Monday, October 31, 2005

Happy Halloween!!!!

Friday, October 28, 2005

Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, apostles

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist

Where's Papa?

I just don't see it. Supposedly burned into this pancake is an image of John Paul the Great. Usually, I'm pretty good at making out the alleged image, but not this time. Any help? (ie the nose is this, and that thing extending is the blah...) Oh well. Thanks to JimmyAkin.org for the image.

Ohio Politics

My brother has decided to endorse my Congressman in the Democratic Senate race. Why? Paul Hackett seems more interesting to me. Veteran. Almost whomped a Republican in a heavily Republican district. It's true that ole' Sherrod has held Statewide office before. He had been our Secretary of State, until he was defeated in '90 by our now Governor, the illustrious Bob Taft .* The campaign against him was based on his foreign travwls at taxpayer expense. (Say Sayonarra! to Sherrod Brown!) Sherrod was then elected in '92 to his seat in a Congessional Deistrict designed especially for him. His opponent was the totally lackluster Margaret Mueller. (My father murderd my mother, but Margaret Mualler was ther to give me a big hug!!) Now he's dug his roots in and he ain't goin' nowhere. He's like some killer dandelion or something.

Now I'll probably end up voting for DeWine. Seems like a nice enough fellow. But if he were up against Hackett, I'd really have to think about it. But hey, if Brownie is running for Senate, that means he'll surrender his House, so I'll be free!!! Unless he beats, DeWine, that is.

Another thing wrong with Brown, and I know this is totally terrible for me to say--his wife.

*You know, I knew back in '02 that Taft was driving the state into the ground. But, oh how I was ridiculed for voting for Hagan. He campaigned on how healthy the state was, then, as soon as the election was over, announcec that, yup, Ohio is in the toilet. I'm still ridiculed for voting for Hagan. Oh well.

Monday, October 17, 2005

And Now For Tonight

Once again Arrested Development is preempted due to baseball. I guess I could Surface a try. Or I could revert to 7th Heaven. Wife Swap is always worth a laugh. I just don't know.

At 9:00, no Prison Break because of baseball. I could watch Las Vegas or Ralated. Maybe I'll turn the TV off and read or clean or something. I was out last week and came home to find my husband watching Las Vegas. I caught the end, which was the Pussycat Dolls performing thier big hit. My husband had never heard it before, I told him I hear it on theradio all the time. It was #5 this week Ryan Seacrest.

10:00 Well there's CSI:Miami. It's good for snark value. Hell, I may just go to bed at 9:00 tonight.

Susan What Did You Do???

Susan was always supposed to be the nic character on Desperate Housewives. Now she goes and gives Zach money to go to Utah so that Mike can never find him? And Mike is the love of her life? I guess she wats to have Mike but not be annoyed by his son. But she knows how much pain he's in. She should have reunited them and bowed out of the relationship. Mike will find out eventually. Then she'll be sorry. The highlight of Sunday night television. Except for the 7 repeat of Veronica Mars. I went to bed right after DH, as I have no interest in Crossing Jordan or Gray's Anatomy.

Friday, October 14, 2005

And Another One Bites the Dust

After just two episodes, Inconceivable had been cancelled. Another show which I haven't watched. I can't say that I'm sorry it's gone.

Sure, some method's of "assissted reproduction" are moral, such as surgery to remove scar tissue, or medication to correct a hormone imbalance. But in vitro, sperm donors, surrogates, et al reduce a child to a commodity, something that you're entitled to, and should be able to attain at any cost.

A child is a person, a gift, and has a right to be created "normally". Not with sperm from some guy, or an egg from college girl, or nurtured in a rent a womb.

This is not to denigrate adoption or anything. And wouldn't it be better to give a child a home than spend so many $$$ trying to work around nature?

Johnson, O'Donnell First Victims of Fall

The first cancellations of the 05-06 season are coming in. The victims so far are Just Legal with Don Johnson and Head Cases with Chris O'Donnell.

I regret to say that I never viewed either of the shows.

In related news, E-Ring is now airing an hour earlier on Wednesdays, at 8p ET.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Porn Sunday

As many of you may know, today is Porn Sunday. In honor of this occaison, I have decided to start a charity, Porn for the Poor.

Please send, care of myself, your used, quality magazines, DVD's and VHS tapes.

