Trajectory

Source: Ari's Blog of Awesome.

Art odds and ends

On First Thoughts there's an interesting article on artist Thomas Kinkade:

No doubt many people who would praise a rich, popular, establishment-approved hack like Andy Warhol despise Kinkade for being a rich, popular, evangelical-approved hack. But I think a solid case against Kinkade can be made on purely aesthetic criteria, especially when you compare his work to a superior artist.

Consider two works of on similar themes. Both are images of the Water Tower in Chicago. Both have similar elements—a carriage, trees, people with umbrellas. Indeed, the paintings are almost identical in theme and content, if not in style.



And yet the first is unquestionably technically superior. The use of texture and shadow puts the viewer within the picture. You can feel the chill of the cold Chicago wind and hear the sounds of the serene yet bustling city.

In contrast, the second painting distances the viewer from the scene. Artificial light oozes out from every window and the background lights resemble a brushfire, presenting a faux golden glow that is unrealistic and dull. And the carriage, though more sharply drawn than in the first painting, is two-dimensional and distracting; it could have been added in using Photoshop rather than daubs of paint. While the first work is worthy of gracing a museum wall, the second is only worthy of garnishing a greeting card.

As you could probably guess, the second painting is by Thomas Kinkade, circa 2004.

But what about the first painting, the more aesthetically superior rendition of the Water Tower? It too is by Thomas Kinkade. He painted it in 1998.

Read the rest here.

NLM features the artwork of Pietro Annigoni.

Anchorites in the Desert

St Joseph the Worker

More here.

TV

Via Robert Kumpel who writes about MTV:

What's even more galling is that the queen mother of sluttiness and vulgarity, "Madonna" (her name is actually Madonna Ciccone) refuses to permit her children to watch TV because she says it's mostly "trash".

Guess what? She's right. The problem is, she has no problem getting rich by letting YOUR kids consume the same non-consumable waste that she protects her children from.

Meanwhile the executives at MTV are running the numbers and calculating more ways to make sure that your kids are getting their "product".

The only viable way to handle that kind of product is to flush.

"Lisbon – friend, port and shelter for the great hopes that were placed in you..."

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:19-20). These words of the risen Christ take on a particular significance in this city of Lisbon, from which generations upon generations of Christians – bishops, priests, consecrated and lay persons, men and women, young and not so young – have journeyed forth in great numbers in obedience to the Lord’s call, armed simply with the certainty that he had entrusted to them: “I am with you always”. Portugal has gained a glorious place among the nations for the service rendered to the spreading of the faith: in all five continents there are local churches that owe their origin to Portuguese missionary activity.

In times past, your departure in search of other peoples neither impeded nor severed your bonds with what you were and what you believed. On the contrary, with Christian wisdom you succeeded in transplanting experiences and characteristic elements, opening yourselves up to the contribution of others so as to be yourselves, through an apparent weakness which is actually strength. Today, as you play your part in building up the European Community, you offer the contribution of your cultural and religious identity. Indeed, just as Jesus Christ joined the disciples on the road to Emmaus, so today he walks with us in accordance with his promise: “I am with you always, to the close of the age.” We too have a real and personal experience of the risen Lord, even if it differs from that of the Apostles. The distance of centuries is overcome and the risen Lord presents himself alive and at work, acting through us, in the Church and the world of today. This is our great joy. In the living river of ecclesial Tradition, Christ is not two thousand years distant from us, but is really present among us: he gives us the Truth and he gives us the light which is our life and helps us find the path towards the future....

Lisbon – friend, port and shelter for the great hopes that were placed in you by those who set off from here, hopes that were cherished by those who visited you – today I wish to make use of these keys that you have given me so that you may be able to base your human hopes upon divine Hope. In the reading that has just been proclaimed, taken from the First Letter of Saint Peter, we heard: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame”. And the Apostle explains: Draw near to the Lord, “that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious” (1 Pet 2:6,4). Brothers and sisters, those who believe in Jesus will not be put to shame: he is the Word of God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived, and this Word is attested by a “great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues,” a multitude pictured by the author of the Apocalypse “clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Rev 7:9). This countless multitude includes not only Saints Verissimus, Maxima and Julia, martyred here during the persecution of Diocletian, Saint Vincent, deacon and martyr, the principal patron of the Patriarchate, Saint Anthony and Saint John of Brito who set off from here to sow God’s good seed in other lands and among other peoples, and Saint Nuno of Santa Maria, whom I added to the ranks of the Saints just over a year ago. It is formed of the “servants of our God” from all times and places, on whose forehead the sign of the cross has been inscribed with “the seal of the living God” (Rev 7:2), that is to say, with the Holy Spirit. I am referring to the initial rite administered to each one of us in the sacrament of Baptism, through which the Church gives birth to the “saints”....

