The Abbot
Mine are wooden, with a rope cord. The corpus is small, and fortunately does not set off airport alarms.
However, my St. Benedict Medal, which I carry in the other pocket, usually does.
November 4, 2008 at 12:47 pm
The Abbot
An Anglican conspiracy?
Reminds me of the old joke about how many Anglicans it takes to change a lightbulb.
Two.
One to change the lightbulb, the other to make drinks.
November 4, 2008 at 3:00 pm
beth
Sweet! I’ve been waiting for the red cups.
They make me happy.
I’m ok with the red cups being out this early. I’m not ok with having seen a Christmas tree in the front window of my neighbor’s house.
November 4, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Little Gidding
Don’t let them watch America’s Funniest Home Videos between now and then.
November 4, 2008 at 7:28 pm
The Abbot
Given that Peter Jackson used John Rhys-Davies for both Gimli and Treebeard, I’m thinking Connery on this one.
November 4, 2008 at 8:37 pm
the Gripping Hand
Child molesters and people who talk at the theatre. Firefly, Our Mrs. Reynolds, Shepard Book to Mal.
November 4, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Robbo
As it happens, we’re going to be in Florida visiting Mrs. R’s parents over Christmas this year. The other day it suddenly occurred to me – why blow eighty bucks on a tree when we’re not even going to be around?
I mentioned this to Mrs. R and, mirabile dictu, she agreed with me.
So after Thanksgiving is over and done, it’ll be Advent wreaths on the doors, switching out the purple for the red ribbon just before we leave, and nothing else.
November 4, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Robbo
I don’t buy it. I think Mrs P was out there calling The One “scary girlie” for the benefit of the kiddies.
November 4, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Robbo
“You got a smutty mind, preacher!”
Well done.
November 4, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Robbo
Indeed, I was borrowing from Plum, although not that poem in particular – he used the image more than once.
November 4, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Robbo
Wise advice.
November 4, 2008 at 9:58 pm
GroovyVic
Just be glad you didn’t have to run your daughter to the doctor and then have to hold her down to have her throat swabbed!
November 5, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Jordana
Prayers for healing and an easy recovery for the Mrs.
November 5, 2008 at 3:14 pm
The Abbot
Mrs. R. is in my thoughts and prayers, as are you and the gels.
November 5, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Kathy
I’m keeping the Mrs. (and you and the gels) in my prayers.
One word of advice, though: if you don’t know where the heating pad is in your house, send the gels on a mission to unearth it. She’ll want it.
November 6, 2008 at 3:17 pm
The Abbot
I have two female cousins whose father was named Walter. They both married men named Walter.
Now that’s odd.
As for girls marrying their fathers, a lot of people say that my wife married a man, me, who is very much like her father. I think it normal for women to look for men who are like their fathers, if their fathers are men they admire and respect. And I think it just as natural, if a girl’s father is an abusive drunk, to marry someone the opposite of her father. I’ve seen instances of that, as well as seeing instances of women marrying men who are just like their abusive drunk fathers, which I see as a kind of despair — they seem to think, at some level, that that is all there is.
I married a woman very much unlike my mother; my mother, though she was always a good and kindly mother to me, does not possess much common sense. I looked for her opposite in this regard, and found it. I never experienced anything Oedipal towards my mother; from what I could see she made my father miserable. The last thing I wanted to do was kill him and take his place.
I think people make decisions for a lot of reasons; and psychoanalytical complexes are greatly overrated.
November 6, 2008 at 3:32 pm
jen
That’s very sweet, Robert. And I agree with you about fathers and daughters – as a daughter, I greatly admired my Dad (still do) and hoped to marry a man just like him. Of course, I ended up marrying a man much more like my grandfather, but he was a great man and influence on my life as well.
November 6, 2008 at 3:46 pm
beth
I agree with Jen that it’s sweet. I absolutely married a man like my father – and my mom shakes her head to this day wondering how there are two such men on earth.
That said, one of the best things my dad taught me from a very early age was how to be friends with men. (Not that I realized that at the time, but looking back you see it.) And being friends first certainly lays a stronger foundation for anything else that might follow.
I’m not sure that it works in the reverse for men and their mothers – I am the…what’s stronger than polar opposite?…of Tim’s mom. He loves her, certainly, but he’s said on numerous occasions that he would never have married someone just like her (and there’s nothing wrong with her…she’s just very much the damsel in distress, for which Tim has no patience.) Looking amongst my male friends, I only see men who married the opposite of their mothers, actually. Interesting.
November 6, 2008 at 4:05 pm
GroovyVic
Dude, where are your pictures?
November 6, 2008 at 4:09 pm
April
I give my Dad most of the credit for me getting through the tempest mostly unscathed. Having a friendship (of sorts) with him definitely helped. Plus, it helped me see what kind of personality traits I was (and was not) looking for in mate.
Once I did find the right guy, it was pretty easy to know he was the right guy. And yes, he is much like my dad…which causes my mom and I to both shake our heads at times.
November 6, 2008 at 7:23 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
“It’s a naïve domestic Burgundy without any breeding, but I think you’ll be amused by its presumption.”
November 6, 2008 at 8:37 pm
The Abbot
I’ve been working my way through Bordeaux lately — Medoc, Haut-Medoc, St. Emilion. I’ve been cooking with cheap Rhone and American Merlot. But my latest discovery has been Pinot Gris from Venezia. Remarkable stuff, so much better than the domestic Pinot Grigio which seems to have all the flavor beaten out of it.
I’m also a lover of a good Gewurztraminer.
November 6, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Robbo
I’m one of those strange people who loves reds but gets a particularly vile headache from whites.
I say strange because I understand that for most people it’s the other way round.
November 6, 2008 at 9:03 pm
the Gripping Hand
Not hokey at all. Somedays, realizing that I’m responsible for raising a young man amid the sea of garbage out there is the only reason I don’t drive into a tree.
November 6, 2008 at 10:27 pm
MCNS
Tuned in the oldies channel on the way to work this AM and was greeted with “Sleigh Ride” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” They’ve already gone to 24-hour-a-day Christmas music. On Nov. 6.
November 6, 2008 at 11:31 pm
JB in Florida
An unassuming red is Gallo Family (the new entity of E&J Gallo, I guess) Hearty Burgundy. Drank it in CA years ago and came across it the other day in Publix. I was in 7th heaven. I love to cook with it as well. Used in in my first attempt at French Onion Soup – which was very successful. About 12 bucks for a large bottle (don’t drink enough to know the sizes). But I do like my reds and love anything red from Alexander Valley (Sonoma) in California.
My favorite red is Rodney Strong’s Pinot Noir.
November 7, 2008 at 12:11 am
ScurvyOaks
Having been a kid who dragged his parents to all sorts of obscure historical sites (where Dick Dowling had his fort at Sabine Pass, or way down the Mississippi from New Orleans to Fort Jackson, which was still in really good shape in the early ’70s), it’s a good thing I didn’t know about this one either.
November 7, 2008 at 12:58 am
The Bovina Bloviator
Robbo, we’re similarly afflicted.
November 7, 2008 at 2:56 pm
The Abbot
I have been meditating a lot lately on a related subject. My worldview can be characterized by a great conservatism, and if I could come up with a sentence that describes my mission in life, it would be “Preserve what is ancient and holy.”
But lately I’ve been spending time on a lesser corollary of that precept, which I call “Preserve what is traditional and good.”
I see in the world around us not only the horror of the loss of the ancient and holy, but also a loss of the merely traditional and good. Traditions are important because they remind us of our past, of the fleeting course of time, and of people who came before us and cared about us. Christmas is understood by all as a good thing; not only because of the holy and ancient religious aspects of it, but also because of the traditional and good aspects of it. Watching Rudolf, for instance, and seeing the Norelco ad where Santa rides away on an electric razor — part of my generation’s childhood, traditional and good. It reminds me of the passage of time, and of people who are gone.
I have been studying the craft of cooking. It is a traditional and good thing that is largely being lost due to a number of factors — the hectic pace of life, the prevalence of standardized, inexpensive food, and the increasingly short attention span we all have. Cooking is one of those “traditional goods” we are losing — or, more properly, which are in need of preservation through care.
Last night I made a traditional chocolate custard straight out of the Larousse Gastronomique — a dish whose roots are probably more than a hundred years old. It required a fair amount of technique — a double boiler to melt the chocolate, a bain marie to cook the custards in their ramekins. The result was good — perhaps not as consistent or smooth as a modern chocolate pudding, and certainly not as sweet, but better because it was real, and traditional — the French cooks whose recipes got included in the 1931 Larousse ate something very similar to what I ate. It was closer to the Platonic form, the Ur-custard, the thing-in-itself, and somehow to the truth.
Traditional things appeal to us because they remind us of eternal things.
November 7, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Robbo
Yup. I’ve been trying all day to remember that line – is it Chesterton’s? – about tradition being the democracy of the dead, giving votes to our ancestors.
As you can imagine, I firmly believe this to be true.
November 7, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Anchovy
I’ve had the D’Autrefois several times and it is indeed good. It’s getting a little less tricky to find a good, inexpensive Pinot Noir than it was for a while after The Movie That Must Not Be Named came out.
November 7, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Anchovy
But–but–but–there is some good Liszt (though there’s certainly some dreck too). I’ll just assert rather than argue, lest I become even more tiresome than usual.
November 8, 2008 at 2:54 am
The Abbot
Chesterton, from Orthodoxy.
November 8, 2008 at 12:38 pm
groovyvic
Oooohhh….isn’t that where all those chi-chi stores are?
I must make another visit…
November 8, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Father M.
BRAVO for the gel!
November 8, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Card's wife
Ditto.
November 8, 2008 at 11:28 pm
GroovyVic
Give the gel a big hug from me!
November 9, 2008 at 12:08 am
The Bovina Bloviator
Attaboy, Robbo, yer larnin’ ‘em good!
November 9, 2008 at 12:26 am
The Bovina Bloviator
Yes indeed there is good Liszt, e.g. Années de Pèlerinage, a fine collection. I guess he was a teensy bit egomanical but let’s not forget, he did take minor orders later in life and after doing so, lived chastely and piously, when it was daylight.
November 9, 2008 at 2:44 am
NBS
What you could have said? It’s what you should have felt, and that is completely irritated with your wife. If she’s going to undercut you, it should be inside, away from the neighbors. Don’t back the neighbor lady over your man, Mrs. R!
November 9, 2008 at 2:50 am
NBS
Sorry. I ought not have criticized another man’s wife. I would never do that in person–I shouldn’t do it in your comments section. These internets, they bring out the worst in people. Plus, I’m out of vermouth and drinking this gin straight. Tends to losen the lips.
November 9, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Christine
Yes, but Liszt is such fun to play (Waldesrauschen comes to mind).
November 9, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Robbo
One of these days I mean to write a longer post on it, but the fact is that I haven’t played anything but Bach for going on two years now. Listened, yes, but not played. Just don’t want to.
November 10, 2008 at 12:21 am
Sarah G.
I agree with the Mrs. R.
I no longer get the school photo, except for the class photo. The photographers always and I do mean always took the most dreadful pictures of my children. I swear they waited from them to squint/shrug/wiggle before hitting the button.
The team pictures and the ones I take are far superior.
November 10, 2008 at 4:18 am
OrgleFan
You’re a towel!
November 10, 2008 at 1:23 pm
beth
I seem to recall having a similar conversation with my mom re: piano lessons. And that went on for sixteen years…and if I wasn’t so stubborn, I’d thank her for it today.
November 10, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Robbo
No, I’m not a towel, but I know where mine is. That way, no matter whether I’m dealing with stubborn children or the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, I’m covered.
November 10, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
Bueller, Bueller.
November 10, 2008 at 6:13 pm
GroovyVic
Ferrie Bueller, you’re my hero!
November 10, 2008 at 6:14 pm
GroovyVic
Ooops, Ferris
November 10, 2008 at 8:45 pm
The Maximum Leader
So that’s the way it is in their family.
November 12, 2008 at 1:12 pm
The Abbot
Yeah, I think subliminally, at least, there is an understanding that the totalitarians are on the left, and that creeps into children’s literature, which is, with a few heavy handed exceptions, the last place where an author can speak honestly.
