All Aboard

Full Scale replica of Noah’s Ark will indeed big be a big draw at the $150 million biblically inspired theme park, scheduled to open 2014 in Northern Kentuky. Wonder if they will use the same plans from Evan Almighty?

No mention was made if there will be animals in the ark nor if visitors must pass through 2 by 2.
I also wonder if they post this poem by the entrance:

Wine and Water
by G.K.Chesterton

Old Noah he had an ostrich farm and fowls on the largest scale,
He ate his egg with a ladle in a egg-cup big as a pail,
And the soup he took was Elephant Soup and fish he took was Whale,
But they all were small to the cellar he took when he set out to sail,
And Noah he often said to his wife when he sat down to dine,
"I don't care where the water goes if it doesn't get into the wine."
The cataract of the cliff of heaven fell blinding off the brink
As if it would wash the stars away as suds go down a sink,
The seven heavens came roaring down for the throats of hell to drink,
And Noah he cocked his eye and said, "It looks like rain, I think,
The water has drowned the Matterhorn as deep as a Mendip mine,
But I don't care where the water goes if it doesn't get into the wine."
But Noah he sinned, and we have sinned; on tipsy feet we trod,
Till a great big black teetotaller was sent to us for a rod,
And you can't get wine at a P.S.A., or chapel, or Eisteddfod,
For the Curse of Water has come again because of the wrath of God,
And water is on the Bishop's board and the Higher Thinker's shrine,
But I don't care where the water goes if it doesn't get into the wine.

Interesting side note: In nearby Lexington KY., “Evolution World” is also in the works. Although it’s a small novelty vending machine right now, it is expected to develop into a fully functioning theme park in approximately 2 million years.

It's beginning to eel a lot like Christmas

The Kamakura Aquarium outside Tokyo has rigged its Christmas display to be powered by a single electric eel. The display is intended to highlight concepts of eco-friendly alternative energy sources. Not everyone is convinced, however.

“It’s humiliating, frankly,” the eel told reporters. “One day I’m swimming around, next thing I’m lighting a frickin’ Christmas tree for Japanese fifth-graders. I can't even tell my parents. They think I’m hunting ribbon worms in the Amazon basin. Hey, Kid! Quit Banging on the glass!”

Its Monday - Let's Play

Today's Game: Love, by Contrebasse.

Click here to play

The last time I took love advice from a video game I spent like two lives defeating a dragon only to find out the princess was in another castle.

But this game, Love, is different. You're a square, and you gain happiness by getting close to other squares. Get too close, and you die, (not very catholic or maybe it is)
When you die, the game gives you advice on how to play better, but in a way that makes you feel like maybe it's not talking about the game at all:

"Don't stay with the same others out of habit. If it's obvious you'd be happier elsewhere, move on right away instead of hoping for a change that won't happen."

All in all, a nice playing experience.

Tis the Season....

The tiresome atheists are at it again, pretending to be radical and brave while they are really just whining. Again (deep sigh).

as Gail F said, "This time they're getting a lot of publicity for a billboard in New Jersey. It uses a piece of Christmas clip art featuring the Three Wise Men and the Holy Family, and says, “"You KNOW it's a Myth. This Season, Celebrate REASON!"

Blah, blah, blah.

Personally, I'm all for reason, ( John Paul the Great said "Faith and reason are two wings on the same bird".) although I draw the line at holidays celebrating it – that didn't go so well during the French Revolution.

But this sort of priggish, “I'm annoying you for your own good” mentality doesn't say much for the atheists, does it? After all, reason should tell them that spending $20,000 to put up a billboard like this and then claiming it's not anti-Christian is more than a little disingenuous. They say the billboard is actually for other atheists who dishonestly celebrate Christmas (imagine that – giving each other presents! decorating their houses! eating cookies and hams!). Well, should that be true I wish them luck. Reason parties don't sound like they'd be much fun.

What they really want to do is taunt Christians with the same old message that they are so much smarter and more enlightened and less needy than everyone else. The whole “Nyah nyah nyah, I'm more mature than you are” thing would be more convincing if they tried it on anyone who wasn't taught by their mythical God to forgive people who wrong them.

Here's my proposal. Atheists, I'll take you seriously if you do the following: Rent an equally prominent billboard for all of Ramadan, use clip art of Islamic calligraphy instead of a manger, and say “You KNOW it's a myth: This Ramadan, Celebrate REASON!” or use a picture of Buda and say "You Know it's a myth: This Visakah Puj, Celebrate REASON!"

