The Arrow's Path

This is  interesting stuff ... My guesses as to why would involved the fact that Hollywood can't seem to make a movie anymore under 2 hours to save its life. For example,  The Hobbit was almost 3 hours and it just got to roughly page 105 of the original novel. in comparison, most of the original Chaplin films were under 80 minutes. Many films in the 1930's era were an hour at most.

Stan Musial passed away this weekend at the age of 92. He was truly one of the last great sportsmen from the golden age of baseball in the 1940's and 1950's. The above video from ESPN captured his on field abilities quite well. What has raised my eyebrows a bit is his how virtually all obituaries and recollections have completely ignored the role of faith in Stan Musial's life. Stan Musial was a devout Catholic and talked extensively about his faith. He contributed to Christian causes throughout his life. I find it interesting that if an athlete who had copious amounts of personal demons dies, those are talked about quite a bit in obituaries. Somehow, though, religion is not. Food for thought.

"I know its afternoon, but could you make me some Irish Breakfast Tea? Or is that gauche?" "That's fine with me. I won't tell Mr. Carson..."

19. For the President of the United States and all in Civil Authority O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of this State (or Commonwealth), and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate God. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be God, which is of course, quite a different thing." -Fulton Sheen

My major hobby project the last few days has been upgrading my computer. My poor AMD processor laptop is simply not up to the task anymore. Since I work at home (or live at work, depending on how you look at living in a rectory...), I suppose one could say this has also been a professional project, as a lot of what I do professionally involves computers (e-mails, church website, informational videos, etc.) I have been pondering what kind of computer to get for a while. I have not been particularly impressed with the big name computer makers for quite some time. In fact, I was reading an article in the Omaha newspaper (Yes, I am one of those people who still reads regular newspapers) that was talking about how Dell's stock has basically tanked. I have heretofore used Dell Computers, but I didn't have a particularly good experience when my former employer in Lincoln bought a new office computer from Dell that had nothing but problems. I can see why Dell has gone from PC gold st...

You are invited to an evening this Saturday, January 19, of bluegrass music and fun with The Crabgrass Crew in Concert to benefit Moses Joknhial II's project work in his home community of Panyang, South Sudan. Every dollar raised at the event is being matched by a generous donor and used to support our current activities to build their first medical clinic, women's center, latrines for the school, and drilling a second water well. Ninety-six tons of building materials arrived in the village this weekend and the work begins immediately with Moses presently onsite. Please join us and help spread the word by inviting your friends! website: southsudaneducation.org

Al Jazeera is running an interesting little mini-series entitled Tutu's Children .

No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thine own Or of thine friend's were. Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.  -John Donne

No one was elected on the current Baseball Writer's Association Hall of Fame ballot came out . With a dearth of steroids users and general thugs, the Atlanta Braves great, Dale Murphy, did not make the cut on his last year of ballot eligibility. Murphy was always a class act that gave so much back to the community for years (and continues to do so), whereas Bonds and some of those other bums can't be bothered to do any community service that is not ordered by the courts. Considering poor Dale Murphy was cursed to always play on teams that were lousy, I can only imagine how great his numbers could have been had he gotten to play for a stretch of years on a team that was actually a contender for more than 1 month running. The poor guy languished with the Braves in the 80's when the Bravos were perennially in the cellar, and was traded away the year before the Braves got good. He then spent time in Philadelphia and was traded away the year before the Phillies got good, and...

Apparently Myra, the home of the famed Saint Nicholas, is being excavated . Being under a river bed, it is apparently pretty well preserved.

"What became of the research into the historical Jesus is remarkable. It set out to find the Jesus of history, thinking that it could then situate him in our own time just as he is, as Teacher and Saviour. It loosed the bonds with which he had been chained for centuries to the rocks of Church doctrine, and this it rejoiced when the figure again showed life and movement and it saw the historical Jesus coming toward it. He did not stop walking, however, instead he went right past our time and returned to his own." -W.G. Gummel, 1958.

Just wait for it.

This is one of the most amazing videos I have seen in quite some time, courtesy of the New York Times:

Taken from highway 441 in the Great Smoky Mountains-Tennessee side. Image courtesy:  Tre Cunningham Dossey

I ran across this excellent article here which lays out basic logical argumentation and 5 common refutation fallacies. The author is Catholic and writing to Catholics, but his presentation of Logic 101 is really succinct and superb. It is amazing how many people who have college and advanced degrees do not understand these basic premises of presenting an argument, particularly when it delves into the political and/or theological. UPDATE: After writing this, I ran across another good use of logic in viewing subjectivism and relativism.

CNN has some excellent black and white photography here.