We will then distribute these items to those who cannot afford their own porn. With your help, no one in this country will have to go without porn.

Thanks and God Bless.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Well, Let's Hope Against the Baby Blues

It appears that reknowned Scientologist Tom Cruise and starlet Katie Holmes are going to have a baby.

This should be interesting. How devoted is Katie in following Tom into Scientology. Will Tom demand the child be a Scientologist. Katie's parents are Loyal Papist and I'm sure they will want their grandchild properly baptized.

Will Katie bow to Tom's strong personality? Will she hang on to her Catholic upbringing? The world awaits the answers.

On a sidenote, Nicole Kidman cooperated with the Scientology thing, but once Cruise dumped her, one of the first things she did was take the children to Easter Mass. Or Pasquale as they say in Italy. Or Pascha in Greek.

Movies, movies, movies

Went for my Remicade infusion this afternoon. Watched a somewhat interesting movie to pass the time. It had Luke Wilson, Denise Richards, and Ben Affleck. It might have been called The Third Wheel. I seem to remember something about the number 3 in the title. Anyway, I'm too lazy to look it up at IMDB.

Luke and Denise are out on a date, and he runs over a homeless man, who tags along with them for the rest of the date. Theatre, sushi bar, everything.

It's not the best movie in the world, but it's entertaining enough, and passes the two hours of IV quite sufficiently.

I don't think I'll ever try Glitter. I may watch Punch Drunk Love again

The Lunatic is Back

As you may have noticed, I haven't been making many posts of a right wing nature. With this, I intend to change that.

You may be aware of a company that produces a popular line of books and expensive dolls, known as American Girl. They have a new program out called "I Can". For Every dollar wristband you buy, American Girl will donate 70 cents to Girls, Inc, in addition to $50,000.

This is what your money will buy you:
Girls Incorporated affirms that girls and young women should make responsible decisions about sexuality, pregnancy and parenthood.

We recognize the right of all women to choose whether, when, and under what circumstances to bear children. Reproductive freedom and responsibility are essential to other rights and opportunities, including pursuit of education, employment, financial security and a stable and fulfilling family life. Restrictions of reproductive choice are especially burdensome for young women and poor women. Girls Incorporated supports a woman's freedom of choice, a constitutional right established by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 in Roe vs. Wade.

And what type of girl is served by Girls Inc:
http://www.girlsinc-alameda.org/about/faqs.htm

  • Girls range evenly between the ages of 6 and 18 across all of our programs
  • More than 85% are girls of color
  • About 65% live with a single parent
  • Almost 70% come from a family with an annual income of less than $30,000
Right in the image of Margaret Sanger!

One of my colleagues phoned the Girls Inc headquarters. Here is the gist of her conversation:

I asked what they include in the discussion about about birth control or abortion. They said they give facts about it as an option.

I asked whether all the facts are presented... about possible emotional distress resulting from a regretted abortion, health problems resulting from abortion, development of the baby, the baby's ability to feel pain... that some babys are born alive and allowed to die alone to be thrown in trash cans, That women who have abortions have an increased risk of miscarriage later on, or inability to have children? Are they presented with alternatives to abortion such as adoption, aid from local services etc.?

"No mam, only the facts are presented. We don't talk about all those negative things, we are trying to give girls information to help them make good decisions for their future."

So you don't discuss the health problems that can result from hormonal birth control and abortion "no mam."

And you don't discuss the development of a baby and his or her ability to feel pain during an abortion (she was a little more annoyed here, but, to her credit, still very polite) "No, mam, we agree with the Supreme Court's decision regarding RoeV. Wade for a woman's productive rights."

So you don't give a young woman alternatives to help her decide to keep her baby if she wants to. "No mam, again we are trying to help girls have a better future here, that is our goal."

Sounds like they've already decided which "choice" these girls are going to make, so there really isn't much "choice" there, is there?

Well American Girl has aligned themselves with the culture of death. And until they choose to end this alliance, I choose not to patronize American Girl.

FYI, you may have heard about this in Ashli Tofler's blog. It was I who tipped off Ashli.







Harriet Miers

I might as well weigh in on this as everyone else seems to. It seems ole "W" may be thinkin' I'll give Roberts to the Catholics and this woman to the evangelicals. Okelie-Dokelie. But does the evangelical have to be a former Catholic? Who became an evangelical to find Jesus? As if you can't find Jesus by being a Catholic? Sorts insulting. And makes me question this person, what's her problem.