Dear brothers and sisters, dear young friends, Christ is always with us and always walks with his Church, accompanies her and guards her, as he has told us: “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20). Never doubt his presence! Always seek the Lord Jesus, grow in friendship with him, receive him in communion. Learn to listen to his word and also to recognize him in the poor. Live your lives with joy and enthusiasm, sure of his presence and of his unconditional, generous friendship, faithful even to death on the cross. Bear witness to all of the joy that his strong yet gentle presence evokes, starting with your contemporaries. Tell them that it is beautiful to be a friend of Jesus and that it is well worth following him. With your enthusiasm, demonstrate that, among all the different ways of life that the world today seems to offer us – apparently all on the same level – the only way in which we find the true meaning of life and hence true and lasting joy, is by following Jesus.

Seek daily the protection of Mary, Mother of the Lord and mirror of all holiness. She, the all-holy one, will help you to be faithful disciples of her Son Jesus Christ.

- From the Pope's homily at Terreiro do Paço of Lisbon Tuesday, 11 May 2010.

These words of the risen Christ take on a particular significance in this city of Lisbon, from which generations upon generations of Christians – bishops, priests, consecrated and lay persons, men and women, young and not so young – have journeyed forth in great numbers in obedience to the Lord’s call, armed simply with the certainty that he had entrusted to them: “I am with you always”. Portugal has gained a glorious place among the nations for the service rendered to the spreading of the faith: in all five continents there are local churches that owe their origin to Portuguese missionary activity.

Indeed! It is to the Portugese that I can trace my own Catholic faith. They brought Catholicism to Sri Lanka.

Dear friends who are sick...

My dear brother and sister, in the eyes of God you are “worth so much to God that he himself became man in order to suffer with man in an utterly real way — in flesh and blood — as is revealed to us in the account of Jesus's Passion. Hence in all human suffering we are joined by one who experiences and carries that suffering with us; hence con-solatio is present in all suffering, the consolation of God's compassionate love — and so the star of hope rises” (Spe Salvi, 39). With such hope in your heart, you can leave behind the quicksand of illness and death and stand on the firm rock of divine love. In other words, you can overcome the feeling of the uselessness of suffering which consumes a person from within and makes him feel a burden to those around him when, in reality, suffering which is lived with Jesus assists in the salvation of your brethren. 

How is this possible? Because the spring of divine power rises in the midst of human weakness. This is the paradox of the Gospel. Therefore, the divine Master, instead of explaining the reasons for suffering, preferred to call everyone to follow him, saying: Take up your cross and follow me (cf. Mk 8:34). Come with me. With your suffering, take part in the work of salvation which is realized through my suffering, by means of my cross. As you gradually embrace your own cross, uniting yourself spiritually to my cross, the salvific meaning of suffering will be revealed to you. In suffering, you will discover an interior peace and even spiritual joy. 

Dear friends who are sick, welcome the call of Jesus who will shortly pass among you in the Most Blessed Sacrament, and entrust to him every setback and pain that you face, so that they become - according to his design – a means of redemption for the whole world. You will be redeemers with the Redeemer, just as you are sons in the Son. At the cross… stands the mother of Jesus, our mother.  

- Pope Benedict, Esplanade of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima

Thursday, 13 May 2010 

The Pope and Mary

More photos from Portugal - Marian this time.

We would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete. Here there takes on new life the plan of God which asks humanity from the beginning: “Where is your brother Abel […] Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!” (Gen 4:9). Mankind has succeeded in unleashing a cycle of death and terror, but failed in bringing it to an end… In sacred Scripture we often find that God seeks righteous men and women in order to save the city of man and he does the same here, in Fatima, when Our Lady asks: “Do you want to offer yourselves to God, to endure all the sufferings which he will send you, in an act of reparation for the sins by which he is offended and of supplication for the conversion of sinners?” (Memoirs of Sister Lúcia, I, 162).

