Happy Thursday

8:00 The season premiere of Alias vs. the season premiere of Smallville. I think I'll give another chance. I'm a glutton for punishment I guess. I'm sure the girls will be watching Smallville in their room.

Which reminds me once again of Veronica Mars. Trina was trying to sell her story, on the condition she play herself. The producers want Tara Reid. Logan wants to be partrayed by Tom Welling. EEwww. He's not that cute, and he's not on your network.

9:00 The premiere of NightStalker. If it sucks, I guess I'll give Reunion another try. Otherwise, it's CSI.

10:00 ER vs. Without a Trace

• An infant's life hangs in the balance when a surrogate mother makes a dramatic decision after being injured in a car crash; Pratt is forced to deal with his feelings about the past after he encounters his estranged father (Danny Glover).---Sounds promising
• During an ambush, a hail of gunfire mortally wounds Martin and kills the FBI detainee that he and Danny were transporting.--sounds exciting.

I think, this week, I will choose ER

The Feast of Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

St. Michael appears four times in the Bible. Twice in Daniel, once in Jude, and in Revelation.

The Protestants don't acknowedge Raphael, because the book where he appears isn't in their Bible. They sure are missing out on a charming little story. It's about a man who fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and buried the dead. One day, while he was laying outside, a bird shit in his eyes and made him blind. Meanwhile, their was a girl who was plagued by the demon Asmodeus. She had been married seven times, and this demon killed all her husbands before the marriage could be consummated. You can find the exciting conclusion to this tale here.

St. Gabriel appears in the Bible three times as a messenger. He appeared to Daniel. He appeared to Zachary to tell him of his son, St. John the Baptist, and he appeared at the Annunciation.

Was Jack Locked in the Closet?

Watched John Roberts being sworn in. His children were supposedly there. I didn't see them. I guess they didn't want any more scene stealing. I personally was interested in his son Jack's shoes. I was wondering if was wearing those butt-ugly saddle shoes again, or if Jane grew some fashion sense after being excoriated in the Washington Post Style section.

Yeah, that's me. But how were the kids dressed? Jane needs to find a more flattering lipstick tone, at least when she's wearing red.

Smarter Than Me

The season premiere of Veronica Mars was last night. Something seemed a bit off. Maybe it's merely that I realized that Jason Doering isn't as pretty as he had seemed.

Kristen Bell still had the great chemisty with Enriquo Colatano. They still had the same smart assed dialogue (I'm sure you'll like them).

Meg's pissed at Veronica, because she's with Duncan again (now that they're not siblings) leaving Meg out in the cold. Meg nastily allowed the field trip bus to leave Veronica behind 9she was talking to Weevil). Weevil, took off on his bike, abandoning her, when he turned back. AWWW, that's my Weevil.

Speaking of Weevil, what's with the "Francis Capra", not good enough to be called Frank?

Veronica and Weevil then come to the scene of the school bus gone over a cliff into the ocean. Looks like Meg's dead. Her bitchiness saved Veronica. Looks like Dick and Beaver are dead, too.

Meanwhile, Logan and Mrs. Casablancas are having some "afternoon delight." "Can Beaver and Dick come out and play?" Gack!!!

The mystery of the week was sorta lame. Wallace, Meg, and several other people were suspended from respective activities because of a failed drug test. Turns out, a dummy corporation owned by the parent's of the second stringers arranged to falsify the tests.

I enjoyed the epi, it went by quickly, by it seemed to be missing something.

Supernatural

Last night, I watched my third episode of Supernatural. Plot summary: There were a lot of "accidental" drownings. As it turns out, all of the victims were related to two people. Further investigation turned up the fact that these two men had drowned a child many years ago, when they were children. It's this boy's spirit seeking revenge. Sounds awful lot like Bag of Bones.

New From the Lunatic Fringe

Speaks for itself, dunnit? There's some website where they'll sell you a sheet of these, but I'd rather not give them the traffic. I'm sure you can find it i you're that interested.

CLOW

Apparently, my first sojourn as catechist for Children's Liturgy of the Word, didn't go as badly as I thought. The Director of Religious Eductaion called me this morning. I get to lead another group on the ninth, and this time I'll be by myself, not under the DRE's wtchful gaze. Wish me well. I'm rather excited. I should probably look at the readings, to plan what I'll discuss with the kids.

The TV Topic

I listened to Arrested Development last night. I was cooking dinner while my husband picked up the girls from PSR. It would have been much better with the visuals.

