Go Big Or Stay Home

This year I've decided to engage the culture head-on for Halloween.

I love a good party just as much as the next guy and I love costumes too, but I kind of feel about Halloween the same way I feel about Mardis Gras -- they are celebrating the wrong day. And it's just bad liturgy.

With Mardis Gras you get Fat Tuesday, but skip out on Ash Wednesday and Lent. What's really the point then, except to party to excess?  Same thing with Halloween: a night to binge on candy and dress up with a focus on "spirits", and miss out on the Father of Spirits (cf. Heb 12:9) and the triumph of the Saints in Heaven.

We have a real holiday, and it is great. The Feast of All Hallows is the Solemnity of All Saints. The Church Triumphant -- the super-heroes who made it to Heaven who are the "cloud of witnesses" that support us with their prayers and intercessions and behold Christ in Majesty.

So by all means, ring my doorbell on Oct. 31 and let's have some fun. The girls, Blynken, Nod-girl, and Nib will be dressed in their best rendition of St. Philomena, St. Lucy, and St. Agnes with her little lamb in tow, Dab.

But you'll have to come under this 6-foot banner I got from Staples.  Just so we're clear. :D

World Down Syndrome Day

My boy Nub has Down Syndrome. Read The Nub of the Story for my conversion on this topic. I've got some pretty strong feelings on the matter.

I won't give a dime to the National Down Syndrome Society because they refuse to affirm the dignity and worth of DS children prior to birth. Their attitude is symptomatic of the public at large.

Mark W. Leach at Public Discourse uncovers some of the reasons why.

Each year, March 21^st is World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD). The date 3/21 was chosen as a representation of the genetic cause of the condition, a triplicate of the 21^st chromosome. WDSD seeks to raise awareness of a genetic condition that may very well diminish to the point of disappearing. This is due to the prenatal testing sham.

Read the whole thing here.

The Embarrassing Episode Of Little Miss Muffet

I was reading a book of poetry to the girls -- Blynken, Nod-girl, and Nib -- and came upon this creative re-imagining of a popular nursery rhyme by Guy Wetmore Carryl (1873-1904).

It tickled my fancy, I hope you enjoy it too.

The Embarrassing Episode Of Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet discovered a tuffet,
(Which never occurred to the rest of us)
And, as 'twas a June day, and just about noonday,
She wanted to eat - like the rest of us:
Her diet was whey, and I hasten to say
It is wholesome and people grow fat on it.
The spot being lonely, the lady not only
Discovered the tuffet, but sat on it.

A rivulet gabbled beside her and babbled,
As rivulets always are thought to do,
And dragon flies sported around and cavorted,
As poets say dragon flies ought to do;
When, glancing aside for a moment, she spied
A horrible sight that brought fear to her,
A hideous spider was sitting beside her,
And most unavoidably near to her!

Albeit unsightly, this creature politely, said:
"Madam, I earnestly vow to you,
I'm penitent that I did not bring my hat.
I should otherwise certainly bow to you."
Thought anxious to please, he was so ill at ease
That he lost all his sense of propriety,
And grew so inept that he clumsily stept
In her plate - which is barred in Society.

This curious error completed her terror;
She shuddered, and growing much paler, not
Only left tuffet, but dealt him a buffet
Which doubled him up in a sailor knot.
It should be explained that at this he was pained:
He cried: "I have vexed you, no doubt of it!
Your fists's like a truncheon." "You're still in my luncheon,"
Was all that she answered. "Get out of it!"

And the Moral is this: Be it madam or miss
To whom you have something to say,
You are only absurd when you get in the curd
But you're rude when you get in the whey.

If We Were Amenable

The television is not on that much in our house, but when it is, it is almost always on the WETA Kids station so the Nodlings can watch Martha Speaks, an animated show about a dog who can talk because she ate alphabet soup.

SO ... when I randomly turned the television on late the other night, there was a kids show on about the history of Mexico. At first I was a bit perturbed because it was showing the Aztecs and their demon mother goddess which I thought was a bit much for children (although they did not show the human sacrifice these gods required).

But it quickly moved on to the story of Juan Diego and the miraculous appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe (again they did not mention she ended the human sacrifice of infants in Mexico). I was surprised that they would deign to show religion and specifically Christianity in a positive light on television and a kids' show. Perhaps because it was under the aegis of "Mexican history and culture" it was allowable.

Now imagine if our own culture was so amenable.

Taco Bell Founder Founders

A moment of silence for the best fast food tacos this side of a crack pipe.

[NYT] Glen W. Bell Jr., whose idea in 1951 to sell crispy-shell tacos from the window of his hamburger stand became the foundation of Taco Bell, the restaurant chain that turned Mexican fare into fast food for millions of Americans, died at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. He was 86.

I'm convinced that Taco Bell hot sauce is spiked with some kind of addictive agent. That or since "fat is the primary carrier of flavor", their tacos are really refried beef lard. Either way, once I start eating them, I can't stop.

Mr. Bell lived to be 86 ... I wonder if he actually ever ate his own product?

Killer App

Everyone's always trying to figure out what the next killer app is going to be: the iPhone, the iPad, Facebook, YouTube, whatever. I've come to realize those things aren't it.

I am.

I probably couldn't go back and show you much from my childhood or young adult days, because those things aren't there any more. Every once in a while I take a particular shine to something that I am willing to go out of my way to enjoy. This is almost certainly the kiss of death; it is soon to be outmoded, outdated, out of print, acquired, canceled, or recycled.

