Photos: Yukie Nakama

Japanese former baseball player Atsuya Furuta (L) and actress Yukie Nakama show off new Panasonic brand's Lamdash shaver and nano-care hair dryer during a press preview in Tokyo on July 23, 2008. Matsushita Electronics from late August this year will start selling previously named "National" to "Panasonic" products. (AFP/Getty)

Japanese actress Yukie Nakama introduces new Panasonic brand's nano-care hair dryer, nano-care ionic steamer and shaver during a press preview in Tokyo on July 23, 2008. Matsushita Electronics from late August this year will start selling previously named "National" to "Panasonic" products. (AFP/Getty)

Japanese actress Yukie Nakama poses with Matsushita Electric's new "Nano-Care" series hair dryer, EH5442 during its press preview in Tokyo, 21 August 2007. Matsushita, known as Panasonic brand, will put it on the Japanese market from September 01 this year. (AFP/Getty)

'Terminator Salvation' clip unveiled at Comic-Con

Misinformation campaign... I hope so. This garbage better not be true.

Good organic garbage

Jeff Cox, Organic To Be

While this misguided attempt to make money off of high gas prices is going on, America for the most part throws its organic garbage into plastic bags that are sent to landfills, where it decays and pollutes ground waters. But what if municipalities across the country passed ordinances requiring homeowners to keep their organic garbage—paper, leaves, yard waste, kitchen scraps, and so on—separate? What if all this garbage was not discarded, but was taken to centers where it was treated with simple enzymes that turn starches into sugars, and those sugars were fermented into ethanol?

Wouldn't it be better to 'recommend' that people compost their own garbage as much as possible? While those who refused to do so would either pay for someone else to do it, or higher garbage collection rates? How much ethanol would a ton of organic waste yield? Would it be worth the expense?

Wahlberg Ready to Make Kids Legitimate

I thought I had blogged about Wahlberg's Catholicism before. Let's play he gets everything straightened out finally.

(An article from last year: Catholic Mark Wahlberg Is Comfortable With Out-Of-Wedlock Relationship)

I recall him saying that he just wanted to make sure she was the right one because he took marriage seriously. Something along those lines...

From the comments to Mr. Zmirak's post on courtship:

I met my wife through AveMariaSingles.com and so did my old roomate. My wife told me that on their singles cruises, the women outnumber the men 3:1. I guess that there are actually a lot more conservative Catholic girls out there than guys, you just have to know where to look.

So maybe Sarge and Pete Takeshi should reconsider. heh.

Alternate-universe King David?

AICN has some tidbits on this NBC drama, set to be aired next February. Official NBC site (oh and there's also this).

So where's God in all of this?

NBC's Kings panel - Comic-Con Report - TV Squad
The Hollywood Reporter
Kings NBC - Mahalo
Bible Films Blog: Script Reviews for Kings

Why?

Some monks, including one of the founder's original collaborators, have left Le Barroux to start their own monastery in Italy. NLM and Rorate Caeli have more information. Is it true that the abbot has plans to change things at the monastery?

Some traditionalists have complained that monastery uses the 1965 missal for the conventual Mass. (This is supposedly true of Fontgombault as well? But I have not read any 'official' confirmation or explanation of the practices at those monasteries.)

I had forgotten that the Benedictines have their own liturgy of the hours. How different is it from the Roman office, before the changes by St. Pius X?

Given the upheavals that have taken place with the introduction of the missal of Paul VI, it is not surprising that many would be wary of any major changes to the missal of John XXIII. I am sympathetic to the claim that monasteries could by their very nature be at the forefront of the organic development of the liturgy, since the liturgy is so integral to their way of life. But how to proceed with liturgical reform is a thorny question.

Also at NLM: DVD: Obseques de Dom Gérard

Australia Incognita: New Italian Traditional Monastery
New Springtime: Apologia Pro Missa Sua
The "1965 Rite" and Clear Creek « The Devout Life

TD, La Cité, C’est Moi
Vainglorious French architects set out to destroy Paris.

I haven't seen the movie, but the article calls to mind District 13.

