Mr. Excitement

I can see why the 'rats are stoked!!!

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin McCain Veep Pick!

YAHOO!!!!!! An actual conservative. No, this pick wasn't the lame half-assed country club republican soft-on-social-issues selection from the northeast as would normally be expected for electoral math.

Gov. Palin is pro-life (one of her 5 children has Down's Syndrome, and another enlisted in the Army last year), an NRA member, was a mayor, and is chairman of the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Her husband, Todd, is an oil production operator on Alaska's North Slope

Congressional Quarterly notes Sarah Palin's other past occupations, including commercial fishing company owner, outdoor recreational equipment company owner and sports reporter.

If McCain wanted to shore up the Republican base, this goes a long way towards it. Obama and Biden won't know what hit them. She's young, but her executive experience is still more than Obama's.

For more about her see this article from the National Journal.

Okay, you English people....

...straighten up and fly right ♫. No whining about "how awful this county is today." Put on your nicest face, and best manners, and don't throw up on the shoes of any young American girls whilst coming out of pubs.

Teresa, a young parishioner of ours who is starting her Sophomore year at University of Evansville, is going to spend the 1st semester in Grantham with members of her college along with students from all over. She'll be pitching her tent at Harlaxton Manor. It's the UK branch of her college. She's a theatre major with a minor in History (last time I checked .. or is it minor in English?)

At any rate, she's flying out today and she leaves here an Anglophile, so do your best to make sure she stays that way, okay? She was over for a week or so during her schools Easter Break when she was a HS senior. I think she's been ready for this since she cracked open her first Harry Potter at age 7 or so. I'm sure any prayers for a safe flight and easy journey will be appreciated.

She started a new blog* the other day, which I've listed on my sidebar, and with any luck will have some regular postings. Teresa served Mass for about 9 years at my parish before going off to college. Her younger brother, Francis, currently serves Mass, and proves to be every bit the pistol his sister is.

[*My friend Stephen will immediately know from whence her blog name is derived.]

DON'T DOWNLOAD FIREFOX ver THREE

IT SUCKS BIGTIME. IT'S AN OVERBLOWN POS. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. In case you already did, don't pull the trigger yet. Get previous version.  Or even consider downloading opera.  It seems more customizable.  IF you want it to save webpage content, it can be bloated, but you have the option of TURNING IT OFF for leaner url address bar content.  [Imagine, finding the url quickly.]

Generation Y style

Now we know.... This gang-banger style has always given me some amusement, given that gang-banger shoplifters have been known to be caught after tripping over their own pants.

Or are these gen-Yers really more traditional than previously thought? Perhaps grandpa was a plumber....and they are merely paying homage ♫?

NoBama's Good Buddy

....apparently the messiah is not pleased with this ad. So I thought I'd give it more exposure.

This one's for Fr. Blake

...he hasn't written about going to any operas lately, so in case he's feeling deprived, here are 11 of the most famous ones, all in less than 10 minutes.



[And you pikers who know nothing about opera can use it as a cheat sheet and impress your friends with all the stuff you don't know.]

RI Bishop should mind his own beeswax

...and not interfere with the very legitimate attempts to deport ILLEGAL aliens. [And the hell with the politically correct calling them "undocumented workers."] According to an AP story, RI bishop Thomas Tobin, has been whinnying that the US Immigrations and Custom Enforcement, has actually been doing its job (finally!) by rounding up illegals and shipping them out. Bishop Tobin has claimed that INS workers should be able to "opt out" of doing this on "moral grounds."

MORAL GROUNDS?

MORAL GROUNDS?

EXCUSE ME?

This IS a case of rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.

NO ONE asked these people to come here illegally. THEY were the ones who broke the law in the first place!

I love how some of these hippy bishops expect the US taxpayer to educate illegal alien children on the taxpayer's dime. Does HE in his wildest dreams think that ordinary Catholics in the pew would respond well to exhortations to educate these children "for free" in the CATHOLIC schools? HELL NO, because he knows parishioners would tell the bishop where to go and what to do with himself when he got there! But he'll tell these same people in the pews that they MUST educate them in the public schools (where does he think the money comes for from that?) and they MUST accept these illegals in the system thereby artificially deflating wages being paid.