I've been present for the death of six professional companies, four restaurants, three food lines, two bands, and a partridge in a pear tree. Ok, maybe not the partridge. Got a favorite book series? Sorry that's now out of print. Like that podcast? They're off the Net. Cool TV series? Canceled. Getting into that band with the great sound? They've broken up.

Some people say that Milton was a genre killer; any style he wrote in dried up after he published his work. Maybe that's my superpower: I can kill popularity at a distance.

On the other hand, if something new comes out (mouse scroll wheels, social networking apps, Harry Potter, Dan Brown novels, wireless networking, Survivor) and I hate it -- it's gonna be big .

Bank on it.

Thoughts On The Melting Pot

If anyone ever tells you that assimilation into a culture isn't important, you have my permission to laugh in his face.

"The United States is a melting pot." How many times have you heard that old saw? Probably many more times than you've heard "Canada is a mosaic."

The basic ideas behind these two sayings are ones of cohesiveness vs. diversity. When you are talking about individual persons, diversity is good, when you are talking about culture, it doesn't work out too well. It's not that everyone has to be exactly the same, but it is important to have a set of values that provide cohesiveness for a culture.

Case in point: the neighbors to one side are Pakistani by ethnicity. The two teenage boys are second or third generation Americans. When they go out to eat, they beg to have anything but Pakistani or Indian food. For the Fourth of July the boys insisted on having burgers on the grill.

My family ate shish-kebab.

They wanted to be as American as American can be. They just wanted to have the sense of belonging, that they were just like every other kid on the block: doing the same things, eating the same food, speaking the same language.

My ancestors assimilated a while back in both ethnicity and religion. Hey, belonging is good.

Apostolic Signatura Prefect Fisks Notre Dame

More about Notre Dame's shame, this time from the Vatican.

Because the issue should outlive the event. It was never about the person speaking, but about the Catholic identity and fidelity of the teaching institution of America's pre-eminent University.

Archbishop Raymond Burke delivers the smackdown:

(CNSNews.com) – The University of Notre Dame betrayed its Catholic identity by inviting President Barack Obama to give the commencement speech and receive an honorary degree from the school in May, said Archbishop Raymond Burke, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court at the Vatican.

“We all have witnessed the compromise and, indeed, betrayal of the Catholic identity of Notre Dame University,” said Burke in Rome, during a recent interview with Australian ITV reporter Andrew Rabel. “Thoughtful Catholics cannot help but reflect upon the great danger for a Catholic institution in pursuing a kind of prestige in the secular world, which leads to a betrayal of the sacred aspect of its work, namely the fidelity to Christ and His teaching.”

Read the rest of the article.

On Being A Catholic Expert

There has been a lively increase in recent times in people who purport to know what the Catholic Church is all about, what they should believe, and how they should go about conducting their business.

So many experts to choose from -- except they're not. Not Catholic, that is. That would sorta disqualify them from having an expert opinion on the matter, or so you would think.

We have people weighing in from all quarters on what Catholics should do about:

1. Who should receive honors (Notre Dame scandal)
2. Who should receive communion (pro-abort politicians)
   
3. Who is in or out of the club (SSPX / Holocaust deniers)
   
4. What Catholics sexual/moral teaching should be (condoms)
5. Who should run the parish and Dioceses (Connecticut anti-Catholic legislation)
6. Who can be a priest (Wymen priests)
   

... and a whole bunch more.

Although in a free society everyone is entitled to their own opinion, outsiders shouldn't make the mistake of thinking they are experts on the internals of things Catholic. A number of our own members are poorly enough catechized as it is; we really don't need self-appointed experts muddying the waters with their ignorant bombast. Even the few outsiders who have taken the time to educate themselves need to take a back seat when it comes to being Catholic.

So many secular pundits are trying to divide the Catholic world into right/left politics. Meanwhile, social radicals and schismatics who wear the label Catholic have taken up the call to "modernize" the Church into its politically correct analog, then complain when they find out they have thrown themselves out of the club.

Pretty soon only the adults will be left to carry on the conversation. We have our own way of doing things, our own beliefs. Outsiders (and those who have placed themselves outside of the Church) can like it or not -- but it's not a voting matter. The only ones who can say what it means to be authentically Catholic and live authentic Catholic lives are -- surprise -- the Catholics.

Best Feeling In The World

Yeah, I know this one has already made the rounds in the blogosphere, but it's just that good that it deserves to be re-posted. (Hat tip: HotAir via Creative Minority Report)


Update: CNN is having trouble with the video, but the original can be found on KSBY.com 6 Action News at http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=9790023

Wry Observations

Have you noticed a trend these days with people who were the founders of an idea or movement? A lot of them are coming back to say that their idea maybe wasn't so hot.

The latest news blurb has the co-inventor of the contraceptive pill calling its effects a disaster.

Eighty five year old Carl Djerassi the Austrian chemist who helped invent the contraceptive pill now says that his co-creation has led to a "demographic catastrophe."

In an article published by the Vatican this week, the head of the world's Catholic doctors broadened the attack on the pill, claiming it had also brought "devastating ecological effects" by releasing into the environment "tonnes of hormones" that had impaired male fertility, The Taiwan Times says.

Other famous retractions include Norma McCorvey, the Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade, and Oppenheimer, father of the Atomic Bomb. "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.", he said, quoting the Bhagavad Gita.

I'm sure I could come up with others if I thought about it.