The Essence of My Education Today

PHILOTIMO:  Love of Honor.

The Greek Secret.

A lot to process and work through, especially since I am not Greek. I think it's worth the time, study, and meditation.  What say you?

I am amazed.
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Throwback Thursday: A Two-fer

Shot in the same hotel room 10 years apart. How strange is that?

1992: Washington, DC October weekend.  March on Washington for Equal Rights and the last display of the entire Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. It just got too big and fragile after so many years. Spent more time at the Quilt than in the march because that's where I was needed.

2002: Washington, DC October weekend. March on Washington against the War in Iraq. Dressed for the ordination of a friend which happened to be the same weekend. I offered the Prayers of the People during the ceremony.

Yep!  Same room, same hotel.  I never noticed it before now. What are the odds?

And so it goes.
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Just a Thought: Understanding

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Mary’s Going to Hell!

Along with her diner and more than a few customers. She’s paying folks who pray in her restaurant, and the baby Jeebus says that’s a no-no. She’s being the worst kind of hypocrite. See, it’s like this:

A North Carolina diner is offering a very different sort of discount to its customers, the prayerful ones.
Mary’s Gourmet Diner in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is offering a 15 percent "praying in public" discount. Owner Mary Haglund confirmed the discount to The Blaze on Friday saying that she has actually been offering the rebate for four years now. The discount, which she said is not aligned with any singular religious affiliation, hasn't been advertised and is offered per the discretion of the waitstaff.
“[W]hen I see someone in a restaurant honoring their gratefulness at my table … it touches my heart," she told The Blaze. Adding: "It’s just a moment or faithfulness about the plate of food. It’s not even a policy — it’s [something] we only do when we’re moved to do it.”
The praying in public discount gained attention this week after Christian radio station Z88.3 posted a photo of a customer's receipt to its Facebook page.

The rest is HERE.

Here’s the problem: Matthew 6 v. 5-6

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 

Now praying alone doesn’t really count anymore.  How does anyone know that you’re REALLY doing what you say?  Who can tell you’re a Xristian if you don’t pray publicly to prove it? 

But as we all know good Xristian Xrazies love to save a buck or two, so what’s to keep them from sitting down, putting their hands together and pretending to chat with big daddy in the sky? I mean, who would know? Besides, they can always put that 15% savings in the collection plate next Sunday…yeah, like that’s going to happen. 

Never mind then, Hell it is!

And so it goes.

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P.S. Remind me to tell you sometime about the Xrazy clergy person I worked for who never went anywhere without the dog collar.  Oh, the money he made/saved. And nothing to do with the baby Jeebus!

Just a Thought: Hawking on God

More later.

Because... Baby Jeebus

A few weeks ago, tired of staring at this sorry-ass face of mine, I decided it might be interesting to re-grow my beard. I had one for many years. (As you will see if you stop by TBT most all photos show a bearded me.  About 25 years.) 

Since I’m losing hair everywhere else - due to genetics or the Chemo - sprouting facial hair has been a nice diversion.  The doctors and nurses love it.  Shop owners and friendly cashiers like it, too. Love to stroke it, run their hands through it…you get the idea. Everyone is amazed at how quickly it grew out (I’ve already had to trim it) in less than a month.

So you can imagine my surprise today when I was confronted by a Xristian Xrazy in reference to the fuzzy face, who laid it on me about my going straight to Hell.  Yep!  That’s what she said. And she's  good friends with the baby Jeebus, so you know it's true.

As she sat on the boardwalk bench beside me, she explained that only Muslim men wear beards (Not a Duck Dynasty fan?) and that baby Jeebus would be confused, probably not recognize me as Xristian with facial hair. (Never mind historical facts, they count for nothing here; think blond-haired blue-eyed Jeebus with his smart, fashionable, wispy goatee.) And since He doesn’t like to be confused (evidently, it upsets him no end) He will deny my entrance to heaven and send me - forthwith - to Hades without so much as asking a single question. So, there!