I’ve read about five of the Harry Potter books, and I notice some of that there, too — I read it and see a character like Dolores Umbridge and I wonder if J.K. Rowling isn’t a closet conservative.
Or maybe we see what we want to see — children’s books are a kind of Rohrschach into which we project what we want. I think there’s that element, too.
November 12, 2008 at 1:15 pm
GroovyVic
I’ve gone back through some of my books from my early childhood and have discovered those pesky subliminal messages in quite a few.
As most of these books were from the seventies, you can draw your own conclusions.
November 12, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Lynellen
My mom had a similar problem…. she turned completely gray around 40, while dad still had no gray at all. They went to a huge church at the time, and on about 5 occassions people who should have known better said things like “I see you with your daughters and son all the time..isn’t your husband a believer too?”
November 12, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Kathy
Well, at least that’s better than the plumber who came to the door at the Cake Eater pad last year, when I was bald, eyelash and eyebrow-less, and moon-faced from the steroids I was on to combat the chemo, and asked, “Are you Michael?”
I’d take premature aging over being confused for my husband any day.
November 12, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Robbo
Whether the fact that this coincides with my suddenly no longer getting carded, I don’t know. But it might.
Kathy – Once in college I was out for a run at dusk. Because it was cold I was wearing ski tights. As I crossed the street near my dorm, some guy in a car whistled at me. When I turned and looked, he said, “Oh. Sorry, dude.”
(And no, Mrs. P, this didn’t have anything to do with the alternative lifestyle crowd on my campus – the guy was a townie.
November 12, 2008 at 7:31 pm
The Maximum Leader
The Pope might not have any Divisions, but Mary has a Legion.
November 12, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Father M.
My advice… Wait until you are in the Church a full year and then have a look at a number of different groups and organizations and see what’s a good fit.
November 13, 2008 at 2:43 am
Mrs. Peperium
Robbo, you’ve got to join that group of guys with the hats from the HMS Pinafore that are embellished with the chicken feathers….
Then you can, in your best Episcopalian falsetto -pun so totally intended- sing “I am the Captain….
November 13, 2008 at 5:19 am
Father M.
The’ll be looking for his sisters and cousins and his aunts…
November 13, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Robbo
Thanks, guys. Now I have this image of Kate Jefferts-Shorri singing “The Ruler of the Queens’ Navee” running through my brain.
(Apostrophe deliberately misplaced.)
November 13, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Jordana
Yo! Dat Robbo is da bomb!
November 13, 2008 at 2:44 pm
beth
Ok…I’ll go with all of those except the “rock”…cause things around our house routinely “rock the llama”. And that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
Yo.
November 13, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Robbo
Wellllll……I suppose I COULD make an exception for “rock the llama”
November 13, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Jordana
Just change your reference to a nerdy Star Trek one about meglomaniacal superbeings trying to take over the Federation and you’ll be fine.
November 13, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Jordana
Megalomaniacal…hmph…
November 13, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Mrs. Peperium
That woman (employing the term in its loosest construction out of deference for someone, do not know who though) cannot sing. Nor can she sit in a chair like a lady…
November 13, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Sister
My 6 year old calls anything vulgar “Diddy”. Does this make me a bad person?
November 13, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Robbo
No, but I’ll bet it causes some serious puzzlement in certain circles. Heh.
November 13, 2008 at 9:13 pm
The Abbot
He has a statue in front of the Massachusetts State House.
His reputation here has always been somewhat better than that of the books.
November 13, 2008 at 9:16 pm
GroovyVic
Oh snap!
November 13, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Little Gidding
Hollowing out the inside entirely would make even more space available for even more hypothetical people.
November 14, 2008 at 3:17 am
basilseal
My Dear Robbo, I think that if you threaten them with never being invited to dine at Sir Basils, what with their beastly and common table manners and all, you will notice a marked improvement and never again have any trouble. No, don’t thank me, always happy to help.
November 14, 2008 at 12:20 pm
The Abbot
Gives more space for Mandalas, prayer mazes, and dancers.
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/17668
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/17144
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/14543
November 14, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Mrs. Peperium
I’ve questioned the media’s judgement for more than a decade but, now, thanks to this story, it no longer needs to be questioned.
A church removes 18 wooden pews to create a more inviting feeling and that is an story with enough important news to be worthy of the Associated Press’ attention?
And then MSNBC finds it so important, it picks it up?
The most this news item can be properly characterized as is old fashioned PR. Pr for the priest and parish. Good luck to them. They obviously need it.
November 16, 2008 at 5:49 am
dummidumbwit
http://dummidumbwit.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/hms-victory-in-portsmouth-england/
November 17, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Jordana
Don’t real catchers wear knee pads?
November 17, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Robbo
I’m seriously thinking of investing in some!
November 17, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Jordana
They aren’t all that expensive. Well, actually I only know about the home improvement kind and they aren’t that expensive.
November 17, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Robbo
The only trouble is this: None of the other dads use ‘em. I noticed that the moms mostly sit on folding chairs or upturned buckets, but the dads seem to be just toughing it out. Man Law clearly provides that I can’t be the first to break down.
November 17, 2008 at 7:48 pm
The Abbot
The general line of defense I’ve heard of Montgomery’s tactical conservatism is that unlike his enemies and his rivals among the allies, destruction of Montgomery’s forces would have meant the destruction of his country’s Army. Rommel could gamble because his mission was always a sideshow in Germany’s war effort. Patton could gamble because he was a corps/army commander inside a much larger Army. The British had a handful of regular troops in the Eastern theater, but practically all of their regular forces were concentrated under Montgomery. This forced Montgomery to be careful to a fault.
November 17, 2008 at 8:33 pm
GroovyVic
But….does Firth, you know, show any skin?
November 17, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Robbo
Nope, he’s geared up from the get-go. Even in the brief scene in which the Xena-like chick slips into his bed.
It’s disturbingly like watching Kelsey Grammar try to play Gen. Maximus.
November 17, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Anchovy
He also put that little tune to the C major prelude from Book I of the WTC and called it Ave Maria. Inspiration or sacrilege?
November 17, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Jordana
Are there any that fit under the jeans?
November 17, 2008 at 10:39 pm
GroovyVic
Well, it’s probably better than that Christmas jumper he had to wear in Bridget Jones.
November 18, 2008 at 2:42 am
ChrisN
I’m hard pressed to think of anything I’ve read that was very favorable toward Monty.
I’m in process of reading Rick Atkinson’s books on the war in Europe (just finished “An Army at Dawn,” starting “The Day of Battle”). He’s certainly not a Monty fan.
November 18, 2008 at 3:54 am
Robbo
Well, every time I carp about Bach’s music getting folded, spindled or mutilated by somebody, I wind up getting branded as a Salem Witch Trial level reactionary, so I’ll just let that one slide.
November 18, 2008 at 3:57 am
MCNS
Wonderful eye! The fruit indeed makes the picture.
November 18, 2008 at 4:21 am
Father M.
Does this make you a Lefebvrite?
November 18, 2008 at 4:33 am
Kathy
But does he dive into any ponds? And walk out of them soaking wet.
Purrrrrr.
Fortunately for me, I’ve got the DVD of Pride and Prejudice. Heh.
November 18, 2008 at 4:40 am
Kathy
What? Does St. Marie of the Blessed Educational Method not chip out for sheet music that’s scored for the various vocal parts? There’s no reason for her to be chastised for what she cannot do.
The sad thing is when she does start singing the part for altos, she’s going to realize it’s boring. I’m a second soprano, and I always felt sorry for the altos—all the work, none of the glory. Those bitchy sopranos always got all the credit.
November 18, 2008 at 7:27 am
stillers
Was Aishwarya in various states of undress??
November 18, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Anchovy
So, sacrilege. A minor sacrilege, though, compared to those Stokowski atrocities.
November 18, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Robbo
Heh.
Now that I’m across the Tiber, am I allowed to start making tinfoil-in-the-mitre jokes?
November 18, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Robbo
Actually, Aishwarya walks out of the sea soaking wet.
November 18, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Robbo
Yes, I’d go along with that. (This isn’t a trap, right? You really do dislike Leopold’s orchestrations, right?)
November 18, 2008 at 2:54 pm
The Abbot
I get that dream from time to time.
Unmerited guilt is, in a sense, a kind of Catholic flip side to Protestantism’s Sola Fide in which we are saved through no merit of our own.
Both, of course, contain logical errors. Though Sola Fide is right to ascribe our salvation to Christ alone, it does not therefore follow that we do not participate in our own salvation through our conduct.
That’s the good news.
The bad news?
There’s no such thing as unmerited guilt.
November 18, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Old Dominion Tory
Superb fruit! Excellent choice, Robbo.
November 18, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Robbo
Heh.
Actually, it might be better to call it misallocated: Even if Event A does not warrant it, the guilt I feel is probably of use with regard to Events B, C and D which I might not even have caught. It all works itself out in the end.
November 18, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Monica
I have that dream too…it’s exam day, and somehow, I forgot to attend the class. Maybe I went once or twice, but then stopped going, and totally forgot about it. It’s so real, I feel unnerved the whole day.
I read somewhere that the significance has to do with putting yourself “on the hook” for things you needn’t. I suppose that’s the same thing as unmerited guilt.
I like the simpler interpretation of the recurring “teeth falling out” dream (which I don’t have): fear of public speaking.
November 18, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Monica
I see it more as feeling a “responsibility”…I’m supposed to be doing something that I’m not doing…a slightly different variation of guilt. I’m not sure why I think of guilt mostly applying to deeds done (or not done) in the past, and “responsibility” applying to things you will (or will not) do in the future.
November 18, 2008 at 3:19 pm
beth
I have this dream with disturbing frequency…though mine inevitably involves not remembering where my locker is (even though the classes are always college, it takes place without fail in my middle school) and/or its combination.
Ah guilt…my constant companion.
November 18, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Monica
From lifetreks dot com:
You come into the testing area and sit down. It is only when you open the examination that it hits you. You never attended this class. You remember now that you did register, but somehow there was a mistake and you just forgot to attend the class. There is no way to pass the test, and no way to explain this ridiculous mistake. You sit there and sweat.
* Most Common Meaning: Interestingly, the person who has this dream is almost always someone who would never let themselves attend a test unprepared. That is why it can be so puzzling: you are the last person who would forget to do your homework. This dream recurs for people who have a tendency to take on too much and then judge themselves quite harshly for not measuring up to a pretty tough standard. It is most common to people with a strong track record of achievements who drive themselves somewhat hard. The dream surfaces during periods of high stress, transition into new responsibilities, and periods when the dreamer is stepping up to bat yet again.
* Useful Question:
o Do you “grade” yourself on material in life that has not yet been covered – which you could not realistically be expected to know?
Although the tendency to achieve and measure performance is healthy, there is a point at which internal “audits” of performance can be counter-productive. Consider whether you hold yourself accountable for too many things at once; or for things over which you have no control.
November 18, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Diane
Mine is an inability to locate my books, nor the classroom.
And I’m with Monica – most of my guilt stems not from active evil I’ve done, but more from the good things I know I should do that I don’t – the whole “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” thing.
November 18, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Anchovy
I loathe them. Really. They’re awful. Wouldn’t have them in my house. If I keep going on about how much I hate them, though, you’ll start thinking I protest too much.
But I hate them.
November 18, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Robbo
Most of my guilt centers on either not having done what I ought to, or else having done it in a slack or half-hearted way. Only once in a while do I say to myself, “Oh…I did a bad thing.”
November 18, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Father M.
Yes, Robbo, feel free to foil again and again…
November 18, 2008 at 5:07 pm
NOVA Curmudgeon
This dream is so common it must be issued unconsciously along with your diploma at graduation. I NEVER had it while in school.
November 18, 2008 at 5:38 pm
The Abbot
. . . in my thoughts, and in my words, in what I have done, and what I have failed to do.”
Anyone else here psyched that in 2010 the English translation of the mass will add back in “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault” to the Confiteor?
I know I am.
November 18, 2008 at 6:21 pm
beth
So. Um. Why are said adults – most of whom probably failed to rear at least one of said children adequately in the recent past – not doing something, like, oh, teaching children how to behave and right from wrong?
Oh that’s right…that’s judgmental and intolerant. I keep forgetting.
