Rekindling a semi-tradition from last year, here is a piece of sacred music to help celebrate the First Sunday of Lent. I thought I’d start off with a relative newcomer (to me, at least): “In te Domine speravi,” from the ubiquitous Anonymous. O Lord, in Thee I have hoped; let me never be put to … Read more
I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same … Read more
A little less than a year ago, Morten Lauridsen — my favorite contemporary classical composer by a long stretch — wrote a fascinating piece for the Arts and Entertainment section of The Wall Stree Journal. Entitled “It’s a Still Life That Runs Deep,” it’s Lauridsen’s attempt to explain some of the thoughts and emotions that went … Read more
My latest aimless meanderings through the mind-sucking wastelands of The Ultimate Timewaster have produced yet another unusual time-laps YouTube video for me to share this Friday afternoon: I’m fascinated by this sort of animation, partially because I have never been (and, sadly, will never be) this imaginative. And partially — OK, mostly — because I cannot … Read more
This film is for those who’ve suffered from religious bigotry. Its sold-out screenings at Sundance and in Salt Lake City are the first step for people to learn the truth about such a damaging and divisive effort. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. The combination of yesterday’s Variety report on Red Flag Releasing’s acquisition of 8: … Read more
Earlier this morning, while drifting through the fantastic world of Naxos Music Library, I stumbled across something quite unexpected. As a long-time fan of Arthur Sullivan’s music — the Kevin Kline-headed Pirates of Penzance is a staple in the Susanka household — I have been aware of (if not quite familiar with) his “serious” music. Yet I … Read more
When Roland Emmerich’s climate change film The Day After Tomorrow first came out, it was difficult to know exactly where to begin. I remember focusing my contemptuousattention on two story points that seemed particularly grievous members of the “Offence Against Credulity” category: the “superstorms,” and the wolves. WeatherUnderground had a fairly thorough debunking of the superstorm idea, recent (and … Read more
Only last night, I was discussing James Fenimore Cooper’s classic, “The Last of the Mohicans,” (as well as the surprisingly tepid film adaption from Michael Mann). As a less-than-eager Cooper fan, I was waxing poetic about the validity of Mark Twain’s side-splittingly hilarious critique of Cooper’s works, particularly Cooper’s “high talent for inaccurate observation.” Demanding rigorous accuracy … Read more
Over at the frequently amusing, ever-quirky blog Within the Cranium, I ran across this demo reel from Stargate Studios, “a high tech production company offering visual effects and production services to the film and television industries.” It’s called simply “Trust No Video.” And that pretty much says it all. Some of those sequences contain fairly obvious CGI elements. (What … Read more
I’ve always been a huge fan of Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes comics. There was something about the series’ tone — sarcastic, yet strangely innocent — that always attracted me to the little boy and his stuffed tiger. And now that I’ve got an entire household of my own “Calvins,” I can see that the man … Read more
Son #5, the youngest of the lot, had developed quite a little musical ear. Fairly regularly nowadays, he will request (mostly wordlessly) that I go to my laptop, head on over to Naxos Music Library, and put on some suitably peppy music. Toddler head-banging to classical music invariably ensues. Bugler’s Holiday, from Leroy Anderson, is a … Read more
Over the weekend, a friend asked me to come up with a piece or two from Antonio Salieri that I felt was particularly representative of his music. I prudently kept to myself the fact that I know far less about Salieri than I would ever be willing to admit publicly, and headed out into YouTube … Read more
It’s called Steadishots.org: A Tribute and Study of Steadicam Operators and Their Work, which pretty much says it all. OK, maybe I should clarify a bit: it could easily become my favorite website, with a little work. Right now, the list of shots is much too short for someone as obsessed with the Steadicam and its … Read more
This FOX News story on the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s strident objections to the upcoming USPS stamp commemorating Mother Teresa — (courtesy of Mere Comments) — is fascinating to me. An atheist organization is blasting the U.S. Postal Service for its plan to honor Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp, saying it violates postal regulations … Read more
…the largest and most important and best parts of my youth I spent in Traunstein, which very much reflects the influence of Salzburg. You might say that there Mozart thoroughly penetrated our souls, and his music still touches me very deeply, because it is so luminous and yet at the same time so deep. His … Read more
This story on Newsday’s efforts to attract subscribers to its newly-pay-walled website a truly shocking fact: That astoundingly low figure was revealed in a newsroom-wide meeting last week by publisher Terry Jimenez when a reporter asked how many people had signed up for the site. Mr. Jimenez didn’t know the number off the top of … Read more
Browsing through my feedreader earlier today, I happened across this fascinating web page from Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), “a national, non-profit, Georgetown University affiliated research center that conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church.” Entitled “Frequently Requested Catholic Church Statistics,” it’s a compilation of particularly interesting statistics concerning the Catholic … Read more
For years, I have been fascinated by the endless parade of officials that move through the Vatican offices and councils. There’s something comforting about it; I feel as though I can almost see the Church’s “always changing, yet ever the same” nature on display. And so, National Catholic Reporter writer John Allen’s blog post on the Pope’s recent appointment of Dr. Flaminia Giovanelli to serve … Read more
When I happened across this clip a few days ago, I immediately thought of Zoe’s recent post on the smartness (and potential “personhood”) of dolphins: For those who might not recognize the narrator immediately, that’s Sir David Attenborough. He’s the “star” of the twin BBC productions, The Blue Planet and Planet Earth. They are absolutely fantastic; I … Read more
God has blessed my wife and I with five wonderful, wonderfully rambunctious boys. By necessity, I find myself more than passingly familiar with the struggles and rewards that accompany the “Nine and Under – Exclusively Male” crowd. A home as heavily testosterone-laden as ours provides unique challenges, and in a society that seems to struggle with just exactly what … Read more