Speaking of PSR, the younger daughter came home with a list of prayers she is expected to know. She already knows all but one. The older daughter knew the answers to all of the questions but one, because her mother is "crazy Catholic." She also got her TV back last night.

I also watched Prison Break last night. One of the best new shows of the season, in my opinion. But we all know stuctural engineer/non-death-row brother is going rescue prison doctor before anything bad happens to her. Fell asleep during CSI:Miami.

As for tonight, I am torn between Supernatural and House. I think I'm going to watch Supernatural because it's new and more likely to be cancelled. I'll catch House during reruns and preemptions.

My New Phone

Still picks up fundamentalist radio. Ergo, it's the phone line. With my luck, it's the inside wiring.

A Random Thought From My Daughter

"People set fires to hide evidence. But the fire draws attention, and they find the body."

Typos

Reading thhrough my posts, I've found an appalling amount of typos, spelling errors, and homophone mistakes. I have fixed them. Let me know if I have missed any.

The Rest of the Night

So after dance class, we decide to go out to eat. We decide to try this Mexican place we'd never heard of but had a coupon for. It's called Qdoba. Turns, out to be a total rip-off of Chipotle's. Right down to to the unfinished ceiling painted black. The dining room layout. The counter layout. You would have thought you were in a Chipotle's except the sign says Qdoba. Except, I think I like it better then Chipotle's. If you ever stop in, I recommend the Chicken Mole burrito.

Anyway, after we completed our little adventure, it was 9:30. I decided to give Killer Instinct a try. Didn't really get to watch enough to judge. Appeared interesting. The bad guy put a tarantula on the hostages face. Then the bad guy enede up with one on his face. I may have to watch a whole episode.

10:00 Numbers is okay. I can take it or leave it. I have no interest in Inconceivable, so I'm spending the hour with you. Aren't you special.

Adventures at Target

The alarm never went off this morning. Luckily, my husband instinctively woke up. He fiddled it and then it sounded. In a way. It was a low, dull, buzzing. Wouldn't wake anyone up.

I think I might have accidently spilled some cherry Juicy Juice on it yesterday, and that may have caused it, but let's keep that between us.

My oldest has a Jazz class on Fridays from 6:15 to 7:15. So we dropped her off and headed to the local Target to replace the clock. We picked up a few other items we needed: Lil Swimmers (the boy has a class 8:15 tomorrow morning, and I'm out), dishwasher detergent, Neutrogena T-gel, Capri-Suns. We also got a halloween costume for the boy. He originally chose duck, but then changed his mind to Spiderman. We go to check out, start unloading the cart, and then I remember that we forgot the alarm clock.

So I put everything back in the cart, and go after the clock. Being unsure where the alarm clock section is, I ask the nearest Target employee. She sends me to housewares, saying "by the pots and pans and dishes, at least, that's where I'd look."

There are no alarm clocks there.

So I ask another employee. He has no clue, so he he goes to a nearby knot of three employees, who also have no clue. This makes five Targeteers who have no idea where to find an alarm clock. But---one of them had a walkie-talkie, and places an inquiry over said device. I'm told "back wall of store, electronics department."

So, off I go. Unfortunately, they have a lot of models, by not many of them have actual boxes on the shelf. So, I settle for one that I like, and is in stock, and doesn't cost upwards of $20.

Near the clocks are the phones. We remember that we need a new phone. Ours picks up fundamentalist Christian radio (no, it's not cordless). Sometimes, the raving is so loud, it drowns out the person I'm trying to talk too. Which isn't always a bad thing.

While we were examining phones, middle child needs to pee. So, husband takes her to the bathroom at the front of the store. While they are gone, I select a phone. As I'm heading back up front, I pass the lamp section. I decide to get the girls a much needed new floor lamp for their room (long story). So I find a really cute one and it's only $13.

I turn around to put the lamp box into my cart and what do I see? An end cap full of alarm clocks. And these are a lot more reasonably priced. So I pick up one for $7.99 and put the other back. I make it up front just in time to grab the rest of the family coming out of the bathroom.

So we check out, pay, and are proceeding out the door when we trip the alarm.

At least, in the end, we made it back to the dance studio in time.

Criminal Minds

The show was okay. It just felt they were trying to hard for snappy dialogue a la West Wing or the snark of House. It's just not snarky if it's forced. I'll probably give it another try. If there's nothing better on.

The Post You All Have Been Waiting For

What I am going to watch on TV tonight.

8:00 nothing really interests me, so I guess that means the girls will be watching Smallville.