November 18, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Robbo
Tsk! Tsk!
In fact, when my gels are acting badly, I often call them barbarians. When they’re at their worst, I call them baboons.
They know when Dad considers their behavior out of line.
Would I get a Good Parent Award for this? Nope, probably get hauled away by C.P.S. for verbal abusiveness.
(Don’t tell, by the way.)
November 18, 2008 at 9:01 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Certainly an improvement over that Pre-Raphaelite stuff.
November 18, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Monica
My only reference for that is Ellen O’Hara in Gone With the Wind…she’s leading her family in prayer, and the actress has this great low, mournful voice as she says those words. (Meanwhile, Scarlett is formulating her latest plan to snag Ashley, earning sidelong glances from the others…
November 18, 2008 at 9:39 pm
The Maximum Leader
I posted a similar suggestion in the very early days of my blog so many years ago. My suggestion was not just to fight pirates at sea (and at the time I was thinking more of piracy in the Straits of Malacca) but to hunt terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan…
I don’t see why we don’t give it a shot.
I’m sure Blackwater or some such outfit would give it a try.
November 18, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Robbo
How ’bout B.A. Baracus? “Ah pity da fool who tries to take my ship!”
November 18, 2008 at 9:54 pm
The Abbot
There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence.
November 18, 2008 at 10:03 pm
The Abbot
I’ve been meditating lately on how America seems to be living out “Atlas Shrugged”, while Britain has gone straight to living out “A Clockwork Orange.”
Life imitates Art, or maybe we just get the dystopias we deserve?
November 18, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Robbo
I’ve never actually read Rand, largely because I don’t want to turn into one of those people who spends all his time in his basement cleaning his assault rifle and muttering about secret guv’mint mind-probe radio frequencies and those “damned commie squirrels”.
I started reading Clockwork, but the lingo gives me a headache so I just stuck with the movie.
And speaking of movies, my very favorite movie dystopia is Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil”.
November 19, 2008 at 4:24 am
Dad Doesn’t Always Know Everything « Only Laura
[...] I was tickled to read this post by a guy reading Little Town on the Prairie to his kids. Oh no, it’s time for Mary to go to [...]
November 19, 2008 at 1:49 pm
The Maximum Leader
Mr T still has it.
November 19, 2008 at 2:15 pm
lumps937
I’m thinking a supply of off-the-shelf RPGs and a Ma Deuce or five would take care of that threat. Of course, and Apache or two armed with Hellfires would do nicely, too.
November 19, 2008 at 2:18 pm
lumps937
You should give Rand a try. After all, I did and I don’t spend *all* of my time in the basement.
November 19, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Naked Villainy » Blog Archive » Piracy
[...] Maximum Leader agrees with Robbo and FLG and believes that the Congress should start issuing Letters of Marque & Reprisal to [...]
November 19, 2008 at 3:49 pm
NBS
My version of this dream involves the discovery that I didn’t properly calculate the credits I needed to graduate, and came up way short (in actuality, I graduated with far more credits than I needed). Anyway, this is what these dreams mean, and it is not usually about guilt as much as insecurity:
“These dreams usually have to do with your self-esteem and confidence or your lack of. You are worried that you are not making the grade and measuring up to other people’s expectations of you. You may also experience the fear of not being accepted, not being prepared, or not being good enough. You feel nervous, insecure and tend to believe the worst about yourself.
These dreams also suggest that you may feel unprepared for a challenge. Rarely, are these dreams about the content of the test, but rather the process and how you are feeling during the exam taking process. Generally, you feel distressed and frustrated. These feelings may parallel how you are feeling in a particular challenge or situation in your waking like.
Dreams of this nature are also an indication that you are being judged and this dream is a signal for you to examine an aspect of yourself that you may have been neglecting and need to pay attention to. You may harbor some guilt because of your neglect in preparation for a school exam, meeting, business project, or some challenge. Most of the time, though, people who have such dreams are unlikely to fail a test in real life. This dream goes back to their fear and own anxiety that they may not meet other’s standards of them. They are afraid to let others down.”
November 19, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Jordana
One of my oldest son’s favorite paintings in the Tate was a Hogarth.
November 19, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Robbo
I don’t believe the Hogarths were there when I lived in London back in 87/88, but the Tate had just opened up its big Turner exhibit and I used to spend quite a bit of time ogling them.
November 19, 2008 at 7:24 pm
beth
She’s lovely.
Though I have to admit that at first glance I couldn’t stop the thought of “Mary Poppins!”
Perhaps that’s not a horrible thing.
November 19, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Robbo
Oh, mock not Julie Andrews (at least pre-”S.O.B.”) around here!
November 19, 2008 at 10:08 pm
The Maximum Leader
I have a 1799 copy of this engraving hanging on the wall across from the piano in the Villanschloss. I received it as a gift from a dear friend (and former History Prof) when I got married. He had given me the whole “Rake’s Progress” when I graduated from college. When he died a number of years ago I got his copies of “The Harlot’s Progress” – which I have yet to frame and hang up…
November 20, 2008 at 5:18 am
Sarah G.
Really? I got an award?
Wow.
November 20, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Kathy
Oooh. That looks good.
If the subject interests, you should check out “The War Magician.” It’s about Jasper Maskelyne—an English magician whose talents were put to good use in the North African campaign. Among other things, he managed to fool Rommel into moving his tanks in another direction by creating a dummy division, and he also managed to “move” Alexandria’s harbour by creating a fake one. The research is dubious, because it appears that his main source of information was Maskelyne himself, who had something of a reputation for telling tall tales, but even if he managed to achieve half of what he claimed, it’s still a good story.
November 21, 2008 at 3:59 am
beth
I wasn’t intending to mock her, truly.
November 21, 2008 at 6:39 pm
The Abbot
Magic, in my view, is a parody of prayer (particularly chant, and liturgical prayer). You know the etymology of the expression “hocus pocus,” right?
The other thought your post provokes is the sequence in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 9 after the Transfiguration (Mark 9:12-28). If one need any testimony to the efficacy of fasting I usually point people there (Douay Rheims — oddly enough, the NAB omits the bit about fasting, relegating it to a footnote.)
Consider also Matthew, Chapter 4 — the Lord fasts before his temptation by the Devil, and is successful in overcoming the temptation. Some people say “Well of course he overcame it — he’s the Lord.” God need not fast, and yet God fasted. He is showing us that it has purpose, never clearer than when he does it himself.
Or more oddly, the sequence in John 9:6-7. Jesus cures a blind man by making a paste of spit and mud. Seems like magic to the Pharisees, yet considering that man is initally made out of mud in Genesis, to me, it is Christ revealing his identity as God (which is what the whole Gospel of John is about) and performing an act of the Kingdom — recreating the same heavens and earth he created in the beginning, repairing the damage of sin. The Church is the recreation of the man as he ought to be. In that sense, it is highly magical.
Prayer is asking for the supernatural gifts to overcome evil. Magic is a parody of prayer in that it is the words that hold the power, not God — it is the “saying of the magic words” that make an action occur.
But we know there is only one magic Word.
November 21, 2008 at 7:51 pm
the gripping hand
My practice has required quite a bit of travel in the last several years. As such, I have developed a bit of a fetish for listening to books on tape as I drive. I have the unabridged copies of the LOTR, Silmarrilion, Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, and several others. They are great for those long drives.
November 21, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Robbo
Alas, my rag-topped jeep makes such a roaring noise at anything over 50 mph that I can’t listen to much of anything except the wind.
November 21, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Robbo
Shades of Peter Venkman.
November 22, 2008 at 3:11 am
The Abbot
That’s Doctor Venkman.
And — important safety tip — Don’t cross the streams.
November 22, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Anchovy
So here’s where I recommend Britten’s Hymn to Saint Cecilia, a setting of Auden. It’s quite fine. Though perhaps you might conclude otherwise.
November 23, 2008 at 4:11 am
Robbo
Britten? Wha….buh…..duh…..nnnrrrrgggggh!!!
November 23, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Sister
As you know, this little Purcell tune is a fav with your fair niece. Purcell being a fav of said niece and her mama. Bugger Britten. Unlistenable.
November 24, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Anchovy
But Sister, that’s like throwing Br’er Rabbit in the brier patch. At any rate, some of Britten’s choral music in particular is quite good. And his Hymn to the Virgin is one of the most beautiful works in the entire English choral tradition.
November 24, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Diane
Welcome to “worship wars” – been waged in evangelical circles for years. The cause: people focus more on personal taste and desire than on the fact that they are in church to worship; they forget it’s not all about them.
Perhaps the Catholic church will have better success in staying the course against those who would change simply on a turn of popular tide.
November 24, 2008 at 5:23 pm
The Abbot
The entirety of Matthew, Chapter 25 is pretty frightening, from the foolish and wise virgins to the parable of the talents to the sheep and the goats. I am amazed that our popular culture has this image of Jesus as this 60s hippie who is trying to reassure us that everything’s cool. Everything is most assuredly not cool. The door can be locked, there is darkness outside, and we are potentially in the eternal fire with the devil and his angels.
It is especially worrisome because of who Christ is — he cannot deceive. His words have to be taken as truth because He is Truth.
That there is little comfort in the picture Christ paints can be seen in the nature of the people so judged — the foolish virgins are foolish, but they’re still virgins, not harlots. The unprofitable servants are servants, and not enemies. And the goats are kept and protected in the herd by the shepherd, to be separated only at the end. It is a warning that we are not to take comfort in our position inside the Church and assume everything’s OK, but we have to make sure we are working hard always.
As for the music, I’m in one of those middle of the road parishes that can’t decide where we’re going. I’m thinking that in the bigger picture of things, music ain’t all that important.
November 24, 2008 at 6:55 pm
The Abbot
You want real discipline, look at how the Orthodox church handles Advent.
November 24, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Robbo
Aaaaah, but wasn’t it St. Augustine who said that he who sings prays twice?
November 24, 2008 at 9:56 pm
GroovyVic
Hey, she’s wearing my dress!
November 24, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Robbo
What? I thought you stole yours from Mrs. Strong Vincent!
November 25, 2008 at 3:45 am
lumps937
This is all your fault.
http://grippinghand.wordpress.com/
November 25, 2008 at 4:46 am
Sarah G.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one that bailed out on an instrument because of a performance requirement.
November 25, 2008 at 7:56 am
stillers
To save space, I just copied what I’ve done.
2. Slept under the stars – Used to backpack all the time in my teens. I did it a few time in the USAF, but it wasn’t nearly as fun.
5. Watched a meteor shower – Several times.
7. Been to Disneyland/world – Disneyworld is overrated.
8. Climbed a mountain – Several, but nothing major.
12. Visited Paris – Spent 3-4 days there in 1992
16. Had food poisoning – Kabob stands in Oxford, UK are hit and miss. If you miss, prepare to yack.
21. Had a pillow fight
24. Built a snow fort – Grew up in the nether regions of Western PA. There wasn’t much to do in the winter.
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors – Wales, Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, France. I was stationed in the UK, so traveling around was easy.
35. Seen an Amish community – I grew up very close to the Amish community.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied – Sure. I’m not hard to satisfy.
39. Gone rock climbing – There was a state park where I grew up that had great rock climbing, McConnells Mills SP (Butler County, PA).
44. Visited Africa – Well, I “visited”. The military sent me to Africa on several occasions to “visit”.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris – I’ve been below it, looking up. Probably doesn’t count.
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp – Dachau. Hard to describe.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial – Many many times. I live in Alexandria & work within sight of the Lincoln Memorial.
74. Toured the Everglades – Drove through it several times. Does that count?
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person – Twice
82. Bought a brand new car – 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier. I had it 13 years.
85. Read the entire Bible
88. Had chickenpox
93. Lost a loved one
95. Seen the Alamo in person
99. Been stung by a bee
November 25, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Michael
Ahem,
Do allow me to opine my opinion on the “Battle above the Clouds.”
As a part of the greater battle of Chickamauga, the blood letting ranks second only to that of Pennsylvania. Sigh.
To my knowledge, I know of no other place other than Point Park, Lookout Mountain wherein one may find etched in stone a comment said to have been made by the American Ulysses wherein he believed that the “battle above the clouds” was the “most romantic” of the war. A different day, I guess.