Come on. Show how committed you are to your vaunted principles. Or maybe you've already shown that."
---------------------------------------
Or maybe we should just put a neighboring billboard that says, “If there were no God, there would be no Atheists.”

I'll fly if you buy.

A Small Victory

Well, well, well. We here at Chesterton and Friends can’t take complete credit for the Smithsonian pulling part of their exhibit but we were part of the solution or maybe not. But they pulled it non-the-less.

Here is the release from the Catholic League.

"The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has pulled the video, "A Fire in My Belly," that the Catholic League objected to earlier today; it shows large ants eating away at Jesus on a crucifix. Commenting on this development is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:

Our immediate concerns have been relieved, though it is a sad commentary on the judgment exercised by Smithsonian officials that it took a pressure group like the Catholic League to send them a wake-up call. Quite frankly, had common decency prevailed from the beginning, they would never have insulted Christians with this vile display.

The larger issue is still on the table: why should the federal government underwrite an institution that uses money to bash Christians, when it is unconstitutional for the federal government to underwrite the promotion of it? That is why the letter I sent today to the members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees stands—they need to reconsider the propriety of funding the Smithsonian Institution.

One more thing. To say that it was the artist's intention to show the suffering of AIDS victims—and not to offend Christians—is unpersuasive. Let them next invite an artist to put their bugs on an image of Muhammad and then explain to Muslims that they never meant to offend them."

The video in question can be seen here. Setting aside the "message" of this piece (if any) it must be mentioned that this is an awful work. It is Sophomoric at best and definitely self indulgent. Truly I have worked with 15 and 16 year old students that have done better work in technique, content and dramatic presentation. This piece could have fit into any movie that was spoofing modern art and we would have laughed but this artist was serious. It amazed me that this piece of dog squeeze made it to any gallery. It says more of the loss of the truth, beauty, and the sacredness of man of the gallery owners than of the artists. They are after all the gatekeepers.

It also tells us what can happen when any government throws money at artists and says, "Go ahead make something - doesn't matter what - we just need to use all our budget".

Just one more reason why I no longer visit galleries. Depression often comes uninvited why should I call it in and invite it to tea.

Getting your Freak on for Christmas

In case you need another reason why the Federal Government should not fund the arts. And this is the Smithsonian's Christmas season exhibition.

According to the museum itself, the exhibit shows a commitment to “showing how a major theme in American history has been the struggle for justice so that people and groups can claim their full inheritance in America’s promise of equality, inclusion and social dignity… These themes, historic and artistic, come together in ‘Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,’ the first major exhibition to examine the influence of gay and lesbian artists in creating modern American portraiture.”

Homosexuality is now considered a major theme in American history.

Tolerance is not enough YOU must approve.

Every major question in history is a religious question. It has more effect in molding life than nationalism or a common language. – Hilaire Belloc

conspicuous consumption anyone

You can imagine my disappointment when I went to order this advent calendar, for my bride, only to find out they were sold out.

I guess it is for the best because I am not sure the brushed aluminum box is recyclable and it would make the George Foreman grill I got her for Christmas seem kinda anticlimactic.

“Only the Christian Church can offer any rational objection to a complete confidence in the rich. For she has maintained from the beginning that the danger was in not in man’s environment, but in man. Further, she has maintained that if we come to talk of a dangerous environment, the most dangerous of all is the commodious environment. I know that most modern manufacture has been really occupied in trying to produce an abnormally large needle. I know that the most recent biologists have been chiefly anxious to discover a very small camel. But if we diminish the camel to his smallest, or open the eye of the needle to its largest—if, in short, we assume the words of Christ to have meant the very least that they could mean, His words must at the very least mean this—that rich men are not likely to be morally trustworthy. Christianity even when watered down is hot enough to boil all modern society to rags.” GKC

Witzelsucht

Very apropos it was the German’s to call humor a brain dysfunction. No, seriously, try to think of one German comedian.

This disorder seems to affect every father on the planet - my kids think so anyway.

I fired my masseuse today. She just rubbed me the wrong way

When I was in the supermarket I saw a man and a woman wrapped in a

barcode. I asked, "Are you two an item?"

I was on an elevator the other day, and the operator kept calling me 'son.' I
said, 'Why do you call me 'son'? You're not my father.' He said, 'I brought you
up, didn't I?'

