December 2010
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Although this is a bit late for yesterday's Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I'm posting it because I heard it at Mass then. Over the years I have certainly done my share of complaining about the banal soft-pop hymns that have been the staple of Catholic music for the past thirty years or more. Some…
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I've always know that Veterans' Day, November 11, originated as Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I, and was later expanded to include all war veterans. So I was mildly surprised when I noticed some discussions indicating that a lot of people had never heard of Armistice Day. I wonder how long it…
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Sunday Night Journal — December 5, 2010 (I started this piece last Sunday, and had to stop writing to deal with a software emergency at work. But I had already seen that I was probably not going to be able to handle the subject in a blog post. I took it up again today, and…
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Happy Independence Day to Finland, and happy St. Nicholas Day to all. I'd like to think there's some significance to the fact that those are the same day.
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Via National Geographic. Some really spectacular pictures. I love stuff like this. And while I'm at it, and speaking of pictures, this week's Hearts of Space theme is austerity, and the gallery is really nice. The music is spectacular: a series of excerpts of music from northern and eastern Europe, particularly the Baltic area, from…
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Weekend Music I’d like to make the argument that this is the greatest pop song ever written, but that’s really a little foolish, not because it isn’t unquestionably a very great song, but because there are so many great ones. Most of my favorites in this pre-rock-and-roll vein have lyrics by Johnny Mercer, who so…
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Read the first letter on this page. It's really…well, I won't say miraculous, but the chances were very much against the happy ending. The person who stopped was as brave as he was kind. The "Bayway" referred to in the letter is the long bridge by which Interstate 10 crosses Mobile Bay. Traffic is often heavy…
Light On Dark Water 