Fr. Finigan links Fr. Steven Fisher's Canonical considerations on clerical blogging

Bob Barr's Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee

Executive Power and its Constitutional Limitations: the text (and pdf file), via John Schwenkler

He also recommends Nina Planck's Real Food

Bob Barr on Countdown with Keith Olbermann 7-25-08


Bob Barr before

More Stephen Hough

Stephen Hough Plays Mozart in New York


Stephen Hough plays Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal


Stephen Hough-Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2, 1st Movement (1)


Stephen Hough-Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2, 2nd Movement


Stephen Hough-Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2, 3rd Movement


Stephen Hough Plays Brahms First Piano Concerto Pt. 1


Stephen Hough Plays Brahms First Piano Concerto Pt. 2


Stephen Hough Plays Brahms First Piano Concerto Pt. 3


Stephen Hough Plays Brahms First Piano Concerto Pt. 4


One of his pieces--
Stephen Hough Etude de Concert played by Sandro Russo

Zenit: 40 Years of "Humanae Vitae" (Part 2)
Interview With Dr. Thomas Hilgers

And Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor's Address to Lambeth Conference.

There was a special liturgy tonight in celebration of the feast of St. Ann, patron saint of the St. Ann Choir. I was surprised to find out who the celebrant was--the name did ring a bell when I read the notice, but I couldn't place it. I was also surprised that he could chant in Latin. (But that won't be enough for me to reconsider using the resources of the diocese.) The homily was ok... How many priests in the diocese (apart from OLP) are willing to talk about sin, and how this is a grave obstacle to progress in God? Priests may talk about union with God as our goal, and how we should focus on this and not swerve from it, but shouldn't they remind us that some ways of not staying on track are more serious than others?

I think I figured out what's been wrong--I tend to stop paying attention when polyphony is being sung (just like I stop paying attention during the homily, since they are usually rather bad). As a result, it is difficult to refocus and be recollected again once the singing stops. Today I tried reading the texts, and it helped a bit. Sure, there can be "active participation" in hearing something being sung, but I can also understand why some people might disagree with this. The Sanctus tonight was especially long. Props to the celebrant for being able to stand at the altar, waiting to begin the Eucharistic Canon. I will have to develop a habit of attentiveness while polyphony is being sung--which admittedly has always been difficult for me, even if it is being sung not during the liturgy but in a concert.

I didn't stay for the reception afterwards... I considered it, but I decided to go since they were still setting up. (And besides, I was feeling anti-social since I have nothing to show for myself.) I did go to El Pollo Loco to try the grilled chicken sandwich, since I had a coupon. It's not worth full price--the chicken (breast meat) was too dry. It may be difficult to grill chicken breast and keep it moist, but if one can do a better job using a George Foreman grill, why buy a chicken sandwich from a fast food restaurant? I had some soda--I'm surprised I'm not feeling sick. I don't know if it's because of the soda, or because my body can handle it better under certain circumstances.

There is a blog, Work of the People: Liturgical Notes for the Diocese of San Jose. Does it represent a certain mentality within the diocese, both among priests (and the bishop) and lay liturgical directors and ministers? If we do not have enough workers in the vineyard, whom shall we blame?

Dominican History: History of the Province of St. Joseph

From Crunchy Con: Toolbox for Sustainable City Living

But there are limits to what can be done--Las Vegas and Phoenix, two of JHK's favorite examples, cannot be made sustainable for the current populations, no matter what individuals in those cities might do.

Via Pete Takeshi: some info on Bryan Singer's proposed BSG sequel. BSG meets the Borg. Where would the story have led? What would the point have been? Some production designs.


Richard Hatch on BSG. More on his own project: Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming. At least he was willing to return to the question of the ships of light and the 'gods.'

Pete Takeshi has written off the new BSG. I can't blame him.

What the US Army should have adopted, according to some: Multicam

Read the wiki entry for Universal Camouflage Pattern, especially on the testing and what was eventually adopted--more evidence of the military industrial complex?

The Urban Track pattern, which received the poorest ratings from the Natick Soldier Center's testing, was modified and selected as the basis for the Army's Universal Camouflage Pattern.^[9] The pattern was digitized and the color black was removed.^[10] Although the Urban Track pattern fared poorly in Natick Soldier Center's tests, the pattern was changed following the testing, and its effectiveness compared to others in the competition is unknown. Soldiers have reported that while the pattern is effective in an urban or desert environment, it is less effective in others.^[11][12] As the Army is currently involved in the Iraq war, the uniform may have been biased towards the current operating environment.^[13][14]

If the United States becomes involved in a different theater, will we see a reversal, and a different pattern being adopted?

Twitch: Horror Comes Back to Korean TV with 전설의 고향 (Hometown of Legends)

Zenit: Opus Dei Marks 1 Year in Russia

Mark Shiffman, Loving the World

Another response to Adam Webb.