Here I am looking about as much like a Muslim as Elmer Fudd; dressed in cargo shorts, sport shirt, Inkkas, shades, and sporting my festive chapeau. I wanted to laugh, but she was dead serious and I didn’t want the police to remove a crazy person from my tired old body.  Instead, I told her I would shave as soon as I got home.  That I had no idea that Jeebus would be annoyed or confused. She was fine with that.

Though I must say, when I caught a glimpse of my refection in a shop window later on, I looked like some character who had fallen out of a Tennessee Williams novel - hat and all! I laughed my head off. 

Anyway, she was appeased and moved on to another bench to see what she could find that Jeebus would be offended by with the next poor soul in her path. 

Then the fog began to lift.  Seriously.  There was pea soup fog this morning and as I made my way back to the car, the sun began burning it off, turning the day into a sunny and mild one - whenever people decided to wake up and enjoy it.

No, I did not shave off my beard for Baby Jeebus. I figure if he can’t recognize me - clothed, naked, bearded or clean shaven, his observation skills suck, he's a shitty prophet, and he ain’t much of a Son of God.

I need a glass of wine!

And so it goes.

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UPDATE:  I wonder if my xristian xrazie lady flew in with the super moon? I forgot it was saturday. 

She Did the Right Thing - For Once!

The Harpy milked this controversy for all it was worth, for as long as possible. Finally did the right thing.

Heads exploding everywhere.  Snoopy Happy Dance here.

Indeed.  Now I can plan a visit to Dr. Spo, Someone, and Harper (not Harpy, that's Brewer) in Phoenix.  Not that one was in the stars, mind you, but it's grand to have the option once more.

Found these two quotes online this morning @ JMG and thought I'd post them too.  One of these papers is owned by Rupert Murdoch...can you guess which one?

It's all in how you look at it, isn't it.

h/t JMG

More later.

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Gaudete - Erasure Video

A chilling, beautiful animation to accompany a great song from their new album.  Any gay man who ever served in the Church will identify with this video.

Turn off the room lights, turn up the speaker volume and watch carefully.  There is much to learn.

Lyrics:

Refrain. Gaudete, Gaudete! Christus es natus Ex Maria virgine, Gaudete!