What is the purpose of reindeer? It makes the grass grow, sweetie.

There were two ships. One had red paint, one had blue paint. They collided. At last report, the survivors were marooned.

I get enough exercise just by pushing my luck.

Where do you find giant snails? On the ends of giant's fingers.

Without geometry, life is pointless.

I was having dinner with Garry Kasporov (world chess champion) and on thetable was a checkered tablecloth. It took him 2 hours to pass me the salt.

Why is Saudi Arabia free of mental illness? There are nomad people there.

What is the difference between one yard and two yards? A fence.

Happy Thanksgiving

and yes, I need help.

Just because I am not paranoid doesn't mean no one is out to get me.

There was a time when the toy industry got their ideas from the military industrial complex. “Hey let’s play war!” Now it might be the other way around - enter stage left Microsoft’s Kinect. This is a game that uses image recognition soft ware to connect you to the game, no more troublesome controllers like with Wii. This system can recognize individuals that pass in front of it and react appropriately.

Last week at a developers' conference, a Microsoft VP said the image recognition capabilities of the Kinect provided, “…an interesting opportunity to target content to specific users”. And if you don't speak Microsoft, "interesting" is their word for terrifying.

One thing it can be used for is that law enforcement won’t have to bother with those pesky search warrants or wire tap permits they just send a game system to a suspect or someone on the “watch list”. “Is that a boulibase, meth or nitro he is cooking?”

But for you and me - it might see you in your living room, wearing a New York Giants T-shirt, and it will send you an ad for more Giants stuff. It might see you eating an entire bag of Doritos and send you an ad for sweatpants.

After some outcry about the VP's remarks, Microsoft said it would never use the Kinect, ever, to violate anyone's privacy - in a carefully worded statement it sent to everyone it saw reading the VP's remarks on their computers.

Soon there will be nowhere you can go where you're not spied and peeked and prodded and patted.

The interesting opportunity there for the Kinect is to invent a game like Sim TSA.

Clerihew (Obama)

Barack Obama
thrives in electoral drama.
Unfortunately, governing
doesn't seem to be his thing.

Monday blues

Hey its Monday and you really don't want to work do you? Take a break and play a mindless video game.
click here to play

Description: Some people think sharks are just ruthless killing machines, who just want to devour humans and break all our stuff. Those people are right. Sydney Shark, a shark, is a perfect example of what all sharks are like.

Gameplay: The instructions are simple:

JUMP ON BOATS AND THINGS TO BREAK THEM

BITE AND EAT THE MAMMALS, FISH AND BIRDS

TRY TO BITE AIRCRAFTS AND PULL THEM INTO THE WATER

All Hail the King

As a child Christ the King Sunday meant it was time to finalize my Christmas list. As a teen I wondered why the church year ended with readings of the "angry" Christ concluding with his crucifixion. As an old man I have come to know what King means and why it matters.

"To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless."
G. K. Chesterton.

I've got good news and bad news

Tins of Spam sit waiting to be loaded onto a plane headed towards relief efforts for the cruise ship Carnival Splendor Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010, in San Diego.

here we go again.

Around this time each year we are bombarded with messages that try to get Christmas removed from the calendar. Personally I love this ad but the chattering class is "offended" by it.

Here’s a sample of the criticism this ad campaign is receiving:“It gives the impression that it was politically motivated, that they are trying to put across some sort of subliminal message,” said Terry Sanderson, director of the National Secular Society. “The image is too specifically associated with pro-lifers to be seen in a benign context. They should go back to angels and cribs.”

Angels and cribs???!!! Don't they know that Angels are militantly politically, they are working and fighting to get everyone into THE Kingdom. And what, today, is more counterculture than the image of a crib.

In Philip Schaff's, History of the Christian Church, Volume III: Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity. A.D. 311-590 we read: "For this reason the Saviour assumed humanity, that man, united with life, might not remain mortal and in death, but imbibing immortality might by the resurrection be immortal. The outward preaching of redemption would have to be continually repeated, and yet death would abide in man.”. The object of the incarnation is, negatively, the annihilation of sin and death; positively, the communication of righteousness and life and the deification of man. The miracles of Christ are the proof of his original dominion over nature, and lead men from nature-worship to the worship of God. The death of Jesus was necessary to the blotting out of sin and to the demonstration of his life-power in the resurrection, whereby also the death of believers is now no longer punishment, but a transition to resurrection and glory.—This speculative analysis of the incarnation Athanasius supports by referring to the continuous moral effects of Christianity, which is doing great things every day, calling man from idolatry, magic, and sorceries to the worship of the true God, obliterating sinful and irrational lusts, taming the wild manners of barbarians, inciting to a holy walk, turning the natural fear of death into rejoicing, and lifting the eye of man from earth to heaven, from mortality to resurrection and eternal glory. The benefits of the incarnation are incalculable, like the waves of the sea pursuing one another in constant succession."