Certainly, the location of the inscription is apt as at the apex of that particular point of the horseshoe shaped esplanade of the mountain, a commanding view might be had to this day, not that any cannon then available might have made any difference from that height in blocking access to the city of Chattanooga via that particularly spacious valley below or the still rather narrow cut that is the (I-24) freeway crammed between the Tennessee River and Lookout Mountain.
I am told the hang gliding is superior for the region and the eagles appear to agree. But, to brass tacks: Grant is continually overlooked as a logistician. It is true, the grape was perhaps a problem but certainly not so much as a good Chattanoogan might have hoped. Grant was a logistics man. He knew how to move (lots of) things around on the field, quickly.
If you think about it, the exalted Lee, et al, was no different.
Now, riddle me this: what father/son team in America’s pantheon of heroes can don their mess dress and respective Medals of Honor come time for the Sunset Parade as result of that singular battle?
Hint: two different wars.
Too easy?
OK. Tell me which Navy man didn’t have a clue about logistics but wanted it?
Sorry for taking so much space.
November 25, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Sister
Or Sistah. Which ever you like. Yes to virtually all with the exception of Disney anything, bungee jumping/sky diving/helicopter (I’m with you on the heights tho I did go to the top of the Tokyo Tower, don’t know why), a few far flung places like China and the bee stings. Scorpions – check. You killed the damn thing for me, remember? And I can’t give blood because I don’t weigh enough and have spent too much time in third word countries. They don’t want me. Boo hoo. The funny thing is that despite all that, you now need a can opener to get me out of my house in a small village in Maine. Not interested anymore. Been there done that. Suppose it has something to do with having small children. They use up all your energy don’t they? Perhaps when/if they ever leave home I may start up again. Would like to go to China and the Seychelles.
November 25, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Robbo
“Energy?” What is this….”energy” of which you speak?
November 25, 2008 at 7:39 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Nobody but nobody is interested but since you asked: yes to the following.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
5. Watched a meteor shower
8. Climbed a mountain–Katahdin, in Maine
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
16. Had food poisoning
18. Grown your own vegetables–as a kid; they were stunted and wormy.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France–before they covered her with glass.
20. Slept on an overnight train–USA and Europe.
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
26. Gone skinny dipping
29. Seen a total eclipse–many lunar, one solar in Virgina Beach, long ago.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (badly)–bar on the East Side, tune was “Greensleeves”(!)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
48. Gone deep sea fishing
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
67. Bounced a check
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
73. Stood in Times Square–before and after Rudy’s clean-up.
75. Been fired from a job
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
82. Bought a brand new car
84. Had your picture in the newspaper–several times.
86. Visited the White House–only as a tourist.
88. Had chickenpox
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
93. Lost a loved one
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
I’m glad you posted this, Robbo, it made me realize I’ve done a fair number of fun things my life, thus have even more reasons to be thankful. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
BB
November 25, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Dan
When I was in college most of our vodka came in plastic bottles, so Smirnoff was considered the good stuff.
Now, I prefer either gin or whiskey, so I don’t really know from vodka – but I wouldn’t consider Smirnoff top shelf.
November 25, 2008 at 9:11 pm
The Maximum Leader
I think the Smirnoff relationship is purchased for the films. Product placement does go back quite a while.
I thought that Sir Basil did a post where he covered this a month or so ago…
November 25, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Robbo
No trouble at all. Long comments are always welcome.
As far as teh Medals of Honor questions, I dunno. Please do tell.
November 25, 2008 at 11:56 pm
ScurvyOaks
1. “Qui bene cantat bis orat” — attributed to St. Augustine, but not found, I believe, in any of his writings. N.B. the presence of “bene.”
2. Mozart wrote the greatest Kyries, IMO. None more of a kick to the gut than the one in his Great Mass in C minor.
3. Was the Buxtehude BuxWV 137, by any chance? http://www.virtuallybaroque.com/track011.htm – a wonderful piece.
November 26, 2008 at 4:08 am
The Abbot
If I were the Superintendent, I’d just send her a letter saying “Squanto was more generous.”
Lighten up, Francine.
November 26, 2008 at 4:14 am
The Abbot
That would be the MacArthurs.
I know this because of the Arthur MacArthur Memorial in Chicopee, Massachusetts, which is where the elder MacArthur was born.
Their Medals of Honor were won more than seventy years apart, too — though if Wikipedia is correct, Arthur’s Medal was not awarded until 1890.
Douglas probably deserved the Medal of Honor for his service in World War I, but he got the DSC instead.
November 26, 2008 at 4:16 am
The Abbot
As for the Navy man question, I’m guessing Farragut.
November 26, 2008 at 4:25 am
Robbo
Maybe – certainly Farragut had some issues about timing and cooperation with the Army during his time on the Mississippi.
Are we confining ourselves to Civil War Navy men here?
November 26, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Michael
Drum role … and … the Abbot answered the Medal of Honor question correctly. Pa, Arthur, and the chip off the ol’ block, Doug, both received the medal low those many years apart which is now apparently exclusively reserved for those who have given their all.
Arthur received his medal for charging Missionary Ridge. Believe me that was no small feat as that particular bulge or promontory along what is a generally steep and almost straight as an arrow ridge was then and still is a stair case of what is called in the business, military crests where sharp eyed sons of the confederacy were stationed but stretched rather too thin for defense against a concerted attack.
Whether Arthur’s award was dispensed in 1890 is a mystery to me. For the industrious, I would suggest a quick scan of William Manchester’s American Caesar. Manchester was by the way not very taken with the cityscape of Chattanooga.
Fey, I say.
He visited in the winter of all times and Chattanooga as viewed from the, ahem, well-known “dildo,” erected at the very site of the battle and more correctly described as a quite tall pillar with an acorn as its truck dedicated to the valor displayed there was not resplendent with the spring bloom, summer green or fall explosion of the seasons. Still the lack of foliage did provide Manchester with a panoramic view of a stretch of the Tennessee as well as the massive silos of Con Agra, now long gone, along with various other industries and slums also happily gone, at least the slums anyway. But, I digress.
Douglas, I thought, was given a “consolation prize” so to speak for the successful evacuation of person and family from the Philippines—the nation needed a hero. Yet, as the Abbot notes, Dugout Doug probably did rate the Medal of Honor for action in WWI. I mean this seriously, would you mount the ramparts in your finest uniform complete with riding crop and at the whistle, command “Follow me!” (Yeah, right.) So, I have long considered the award a retroactive recognition of past service.
As for the logistics question, I’m afraid I owe all an apology; for rightly, Robbo questioned the scope and limitations of the arena of the guess work. The logistics side of the way of America’s war making might be best viewed against the foundation laying experience of the Mexican-American War and Veracruz, America’s first genuine amphibious landing under the combined direction of Winfield Scott, David Conner, and Matthew C. Perry.
For those of you who are interested in the Civil War, did you realize that … most of the shining lights of the Civil War cut their teeth here, or rather, there? Grant was ashamed of the whole thing and said so. But, it did not stop them from “assaulting” the beach in row boats. Sheesh. In fact, lucky cannon shots might have ended the careers of company and field grade officers like Lee and Grant and …
No, this whole logistics question revolves around King and Nimitz and I confess I have um … lapsed… (yeah, lapsed, that’s it, lapsed) into a fifties moment. I simply cannot remember whether it was King or Nimitz who said and I paraphrase, “I don’t what logistics is, but I want it.” I need track down Barbara Tuchman; she knew and said so.
Happy hunting.
Oh, by the way, what was King’s nick name?
November 26, 2008 at 7:42 pm
The Maximum Leader
Love Laphroaig. Very smokey and it has lots of peat flavor to it. Some people don’t like the Islay whiskies because of the peat. I happen to like it a lot. I think any Scotch lover would appreicate it very much.
November 26, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Robbo
I think the peat is the best thing about it. VERY Shmokey!
November 27, 2008 at 2:28 am
The Bovina Bloviator
One of my favorites, hope your brother lets you have some though I’m not sure I’d be so accommodating with any of my brothers.
November 30, 2008 at 12:41 pm
GroovyVic
I’ve been there. Verra nice place.
December 1, 2008 at 3:11 pm
beth
We focus on Advent as well…though our decorations for Christmas are up too.
Growing up, we always reused Advent calendars – so the first year you might get a daily treat, but the following years any treat was whatever picture was behind the flap and/or the privilege of getting to open it and read whatever Advent passage was set for the day.
December 1, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Old Dominion Tory
As an alumnus and a graduate of The Institute, I was extremely please by that piece, especially the closing sentiment.
Thanks for bringing attention to it, Robbo.
Cheers.
December 1, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Old Dominion Tory
I’m right beside you with my own teaspoon, Robbo.
The Tories are observing Advent somewhat closely this year as well (starting with confession this evening). I can’t stand the so-called “Christmas season,” which seems to become more and more frantic and frenetic each year.
Alas, this year’s Advent decorations at the parish are more than a little off-putting–e.g., blue vice purple candles in the Advent wreath.
December 1, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Kathy
After seeing the picture above, I’m just glad I didn’t do what I planned this weekend. You see, we don’t have an advent wreath at my house (nor even a nativity set) because the husband is a pain in the arse about such things. Yes, he’s one of those heretics who likes Christmas, but refuses to acknowledge the meaning behind it…which drives me up the damn wall. Now, one of my brothers is going through something of a trying time right now as he’s fighting off the witch he once called wife in the courts. His business also evaporated during the credit crisis, so he’s in something of a jam right now. So he would be able to have Christmas for his two wonderful little boys, we bought a pre-lit Christmas tree, and ornaments and are heading out to buy toys from “Santa.” (Unfortunately, we can’t be overly-generous because it would confirm their mother’s idea that my brother has cash stashed away…which he absolutely doesn’t.) It was my suggestion that we get them an advent wreath, too, and headed off to the local Catholic supply store to get candles. Fortunately, however, in my extended absence from Omaha, it had moved and I had no clue about its new whereabouts. This is a good thing, because due to my goofed up memories and not putting one out every year, I would have bought three pink candles and one purple.
God truly works in mysterious ways.
December 1, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Robbo
Ah, perhaps some day we will all grow so much that we can finally admit that purples and pinks are completely arbitrary and that we should all have whatever kind of candles we want.
Some day.
BTW, I admire your sisterly donning of Santa’s costume for your nephews. Leaves me with an interesting mental image, of course, but never mind…..
December 2, 2008 at 12:38 am
Sister
You may be surprised to hear that it was my atheist husband who suggested we get an advent calendar this year that wasn’t filled with chocolate. I guess following me to church is beginning to rub off on him, especially considering his own intense fondness for anything sweet. The darling child’s reaction was at first rather dismayed as she is a chocolate addict, but when I told her with brimming eyes that Advent is REALLY about counting down to Jesus’ birth, she got pretty excited. She seems to have inherited the family spirituality thing. Her school does an advent celebration each year – she loves it because she gets to wear a pretty dress and have everyone look at her. She is the Ma all over again. On the wreath front, we don’t currently have any doors to hang them on. Just ugly patchy plywood with peeling weather stripping hanging off. The joys of very old house ownership. Luckily we live in Maine, where Tyvek is a house color option.
December 2, 2008 at 3:21 am
Robbo
Yes, I am surprised. I say nuzzink in response, however, as I do not want to spook the fellah. (As opposed to our mutual sister-in-law, to whom I recently placed my fingers on my head and said, “Boogie! Boogie! Boo!”)
BTW, what Advent celebration would a hippy German school do?
December 2, 2008 at 3:10 pm
The Abbot
It may be a commentary on the foolishness of man’s plans compared to those of the Lord.
December 2, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Dan
Actually, the Duke DID hate horses.
December 2, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Robbo
Insert Johnny Carson “I did not know that” line here.
December 2, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Mr. Peperium
All dreams boil down to boudoir gymnastics. Just ask Carl Jung. And this one is because you banned NBS for speaking highly of the subject.
December 2, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Mr. Robbo Regrets « The Port Stands At Your Elbow
[...] under the belief that I banned a comment you made in response to one of my art-appreciation posts. (This one, I believe.) Specifically, you appear to believe that I removed a remark you made on the subject [...]