Actually, she's done Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, there may be some Methodist thrown in there, not sure. Now she's an Evangelical. Actually, she's part of a group of 200, that's dumped their old congregation to start their own. Pissed at their pastor I guess. She currently worships in a hotel banquet room.

Seems kinda flaky to be on the High Court. I don't truck much with demomination hoppers.

But then again, between John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Antonin Scalia, she may be led back home yet. I wouldn't count too much on Kennedy, though.

Our Lady of the Rosary

Lepanto

G.K.Chesterton

White founts falling in the Courts of the sun,
And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run;
There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,
It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard;
It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips;
For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships.
They have dared the white republics up the capes of Italy,
They have dashed the Adriatic round the Lion of the Sea,
And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss,
And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross.
The cold queen of England is looking in the glass;
The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass;
From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun,
And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun.

Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall,
The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung,
That once went singing southward when all the world was young.
In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid,
Comes up along a winding road the noise of the Crusade.
Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far,
Don John of Austria is going to the war,
Stiff flags straining in the night-blasts cold
In the gloom black-purple, in the glint old-gold,
Torchlight crimson on the copper kettle-drums,
Then the tuckets, then the trumpets, then the cannon, and he comes.
Don John laughing in the brave beard curled,
Spurning of his stirrups like the thrones of all the world,
Holding his head up for a flag of all the free.
Love-light of Spain--hurrah!
Death-light of Africa!
Don John of Austria
Is riding to the sea.

Mahound is in his paradise above the evening star,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
He moves a mighty turban on the timeless houri's knees,
His turban that is woven of the sunsets and the seas.
He shakes the peacock gardens as he rises from his ease,
And he strides among the tree-tops and is taller than the trees;
And his voice through all the garden is a thunder sent to bring
Black Azrael and Ariel and Ammon on the wing.
Giants and the Genii,
Multiplex of wing and eye,
Whose strong obedience broke the sky
When Solomon was king.

They rush in red and purple from the red clouds of the morn,
From the temples where the yellow gods shut up their eyes in scorn;
They rise in green robes roaring from the green hells of the sea
Where fallen skies and evil hues and eyeless creatures be,
On them the sea-valves cluster and the grey sea-forests curl,
Splashed with a splendid sickness, the sickness of the pearl;
They swell in sapphire smoke out of the blue cracks of the ground,--
They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound.
And he saith, "Break up the mountains where the hermit-folk can hide,
And sift the red and silver sands lest bone of saint abide,
And chase the Giaours flying night and day, not giving rest,
For that which was our trouble comes again out of the west.
We have set the seal of Solomon on all things under sun,
Of knowledge and of sorrow and endurance of things done.
But a noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palaces--four hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not 'Kismet'; it is he that knows not Fate;
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey at the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth,
Put down your feet upon him, that our peace be on the earth."
For he heard drums groaning and he heard guns jar,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
Sudden and still--hurrah!
Bolt from Iberia!
Don John of Austria
Is gone by Alcalar.

St. Michaels on his Mountain in the sea-roads of the north
(Don John of Austria is girt and going forth.)
Where the grey seas glitter and the sharp tides shift
And the sea-folk labour and the red sails lift.
He shakes his lance of iron and he claps his wings of stone;
The noise is gone through Normandy; the noise is gone alone;
The North is full of tangled things and texts and aching eyes,
And dead is all the innocence of anger and surprise,
And Christian killeth Christian in a narrow dusty room,
And Christian dreadeth Christ that hath a newer face of doom,
And Christian hateth Mary that God kissed in Galilee,--
But Don John of Austria is riding to the sea.
Don John calling through the blast and the eclipse
Crying with the trumpet, with the trumpet of his lips,
Trumpet that sayeth _ha_!
Domino gloria!
Don John of Austria
Is shouting to the ships.

King Philip's in his closet with the Fleece about his neck
(Don John of Austria is armed upon the deck.)
The walls are hung with velvet that is black and soft as sin,
And little dwarfs creep out of it and little dwarfs creep in.
He holds a crystal phial that has colours like the moon,
He touches, and it tingles, and he trembles very soon,
And his face is as a fungus of a leprous white and grey
Like plants in the high houses that are shuttered from the day,
And death is in the phial and the end of noble work,
But Don John of Austria has fired upon the Turk.
Don John's hunting, and his hounds have bayed--
Booms away past Italy the rumour of his raid.
Gun upon gun, ha! ha!
Gun upon gun, hurrah!
Don John of Austria
Has loosed the cannonade.