9:30 choices are:

• 2nd half of Reunion
  
• 2nd half of CSI
  

I think I'll go with CSI, even though Reunion has Will Estes. This will also be the timeslot for Nightstalker, which premieres, I believe, next week.

10:00 I think that I shall try Criminal Minds. Next week, Without a Trace will be returning to this timeslot, and Criminal Minds will be in the super tough Wednesday at 9:00 timeslot. It stars the former Chicago Hopers Mandy Pantinkin and Thomas Gibson. Oh yeah, the season premiere of ER is also tonight. It's something to fall back on at 10 on Thursdays.

More on Restaurants That Suck

I will never eat at a certain Wendy's again. Because they are too fucking incompetent to exist.

It was Saturday, July 23, 2005, and we decided to grab some quick Wendy's. The counter lady went through my order, like five times, and still didn't get it right. No I wanted a Caeser Salad instead of fries. No I didn't get that. You forgot the baked potato. I finally gave up in frustration and just wanted to pay.

This is where I made my mistake. My church sells gift certificates to supplement their collections. They buy them at a discount and sell them for face value. So I had bought some for Wendy's. My total was more than the gift certificates I had. So I was going to charge the balance. My mistake was having both tenders in my hand.

The dumb shit counter girl told me that I couldn't use both, and would have to put the whole thing on my credit card. I told her that I believed that I could. She told me, get this, that gift certificates and credit cards are not affiliated with each other. What the fuck. So I left. Leaving $25 dollars worth of food on the counter, which would probably have to be thrown away, since Wendy's makes it when you order it. I heard her tell another employee on the way out that "they're not a grocery store."

So, I drove about ten minutes up the road to another Wendy's, because by that point I was anticipating a Spicy Chicken Snadwich and I didn't want to settle for something else.

This time I kept my Visa in my pocket. This counter girl took my order no problem. The total was $3 less than at the other store. I gave her my $10 in Gift Certificates. She rang them through and told me my balance. I presented her with the Visa. She swiped it for the amount due. We then enjoyed a nice, peacful dinner.

The End

Subway Sucks

My daughter decided that she wanted to be in the Church choir. Fine. So I had to take her to practice this afternoon. Also fine. So I had to sit there for an hour listening to them sing How Great Is Our God. There are worse Comtemporary Christian songs, such as Trading My Sorrows, which, by the way, our music director has added to the music supplement. So that, too, was fine.

So, on the way home, we decided to stop and grab some supper. The kids wanted Subway. Fine. Middle daughter got something normal. I got something normal. First born needed to customize. She got monterey bread with ham and bacon and provolone. Added cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, two tomatoes, salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar. Fine. I wanted a deli round for the boy. One with salami. Not fine. I know that's not on the menu, but I thought Subway was the place that customized. Nope. Apparently, it's too fucking difficult for them to stick a slice of salami on a deli roll. So I got him a deli round with turkey, instead. Next time, I'm going to Quizno's. Unless I have a car, then I'll go to some independent shop for my sub. Wait. A pizza shop just opened next to the Subway. I bet they make sandwiches. I had actually suggested we go there. But no. "We don't want pizza, we want Subway."

Ruined what would have otherwise been a perfectly mediocre day.

Count on St. Joseph

A few weeks ago, at my church, a lit a candle for a particular petition. It appears to have been granted. Thank you Saint Joseph, and of course, God.

How I Spent My Evening

I got back at about 8:30 from a class I am taking with Fr. Gayer. The kid was still doing her homework, so no TV for me.

She finished just in the nick of time for Lost. Sent her to bed and turned on the TV. Hey, she's impossible to wake up in the morning. She probably would have just turned on her TV (we sort of have an understanding, if she can figure out what channel it's on, and tune it in, she can watch it, usually), but its hidden. That's what happens when you refuse to listen and then repeatedly scream (Stupid Monkey!!!) at your parent.

ABC's reception sucked. So who was that other dude on the hatch-thing? Shoud I tune in next week to find out? Or should I watch the season premiere of Veronica Mars. Damn those TV executives. Damn them all to hell!!!

Well since ABC's reception sucked, I gove up on Invasion and watched L&O. And fell asleep, while they were interviewing the sex offender whose bloody palm print was found at the scene where the body of the woman who was holding the missing girl was found.

The guy in the hatch, is he someone we should recognize? I never recognize people. Like on Angel, when they revealed the liason to the senior partners, in bed with Lindsay, I totally didn't recognize him, even though he had been really important in previous seasons.