They MUST accept the extra crime, they MUST accept the higher cost of housing. (Guess what bishop, there's this thing called supply and demand.... see when more people flood an area, and assuming they don't all live in tent city, that means unless you are building like crazy, the existing housing stock has more call on it ... when something is more in demand the price goes UP -- for EVERYBODY. Like Mrs. Murphy, living on a fixed income....)

He wants to make a stand about morality in these issues?

How about this:

1) take it out of the hide of the "coyotes" who transport these people over here in unsafe conditions and take all their money to get here

2) take it out on the employers who hire these people at rates no decent American would take because Americans aren't willing to live 20 people to one room so they can get paid 2 bucks an hour under the table by some scum sucking employer who wants to cut corners and artificially drive the wage scale down of the legitimate working man/woman.

3) take it out on the governments of where these people come from in the first place for having NO REGARD for their own citizen's welfare

What about concern for US citizens WHO NO LONGER HAVE A HOSPITAL NEARBY to go to because it had to close its doors because of illegal aliens BUSTING the system with not only emergency care (which ALL hospitals, rightly, are to supply) but using the emergency room as a "Free clinic" every time Junior gets the sniffles. I suppose the bishop will send the following note of condolence: "I'm sorry your loved one had to go an extra 10 miles and died on the way over there, because the hospital that was 2 miles away had to close its doors." Yeah, in a pig's eye.

And before you say "this never happens" like hell it doesn't.

4) how about regard for all the people victimized by the crimes of the illegal aliens directly? Battery, rape, murder, theft? What about OUR rights not to be preyed upon by these people? We have enough criminals of our own. Or is the bishop claiming that the illegal aliens are only doing crimes Americans won't do themselves?

Then the bishops wonder why people think the USCCB isn't worth the ice water they drink at their conferences.

This gem from the USCCB which is taken from the news story:

"The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called U.S. immigration policies "morally unacceptable," saying they keep families divided and encourage the exploitation of migrants."

Ah-HEM....reminded me who "divided" the family in the first place. Remind me who put THEMSELVES in a position to be exploited. Would that be the illegal alien?

We have PLENTY of LEGAL immigrants, and they are most welcome, as they have played by the rules. Who wants illegals who come here on bad faith to begin with on the grounds that they assume Uncle Sucker will willingly submit to "reconquista?" Oh, right. Tobin and his fellow travelers.

One question Jesus....

....yes, yes, I know that today's Gospel reading (Matthew 20:1-15) with the parable with the guys sitting on their duffs until almost the end of the day but gradually coming on board and getting with the program, we're supposed to cast ourselves as the ones who are late to the party but for whom the master pays as if we had worked the full day.

But who's going to show up for work the next day at the crack of dawn? Granted God's ways are not our ways, and that's a relief, because it's to our advantage. But I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that that was the last day of the job!

Go ahead and use these

Mac had tagged me on a meme re: what picture I would use for my holy card, should I make it to saint, and of what cause(s) I wanted to be patroness. On a previous blog entry early last month I mentioned that in case I was to be given this honor that I wanted my first communion picture to be used.

But then saints usually have more than one "holy card" possibility, so for that "all American girl" look, I offer my senior year book picture.

And for the mature woman card I'll pick my profile picture.

And I want to be patron saint of people whose patron saints are overworked and too busy to get to whatever it is that they need help with (St. Anthony too busy finding car keys to bother with helping you find your sanity? Let me be your "go to" gal.) Also patron saint of altar servers particularly "difficult kids" whose parents wondered if their kid could "focus" enough, and of girls whose mothers didn't want them to serve Mass, and dog lovers (my *sign* will be an English springer spaniel - if St. Therese of Lisieux could send a shower of roses, I can send spaniels), and patron saint of theatre GOERS (so if you need to get those house seats opened up last minute just for you, ask me!)

And of course I want to be patron saint of procrastinators. I don't think anyone's gotten around to doing that yet. I should be good at it, being a world class procrastinator.

Mac wanted me to tag seven and I should get around to tagging you guys, if everyone else hasn't gotten around to tagging you already.

I tag: Esther, Fr. John Boyle, Fr. Sean Finnegan, Digihairshirt, Ukok, Ebeth, and Jackie. (and of course if you have a burning desire to do this one, please do so and let me know in the combox.)

50 years ago, this day in history....

...felony pedaling....


Very seldom I could tell you, outside of birthdays and special days EXACTLY what I was doing on a given day. However, I happened to run across this one, which my mother had dated, 50 years ago to the day.