The Pope was in his chapel before day or battle broke,
(Don John of Austria is hidden in the smoke.)
The hidden room in man's house where God sits all the year,
The secret window whence the world looks small and very dear.
He sees as in a mirror on the monstrous twilight sea
The crescent of his cruel ships whose name is mystery;
They fling great shadows foe-wards, making Cross and Castle dark,
They veil the plume graved lions on the galleys of St. Mark;
And above the ships are palaces of brown, black-bearded chiefs,
And below the ships are prisons, where with multitudinous griefs,
Christian captives sick and sunless, all a labouring race repines
Like a race in sunken cities, like a nation in the mines.
They are lost like slaves that sweat, and in the skies of morning hung
The stair-ways of the tallest gods when tyranny was young.
They are countless, voiceless, hopeless as those fallen or fleeing on
Before the high Kings' horses in the granite of Babylon.
And many a one grows witless in his quiet room in hell
Where a yellow face looks inward through the lattice of his cell,
And he finds his God forgotten, and he seeks no more a sign--
(But Don John of Austria has burst the battle-line!)
Don John pounding from the slaughter-painted poop,
Purpling all the ocean like a bloody pirate's sloop,
Scarlet running over on the silvers and the golds,
Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds,
Thronging of the thousands up that labour under sea
White for bliss and blind for sun and stunned for liberty.

Vivat Hispania!
Domino Gloria!
Don John of Austria
Has set his people free!

Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath
(Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.)
And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain,
Up which a lean and foolish knight for ever rides in vain,
And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile, and settles back the blade....
(But Don John of Austria rides home from the Crusade.)

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Seems Ripped From the Headlines....

Close to Home was actually not that bad. Yet another Bruckheimer production. It revolves around an assistant DA just back from maternity leave. (Her husband is played by Christian Kane--you may remember him from Angel)

Her first case is a woman who set her house on fire with herself and her two children in it. Turns out the husband had kept them locked in the house for two years. Was this in the news recently? Is this a recycled plot from another show I've seen.

In the end, the little boy confesses to starting the fire, and the husband goes to jail for 20 years.

Nice, escapist fare.

Anywho...as for tonight..

8:00 Absolutley nothing to watch except for maybe One Tree Hill. Or possibly So You Think You Can Dance. Other candidates for an abysmal start to the evening's entertainment include:
  • The Apprentice: Marth Stewart I can't believe there's any interest in this
  • George Lopez Somewhat tolerable, if you're into sitcoms..season premiere, btw.
  • Still Standing/Yes Dear..these shows are still breathing?
  • America's Next Top Model.
9:00 This is a great timeslot. Something for everyone. I think this calls for synopses.
  • Veronica Mars--"Driver Ed"
    Veronica helps grieving people determine whether one of their family committed suicide; Wallace offers to help the new transfer student figure out who damaged her car.
  • Lost--"Orientation"
    Jack, Locke and Kate learn more secrets about the hatch; Michael, Sawyer and Jin wonder if their captors are fellow survivors or the dreaded others.
  • E-Ring--Escape and Evade"
    McNulty puts JT in harm's way to deal with a Special Forces team that may be treading on Iranian soil illegally.
  • Nanny 911--"Spaulding Family" Episode #26.
    Desperate parents get help creating strict guidelines for home-schooling their six children.
  • Criminal Minds (series premiere)--"Won't Get Fooled Again" Episode #103.
    While investigating a serial bomber's attack on a small town, Gideon learns the perpetrator is a protege of his nemesis, Adrian Bale, the man who murdered his previous team of profilers.
  • Related(series premiere)--Moving Out, Moving In, Moving On" Episode #101.
    The Sorelli sisters, already dealing with their own personal issues, learn that their father (Tom Irwin) is planning to marry his girlfriend, Renee (Christine Ebersole).
10:00 Well there are two and half choices, so I might as well synopsize:
  • Law and Order--"Ghosts"
    When a criminal makes a startling deathbed confession, Detective Fontana reopens a 10-year-old case file concerning the murder of a 12-year-old girl.
  • Invasion--"Watershed"
    When a mysterious, unknown force knocks Jesse unconscious, it is up to Russell to save his son.
  • CSI:NY--"Grand Murder at Central Station" Episode #202.
    Mac and Hawkes discover that a murdered plastic surgeon had many patients suing him for millions of dollars.