1. Tempus ad est gratiae, Hoc quod optabamus; Carmina laetitiae, Denote redamus.

2. Deus homo factus est, Natura mirante; Mundis renovatus est A Christo regnante.

3. Ezechiellis porta, Clausa per transitur; Unde lux est orta Salus invenitur.

4. Ergo nostra cantio, Psallat iam in lustro; Benedicat Domino; Salus regi nostro.

~~~~~~

I survived recovered from the Catholic Church…

And so it goes.

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UM......BOO?

Might as well get a sunshiny traditional picture in because today looks like a real Halloween - foggy, drizzly, chilly.  You know, Hot Cocoa weather.

Yeah, more like this scene. Ahmed the Dead Terrorist, anyone?

And what would the Holiday be without one of these. Say, he's good at this!

Whatever you're planning this All Hallows' Eve, hope you have a fun, safe, and spooky time.

And so it goes.

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Halloween: "Happy Priest" Old is New Again

See this ad and read it carefully (click to embiggen):

Now don't be offended.  Truth is truth and you can't have opinions about truth. A few years ago there was one offered far more graphic than this one.

OK, truth be told; once upon a time when I was a young'un growing up Gay (and Catlick) in New Orleans, once upon a time at Mardi Gras I costumed as a Pregnant Nun on Roller Skates.  The costume in the ad doesn't have that much imagination. I dreamt up the idea at age 16! Evil boy!  Well, I am left-handed, after all - and we know what that means. You don't?  Go ask an old nun.

After all, nuns were the Islamic terrorists of their day.   If you went to Catholic school you know I speak the truth.  Of course, I do...

Predictably, ol' Bill Donahue - of the Catholic League (a league of one, BTW) is foaming at the mouth over this 'outrage' - in an attempt to martyr himself for all those victims of religious abuse both past and present.

It is what it is.

I wish I was well enough to work Sea Witch this weekend. I'd give some folks heart failure.

h/t: JMG

More later.
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Holly Near: "I Ain't Afraid"

I slipped her "Edge" CD into the car  player yesterday, as I ran an errand before work (it's a great CD, BTW) and when this track began I had to pull over and listen.  I remember seeing Holly perform this at a conference I attended in Toronto back in July 2001, 2 months before the 911 attack. She even signed my copy of the CD. This is the cleanest video I could find on YT.  Enjoy.



And so it goes.
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Elaine Stritch: End of An Era

I first became aware of and fell in love with Elaine Stritch when she starred in Noel Coward's "Sail Away" -
a short lived Broadway musical.  I had the pleasure to see her in Company (three times!), once with Dean Jones - the original Bobby - and twice with the darling Larry Kert.

She's 88 years old now and ready to return to Michigan, which she left in 1942. This is a candid look at one of the brightest, toughest, and most gifted stars who has vast cache of back stage stories from the 1940s through 2000+. And each time she shares one there seems to another new one to tell. This is a sort of review/homage to Strritchy (as Coward called her) in the New Yorker.  Here's a little tease:

On Friday evening at the Café Carlyle, before the second-to-last performance of “Elaine Stritch at the Carlyle: Movin’ Over and Out,” Stritch’s farewell show, the crowd was settling in, ordering steak and lobster and Manhattans. The room was packed with theatricality: a woman with a crown of white-blond hair and a high lacy collar and the bearing of Snow White’s stepmother; men in fashionable suits, some with dramatic hair; a woman with a fascinator made of red feathers; Mandy Patinkin, bearded and serious; Michael Riedel, the Post critic, seated in the shadows to one side of the stage.
When the lights went down, Stritch’s accompanist, Rob Bowman, explained what to expect. “This is a very different kind of night,” he said. Stritch, everyone knew, was moving out of the Carlyle Hotel, where she’s lived for the past several years, and out of New York, and going home to Michigan, which she left in 1942. At eighty-eight, she felt it was time; she’s diabetic, and has memory problems, and had a hip replacement, and eye trouble. But her Stritchiness, by God, is still here. Bowman explained that this wasn’t a typical well-rehearsed cabaret show—the Times had tactfully made that clear in its Wednesday review, as if patrons had come for a night of showstoppers, and left confused. “Elaine was asked to do a little something for you all before she leaves for Michigan later in the month. She wants to say hello, goodbye, and everything in between. She wants to come and have a visit. Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s have a visit with Elaine Stritch!”
To wild applause, cheering, and a “Brava!” Stritch, cane in hand, made her way toward the stage as if determinedly fording a stream. She clambered onstage, yelling something feisty; people laughed. In the spotlight, she turned toward the applause. She was wearing her signature outfit: a long white man’s dress shirt, a black vest, black tights, nothing resembling pants. Her shirt buttons were shiny, like diamonds. She bowed, waved, clasped her hands together like a woman in love.