December 2, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Mr. Robbo Regrets « The Port Stands At Your Elbow
[...] scruple. I have no objection whatever to discussing what Mr. Peperium refers to as “boudoir gymnastics“. Bring on the acrobats, says [...]
December 2, 2008 at 9:34 pm
The Abbot
Ms. Spears has a new album out.
I know this not because I follow celebrities, but because as we get ready for work, Mrs. A has a habit of watching Good Morning, America. I walk in and I see the GMA hosts introducing what can only be described as some manner of profane circus act.
“Good god,” I said, “What manner of profane circus is this?”
My wife said, “They are celebrating Britney Spears’ birthday.”
I just stood there with my mouth open. Evidently, we now celebrate Britney Spears’ birthday with circuses, and, presumably, bread.
Lest you doubt me:
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/12/02/britney-spears-on-good-morning-america-tales-from-the-circus-front-row/
December 2, 2008 at 10:35 pm
GroovyVic
What ever happened to Love’s Baby Soft?
I know it’s still out there on store shelves….
December 2, 2008 at 10:37 pm
GroovyVic
Ah, but it’s the Duke. Horse hater or no, he’s still my idol.
December 3, 2008 at 1:23 am
Sister
I take it that said persons don’t read this blog. Ya never know.
The school is NOT hippy. It’s very traditional and old-fashioned yet somehow carried out by people dressed in naturally dyed hemp with questionable personal care habits. I was in the upper school today and did not see ONE of the following: logo or wording on clothes, makeup, “done” hair, nail polish or bad attitude. Good enough for me and mine.
They do an Advent Spiral. The kids walk one by one very quietly to the center of a candle lit spiral made of evergreen boughs, light a candle, and then walk back around out of the spiral. Then we sing advent songs. Then we pip off. The thing that gives it a certain je ne sais pas is the combo of children, fire and plenty of evergreen cuttings. There are buckets of water hidden all over the room, but it’s still pretty tense. I don’t know what all this is supposed to mean, but it’s pretty neat anyway and the kids take it really seriously. They also have a St Lucia chosen from the 2nd grade, who wanders around complete with candlelit evergreen wreath on her head for Heaven’s Sake. So far no on has burned to death, or at least the Development Department in the school is standing by this story.
December 3, 2008 at 3:06 am
NBS
Oh my. I don’t think my remarks warranted this, but I appreciate it. It was an accident. Back in the days before I was locked out, I deleted several comments accidentally, and it always killed me. But I was getting thousands of spam comments per day. That was my excuse.
So… explaination accepted.
But I am done reading Andrew Cusack. Too fine a garment for every day. I thought it was funny when I invited his
December 3, 2008 at 3:09 am
NBS
Hungarian lady to pester my lloyd. Too disrespectful, apparently, tho.
December 3, 2008 at 3:18 am
NBS
The paint can is either your you-know-what or the Episcopal Church. Either way, see a urologist.
December 3, 2008 at 3:41 am
Robbo
May I call you Beatrice?
December 3, 2008 at 3:59 am
Mr. Peperium
Ok, first of all it wasn’t me.
Every once in a while I make comments on blogs. When I do, I usually end up posting as Mrs. P because Mrs. P posts all the time and the ID is set for her. This must have been one of the rare occasions when I set the ID to my nom de blog and Mrs. P forgot to reset it.
I’m not expecting a full-length apology or anything like that. But I do want to point out that on those few occasions when I do take keyboard in hand to blog–as opposed to earn a living–I try to craft my sentences a tad more carefully than Mrs. P. Please understand…I am in no way impugning the content of her writing; I’m just saying I’d take the time to phrase it a little differently.
Second, I want to say that I, too, am all for athletic excellence in the boudoir. I would only take issue with your implication that Palies are in any way “red-blooded”. I mean. c’mon…they’re named “Pale-ies” for crying out loud. Any group of people who talk about sex as much as those bimbos do when in the pews or at the coffee hour are obviously making up for a certain lack of it in other aspects of their lives.
There. I think I’ve generated as much cyber-print as you guys did in this little misunderstanding. And just for the record, we don’t ban anyone over at PP except Mrs. P’s female siblings.
December 3, 2008 at 3:59 am
Mr. Peperium
And you can’t call me Beatrice.
December 3, 2008 at 4:53 am
Jordana
I did like the Advent spiral at hippy German school, but finally the hippies got to be too much.
December 3, 2008 at 11:34 am
GroovyVic
I remember Dick and Jane – also learned to read because of them – and also bought TONS of books from those Scholastic book orders. The thing is, all those books now belong to my kids…..
See? Who would have thought that all those years ago I was actually investing in the future?
December 3, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Robbo
See? Cross-dressed blogging right here in the comments. I’ve got no problem with it.
December 3, 2008 at 2:58 pm
beth
Ahhh…the book fair. I think that was, hands down, my favorite day of school each year.
And…while I realize this may get me removed from your blogroll…I’ve never read any Waugh…can you recommend a place to start? You’ve got me curious.
December 3, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Robbo
Sorry for the confusion about the Beatrice reference, folks. This is what I was thinking of:
DON PEDRO: Will you have me, lady?
BEATRICE: No, my lord, unless I might have another for working-days: your grace is too costly to wear every day. But, I beseech your grace, pardon me: I was born to speak all mirth and no matter.
December 3, 2008 at 3:10 pm
NBS
Sigh not so! Mr. P, I think he was calling me Beatrice, which is fine. The Beatrice reference is was what I was thinking of, as well.
December 3, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Robbo
Well it might get me removed from some other blogrolls, but I would say whatever you do, do not start with Brideshead. But if you do, just bear in mind that it’s not much like his other work. Much more, ah, mushy.
When I started in on Waugh, I started with his first novel Decline and Fall, but I think it might actually be easier to go with some of his more mature novels and work backwards. Scoop is quite funny. A Handful of Dust is brutal but excellent. And, as my post indicates, the Sword of Honor trilogy holds a special place for me.
December 3, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Dan
//Patrick O’Brian, whose Aubrey/Maturin series comes mighty close to gen-u-ine literature.//
I beg your pardon? I’m sure you meant to say, IS gen-u-ine liteature.
December 3, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Monica
Not sure “mushy”s the word for Brideshead, but agree that it’s unlike his other novels. A nice funny start is The Loved One.
Robbo, you do not mention Graham Greene. Been there? Done that?
As for Brideshead, I think it’s richly packed with multiple viewpoints which uphold the main Catholic theme. I think it has one of the best uses of “minor” characters I’ve ever seen (Anthony Blanche, Cara, and Rex specifically); they give real “legs” to the story’s theme.
December 3, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Robbo
I only use “mushy” in the sense that Waugh is not being his usual snotty self. Although I’m not really among their ranks, I know there is a body of readers out there who, even when supporting the general theme, don’t much care for the melodrama.
Never have read Greene. Borrowing Beth’s question, where would be the place to start?
December 3, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Old Dominion Tory
I suggest that Beth start her travels into the world of Waugh with “Scoop.”
December 3, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Monica
Not sure why, but my absolute favorite is The Human Factor. Also loved Power and the Glory, and liked Our Man in Havana. Still trying to do Brighton Rock, and This Gun for hire was “meh.”
He was also a prolific film critic, and you may have heard how he got into hot water by criticizing Shirley Temple.
As for other fiction, have you tried Trollope? Funny stuff. How about Edwin O’Connor? The Last Hurrah is a Catholic must-read!
Ahem…again, no gels on your list. Understandable if you don’t like mush, I suppose. Personally, me likey Austen, Bronte, Wharton.
December 3, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Robbo
Thankee, Monica. Off to the devil’s website I go!
As for the ladies, I happen to like Austen, too. (You may not have been around for the smack down between Kathy the Cake-Eater and me over the relative merits of Lizzie Bennet and Emma Wodehouse a couple years ago.)
My mother adores Trollope. I think perhaps that I was too young when I started trying to read him – it may be time to revisit: I’ve got the Barsetshire and Palliser series (picked up used at library sales) plus a handful of others.
Oh, and I left Conrad off the list. I’m increasingly fond of his work as well.
December 3, 2008 at 5:49 pm
beth
Mmm…David Tennant…Mmmmm….
Sorry, did you say something about Shakespeare?
Of course, I’m irritated with David right now, since he quit Dr. Who. I’m sure I’ll forgive him if he puts his glasses on though. Mmmmm.
December 3, 2008 at 7:38 pm
The Abbot
I took a class on “The Victorian Novel” in college, and one of the books was Trollope’s “Can You Forgive Her?”
I remember enjoying it, but I am amused to this day by something (I think) Shaw said about it. When asked about the book, he said, “Can You Forgive Her? Yes . . . and forget her.”
I remember liking Dickens, Trollope, and Thackeray, and disliking George Eliot and Thomas Hardy. Jane Austen, though of course pre-Victorian, is also one of my favorites.
December 3, 2008 at 7:51 pm
The Abbot
With regard to Eliot and Hardy, I guess I find them gloomy. A lot of overly self-conscious, faux-realistic, proto-Socialist, half-starved countryside frottage if you ask me.
Or, to put it more charitably, they are deficient in joy.
December 3, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Robbo
Yeah, I knew a gal in high school who was forever reading Middlemarch. She went off to become an English prof, and a pretty hard left one so far as I can tell.
December 3, 2008 at 8:08 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
Find the time someday to slog through War and Peace, it’s worth it.
December 3, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Robbo
So I understand. And I plan to do it in the not-too-distant future.
Did you ever see the rayther bizarre moovee version with Henry Fonda? With his accent, he sounded more as if he were talking about fighting the Comanche than the French.
December 4, 2008 at 4:36 am
pandelume
I’m with you 99%. But why are you hatin’ on Thoreau? Try the journals…
I’m guessing George Meredith is a dead dog to your readership?
December 4, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Mrs. Peperium
That’s not “Diana Bathing”. Gesh. Get your art straight.
Any art student or RCBfA worth their paintbrushes knows that is
“Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie.”
December 4, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Roy
Vox clamantis in desterto?
December 4, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Roy
deserto, demmit.
December 4, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Robbo
My dear Mrs. P, haven’t you ever heard “Wachet arf”?
December 4, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Robbo
Non in cautus futuri.
December 4, 2008 at 4:37 pm
The Bovina Bloviator
“Wachet arf,” the houndentenor aria?
December 4, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Irish Elk
That’s me bounding into the picture in the background. I’d heard it was a stag party.
December 4, 2008 at 4:45 pm
nathanbriscoe
Check out this male’s perspective on Twilight(novel)–maybe my reasoning will resonate with you!
December 4, 2008 at 4:46 pm
MCNS
Am pretty sure you’re fine as long as you don’t execute any attachment. I’d say delete away.
December 4, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Monica
Dartmouth, pheh!
“Not unmindful of the future” was more popularly translated as “Don’t get caught next time.”
December 4, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Robbo
Now, now. Mrs. R’s grandfather is a Dartmouth alum. We’ve got a hand-me-down needlepoint pillow with a big “D” and an Indian leaning against it with a cask of rum on his shoulder.
December 4, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Mrs. Peperium
“My dear Mrs. P, haven’t you ever heard “Wachet arf”?”
Heard it? I’ve lived it. Mr. P is 50% German.
Elk, I thought those antlers had a familiar bent….
December 4, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Robbo
My instinct was right – more garlic!
December 4, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Robbo
BB – The Canine Cantata
December 4, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Roy
Wachet arf ruff uns die stimme?
December 4, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Robbo
Spot on.
December 5, 2008 at 3:57 am
Father M.
Frankly, Robbo, you are neither dull nor crabbity.
December 5, 2008 at 1:12 pm
GroovyVic
Feh.
For what it’s worth, Robbo, I had no idea what all the fuss was about, either.
December 5, 2008 at 2:40 pm
jen
The book was enjoyable teen fiction. The girl doesn’t exactly want the vampire love interest to bite her, she just wants to be with him because she loves him. It’s teen melodrama.
My sister said the movie was laughable.
December 5, 2008 at 6:55 pm
The Abbot
I always thought of the two of you as Goofus and Gallant. Or Steve Dallas and Opus. But occasionally, I’d read a post and get to the end and find I was mistaken as to who wrote it. You guys did occasionally speak in the other’s voice. I do miss Steve-O, though — I’m actually shocked that neither Barack Obama nor Sarah Palin could pull him back into the Llamasphere. I hope he’s OK, though I do occasionally wonder if he hasn’t wandered deep into Hunter S. Thompson country and gotten himself too lost.