That makes two...

bad reviews of the X-File movie -- Twitch.

Edit: And IGN makes three. Sigh.

Deo Vindice

Some people use this as a signature on the Internet; it is the motto of the CSA.

The Great Seal of the Confederacy
KIRCHNER'S MAP OF THE CONFEDERACY
wiki on CSA

Found some real neo-Confederates, not like the LoS. Another. Are these groups on SPLC's radar? The label 'neo-Confederate' is tossed around by that organization too carelessly. (Though deliberately, as a pejorative.)

Joe Bageant, Life in the Post-Political Age

Audacity, Yes; Change, Hardly
Life in the Post-Political Age

Apparently a lot of recasting has been done with the American Life on Mars remake. Colm Meaney is gone. The latest news on his replacement; Harvey Keitel could give the show the American edge it needs... Colm Meaney is Irish, not English like Philip Glenister, but I think the accent would have reminded fans of the BBC original. Or at least contribute to the feeling that the show had been ripped off from the Brits. Now, with Harvey Keitel as a cop who doesn't play by the rules (not something new to him)... but the problem is that while corruption in Britain might be played for laughs, it is hard to take corruption in the LAPD lightly. So that aspect of the story just might not work.

Promo, now obsolete:

For KK

Actor Patrick Stewart arrives at the 62nd Annual Tony Awards in New York on Sunday, June 15, 2008. (AP/Peter Kramer)

NEW YORK - JUNE 15: Actors Kate Fleetwood and Patrick Stewart arrive at the 62nd Annual Tony Awards held at Radio City Music Hall on June 15, 2008 in New York City. (Getty)





Actor Patrick Stewart poses in his dressing room at the Lyceum Theater in New York on Tuesday, April 1, 2008, where he is starring in a production of Macbeth. (AP/Rick Maiman)

LOS ANGELES - DECEMBER 9: Actor Patrick Stewart arrives at the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival Special Awards Presentation at the Shrine Auditorium December 9, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty)

British actor Patrick Stewart, as Macbeth, during a rehearsal for a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth at the Gielgud Theatre in London,Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007. The show has opened to the public for a ten week season. (AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth)


LONDON - APRIL 01: (UK TABLOID Actors David Tennant (L) and Simon Pegg pose in front of the Tardis during the press launch of 'Dr Who' Series 4 at the Apollo West End on April 1, 2008 in London, England. The first episode of the new series is due to air on BBC 1 on April 5 at 18.20 GMT. (Getty)




LONDON - DECEMBER 18: Actor David Tennant arrives for the Gala Screening of the Doctor Who Christmas Episode at the Science Museum on December 18, 2007 in London, England. (Getty)

Stephen Hough

official website; Harrison Parrot

I didn't know he is Catholic. (I didn't know this either.) Biography.

More links:
Scholar and Pianist Stephen Hough
Classical Conversations
Piano genius with mass appeal
15 Questions to Stephen Hough

With Apologies to Bartok

Stephen Hough: German Interview June 2007


Stephen Hough plays Rachmaninov's Paganini Rhapsody (1)


Stephen Hough plays Rachmaninov's Paganini Rhapsody (2)


Stephen Hough plays Rachmaninov's Paganini Rhapsody (3)


Stephen Hough plays Mompou "Secreto"


Stephen Hough plays Rameau in New York


Stephen Hough warms up with Moszkowski
Stephen Hough Talks about Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto

Related:
I have Hough's Hummel cd. Good stuff. I hadn't listened to his playing of Romantic pieces until now.
wiki for Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Naxos
Karadar

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra PR
Interview - Petronel Malan

Rachmaninoff plays Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Brahms Paganini Variations Bk. 2, Elena Ulyanova

John Zmirak talks about his experience with dating websites and courtship.

New tool from Facebook extends its Web presence
Google launches rival to Wikipedia

via Drudge

In an era of peak energy, is the day of the Internet coming to a quick end?

Hm. Negative review of X-Files @ AICN. (Beware, spoilers.)

If the spoilers are accurate, it's pretty bad. There may not be another X-Files movie returning to the alien storyline.

Another Reason to Marry Young by Candice Watters
You've heard me talk about the benefits of early marriage: more good potential spouses to choose from, more time to start a family, less chance you're set in your ways, and more. But here's a reason I never thought of: fewer wrinkles.