So I bitched some more last night to my husband over wanting cable. He'll break, eventually.

Speaking of Bad Catholic Liturgical Music

This is hilarious.

Why Some People Like the Old Mass

Yes, some people are under the impresion that the Latin language is somehow sacred. It's a "holy tongue".

People think that the old mass is more reverent. God centered vs. people centered.

• The priest is facing the tabernacle, leading the people in prayer, rather than performing for the crowd.
• They think you don't find all the abuses that you find in the Novus Ordo:
• Liturgical Dance
• Crappy music. The greatest piece of western music ever composed was the mass setting by Beethoven, so why are we subjected to Owen Alstot.
• Life-Teen
• tongue speaking

Last night, I had an epiphany about these people. The pope is not CEO and the bishop a district manager. The bishop runs his diocese. Their are certain constraints in Canon Law and the GIRM, so he doesn't have total freedom, but he has alot. The pope cannot come to, say, Cleveland, without being invited by Bishop Pilla. Until 1908, the United States was mission territory. The bishops in the US didn't have as much freedom. They took marching orders from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. So even, though it's been almost 100 years, certain people haven't adjusted to the fact that the bishops are independent. That every bishop doesn't have to run his own diocese like the Bishop of Rome runs his.

The First Day of Fall

The Hunt for Queer Priests

I just got this week's Newsweek (also This Rock--bit that's neither here nor there). Anyway, there's a small article revealing how the Vatican is sending inspectors into the seminaries to root out gay seminarians.

I know that the justification for this is the sex abuse scandal. The reasoning is that 81% of the abusing priests were homosexual. Or is it that 81% of the victims were male? Whatever.

The point is, is not a PEDOPHILIA problem, it's a HOMOSEXUAL problem.

I don't know. There's two priests at my parish. I call them "gay" and "gayer". I love "gayer". He's a great priest. Tries to stick to the GIRM. Realizes he's not there to push his own agenda, but to teach what the Church teaches. He's a catechetics maniac. He knows his apolegetics. Is well versed in the Early Church Father's. Is familiar with the Liturgies of many of the 22 other autonomous Churches which comprise the Catholic Church.

And he knows my son by name, by sight.

All in all, a very cool priest.

So I think these inspections are rather misguided.

Of Hats and Doilies, Mantillas, too

The people at Catholic Answers Forums have decided to declare Oct. 2 wear a veil to mass day. To be honest, I really don't get it.

Some claim to feel the presence of God more when veiled.

I think they just get this image in thier head of women kneeling at the alter rail, receiving communion on the tongue, with their little chapel cap or mantilla on their head.

And they think that image of Catholicism is more holy than as commonly practiced in modern times.

The thing is, these are all women in thier 20's and 30's. 40's at the most. It's a romanticization. They weren't around back then, or to young to remember.

They don't like the strange looks they get from peopl, including, sometimes the priest, when they show up for church like something from the 1920's.

So they're all going to do it together on 10/2.

More on the Tridentine Mass

I just received Karl Keating's E-Letter. The "old mass" was his major (only) talking point this week.

An excerpt:

"Talk about a lack of "demand" for the old Mass will remain fatuous until a fair test is given.

Thirty years ago, if you had asked around, you would have found almost no American who had an interest in the cappuccinos and espressos so widely found today at coffee houses. But once they had a chance to sample these exotic offerings from Europe, many Americans liked them--a lot.

Likewise, perhaps, with the old Mass, but we won't know until American Catholics have been given a real chance to compare the Tridentine Mass with the one now celebrated in their parishes.

My guess is that there will be much more of a "demand" than Church bureaucrats expect. Nowadays about 20 million American Catholics attend Mass each Sunday, but not more than one percent of them attend the old Mass. What might that percentage be if the old Mass truly were widely available? I suspect it would be well into the double digits."

I have mixed feelings on thw whole issue.

Hurricane Rita

Is now Cat-4 and headed for the Houston/Galveston area. It may also touch New Orleans. At least this time they have arranged busses to evacuate people for Galveston.

At one time, Galveston was thought to be hurricane proof. They didn't think there was any way a hurricane could get in there. Until a hurricane struck, about 100 years ago. It had been the deadliest natural disaster in US history. I don't know yet if it has been surpassed by Katrina.

Up until that point, Galveston was growing rapidly. It was an up and coming "it" city. After the hurricane, that honor went to Houston. It became the major port where all the businesses located. Galveston was more or less abandoned, becoming only good for vacationing.