December 5, 2008 at 6:57 pm
The Abbot
Or he’s locked up in Katharine Jefferts-Schori’s basement in a gimp suit.
Come back, Steve-O, wherever you are.
December 6, 2008 at 9:28 am
stillers
I’ll be in my bunk……
December 8, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Diane
People with gas grills situated on a patio close to the back door do occassionally grill out in the winter in our northern clime. They just have to dig the grill out of the snow first. In mid-February, when winter has been going on forever and there is no end in sight, it is almost worth it to go through the hassle for a taste of summer.
December 8, 2008 at 4:56 pm
jen
My dad frequently threatened some form of amputation when we whined about our latest scrape, cut, or boo-boo. I would have laughed at your comment had I been sitting there. Today’s parents are a wee bit too soft, imho.
December 8, 2008 at 7:51 pm
lumps937
Well stated. By the by, it’s “mackeral-snappers” not “mackeral-slappers.” See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackerel_Snapper. Mackeral-slappers sounds much too Pythonesque.
December 8, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Robbo
Yes, and overly earnest. I think humor goes by the board mighty fast under such circumstances. More’s the pity, because I think kids who grow up in such an atmosphere develop eggshell sensibilities. Plus, they don’t know how to laugh at themselves.
BTB, whenever one of the gels declares that she’ll DIE if she has to do something as instructed, I always tell her that we’ll be sure she has a nice funeral.
December 8, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Jordana
We usually threaten our lot with beatings until the morale improves or amputation if the situation warrants.
December 8, 2008 at 10:01 pm
GroovyVic
Oh I just love Nancy Drew, especially when she went “sleuthing.”
December 9, 2008 at 4:59 am
The Bovina Bloviator
I grew up in a house full of books with new ones arriving by the week, mostly from Blackwell’s. My late father adored reading to his kids and did so whenever he could but drew the line at the Hardy Boys and the Oz books, which he considered “poorly written.” Those books were, however, in our house in abundance and we had Dad’s blessings to read them ourselves. Lazy cuss I was (and am), I did not read them until well into adulthood and discovered Dad was right, in fact he had understated it: the Hardy Boys and Oz books are not just poorly written, they are atrociously written.
December 9, 2008 at 8:24 am
stillers
Well, was she wrong??
December 9, 2008 at 12:19 pm
The Abbot
Amen, Scooby. Amen.
December 9, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Jordana
I loved Nancy Drew as a girl until one day I sat down to read and realized that the plot in the book I was holding was almost identical to the plot in the last ten Nancy Drew books I had read. I haven’t read a single one since that day, although I should pull them out for my daughters some time in the next few years.
December 9, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
I once had a Jeep, and my guess is that the waterproof suture is a pipedream.
December 9, 2008 at 5:08 pm
The Abbot
I’m inclined to think the Lord would look at Detroit and say “Go, and sin no more.”
Or mutter something under his breath about whitened sepulchers.
December 9, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Diane
From a strictly sewing viewpoint, sewing the edges of the slash probably won’t yield a waterproof seal, and may make the edges of the slash fray, depending on the weave of the canvas and whether or not the thief slashed on straight of grain.
If you wander into a fabric store, you will find adhesive patches. Some are self adhesive, some are iron-on, most are about 4×5″. A row of these fused to the inside will both keep the slash from deteriorating and provide a weather-proof seal.
December 9, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Jeeps are an American icon for one reason – they were made for men. Men not metrosexuals. Sure metrosexuals drive Jeeps – this is why they now come in purple. Metrosexuals sew. Men use duct tape.
If the duct tape gets to you which if it does you better start eating more red meat and not watering down your scotch with club soda, take your Jeep to your tailor or sailmaker and do what he advises.
December 9, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Robbo
Bartender, make my next a double!
December 9, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Jordana
I vote for clear “duct tape” and then call it a day.
December 9, 2008 at 7:07 pm
jen
I loved Nancy Drew as a girl, too.
December 9, 2008 at 8:02 pm
beth
I’m all for the duct tape…and I think putting it on both sides sends a very clear signal of “Cut us, do we not duct tape and move on with our life?!” to any other would-be thieves.
Bonus points for using red marker to somehow make it look as if blood was spilled in the wounding of your precious Jeep.
December 9, 2008 at 11:07 pm
GroovyVic
Donny Osmond RULES!! He was my first “crush,” and yes, I watched the Donny and Marie Show faithfully.
December 10, 2008 at 12:32 am
ScurvyOaks
I disagree strongly re Areopagitica, which I’m reading currently. A couple high points:
“Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the field, we do injuriously, by licensing and prohibiting, to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?”
“It was from out of the rind of one apple tasted, that the knowledge of good and evil as two twins cleaving together leaped forth into the world. And perhaps this is that doom which Adam fell into of knowing good and evil, that is to say of knowing good by evil. As therefore the state of man now is; what wisdom can there be to choose, what continence to forbear without the knowledge of evil? He that can apprehend and consider vice with all her baits and seeming pleasures, and yet abstain, and yet distinguish, and yet prefer that which is truly better, he is the true warfaring Christian. I can not praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat.”
Bear in mind that Milton was writing to the Puritan-dominated long Parliament, trying to convince them of the error of his ways, so he wasn’t always an ally of Cromwell and crew.
December 10, 2008 at 12:41 am
ScurvyOaks
Now I’ll really throw down the gaunlet: you’re being unfair to the Puritans. A little J.I. Packer for what ails you:
“I maintain that the delights of work and leisure, of friendship and family, of eating and mating, of arts and crafts, of playing and watching games, of finding out and making things, of helping other people, and all the other noble pleasures that life affords, are doubled for the Christian; for, as the cheerful old Puritans used to say (no, sir, that is not a misprint, nor a Freudian lapse; I mean Puritans – the real, historical Puritans, as distinct from the smug sourpusses of last-century Anglo-American imagination), the Christian tastes God in all his or her pleasures, and this increases them, whereas for other people pleasure brings with it a sense of hollowness which reduces it.”
December 10, 2008 at 2:14 am
ChrisN
“Don’t write this down, but I find Milton probably as boring as you find Milton. Mrs. Milton found him boring too. He’s a little bit long-winded, he doesn’t translate very well into our generation, and his jokes are terrible.”
I’m pleased to find a Milton thread on the same page as the “Fat, drunk, and stupid” link, and disappointed you didn’t manage to tie them!
December 10, 2008 at 4:10 am
Sarah G.
Another vote for duct tape. You know it comes in all sorts of snazzy colors now, including LL Bean plaid, but I’d go for the classic silver.
December 10, 2008 at 3:50 pm
A Fistful of Duct Tape « The Port Stands At Your Elbow
[...] (and gratified) by the outpouring of comments from the TPSAYE lady readers yesterday in response to my question about whether to duct tape the slash on my jeep’s rag top or to substitute some other repair [...]
December 10, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Mrs. Peperium
I was in the neighborhood and you blew me off.
December 10, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Robbo
No you weren’t – You were too busy joy-riding on the Chevy Chase roundabout!
December 10, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Robbo
BTW, I will be passing through your fair city next week – alas, only long enough to change planes to head further west.
I’ll be sure to wave as we swing overhead.
December 11, 2008 at 1:32 am
Sister
Perthy Dovetonsils!
December 11, 2008 at 6:46 am
Boy Named Sous
Actually, by the end of the war, there WERE Luftwaffe pilots who were actively engaging in kamikaze-like suicide attacks, especially on the Russian Front.
Which just goes to show.
December 11, 2008 at 6:53 am
Boy Named Sous
11? 12????
The Lad isn’t even 4 and he already has mastered the pained tone of sarcasm.
December 11, 2008 at 12:51 pm
JB in Florida
Thought this was real cute. Especially liked how the guy before the board gets tripped up. Especially liked the tool noises he made while explaining his gift.
While being of the female variety, I too hate the guilt selling. I make fun of the commercials and remind my hubby not to “buy” into them. My parents are an exception as well. They LOVE practical gifts. Dad keeps saying “Drill Bits!!!!”.
December 11, 2008 at 1:12 pm
The Abbot
Work on the folding, Donny. Bye-bye.
Now that’s funny.
December 11, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Old Dominion Tory
“You laughin’ at my Jeep?”
December 11, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Old Dominion Tory
That is quite inventive, and the selling, while obvious, is somewhat subtle.
December 11, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Robbo
Well, but this is a terror weapon, not front line combat.
I’m not sure that if I were a Luftwaffe pilot and I had the choice between either going out in a blaze of glory or letting the Reds get their claws on me, I wouldn’t think hard about the former.
December 11, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Diane
My exposure to classical music is perhaps more than most (played violin from a tender age on & come from a Sicilian family hooked on opera) but much less than some.
If you wanted to expose someone to classical music for the first time, and plant in them the same love and enjoyment you have for it – what music would you choose for their listening pleasure?
Let’s make it more difficult and limit it to…say five selections all told, whether they are complete symphonies, single canons, what have you. Pick from your favorite period, or go across the board.
I’m always curious as to how people reach the preferences they do.
An btw – thanks for the link!
December 11, 2008 at 5:03 pm
beth
I like that list and would second it…with the addendum that I would actually choose the 3rd Brandenburg since the, ahem, viola, also participates in the solos bouncing about the orchestra in that one.
Plus, it’s a little more recognizable than the 2nd since it does get included in movies with a little frequency but hasn’t really (IMO) hit the overplayed/hackneyed stage. So it’s likely that someone might think “Hmm…that’s kind of familiar…” but it’s also pleasing. Plus, the 3rd movement is usually not one that gets played even if you recognize that it’s the Brandenburg no. 3 – and I would say that the 3rd movement is the best part. (Probably because it’s the best viola part, but whatever.)
If one was trying to get to a point where the person in question might come to appreciate opera, I would throw in a chorale, personally (my recommendation being Bach’s B Minor Mass) – it’s a good way to start getting into the idea of having singing and classical music combined. Though I probably ought to add a disclaimer that I really enjoy opera.
December 11, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Diane
Now I have a great listening list for Christmas vacation.
I do have a dearly loved CD set of the Brandenburg Concertos. ‘Way back in high school, we had a blindingly talented pianist, an exceptional violinist and a more than competent flautist – and a music director who owned an incredible harpsichord. We performed the #5 my sophomore year – loved it ever since.
December 11, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Robbo
Thanks. Of course, immediately after I typed it I wanted to fiddle with it.
December 11, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Mike
I think it was the first episode of “Tool Time”….. how would you two like it if I hot glued your heads to the garage door?
December 11, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Anchovy
There’s definitely a place for programmatic music, especially when you’re trying to reach children or someone with severely underdeveloped musical tastes or a real expectation of being bored with classical music. Say, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream overture. It’s fun to enjoy the elfin dancing and the braying donkeys, and it’s great and gripping music. As to Mozart, I think there must be an alternative to the horn concerti, which I find a bit…well, never mind. But how about the overture to Don Giovanni or Figaro? Something that reaches out and grabs your attention. In college, when I had friends who had strong musical sensibilities that had been weaned on hard rock and heavy metal, I found they often responded very well to the 2nd mvt of the Bartok 2nd quartet. It all depends on who you’re dealing with.
December 11, 2008 at 7:19 pm
The Abbot
I’m fond of CC Saint Saens; The Organ Symphony #3 in C minor would be on my list along with Carnival of the Animals and Danse Macabre, thought the latter two are almost Peter-and-the-Wolf programmatic. Also in that vein is Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition — I had a tape of that with Borodin’s Polovetsian dances on the flip side and wore it out. Bizet’s Carmen also. Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, also.
And Arthur Sullivan. If he wrote the Savoy operas without Gilbert’s librettos, he’d be justifiably famous on his own — or more so. Irish Symphony, and the In Memoriam. And any of the Savoy operas, of course, provided the singing isn’t overly camp.
For Wagner, you need to start with either the Meistersinger or better yet, Tannhauser.
Beethoven — all the odd symphonies, particularly 3 and 7, because they’re so seldom played. 7 is also my personal favorite.