“Isn’t this fantastic, what a star I am?” she yelled. The Carlyle went wild. “I mention I’m going home, and I’m a star immediately! This used to happen with my boyfriends—as soon I’d say ‘I gotta go home now’ they fell in love.” Laugh. “Hard to get. What is it about that? And the newspaper does a picture of you with Tom Hanks, and you’re overnight a star.” The Times piece had featured a picture of Stritch and Hanks greeting each other after the Tuesday show, and another that showed her smiling at tables that included Liza Minnelli, Tony Bennett, and Bernadette Peters. “I went through so many emotions tonight that I’m a wreck,” she said, her voice breaking. The audience cried out in sympathy.
“I am, I’m a wreck! I’ve been up in that room, and I said, you know? Being a Catholic, I always give myself a problem. Sacred Heart Convent girls always give up something. Their prime time is Lent. The harder your life is, oh boy, you’re really making it.” She did a little riff about Catholicism and self-denial and guilt. “We used to go to downtown Detroit and get so drunk on Easter Saturday afternoon. And then you’d go to the cathedral and we’d say, Oh, I did it, I made a total fool out of myself, that’s what I did.”
A man ordered a glass of wine, too loudly. “Who’s talking while I’m telling these jewels? It’s just selfish!” Applause. “There’s something about it that makes sense, Lent. You give something up and everything’s more joyful.” She told more of the Catholicism story, her mood hovering between elegiac and saucy. “We haven’t even done the opening yet. That’s how casual this show is. Should we do the opening?”
“Yes!” the crowd said happily.
Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/04/elaine-stritchs-long-goodbye.html#ixzz2Q3yuKg4X

Go and read the rest.  You won't be disappointed.  I promise.

And so it goes.
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The Church Fashion Show

As the Cardinals gather in Rome to select a new Pontiff, I couldn't help thinking about this scene from Fellini's Roma. The Nino Rota musical score is a delight.  Fellini got a lot of grief from the church about this scene, but it remained in the final film.  To my sick mind, it is genius.
Enjoy.

And so it goes.
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Richard III Dig: Discuss Cities Claim to Bones

Richard III, causing trouble after 500 years!  And it isn't even his fault.  Then again...From the BBC:

A parliamentary debate has been held on where a skeleton that could be that of Richard III should be interred.

The bones were found in September by archaeologists digging beneath a car park in Leicester.
MPs from Leicester, Nottinghamshire and York discussed a permanent grave but officials said precedent meant Leicester cathedral was favourite.
DNA results on the bones are being compared to that of living descendants of the king, who was killed in 1485.
Richard died at the hands of forces of Henry Tudor near Market Bosworth, Leicestershire.

"To argue on the floor of [parliament] over these mortal remains is more like medieval cathedrals fighting over saints' relics” Hugh Bayley York Central MP

His grave, in the church of Greyfriars in Leicester, was lost during centuries of redevelopment.

However, the archaeologists from Leicester university have found a skeleton, which is consistent with the known details of his appearance and death.
Campaigners from both York and Leicester have said the remains, should they prove to be the king, ought to come to them.
In the debate, Labour MP John Mann, from Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire offered Worksop as a halfway point between the two.
But Labour's Jon Ashworth, who represents Leicester South, said: "Given it was the Greyfriars who took the body of Richard and buried him at what was then the Greyfriars' church, a site which is today just a stone's throw from Leicester Cathedral, and he has been in Leicester for 500 years, it would be most appropriate that he is finally laid to rest at Leicester Cathedral."

'Nearest cathedral' York Central MP, Hugh Bayley, also from Labour said: "He is still very well-regarded in York. We have a museum to Richard III, we respect him enormously.
"But to argue on the floor of this place over his mortal remains is more like medieval cathedrals fighting over saints' relics.
"I don't think it's appropriate."
Tory MP Tony Baldry, answering questions for the Church Commissioners, admitted: "There is quite a lot of competition for this.
"If there is conclusive evidence that these are the remains of Richard III, the tradition is that they would be buried and reinterred at the nearest Christian cathedral, which happens to be Leicester Cathedral.
"In those circumstances, I would hope to arrange a meeting with the Dean of Leicester to see how that could happen."
But he emphasised no final decision had been taken.

 This news coming shortly after viewing the history of Britain, Scotland & Ireland is quite an interesting turn of events, I must say. Fascinated and Appalled at the same time.

And so it goes.
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Catechism Caturday