St. Maria Faustina Kowalska



Canonized in 2000, she's the first Saint of the new milennium.

The spiritual diary of this Polish mystic contains details of visions in which our Lord asked her to spread the message of his divine mercy.

Apparantly, Jesus also told her that he wanted the painting at the right done.

The Sunday after Easter is now known as Divine Mercy Sunday.

It's interesting (one might say ironic in the Alanis Morrissette sense of the word) that John Paul the Great instituted Divine Mercy Sunday (based on the Sr. Faustina writings) and then passed away on the eve of it.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

What's On Tonight

8:00 It looks like Gilmore Girls is the best thing on for this timeslot. Let's see what it's about:

"Always a Godmother, Never a God"
Sookie tries to reunite Lorelei and Rory by asking them to be godparents to her children, hoping they will make up at the ceremony, but they fight instead. well obviously Sookie belongs to some crazy protestant denomination....two godmothers?

Other options include:
  • The Biggest Loser....No
  • According to Jim/Rodney...No
  • Baseball...want to watch a show
  • NCIS...never really got into it
  • America's Next Top Model...Whatever
Okay just to be thorough...
  • Doc....On Pax. As Gob would say ComeON!
  • Contra Viento y Maria......Come ON!
9:00 Supernatural. House would be another option, but that's preempted by baseball.

You could also do, if you must:
  • My Name is Earl/The Office...I don't usually do sitcoms
  • Commander in Chief...It just doesn't interest me
  • The Amazing Race Family Edition...never found the concept exciting
  • Sex, Love, and Secrets...might be worth a try, but I already have Supernatural and House on my plate.
10:00 I normally watch L&O:SVU now, but this week it's the premiere of Close to Home. Yet another crime drama. Boston Legal is another alternative for this timeslot.

Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi

Another Exciting Monday Evening

Well, due to a parent meeting for my daughter's 2nd grade PSR, I missed Arrested Development (sniff, wipe tear.) Kitchen Confidential was somewhat amusing. John Larroquette played an old teacher of the Alias guy. The doctor's told him he would die unless he changed his eating habits, so he decided he wants to eat himself to death at Will Tippen's restaurant. Hijinx ensue.

There was yet another exiciting chapter in Prison Break that cute Scofield guy managed to rescue the prison nurse during the riot. Scofield's deathrow brother managed to save himself from a hit. Scofield's brother's lawyers realize how high up the frame up goes in DC.

The deathrow brother's wife is a bitch. She won't let her son watch TV about the riots at the prison where his father is because it makes her boyfriend uncomfortable. It's his goddamn father. Let your boyfriend suck it up a bit and stop being a prick. And if he hit my son like that, abeit because theboy was arguing with me, he'd be out of there.

Anyway, Prison Break is taking a 3 week break due to baseball. I wish these TV people would get a clue that not everyone's life revolves around sports. Some of us like some nice escapist scripted fare. And the other networks are going to counterprogramme with crap, on the assumption that everyone is going to watch the game, so they better not waste money by putting up something good. The world is run by morons.

I also watched CSI:Miami. Fell asleep, again. But not before my husband did a hilarious impersonation of David Caruso's acting style. Or lack thereof. It (the episode, not my husband or Caruso or his acting ability) appeared to be based on that Aruba girl.

A Frightening Encounter

On Saturday, the family went to a local pizza place for dinner. I noticed that there was a cop car sitting in the parking lot. We went inside and sat down. One of the daughters threw a bit of a tantrum during the pizza selection process. She hates vegy pizza. She hates pepperoni. Since when has she hated pepperoni? Since forever. She wants mushroom. Well, the vegy has mushroom. So, I took her out of the restaurant, and sat her on a bench to collect herself. Passing the two cops having dinner with a family on the way out.

While I was out, my husband heard one the fine officers complaining that this was stressing him out. Huh! I'm sure a misbehaving child can add a touch of unpleasantness to one's dining expierience, but stressing you out!? Your a police officer. If a 9 year old behaving badly gets you all stressed out, how can you possibly handle the stresses of your job.

I'm afraid there may be an unjustified shooting in this guy's future.