I remember being impressed with Holst’s Planets as a kid, though last time I listened, it didn’t really hold up.
December 11, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Jordana
You say “white, male Imperialist” like there is something wrong with that.
December 11, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Monica
I am thinking of introducing music to children, in this case…
Two influences on young Monica:
-Mom taking me to the Academy of Music to the Children’s Concert series put on by the Philadelphia Orchestra.
- I had a collection of ten or twenty audio cassettes featuring the lives of the great composers. Boy, I’d like to try an dig them up (I’ll report back if I find them)…they were a powerful influence, getting across the whole man, his life and times, and not just the music.
December 12, 2008 at 1:14 am
Little Gidding
But I hope that somebody there feels at least a leetle bit of shame in pushing this stuff.
But nobody in power at WETA gives evidence of being capable of such shame–if they did, then its programming wouldn’t be chockablock with stuff like Suze Orman and Deepak Chopra and 100 variants on acapella hits of the 50s and 60s.
December 12, 2008 at 3:08 am
Dr. Mabuse
My “conversion” to classical music came when I was 10 – I think that might be an age when children have not yet developed any particular taste, and can be open to persuasion. Fortunately, I had a remarkable schoolteacher who would start off the day by playing us some classical music, and reading us a chapter of a book (that was my introduction to the Narnia stories). So you can see that, by today’s standard’s, she was a criminal and should have been arrested.
One particularly odd way she had of exposing us to music was to teach us how to conduct it. We would stand, hold pencils and pretend they were batons, and learned the correct “shapes” for 4/4, 3/4, 2/4 time, etc. One time we had a contest, to all stand and conduct the 4th movement of Beethoven’s Symphony #9, and the one who could hold out the longest won a prize! I didn’t win, but I was a close finisher.
Shortly after, I acquired somehow a record album that consisted of 1-minute excerpts of 100 famous classical pieces, and I was able to find the pieces that suited my taste. I tended to go for the big flashy orchestral pieces: William Tell Overture, Night on Bald Mountain, Ritual Fire Dance, you know the kind of thing. I hated violin pieces like ‘Humoresque’ and the slow stuff like ‘Finlandia’. For an undeveloped palate, you start with the simple stuff that works, and sophistication can come later.
December 12, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Diane
Saw it at both ends of last night – on the way home from the grocery store, hanging over what we have of city skyline, and again on the way to pick up coffee early,early this morning. Even over the city it’s gorgeous – can’t imagine what it would be like in the countryside.
December 12, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Robbo
It was so dark, rainy and misty here last evening that I could barely see past the front bumper of my car and, in effect, drove home by Braille. Should be better tonight.
December 12, 2008 at 5:48 pm
ScurvyOaks
Same here. Especially with the Australian astronomer’s projection of June 17 as the Lord’s birthday, I’m almost ready to leave this Thanksgiving-to-December-25 festival of consumerism and sentimentality to the neo-pagans, on the condition that they refer to it as Santanalia, instead of Christmas. Reorder the church year, with a short Advent between Whitsunday and The Nativity of Our Lord, putting Trinity after Epiphany. Leave off using the term “Christmas” altogether, for the avoidance of confusion. June 17 would not be a public holiday. Like Yom Kippur, it would be observed by the observant, and not co-opted by the world.
Feeling more Puritan all the time, I remain,
Yr mst ob svt,
Scurvy Oaks
December 12, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Robbo
Santanalia – That’s good!
December 12, 2008 at 7:39 pm
beth
Since I saw the cartoon versions of these books as a kid, Gollum always has (and probably forever will) be voiced as within those.
And he always looks like my uncle in one of his “thin” stages (my aunt is forever making him diet…he’ll drop 150 pounds or so under her watchful eye until he looks like someone exiting 1945 Germany and then he’ll have a spate of business trips where he balloons back up about 100 of those pounds…though usually this happens right after he gives all his fat clothes away. I figure it’s how he keeps his wardrobe updated. But really it’s apropos of nothing except that when I think of Gollum, I think of my uncle. Also when I think of Winchester from MASH I think of my uncle, because they sound identical.)
December 12, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Robbo
It’s been so long since I saw the cartoon versions that I can’t remember how he sounded in them.
I refused to go with Peter Jackson’s version (although I had to borrow the pic) as a matter of principle.
December 12, 2008 at 9:13 pm
ScurvyOaks
If there’s a staffer holding a wreath over Obama’s head on January 20, the staffer should be whispering that poem in the Lightworker’s ear.
December 13, 2008 at 5:45 pm
MCNS
Well, yes, I suppose, if it involves Evelyn Nesbit, seven veils, or fruit.
December 15, 2008 at 12:47 am
Naked Villainy » Blog Archive » Bring me the finest meat and cheese in all the land!
[...] Maximum Leader believes a good time was had by all. Robbo’s account makes your Maximum Leader wonder if he should go ahead and buy a zombie apocolypse survival [...]
December 15, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Monica
We just do our 2 collections back to back – a sweep up the aisle, and an immediate second sweep. I get envelopes mailed to me which include the usual weekly envelope, a separate weekly “heating & cooling” contribution envelope, and sometimes a “High School Assessment” or Retiring Priests Fund or whatnot.
The parish organizations compete for a handful of 2nd collections throughout the year. I think this year the Musick Ministry got 2 extra collections, giving us 6. It’s our main money maker. I guess the second collection ensures the contributions are discrete from the main haul.
December 15, 2008 at 6:36 pm
GroovyVic
If you ever find yourself in need of any more Titanic literature for your daughter, let me know. Son went through a similar fascination earlier this year.
December 15, 2008 at 7:47 pm
NBS
I can’t believe they do more than one collection! That is awful.
December 15, 2008 at 8:54 pm
The Abbot
Our church does one collection, and prorates the amount based on past % of parish contribution. The only exception is when it’s a new collection/missionary for which there is no track record.
December 15, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Anchovy
Re: Tchaikovsky, was that a gauntlet?
December 15, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Robbo
Well the thing of it that is most annoying is that, like Monica, we also break out the envelopes. There’s the “my weekly sacrifice” one, and then a different one for whatever particular fund in on deck a given Sunday.
Why we shouldn’t toss both in the basket on its first go-round is a mystery. In fact, most people around me do. Several of them also close their eyes in post-Communion prayer and simply ignore the basket when it reappears.
December 15, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Robbo
Anchovy: Heh.
December 15, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Anchovy
As I suspected. And what a fine, five-fingered gauntlet it is.
December 15, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Little Gidding
Words fail me.
How about “Shake your booty”?
December 16, 2008 at 12:43 am
Anchovy
Oh, and was the Beethoven remark a gauntlet too? Because I agree with you about the 9th, though I don’t think the criticism extends to all of his music for voice. I once heard Thomas Hampson sing An die ferne Geliebte, and it was truly beautiful.
December 16, 2008 at 1:18 am
The Abbot
Roman Catholic Boys for Gouging One’s Eyes Out?
December 16, 2008 at 4:05 pm
The Abbot
I’m thinking you’re feeling uneasy about being in D.C. on Inauguration Day. I’m hoping that the hordes don’t sack the capital in a real sense (we know, of course, that the next four years will represent the looting of the capital in every other sense).
Behind Obama is the mob. The mob may, as mobs are wont to do, decide to flex its muscles, and delight in being a mob. Think of the insane lefty protestors at any World Economic forum or G8 meeting; Obama supporters by and large. If they sense that Washington is being anything less than hospitable, they may start smashing windows, looting, and burning every Starbucks they see.
I love the detail about the person in the Rolls cheering on the Iceni.
They would. They are.
December 16, 2008 at 4:13 pm
ScurvyOaks
I’ll pick up the gauntlet, kinda sorta, with respect to the Chorale in the 9th Symphony. My defense is not that it is skillfully composed choral music, but that it is an extremely powerful cultural symbol, capturing in a boisterous and guileless way the Western liberal idea.
I was born in 1962; my wife, in 1971. She says that I think even older than I am. Part of what she means is that, to her surprise, I still have strong feelings about the Cold War. I rate the fall of the Berlin Wall and the liberation of central and eastern Europe from the shackles of Marxism as the greatest public/political occurrence I’ve lived through. The performance of Beethoven’s Ninth in East Berlin on Christmas Day 1989, led by Leonard Bernstein, hit the nail on the head. That music, with Freude replaced by Freiheit for the occasion, summed up the joyous outcome of a long struggle. No other music would have captured the moment as well.
December 16, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
No, no, no. The food bucket is for the zombie apocalypse. I thought you knew this.
December 16, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Robbo
C’mon – what better time for the zombies to rise up than when the entire infrastructure is wiped out and we’re all trapped in our dark, fog-enshrouded houses?
December 16, 2008 at 6:46 pm
OrgleFan
I’m hooked by the idea of displacing historical events across time and space. Something like Wellington v Napoleon on Vegas strip. Or maybe the Battle of Lepanto off the port of Miami. Sounds like a good movie idea to me.
December 16, 2008 at 9:47 pm
The Abbot
Mental image: Von Blucher delayed by the buffet at the Sands. Crockett and Tubbs in a cigarette boat sinking Musselman galleys.
December 16, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Mrs. Peperium
I’m fascinated with the idea that you dream of ’strong’ women who do not wear shirts. Strong as in constitution and passion as opposed to the popular myth of strong enlightened women (read neurotics and lesbians).
If I were your doctor, I’d say Basil’s reading was getting to you…
December 17, 2008 at 3:13 am
Robbo
My dear Mrs. P –
I’m not entirely sure it would take four years of med school, plus six years’ residency and God knows how many additional years in intern and externships to get to that particular conclusion……
December 17, 2008 at 5:11 am
Kathy
Dude. BUMMER!
Safe travels and bring your long johns. It’s bitchy cold here.
December 19, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Mrs. Peperium
If you are stuck right now in Detroit, call me – we’re in the book of you do not have our number- you can spend the night with us. I’m making beef stew w/Guinness stout and ciabatta bread for dinner. Mr. P stocked the liquor cabinet last evening.
December 20, 2008 at 12:41 pm
groovyvic
Just remember what I said about future trips to OH. Mi casa es su casa.
December 21, 2008 at 5:41 am
The Bovina Bloviator
Robbo, I have just tagged you. Please pardon my silliness.
December 22, 2008 at 6:28 pm
The Abbot
Still using the King James, Robbo?
It was the “and they were sore afraid” part that gave it away. Bishop Challoner translates that verse from the Douay-Rheims as “feared with a great fear.”
The Vulgate has it as “et ecce angelus Domini stetit iuxta illos et claritas Dei circumfulsit illos et timuerunt timore magno,” so I’m awarding points to Challoner for faithfulness to the original.
Merry Christmas,
The A.
December 22, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Jordana
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
December 22, 2008 at 10:13 pm
beth
Happy Christmas! Hope Florida treats you wonderfully.
December 26, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Valley
I was just about to point out the same as Abbot. Actually it was the “…peace on earth, good will toward men” part for me.
.
Merry Christmas!
Margaret
December 27, 2008 at 3:31 pm
JB in Florida
Weather should have been pretty good! Christmas Day for us had a smidge of sprinkles with temps heading to the 80’s. Today – pure sunshine with highs to be mid-80’s. Off to the pool! Those in the frozen north – throw a snowball for me. Our town imported a truckload of snow for “Snowfest”.
January 4, 2009 at 7:58 am
stillers
6. I don’t like cats. Cats, however, seem to like me. A lot. Go figure.
Cats like challenges.
January 4, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Sister
What about unfinished porcelain? The thought of it makes me want to scream.
January 4, 2009 at 7:21 pm
OrgleFan
As a once and future oarsman I also have a fully mature compulsion with punctuality. Our coach had a saying, “To be early is to be on time; to be on time is to be late; to be late is to be on land.” Land workouts quickly stamped out any casual attitudes regarding tardiness, especially when such attitudes met the wrath of the seven other boatmates sentenced to hill sprints, jumpees, erg tests, and 3 mile runs through no fault of their own.
No doubt some of the compulsions of follows from the habits of the old man, who, being a Navy midshipman, always had in the back of his mind the knowledge that being late and missing departure meant a lengthy encampment in the nearest brig.