Trust me, that doll was butt ugly and "asking for it."

TLM and the "Silent Canon"

Whatever. Glad that Jesus DIDN'T do this, though to hear some Latin Mass fans, they might argue the point. And just out of curiosity, after they "sang songs" and went off into the night, who did the washing up? Or was it catered by Moishe Feldstein?

H/T to "anonymous"in combox on Pastor at Valle's out loud(2) blog entry for the inspiration.

A Blessed Dormition to you All

I usually don't get to attend Holy Angels Byzantine Catholic Church too often. Normally my work schedule conflicts with the Mass times there during the week - and Sunday I go to my regular parish. But today I was able to make it. This photo is taken of the royal doors just after Mass.


There is a beautiful custom of blessing flowers and plants that people have brought to church after the Mass. There is a table set up in church at the front to the right of the iconostasis. My own flowers were the ones on the far right corner.


The priest, in this case Fr. Robert Pipta, also anoints foreheads with oil after Mass - a bit of olive oil and rose admixture. Couldn't quite get the shot, as I'd waited until the end, but Father "paints" the sign of the cross on you after dipping the small brush in the oil. Who says blue isn't a liturgical color? :-D


The also had Matins before the Mass, which I didn't attend, but I caught the tail end. The video is taken after Mass. And I put it here just so you can see the full beauty of this small church.



There are many more "entrances" and processions and blessing during the liturgy than in the Latin Rite. And the Eastern rites have it all over their western cousins regards the use of incense. There's a lot of chanting by the people as well. They used the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom today. I particularly enjoyed this bit:

"Priest: It is proper and just to sing hymns to You, to bless You, to praise You, to thank You, to worship You in every place of Your kingdom; for You are God ineffable inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing, yet ever the same, You, and Your only-begotten Son, and Your Holy Spirit; You brought us forth from non-existence into being, and raised us up again when we had fallen, and left nothing undone, until You brought us to heaven and bestowed upon us Your future kingdom. For all this we give thanks to You, and to Your only-begotten Son, and to Your Holy Spirit, for all that we know and that we do not know, the manifest and the hidden benefits bestowed upon us. We thank You also for this ministry, which You have willed to accept from our hands, even though there stand before You thousands of archangels, myriads of angels, Cherubim and Seraphim, six winged, many-eyed, soaring aloft on their wings."

In some places the priest says the prayer quietly - not so this parish. Not one person reeled away saying "what does 'ineffable' mean?" :-D [Mahony should catch a clue, huh?] And I've always loved the references to that myriad of angels, six winged, many-eyed, soaring aloft of their wings. Probably a tad too "triumphalistic" for the likes of some! Suits me fine. As long as I get to hear it, and the priest doesn't keep it to himself!

Here is a better picture of Fr. Pipta after Mass.



This particular parish also makes many eastern European goodies. The guys will be making up some kielbasa tomorrow. And they usually stock perogies, halupkies, home made bread and butter lambs (in Easter for the latter.) Their parish social hall is beneath the church, and if you go there on a Mon., Tues, Fri, or Sat. between 10-2 you should be able to score some goodies of some kind at a reasonable price. I'd call ahead to the number given on the website to the social hall though to be on the safe side before you go. The parish website is here.

This church is quite centrally located in San Diego, just on the northeastern hill where the 805 crosses the 8 - you can easily see it from the 805 as you head north just after you cross over the 8 - it's the white church with the onion domes. As you go north on the 805, hang a right on Murray Ridge, then the 1st right, and another right and go down to the end of the street...and left into the parking lot. Plenty of parking and a great view of Mission Valley. Sunday Divine Liturgy at 9 a.m. So if you're in the area, and want a break from "Fr. Overly Creative" this is a refreshing break. And you may find a home!

Close, but no cigar, Johnny

Is this piling on? Probably, but John Edwards is still a potential candidate on the Veep side of the Democrat ticket this year.

The following from the fabulous bitchiosity [and I mean that in a good way] of Ms. Ann Coulter, slayer of dumbass liberals, and uberforce of the right, from her most recent column:

" The good news: DNA testing has confirmed that John Edwards is not the father of Rielle Hunter's baby.

The bad news: The father is Bill Clinton.

Ha ha -- just kidding! It's almost impossible to get pregnant by having the type of sex Bill Clinton prefers. "

Read the whole column to see the tremendous swipe she took at Ted Kennedy, and his nephew.