-  at the Esplanade of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, Thursday, 13 May 2010

I love this one:

Praying the Rosary:

Seek daily the protection of Mary, Mother of the Lord and mirror of all holiness. She, the all-holy one, will help you to be faithful disciples of her Son Jesus Christ.

- at Terreiro do Paço of Lisbon, Tuesday, 11 May 2010

Avé Maria, cheia de graça,
o Senhor é convosco.
Bendita sois vós entre as mulheres;
bendito é o fruto do vosso ventre, Jesus.
Santa Maria, mãe de Deus,
rogai por nós, pecadores,
agora e na hora da nossa morte.
Amen

 

With her and like her, we are free so as to be saints; free so as to be poor, chaste and obedient; free for all because detached from all, free from self so that others may grow in Christ, the true Holy One of the Father and the Shepherd to whom priests, as his presence, lend their voice and their gestures; free to bring to today’s world Jesus who died and rose again, Jesus who remains with us until the end of time and who gives himself to all in the Most Holy Eucharist.

- at Vespers with priests, religious, seminarians, and deacons, Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Fátima, Wednesday, 12 May 2010

What a beautiful sight! The crowds!

The angel of the Annunciation greeted Mary as “full of grace”, signifying with this expression that her heart and her life were totally open to God and, as such, completely permeated by his grace. May Our Lady help you to make yourselves a free and total “Yes” to the grace of God, so that you can be renewed and thus renew humanity by the light and the joy of the Holy Spirit.

- at Av. dos Aliados Square, Porto, Friday, 14 May 2010

Photos via Daylife.

The Pope in Portugal

This is rather late, but here are some excellent photos of Pope Benedict in Portugal. Elegant vestments and wonderful crowds!






Portuguese film maker Emanuel de Oliveira (R) kisses the hand of Pope Benedict XVI on his arrival for a meeting with representatives of the Portuguese cultural community, in the Belem Cultural center in Lisbon, on May 12, 2010.

He uses a cane, and still he genuflects to kiss the Pope ring. Bravo!





Pilgrims wait ahead of Pope Benedict XVI visit to the famous shrine in Fatima, Portugal, Wednesday, May 12, 2010. Pope Benedict XVI recalled Portugal's glorious past as a country of adventurers and missionaries who spread Catholicism around the globe in urging a rediscovery of its Christian heritage Wednesday _ a key theme of his message to an increasingly secularized Europe.

Photos via Daylife.

The Youth and the Holy Father

"Thank you for your joyful witness to Christ, who is eternally young, and thank you for the kindness you have shown to his humble Vicar on earth by gathering here this evening."

- Pope Benedict to the youth who had gathered outside the apostolic nunciature in Lisbon to tell him good night during the Holy Father's trip to Portugal. The Pontiff said he thanked the youth "from my heart" for their good night wishes. "But now," the 83-year-old Pontiff remarked, "you must let me go and sleep, otherwise the night will not be good, and tomorrow awaits us."

From Zenit.

This photo is not from the above trip, but it's indicative of the love the youth hold for our Holy Father. He trusts us and we are proud of him!

The Steppes of Central Asia

Ding Li's flying to Mongolia on the 22nd. He shared the music with me. It's part of a musical tableau called "In the Steppes of Central Asia" by Alexander Borodin.

Here are some images to accompany the music :D.

They did it

They did it, the blood-hungry fools. Last night, just after midnight out in Draper, Utah, they trussed up Ronnie Lee Gardner like a scarecrow, pinned a target on him, and pumped four .30-caliber bullets into his chest.

This execution was so unnecessary, and because it was unnecessary, it was simply and completely wrong. They shouldn’t have done it—because they didn’t have to do it.

The odd thing is that Gardner might have made a good example for legitimate imposition of the death penalty, once upon a time. He had a history of escapes, and, on trial in 1985 for the barroom murder of Melvyn Otterstrom, he was smuggled a gun and shot down an attorney named Michael Burdell in a botched attempt at a getaway from the Salt Lake courthouse. He was an open threat to the public, and the system appeared incapable of containing him. The ordinary course of social justice might well have required his death.