Tonight's Line-Up

8:00 So You Think You Can Dance (I guess)

9:00 This is the toughest block of the new fall season we have:

• Lost
• E-Ring
• Head Cases (with Chris O'Donnell)
  
• CSI (tonight is a repeat)--this will normally be Criminal Minds
  
• Just Legal--It's normal slot will be 9 Mon. The normal 9Wed WB will be Related.
  
• Although not airing this week, this is also the timeslot for Veronica Mars.
  

I cant wait to see the overnights. I'm most likely watching Lost, but when it goes up against Veronica Mars, I'm going to have to make some painful choices. TIVO, I need TIVO dammit. I want I DVR NOW!!! I do have I VCR, I suppose I could go buy a blank tape, but I don't have cable, so I'll have to set the rabbit ears just right so that I can get UPN and ABC tuned it simultaneously. Cable! I want Cable!

well, anyway...

10:00 L&O vs. Invasion. Law & Order, you will always have with you. I'm going to give Invasion a try.

Television Report

I missed about half of Bones due to my daughter's tap class. I did enjoy what I was able to see. We flipped back and forth between House and Big Brother. Maggie did win by one vote. The hub voted for L&O:SVU over Wife Swap. I let him have his way on that one.

The Feast of St. Matthew, apostle and evangelist

Jesse Tree

I'd like to do a Jesse Tree with the kids this year. It's an Advent project in which you hang ornaments which symbolize Jesus' geneology.

I wish I could find a set of Jesse tree ornaments.

There are books that give one ideas for making her own ornaments, but I'm just not good at crafts.

There's a book which has cut out paper ornaments but that just seems cheap and flimsy looking.

I'm willing to compromise. How about about a set of wooden ornaments that I have to paint myself?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Tonight's Viewing

8:00 Bones--yeah!! It's Angel!!!

9:00 Although I really like House, I think I'll watch Big Brother even though the final two are Maggie and Ivette. Totally uninteresting. I think I'm rooting for Maggie just to punish Ivette for being so stupid to choose her over Janelle.

10:00 Strange hour for Wife Swap. Should I watch that or should I watch the premiere of Law and Order: SVU? Still deciding.

Good Morning America

Sometimes, I wonder if Charlie Gibson is a bit of a closeted conservative.

• He gave John Kerry a pretty tough time when he was questioning him about his Vietnam medals, calling him on his contradictions.
• When he was hosting the Town Hall debate, he chose to use the question about adult stem cells.
• He grilled the mayor of New Orleans about his responsibilities re: the evacuation. He wasn't all blame Bush.

Hmmmm?

Television

The season premiere of Arrested Development was last night. It didn't disappoint. Decided to stick on Fox for Kitchen Confidential as it came between AD and Prison Break. Cute show. Good to see Xander (aka Nicholas Brendon) working again. Also that reporter from Alias.

So, I chose two sitcoms over Surface. There's still Threshold and Invasion.

But, it's great that I now have two (Surface and AD/KC) alternatives to that insipid 7th Heaven.

Tridentine Mass

Rumour has it that Bendict the XVI is going to issue a universal indult for the Tridentine Mass. (see it here .) A lot of people are very happy about this. They think (hope) this is a sign of an upcoming reconciliation with the SSPX. These people are also deluded enough to think that Archbishop Fellay will be elevated to Cardinal.

My personal opinion, is if the SSPX returns to the fold, Fellay should have to go live in a Carthusian monastery for penance. Why reward the disobediance? I got the idea from Seven Stroy Mountain. When Thomas Merton first visited Gesthemani, he met a priest who had come to be mixed up with a schismatic sect, was elevated to Archbishop, and then saw the error of his ways and returned to the Church. He was sentenced to the Trappist monastery as penance.

I say, if these people are so enamored of the old ways (Pre V-II), then let them be dealt with as they would have been in the old Pre V-II days.

Fundraising Blues

Two of my kids' schools are doing their BIG fundraisers. The second grader is selling Sally Foster, the fourth grader is selling Kathryn Beich. Such nonsense. Mr. Smiley-man comes and presides over an assembly encouraging them to sell, sell, sell. The more you sell, the better prizes you get.

If the fourth grader sells 35 items, she gets to attend an ice cream party. We've plataeued at 25.

Of course, it's not the kids who do the selling, its the parents. We're encouraged to take these to work, and offer it to friends. As if their own kids aren't selling the same crap. And not all employers are fond of that sort of thing... but if you're the boss....

It's really a contest about whose more loaded and has a bigger social or family network.

Well, at least the fourth grader is finally getting a playground.