AR: Post-peak politics

Post-peak politics

John Michael Greer, The Archdruid Report

Peak oil is rapidly becoming the elephant in the living room of modern American politics. Can we begin a reasoned national discussion of the end of the petroleum, or is Weimar America headed for a disastrous repetition of the politics of scapegoating and avoidance?

original

Al Gore's fantasy energy challenge

Dave Cohen , Energy Bulletin / ASPO-USA

Gore is like Moses, who has gone to the mountaintop to receive God's 11th commandment that thou shalt not burn fossil fuels. Unfortunately, our civilization was founded on the abundant energy fossil fuels offer. We can not simply undo that dependency in a decade as we near the top of a growth curve that was made possible by burning coal, oil and natural gas.

GL, Building hotbeds for your garden

Building hotbeds for your garden

Gene Logsdon, Organic To Be

A hundred years ago, hotbeds were used profitably near large cities to grow two crops of lettuce through winter, and then a crop of bedding plants for setting on in the garden in spring. As long as horse manure was available, and of course it was in great quantities, these hotbeds produced lettuce at the rate of forty to fifty heads per 3 by 6-foot bed at far less cost than it takes today to ship lettuce from warm-winter states or raise it in greenhouses. Farmers near such cities as Boston and New York operated as many as a thousand beds, providing jobs for many people and making a good profit, with the expenditure of very little fossil fuel.

original

What a hoot.

Sean Hannity: "I'm a conservative, I'm not a Republican."

On today's show he showed some 'populist indignation' when a caller suggested that high gas prices might encourage us to try to kick our dependence upon oil, accusing him of wanting high prices in order to push a political agenda, and intending for the suffering of Americans. How typical of talk-radio bullying. I don't know if I would support the Fairness Doctrine, but I do think Republican talk radio has contributed to the dumbing down of discussion of politics among Americans.

VII Bolivian Baroque and Renaissance Music Festival 2008

Santa Teresa de Los Andes

Her feast day is July 13--I'll have to remember that for next year. Now if someone could write an icon for her...

website (biblio)
Teresa de Jesús de los Andes (1900-1920) - biography
Santuario Teresa de Los Andes

Some other links:
Saint Teresa Of Los Andes
St. Teresa de los Andes - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
O.C.D.S. St. Louis, MO - Teresa de los Andes letter 112

A devout Latina for you Sarge. heh.

Another interview with monks from Heiligenkreuz

Time to practice some German!

Chant - Zu Gast bei Markus Lanz (Teil 1/2)


Chant - Zu Gast bei Markus Lanz (Teil 2/2)

Some more from Psallentes

Gloria Patri (Gregorian Chant - Chant Group Psallentes)


Kyrie Rex Virginum


Verax est pater (Gregorian Chant - Chant Group Psallentes)

Laus et perhennis (Gregorian Chant - Chant Group Psallentes)

梁靜茹-會呼吸的痛MV

Photos: The Dark Knight Premiere, Barcelona, London, & New York

Dark colors--then again it is a nighttime premiere.

BARCELONA, SPAIN - JULY 23: Actor Christian Bale attends the premiere of 'The Dark Knight' at Coliseum Cinema on July 23, 2008 in Barcelona, Spain. (AP/Manu Fernandez)

British actor Christian Bale poses during a photocall for 'The Dark Knight' film in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Batman star Christian Bale has swept into Barcelona to attend a glittering Spanish premiere of "The Dark Knight." Bale came in a 15-car motorcade and appeared calm in the wake of allegations he assaulted his mother and one of his three sisters at a top London hotel. He did not speak to reporters and made no comment about the incident. (AP/Manu Fernandez)

BARCELONA, SPAIN - JULY 23: Actor Christian Bale and wife Sibi Bale attend the premiere of 'The Dark Knight' at Coliseum Cinema on July 23, 2008 in Barcelona, Spain. (AP/Manu Fernandez)

British actor Christian Bale (L) and U.S. actors Maggie Gyllenhaal (C) and Aaron Eckhart pose during a photocall for "The Dark Knight" film in Barcelona July 23, 2008. (AP/Manu Fernandez)

From left to right: Productor Charles Roven, British actor Christian Bale, Director Christopher Nolan, US actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, and US actor Aaron Eckhart pose during a photocall for 'The Dark Knight' film in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Batman star Christian Bale has swept into Barcelona to attend a glittering Spanish premiere of "The Dark Knight." Bale came in a 15-car motorcade and appeared calm in the wake of allegations he assaulted his mother and one of his three sisters at a top London hotel. He did not speak to reporters and made no comment about the incident. (AP/Manu Fernandez)