I think I'll skip this lesson.  It's been a very hectic week, but I'll post later today, if I can.

And so it goes.

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Catholic Church Loses Tax Exemption in Italy

And I say it's about time. The Church has meddled in secular, political affairs, king-making (and breaking), warmongering, and land-grabbing for ages (not to mention it's been on the wrong side of history and the truth) and its victories have meant that non-catholics had to live with their policies, as well.

This sets an historic precedent. Opinions are just that, but when they become laws and a stifling force imposed upon others, there has to be a price. Contraception, Marriage rights, or Women's rights to choose the best for their lives and bodies have nothing to do with religion and everything to do with basic human rights.

From RT:
Italy’s Catholic Church will be forced to pay taxes starting in 2013 after the EU pressured the country’s government to pass a controversial law stripping the Church of its historic property tax exemption.
­The Catholic Church in Italy is excluded from paying taxes on its land if at least a part of a Church property is used non-commercially – for instance, a chapel in a bed-and-breakfast.
"The regulatory framework will be definite by January 1, 2013 – the start of the fiscal year – and will fully respect the [European] Community law," Italian premier Mario Monti's government said in a statement on Tuesday.
The move could net Italy revenues of 500 million to 2 billion euros annually across the country, municipal government associations said. The extra income from previously exempt properties in Rome alone – including hotels, restaurants and sports centers – could reach 25.5 million euros a year, La Repubblica daily newspaper reported.
On Monday, the Council of State, Italy's highest ranking court for administrative litigation, ruled against the new law. Authorities stepped in, arguing that everyone in Italy should pay property tax, including the Church.
The measure came after the country’s leadership decided in February to alter Italy’s property tax code, ending the Church’s longstanding privileges due to the severe debt crisis.
Last December, after new austerity measures were adopted in the country, 130,000 Italians signed an online petition urging the government to strip the Church of its tax exemption.
“It was time that they paid, too, with all the exemptions they’ve had throughout the years,” Marco Catalano, a 35-year-old shopkeeper in Rome, told the New York Times in February, adding that he goes to church twice a month. “They own the most beautiful buildings in downtown Rome, on Italian soil, and rent them out at market prices. They don’t give them for free or at low prices for charity.”
Two years ago, the EU began to investigate whether the tax privileges of some Church properties in Italy could be considered illegal state aid.

And so it goes.
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Stasis - Self Imposed

I've moved little more than a few feet in any direction these past 2 days off. The thought of leaving the apartment, driving the car, spending money I don't have, on things I don't really need was a no-brainer. The expected bills generated by the recent Dr. appt., blood work and X-rays sent me into semi-hibernation. Those bills will begin to arrive in a week or so and I cannot ignore their presence.  They must be paid.

Having no control over the present situation is frustrating, but I can control my reaction. Yes, it is exhausting, but that is what it is. I adapt - and move on. Or not.  Stasis.

I set about some cooking: Using ingredients already in the cupboard for meal preparation is the order of the week. There are many options, so I am not concerned for now. Just want to have a bit of fun.

Passing the time in a positive way I've read "The story of Cinerama" -  a mind-boggling history of how Cinerama came to be and what happened to destroy the greatest innovation in film making history. Long story short = greed, ignorance, stupidity, lack of foresight. The end. OMG! Talk about Stasis!


And so it goes.

'Whites Only' - "Christian" Conference

Yes, you read that right. Stop rubbing your eyes. Alabama! where else? Believe it or not, this is real.

A controversial pastor's conference welcoming only "white Christians" is underway in Lamar County, Ala., upsetting residents of the nearby town of Winfield in the western part of the state.

Christian Identity Ministries is holding a three-day conference for so-called "white Christians" who contend they have been treated unfairly, the Rev. Mel Lewis told local TV station WSFA. Lewis, the organizer and keynote speaker, says they have the right, like any other Americans, to worship how they wish.

Ku Klux Klan flags and white supremacy slogans surround the conference, which will conclude with a cross being set on fire Friday night. Organizers say it's not a cross-burning, but rather sacred Christian cross lighting.

"We are not breaking any laws. We're not violating any ordinances. We're bringing the Word of God to people who want it, obviously, or they wouldn't be here," Lewis told the TV station.