The compulsion has led to a lot of miles on the car, simply driving around neighborhoods passing time so as not to be too early. And I still haven’t developed an internal time-translator for my arrival at festivities. Tell me when time a party is at and I will show up spot on, to the annoyance of the surprised hosts.
January 5, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Robbo
O.F. – Our coach used to make the offending oarsman stand or sit in the middle of a circle of the rest of the team (not just his own boat) and watch as we were made to do jumpees on his behalf.
January 5, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Mrs. Peperium
So tell me, when do you plan to break it to the gels (and their mother) the metro vamp is enrolled in a Episcopal Seminary?
January 5, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Robbo
Probably the night I decide that I’m going to sleep in the basement anyway.
January 5, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Heh..
Hey, can you email me? Just before Christmas our computer had another nervous breakdown and it consumed everything. Even my address book. This is why you haven’t heard from me in ages and ages – not that you’ve been complaining about that, I see….
January 5, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Fear and Loathing in Georgetown
You were approximately twenty minutes behind me on posting this. However, I do so love pirates that it wasn’t fair.
January 5, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Robbo
Done and done. Please let me know if you receive it.
(And as for my lack of protest at your absence, just keep in mind that this is the first time I’ve been anywhere near a computer in about three weeks!)
January 5, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Robbo
Whoops! My bad for being lazy and using Snap-shot to check for updates instead of linking over to you. I reckoned you would see the article and say something about it as well.
January 5, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Got it. Return communication has been sent. Remember you must consume it after you have memorized it.
January 6, 2009 at 4:42 am
The Abbot
The last thing you smell before the teeth dig in to your neck is the smell of THe Body Shop mango-infused organic skin moisturizer.
January 6, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Robbo
And he has to schedule all his pilates classes and full-body waxings for the evening to avoid sunlight exposure.
January 6, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Ah…now I get the metrosexualization of vampires…
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23612579-details/Vicar+removes+%27scary%27+cross+from+his+church/article.do
When I was 15 I saw the Brodaway porduction featuring Frank Languella playing Dracula as Dracula on an Edward Gorey designed stage.
All I can say is I walked out of that theater thinking there are worse fates in this world than having Dracula land on your window sill…
January 6, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Oh great. We’ve been discussing metrovamps. Now we’re moving on to Calvinists.
?
Do metrovamps let anything get between them and their Calvins?
January 6, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Robbo
What? Is that Calvinism? I thought the whole point there was that you’re marked to go upstairs or downstairs from the start and it doesn’t matter what you do about it.
Nice line, tho…… Except that I think Metrovamps would not wear jeans, only the latest fashions from Paris.
January 6, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Spot the difference (in meaning not wording) between:
“She believes that spirituality is a gift, something one is born either with or without, …”
“I thought the whole point there was that you’re marked to go upstairs or downstairs from the start and it doesn’t matter what you do about it.”
January 6, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Robbo
Well, because I think it fair to say that Mom also believes those who can hear the call have the choice whether to answer it or not and where they wind up depends on that choice. It isn’t exactly predestination, more a question of predisposition.
January 6, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Oh, then to bat that one out of the park you have to flip over to Romans (LA!) and see what St. Paul had to say what happened to the Jews when they refused to listen or answer the call.
Those passages are thought in some artistic circles, am not speaking of Church circles -remember I’m an old art student, why Jews are sometimes depicted as owls on some of the great Cathedrals in Europe…
January 6, 2009 at 7:49 pm
ScurvyOaks
Robbo: “Doesn’t seem quite cricket to me.”
St. Paul, writing by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost: “Who are you, o man, who answers back to God?”
In all seriousness, it’s time to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the 9th chapter of Romans (actually, keep going through chapter 11). This very tough issue has been around for a long time, and Scripture addresses it head on.
January 6, 2009 at 7:51 pm
ScurvyOaks
Mrs. P, I didn’t see your comment; I was writing while you posted.
January 6, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Mrs. Peperium
Ha! Scurvy it’s Romans -oh gosh now I’ve forgotten – 10: 7-10? Or is it !!: 7-10.
And then go over to Hebrews 11. One of my most favorite parts of the Bible besides the King David bits.
January 6, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Diane
Gah. My head hurts everytime I think about this.
Rom 9 -11 is pretty clear about salvation coming by faith, to all who will receive it. The problem is finding harmony with some of the rest of Scripture, particularly Eph. 1:11 “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”.
Rather than try to figure it out (and I’ve been involved in a few studies), I try to take a pracitical approach -
1. Only God truly knows who will eventually be His, whether through predestination and a propensity for spirituality, or because the offer is open to all.
2. In light of #1, my only responsibility is to keep sharing the gospel. Either a person will get it or not – it’s not up to me to persuade them.
My head hurts less that way, not to mention my heart at the thought there may be people destined for hellfire simply because they cannot, rather than will not, hear.
January 6, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Robbo
I tried to anticipate Paul (and believe it or not, I am familiar with that quote and – tongue in cheek comments aside – remind myself of it regularly) by the following line, although “moron” might have been a better descriptive noun than “tyro”.
January 6, 2009 at 8:20 pm
GroovyVic
Why can I not stop laughing at the thought of you falling down when you walk?
January 6, 2009 at 8:27 pm
ScurvyOaks
So does anyone here think St. Paul wasn’t a Calvinist?
January 6, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Robbo
It’s these tiny, aristocratic feet, d’ye see. No good center of balance……
January 6, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Mrs. Peperium
OK, who wants to really mix it up? I
What’s the major difference between the Calvinist doctrine/sacrament? of infant baptism and the Roman Catholic (and yes Scurvy, this includes Anglicans as you think like us on this one -qualifier: the sane Anglicans think like us, not the Spongers) sacrament of infant baptism.
The Catholics/Anglicans say the infant receives the Holy Spirit. I don’t believe the Calvinists make this claim but you can check it.
The Holy Spirit is the one who leads us to Christ – that is if we listen.
January 6, 2009 at 9:24 pm
The Abbot
Interestingly enough, the Orthodox churches not only baptize the infant but also confirm the infant (chrismation, which is the sacramental equivalent of confirmation), giving him the promise of baptism and the full gifts of the holy Spirit all at once. Now that’s sacramentally aggressive.
January 6, 2009 at 9:32 pm
ScurvyOaks
Mrs. P,
1. Let me clarify and limit my challenge a bit: I’m only talking about the doctrine of election. With respect to that doctrine, I assert there is an unbreakable line from St. Paul through Augustine to Luther and Calvin. (It’s no accident of history that Luther was an Augustinian.)
2. As an adherent of classical Anglicanism, I confess the 39 Articles, including Article XVII:
“XVII. Of Predestination and Election. Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God, be called according to God’s purpose by his Spirit working in due season: they through Grace obey the calling: they be justified freely: they be made sons of God by adoption: they be made like the image of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God’s mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.
As the godly consideration of Predestination, and our Election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things, as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through Christ as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God: So, for curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God’s Predestination, is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the Devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into wretchlessness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation.
Furthermore, we must receive God’s promises in such wise, as they be generally set forth to us in Holy Scripture: and, in our doings, that Will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the Word of God.”
Article XVII was written with exquisite care and, as you surely know, there has been more than one reading of it. I naturally lean toward a strong reading of it, being an A.M. Toplady/J.I. Packer kind of Anglican. But all traditional Anglicans are stuck with Article XVII; no matter how you read it, the thrust of it cannot fairly be ignored. So, as someone who subscribes to the reformed doctrines of grace, I am well within classical Anglicanism.
January 6, 2009 at 9:50 pm
The Abbot
On the Catholic side of things, there is the great predestination throwdown between the Dominicans, led by St Thomas Aquinas, and the Jesuits, led by Luis Molina. Although I am a Thomist (or a neo-Thomist, or to my own humble thoughts, a pseudo-Thomist) in most things, I think Molina’s view of the reconciliation between free will and God’s foreknowledge is pretty close to my own.
The church allows both points of view, but has never ruled definitively on it.
January 6, 2009 at 10:09 pm
ScurvyOaks
Now I’ll go a totally different direction. On vacation last month, at an old mountain resort in New York, I picked up Chesterton’s biography of St. Thomas Aquinas from the house library. I got about half way through it before we left. I’ve since ordered a copy from Amazon. Fascinating stuff; I know much too little about Aquinas.
So, particularly to the Roman Catholics here (maybe that’s everybody besides me), what else should I read to learn about Aquinas?
January 6, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Robbo
I have books about Aquinas (including Chesterton’s) and books by Aquinas. I find the books about him fascinating and inspirational. I find the books by him make me feel like a complete idiot.
January 6, 2009 at 10:29 pm
The Abbot
I have in my library three books, none of which are fully satisfactory.
I have Etienne Gilson’s The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, I have Dr. Peter Kreeft’s A Summa of the Summa, and I have Msgr. Paul Glenn’s Tour of the Summa.
Gilson, though difficult to read (translated from French)is helpful in establishing the hitorical background to Aquinas’s thought, Kreeft is good for translating into the modern English vernacular, Glenn is good for giving you the bullet points of what Aquinas is saying without being particuarly explanatory. That being said, I’ve at times needed each of them.
The best approach to Aquinas is to read him and wrestle with him directly, though he is quite a challenge. The best translation of the Summa Theolgica is the 1921 English Dominican translation (most faithful to the Latin); it is reproduced on the web, for free, here.
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/
I’ve also heard that Aquinas is more easily approached through his apologetic work, the Summa Contra Gentiles, before taking on the Summa Theolgica; I was not wise enough to try that route, though.
Most helpful would probably to take a refresher on Platonism and on Aristotle first. It helps to understand the Platonic idea of forms and the Greek ideas on causality (material, efficient, final, and formal causes, etc.) before taking on Aquinas, as he uses all of these ideas and assumes the reader does, too.
January 6, 2009 at 11:04 pm
ScurvyOaks
Robbo, yes, I’m planning on reading a good deal about him before I read stuff by Aquinas. I’m sure I’d feel like a complete idiot, too.
Thanks, Abbot, for that very detailed response. The really embarrassing thing for me is that what should be a refresher on Platonism and Aristotle will be a first-time tour. I’ve picked up pits and pieces, but never learned it systematically.
January 7, 2009 at 12:21 am
Captain Ned
To get back to the original premise, I do believe in the concept that some are born immune to the Call. I did as Mom wished and went to church (Anglo-Catholic Palie; full smells ‘n’ bells) all through school. I was an acolyte starting in 6th grade and was Senior Acolyte (I got to carry the 40lb crucifix every Sunday, because I was the only one who could) in my senior year in high school. I went to Sunday School, youth group, and Confirmation classes.
Never once did I hear the Holy Spirit. Nothing ever pulled me away from rationality to think of God. I went through the motions to remain acceptable in the eyes of my mother and Father John. I can still recite the Episcopalian Rite #2 word for word, but it has no higher meaning.
January 7, 2009 at 12:35 am
Kathy
4. He refuses to bite any victim that isn’t certified free-range, organically grown and hormone-free.
This made me laugh more than the others, because if you’d read the books, you’d know that Edward is quite fond of fresh, free range, hormone free mountain lion.
January 7, 2009 at 12:39 am
Kathy
Also, like Nancy Pelosi, he pays three hundred bucks a pop for his color job.
I wonder how long it lasts.
Also, Mrs. P., right there with you about Frank Langella. He makes a damn sexy Dracula.
January 7, 2009 at 12:44 am
Kathy
That’s funny. I had an Irish priest at mass over vacation, too. How he got to Weatherford, Texas, I don’t know. The husband was very surprised. (And, yes, I actually got him to go to mass!)
As it turns out, my inlaws, who act like they’re very religious, but yet regularly skip services, and denomination hop whenever it suits them, didn’t go to their Christmas services because they were “too tired.” The services were at 7:30 on Christmas Eve. I asked them if they were going to go the next morning and they replied their church didn’t have any Christmas Day services!
January 7, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Anchovy
I certainly agree that self-cadenzation seems a bit impertinent when done to Beethoven, though it isn’t inherently incorrect.
January 7, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Robbo
See? SEE? It’s funny because it’s true!
January 7, 2009 at 3:36 pm
beth
So I clicked play because, well, it’s Beaker, and you must always watch anything with Beaker. But really it just made me realize how desperately I miss the Muppet Show.
January 7, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Mrs. Peperium