US actor Aaron Eckhart poses during a photocall for 'The Dark Knight' film in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Batman star Christian Bale has swept into Barcelona to attend a glittering Spanish premiere of "The Dark Knight." Bale came in a 15-car motorcade and appeared calm in the wake of allegations he assaulted his mother and one of his three sisters at a top London hotel. He did not speak to reporters and made no comment about the incident. (AP/Manu Fernandez)

US actress Maggie Gyllenhaal poses during a photocall for 'The Dark Knight' film in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, July 23, 2008. Batman star Christian Bale has swept into Barcelona to attend a glittering Spanish premiere of "The Dark Knight." Bale came in a 15-car motorcade and appeared calm in the wake of allegations he assaulted his mother and one of his three sisters at a top London hotel. He did not speak to reporters and made no comment about the incident. (AP/Manu Fernandez)

Dark colors again! Not that I'm complaining, I like dark colors.

British actor Christian Bale arrives for the European premiere of "The Dark Knight" in Leicester Square in central London July 21 2008. Bale, star of the latest Batman blockbuster, has been released on bail by British police after being questioned on allegations of assault, media reported July 22, 2008. Picture taken July 21, 2008. (Reuters)

This file picture taken on July 21, 2008 in London shows actor Christian Bale arriving at the European premiere of "The Dark Knight" directed by Christopher Nolan. Christian Bale was arrested on Tuesday July 22, 2008 by detectives investigating claims he assaulted two family members. Bale, 34, is alleged to have lashed out at his mother and sister in his suite at Park Lane's Dorchester Hotel on Sunday. (AFP/Getty)

US actress Maggie Gyllenhall arrives at the European premiere of the latest film in the Batman superhero film franchise, "The Dark Knight" directed by Christopher Nolan, on July 21, 2008. The film sees Christian Bale return as Batman with the late Heath Ledger playing his nemesis "The Joker". The film opens across the UK from the 24th of July. (AFP/Getty)

New York City:

Actor Christian Bale (R) and his wife Sibi Blazic pose for photographers as they arrives for the premiere of the film The Dark Knight in New York, July 14, 2008. (Reuters)

NEW YORK - JULY 14: Actor Christian Bale (R) and his wife Sibi Blazic attend the world premiere of "The Dark Knight" at AMC Loews Lincoln Square - IMAX on July 14, 2008 in New York City. (Getty Images for Belstaff)

Actors (L-R) Chin Han, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman pose for photographers during the premiere of the film The Dark Knight in New York, July 14, 2008. (Reuters)

NEW YORK - JULY 14: (L-R) Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Christian Bale, and Maggie Gyllenhaal attend the world premiere of "The Dark Knight" at AMC Loews Lincoln Square - IMAX on July 14, 2008 in New York City. (Getty Images for Belstaff)

Actor Christian Bale, left, and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal attend the world premiere of "The Dark Knight" at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Monday, July 14, 2008 in New York. (AP/Evan Agostini)

Actors, from left, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Christian Bale and Maggie Gyllenhaal attend the world premiere of "The Dark Knight" at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Monday, July 14, 2008, in New York.

Actors, from left, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale and Maggie Gyllenhaal attend the world premiere of "The Dark Knight" at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Monday, July 14, 2008 in New York.

Actor Christian Bale attends the world premiere of "The Dark Knight" at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Monday, July 14, 2008 in New York. (AP/Evan Agostini)

LAS VEGAS - MARCH 13: (L-R) Actor Christian Bale, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, and director Christopher Nolan pose arrive at Warner Bros. Pictures presentation of "The Big Picture '08" held at the Paris Las Vegas during ShoWest, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners, March 13, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Getty)

Christian Bale, left, Maggie Gyllenhaal and director Christopher Nolan, right, arrive for the showcase of Warner Bros' upcoming films at the ShoWest held at the Paris hotel and casino in Las Vegas on Thursday, March 13, 2008. (AP/Jae C. Hong)



Actor Christian Bale poses for portrait in Las Vegas on Thursday, March 13, 2008. Bale stars in the upcoming film "The Dark Knight". (AP/Matt Sayles)

Christian Bale arrives for the showcase of Warner Bros' upcoming films at the ShoWest held at the Paris hotel and casino in Las Vegas on Thursday, March 13, 2008. (AP/Jae C. Hong)

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - FEBRUARY 19: Actor Christian Bale poses for a portrait during the 10th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on February 19, 2008 in Beverly Hills, California. (Getty Images)