Lewis said of the conference-goers: "They are part of the chosen race."
The mayor of nearby Winfield said residents are upset, and the event does not represent their town in any way.
"Business people are upset. The city is upset. The city of Winfield does not condone this," Winfield Mayor Wayne Silas told another local TV station, WECT.
"It's surprising to see something like that in our town," said Tyler Cantrell. "I know it's been here in the past."
Organizers say their ministry is not a hate group and that although there is a strong KKK presence, the Klan did not sponsor the event.

No, they are only Klan Krazies visiting a "Christian" Event complete with a Cross Burning 'er Lighting. Yeah, seems legit.

Jesus weeps.

And so it goes.
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Richard Leakey: Evolution Debate Soon Will Be History

Ah, I can almost hear the heads of Creationists, Dominionists, and Christianists exploding at this news. So, please excuse the mess:

NEW YORK -- Richard Leakey predicts skepticism over evolution will soon be history.
Not that the avowed atheist has any doubts himself.
Sometime in the next 15 to 30 years, the Kenyan-born paleoanthropologist expects scientific discoveries will have accelerated to the point that "even the skeptics can accept it."
"If you get to the stage where you can persuade people on the evidence, that it's solid, that we are all African, that color is superficial, that stages of development of culture are all interactive," Leakey says, "then I think we have a chance of a world that will respond better to global challenges."
Leakey, a professor at Stony Brook University on Long Island, recently spent several weeks in New York promoting the Turkana Basin Institute in Kenya. The institute, where Leakey spends most of his time, welcomes researchers and scientists from around the world dedicated to unearthing the origins of mankind in an area rich with fossils.
His friend, Paul Simon, performed at a May 2 fundraiser for the institute in Manhattan that collected more than $2 million. A National Geographic documentary on his work at Turkana aired this month on public television.
Now 67, Leakey is the son of the late Louis and Mary Leakey and conducts research with his wife, Meave, and daughter, Louise. The family claims to have unearthed "much of the existing fossil evidence for human evolution."
On the eve of his return to Africa earlier this week, Leakey spoke to The Associated Press in New York City about the past and the future.
"If you look back, the thing that strikes you, if you've got any sensitivity, is that extinction is the most common phenomena," Leakey says. "Extinction is always driven by environmental change. Environmental change is always driven by climate change. Man accelerated, if not created, planet change phenomena; I think we have to recognize that the future is by no means a very rosy one."Any hope for mankind's future, he insists, rests on accepting existing scientific evidence of its past.
"If we're spreading out across the world from centers like Europe and America that evolution is nonsense and science is nonsense, how do you combat new pathogens, how do you combat new strains of disease that are evolving in the environment?" he asked.
"If you don't like the word evolution, I don't care what you call it, but life has changed. You can lay out all the fossils that have been collected and establish lineages that even a fool could work up. So the question is why, how does this happen? It's not covered by Genesis. There's no explanation for this change going back 500 million years in any book I've read from the lips of any God."
Leakey insists he has no animosity toward religion.
"If you tell me, well, people really need a faith ... I understand that," he said.
Leakey began his work searching for fossils in the mid-1960s. His team unearthed a nearly complete 1.6-million-year-old skeleton in 1984 that became known as "Turkana Boy," the first known early human with long legs, short arms and a tall stature.
In the late 1980s, Leakey began a career in government service in Kenya, heading the Kenya Wildlife Service. He led the quest to protect elephants from poachers who were killing the animals at an alarming rate in order to harvest their valuable ivory tusks. He gathered 12 tons of confiscated ivory in Nairobi National Park and set it afire in a 1989 demonstration that attracted worldwide headlines.
In 1993, Leakey crashed a small propeller-driven plane; his lower legs were later amputated and he now gets around on artificial limbs. There were suspicions the plane had been sabotaged by his political enemies, but it was never proven.

The rest of this fascinating story is HERE.

And so it goes.
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"Never See The Likes of This Again!"

Here is the full version of that great short clip in "That's Entertainment"  featuring Eleanor Powell (the best tap dancing lady at MGM) and Fred Astaire (yes, we all know he's best) and it is truly a knock out, breathtaking dance number. And as Sinatra said in the film "it's not likely you'll see this any time soon."

Finding this video really made my day. The memories of the movie remain strong and make me very happy indeed.