Some see dem as fighting words

Fr Longenecker, a friend of Chesterton, brings us good news in Anglican Bishops Fly Away Home

Musical Distributism

I got a chance to put a little Distributism into practice last weekend - and to have a good time doing so.

My fair city, Rochester, was to enjoy concerts by two folk icons - Bob Dylan and Arlo Guthrie. I have attended concerts by both in the past. I own a number of their albums. As an amateur musician myself, when I have occasionally performed in public I have often played songs written by Dylan or performed by either Dylan or Guthrie.

Which concert to attend?

Ah, but just as with Distributism, there was a third way.

That same weekend, a local parish was celebrating its feast day. The celebration included a performance by two local folk/Irish music icons, the Dady Brothers.

They may not be as well known to the general public as Dylan or Guthrie, but in folk/Irish circles the Dadys are well-known and respected.

John and Joe Dady are local lads who grew up in Rochester, still live in the area, and make their living as musicians. They produce and sell their own records. They also help produce the albums of other local musicians. They regularly perform concerts - sometimes benefit ones - for local churches, schools and organizations.

Plus, their tickets for the church concert were only $5 each - as opposed to the $45 for Guthrie and the $47 for Dylan. And the money went to the church or the Dadys, as opposed to the pockets of the record labels and management companies.

Nothing against Dylan or Guthrie, but we had a grand time listening to the Dadys.

Unless you have been residing under a rock for the past few weeks you are aware of the bubbling buzz about the midterm elections. The Republicans are cheering from the roof tops. The Democrats have given the results a sound ho-hum because the republicans may have a majority in the house but the dems still run the town.

The current resident made that clear when he said, “We will not relitigate the past two years.”

As you peruse the reactions of pro-life groups they range from unabashed glee to cautious optimism. They still think the Feds will do something where after 40 years they have done nothing to stop the slaughter. Yes, we still need to keep the pressure on and keep it high but to expect different results from the same actions is one of the definitions of insanity.

"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.” GKC

I, however, am not discouraged because truth always wins. It just does not win quickly or without a messy fight. I know that both political parties are intimidated by the truth but when a majority (and this needs to be a big majority) stand up and say NO MORE they will listen - if for no other reason than to keep their jobs.

I am encouraged on the election results of the local and state levels. Also the Personhood movement is gaining traction.

So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.

If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

ATTACK OF THE KILLER BEES.
RUN FOR THE HILLS!

“Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night.” – Steve Almond
------------------------------
THE GHOST OF A FLOWER

"You're what?" asked the common or garden spook
Of a stranger at midnight's hour.
And the shade replied with a graceful glide,
"Why, I'm the ghost of a flower."

"The ghost of a flower?" said the old-time spook;
"That's a brand-new one on me;
I never supposed a flower had a ghost,
Though I've seen the shade of a tree."

-Anonymous

Pope to Adolescents: Learn to Love Truly

More wonderful stuff form Papa Ben

"....After a question from a young woman of Catholic Action, Benedict XVI responded, "It is very important, I would say fundamental, to learn to love, truly to love, to learn the art of real love!"

He continued: "In adolescence we stop before the mirror and we notice that we are changing. But if you continue to look at yourself, you will never grow up!

"You grow up when you do no longer let the mirror be the only truth about you but when you let your friends tell you.

"You will grow up if you are able to make your life a gift to others, not to seek yourselves, but to give yourselves to others: this is the school of love."

The Pope added, "This love, however, must bring you into that 'more' that today shouts to everyone: 'There is more!'"

Pure air

He recalled, "I too, in my youth wanted something more than what the society and the mentality of the time presented to me."

"I wanted to breathe pure air," the Pontiff said. "Above all I desired a beautiful and good world, like our God, the Father of Jesus, wanted for everyone."

"You cannot and must not adapt yourselves to a love reduced to a commodity to be consumed without respect for oneself or for others, incapable of chastity and purity," the Holy Father urged. "This is not freedom."


read whole article here