Friday, September 21, 2012

Religious differences

Further to yesterday's post, somebody recently sent me this video. I had never heard of Emo Philips. I like the cultural translation of famous horses' names in the subtitles.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Cats and Dogs

A while ago somebody sent me this video of a dog discovering all the bacon is gone.


Saturday, September 15, 2012

A very long memorial service


From NASA's Image of the Day Gallery:
Armstrong Memorial Service
Attendees of the memorial service for Neil Armstrong sing a hymnal, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012, at the Washington National Cathedral. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, died Saturday, Aug. 25. He was 82. 

Friday, September 14, 2012

Monty, RIP

Queen's corgi motion 'a mockery', says MP Walt Secord

"This makes a mockery of parliament."

Good to know an ALP MP is worried about making a mockery of Parliament.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Sung Mass with the Benedictines of St Louis in 1964

(From Chant Café)

Speaking of Dom Guéranger and the EBC, this is a video of Mass at St Louis Priory – now St Louis Abbey – in 1964.

American local TV stations still broadcast significant religious events. I once saw a recording of the installation of a Bishop of a diocese in the Western USA. This included an embarrassing incident where it turned out the Apostolic Mandate – absolutely necessary unless those involved wanted to get excommunicated – had been left in someone's car, parked in a distant location. Since the major parties all had radio mikes, if you turned up the volume of the TV you could hear the panicked discussions

From about 4:40 in the video below is an interview of the then Prior of St Louis Fr Columba Cary-Elwes. St Louis was founded from Ampleforth (hence the English accent) and my recollection is that Fr Columba came back to Ampleforth and was still alive when I was at the school. Ampleforth was founded (at several removes) from Westminster. I like the deadpan way Fr Columba handles the matter of the reformation at 9:00. "This is the famous Westminster Abbey? But that's not still a Benedictine Monastery is it?" "No, I'm afraid not. Henry the Eighth and Elizabeth the First have changed all that."

Friday, September 7, 2012

Star Wars Episode VI – Blue Harvest

Because you are desperate to know what the poster would look like if the decoy title for Return of the Jedi was the real title.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Solesmes and an English Benedictine

I have mentioned the Graduale Triplex before. It is one of many books of chant produced by the community at Solesmes. Charles Cole posts photographs of the place where these books were produced, and presumably still are: Atelier de Paléographie Musicale.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Pity the poor commies

To be elected Pope it is not necessary to be a Cardinal, although only Cardinals may elect a Pope. The last time they elected someone not of their number – in the Conclave that elected Urban VI (born c.1318 reigned 1378-1389) — the consequences were not happy. You do not absolutely have to be a Cardinal to become Pope, but it certainly helps. George Weigel tells us how Karol Wojtyła became Cardinal-Archbishop of Kraków. Wojtyła (in case you didn't know) went on to be Pope John Paul II and an instrument in the collapse of communism in eastern Europe. He describes a conversation between the Polish regime's chief communist ideologue, Zenon Kliszko, and one of the few serving Catholic politicians. Weigel states that Kliszko was Marshall (or Speaker) of the Sejm (Parliament) but apparently at the time that was Czesław Wychech. According to Jonathan Kwitny in chapter 1 of Man of the Century, Kliszko was "minister of religious affairs" (lower case in original). (That link might not work since the New York Times has a delayed firewall: the same link should be the first result of this search). Anyway, Weigel:

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Our cousins across the Tasman

I daresay many Americans are unaware that Australia fought in the Vietnam War. I daresay many Australians are unaware that the Kiwis went too.

Monday, September 3, 2012

After your Master's in doodling

A leftie Australian news/opinion site called (naturally) Independent Australia just published a Facebook interview by Carl Scrase of independent musician Brian Ritchie.