But that was twenty-five years ago. For more than two decades, the Utah State prison proved competent to restrain him—and to age him from the murderous twenty-four-year-old into a less dangerous forty-nine-year old.

Read the rest of this article here.

Democracy gone crazy?

Alvin Greene is an unemployed man who lives with his father in Manning, South Carolina. Currently facing felony charges for allegedly showing pornography to a young college student at the University of South Carolina, Greene was involuntarily discharged from the Army last year for what appears to be mental health issues. Having no political experience, Greene did virtually no campaigning, has no website, no name recognition and seems to have the intelligence of a pet rock—he’s also South Carolina Democrats choice to challenge incumbent Republican Jim DeMint for his US Senate seat come November, winning the primary by a whopping 60%.

Read more here.

The liberals are blaming...the Republicans (no surprise there eh?).

Here's Jon Stewart's take on the bizarre news story:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Alvin Greene Wins South Carolina Primary
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

H/T to First Thoughts.

Moose

He's such a weirdo in Frasier. 

Meeting the Pope

On December 29th Monsieur d'Elbene, who was then ambassador, a studious gentleman and long friend of Monsieur de Montaigne, recommended that he kiss the Pope's feet. Monsieur d'Estissac and he got into the said ambassador's coach. When the ambassador was admitted to audience, he had them called by the Pope's chamberlain. They found the Pope and with him the ambassador alone, which is the fashion; he has beside him a little bell that he rings when he wants someone to come to him. The ambassador was seated at his left hand, uncovered; for the Pope never takes off his cap for anyone whatever, nor is any ambassador with him with his head covered. Monsieur d'Estissac entered first, and after him Monsieur de Montaigne, and then Messieurs de Mattercoulon and du Hautoy. After one or two steps into the chamber, in the corner of which the said Pope is seated, those who enter, whoever they may be, put one knee on the ground and wait for the Pope to give them his benediction, which he does; after that they get up again and proceed until about the middle of the room. It is true that most people do not straight to him, cutting across the room, but sidle along the wall in order, after turning, to make straight for him. At this halfway point they once more get down on one knee and receive the second benediction. This done, they go toward him as far as the velvet carpet spread out at his feet seven or eight feet farther forward. At the edge of this carpet they go down on both knees. There the ambassador, who was presenting them, knelt on one knee and pulled back the Pope's robe from his right foot, on which there is a red slipper with a white cross on it. Those who are on their knees drag themselves in this position up to his foot and lean down to the ground to kiss it. Monsieur de Montaigne said he had raised the end of his foot a bit. They made way for one another to kiss, then withdrew to one side, still in this posture. This done, the ambassador covered the foot Pope's foot again, and, rising from his seat, told him what seemed proper for the recommendation of Monsieur d'Estissac and Monsieur de Montaigne. The Pope, with a courteous countenance, admonished Monsieur d'Estissac to pursue study and virtue, and Monsieur de Montaigne to continue in the devotion he had always borne to the Church and the service of the Most Christian King, and said that he would gladly be of serve to them whenever they could: those are Italian phrases of service. They for their part said not a word to him; but having there received another benediction before the Pope rose, which is the sign of dismissal, went back the same way. This is done according to each person's notion; however, the commonest way is to move away backward, or at least to withdraw to the side, in such a way that he looks the Pope in the face. At the halfway point, as in coming, they again went down on one knee and had another benediction; and at the door, again on one knee, the final benediction.

An account of Michel de Montaigne's meeting with Pope Gregory XIII in Rome, from Montaigne's Travel Journal.

The account should be read keeping in mind that at that time, the Pope was also a temporal ruler, and that such protocol was not unusual for rulers of the day. Still, I'm glad these customs are no longer in place.

Another "In the Still of the Night"

This time from Ferninda:

In the Still of the Night

From Monika (after she saw this post)



So soothing! :) :)

Italian lesson

Dr Crane's 'jingle'

Just brilliant!

Glasses

Was looking at Matilda's photos of Auschwitz. This I found especially disturbing and poignant:


Glasses of the Jews deported to Auschwitz

Oil spill

An exhausted oil-covered brown pelican tries to climb over an oil containment boom along Queen Bess Island Pelican Rookery, northeast of Grand Isle, Louisiana, June 5, 2010. REUTERS/Sean Gardner