Sunday, June 29, 2003

The sequel to "Every Boy Has a Daddy": Hepburn's Mass at Heaven's Gate Katharine Hepburn died at 2:50 PM EDT on the Feast of St. Peter.  "The Consecration and Sacrifice effected by the priest (standing in the place of Christ) is, then, the visible manifestation of an eternal and timeless act. After the Consecration, as Gueranger says in The Liturgical Year, 'the divine Lamb is lying on our altar!' Thus we see that the Mass is the visible reality, here and now, of the timeless eternal Mass of Heaven, described in the Apocalypse. Through it we participate in the Celestial Liturgy; through it the gates of Heaven are opened to us and the possibility of eternal life is made available to us." The Source: The Church Militant recommends Defense of the Inquisitions. For a different viewpoint, see my May 12 entries. 11:00 pm

Sunday, June 29, 2003

Every Boy Has a Daddy Today is the Feast of Saint Peter. The most timely quote I know of for today's religious observances is from Oh What a Web They Weave, by F. John Loughnan: "Every boy has a daddy." This was written as part of an attack on the father of a Latin-Mass Catholic who authored the website Ecclesia Militans, which has the logo Note the resemblance to the Iron Cross. Soldier of Fortune magazine, April 2002, contains a brief discussion of the German motto "Gott mit uns" that is relevant to the concept of The Church Militant. Soldier of Fortune, April 2002 The actor on the cover, Mel Gibson, also serves to illustrate our meditation for today, "Every boy has a daddy."  See Christopher Noxon's article in the New York Times Magazine of March 9, 2003: Is the Pope Catholic... Enough? Noxon attacks Gibson's father Hutton -- like his son Mel, a Latin-Mass Catholic, and author of Is the Pope Catholic? A related "Every boy has a daddy" attack appears in the June 2003 issue of Playboy magazine.  An entertaining excerpt from this attack on Joseph P. Kennedy, father of JFK, may be found at Orwell Today.   Finally, let us meditate on the ultimate "Every boy has a daddy" attack -- by novelist Robert Stone on the alleged father of Jesus of Nazareth: Excerpt from Damascus Gate, by Robert Stone, Houghton Mifflin, 1998, Chapter 40 From the mosques, from the alleys, from the road: "Allahu Akbar!" .... Then a voice shouted: "Itbah al-Yahud!" .... Kill the Jew! .... "Itbah al-Yahud!" the crowd screamed.... Then Lucas saw the things they had taken up: trowels and mallets and scythes, some dripping blood.  Everyone was screaming, calling on God.  On God, Lucas thought.  He was terrified of falling, of being crushed by the angry swarm that was whirling around him.  He wanted to pray.  "O Lord," he heard himself say.  The utterance filled him with loathing, that he was calling on God, on that Great Fucking Thing, the Lord of Sacrifices, the setter of riddles.  Out of the eater comes forth meat.  The poser of parables and shibboleths.  The foreskin collector, connoisseur of humiliations, slayer by proxy of his thousands, his tens of thousands.  Not peace but a sword.  The Lunatic Spirit of the Near East, the crucified and crucifier, the enemy of all His own creation.  Their God-Damned God. The New York Times Magazine article mentioned above was prompted, in part, by Mel Gibson's current movie production, "The Passion," about the final 12 hours in the (first, or possibly second) life of Jesus.  If I were producing a Passion play, as Peter I would certainly cast Stone. See also the 11 PM sequel to the above. 4:22 pm

Friday, June 27, 2003

For Fred Sandback: Time's a Round The following entry of Feb. 25, 2003, was written for painter Mark Rothko, and may serve as well for minimalist artist Fred Sandback, also connected to the de Menil family of art patrons, who, like Rothko, has killed himself. Plagued in life by depression -- what Styron, quoting Milton, called "darkness visible" -- Rothko took his own life on this date [Feb. 25] in 1970.  As a sequel to the previous note, "Song of Not-Self," here are the more cheerful thoughts of the song "Time's a Round," the first of Shiva Dancing: The Rothko Chapel Songs, by C. K. Latham.  See also my comment on the previous entry (7:59 PM). Time’s a round, time’s a round, A circle, you see, a circle to be. — C. K. Latham 10/23/02 The following is from the cover of "Finnegans Wake: a Symposium," a reprint of Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress,   Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 1929. As well as being a memorial to Rothko and Sandback, the above picture may serve to mark the diamond anniversary of a dinner party at Shakespeare and Company on this date in 1928.  (See previous entry.) A quotation from aaparis.org also seems relevant on this, the date usually given for the death of author Malcolm Lowry, in some of whose footsteps I have walked: "We are not saints."  — Chapter V, Alcoholics Anonymous 6:16 pm Comments on this post: "We are Latter Day Saints". ~The Mormons Posted 6/29/2003 at 3:27 am by oOMisfitOo "It's coming around again . . ." Posted 6/29/2003 at 3:29 am by oOMisfitOo

Friday, June 27, 2003

Countin' Flowers on the Wall Today, the birthday of Bob Keeshan (aka Captain Kangaroo), seems an appropriate day to meditate on religious issues. The death of minimalist artist Fred Sandback on June 23, coupled with my vitriolic attack on Christianity of that same date, suggest that I should give some recognition to defenders of that bizarre religion. Two of Christianity's most able defenders are singer Martina McBride and professor of English Gerald McDaniel. McBride has stated loudly and clearly her conviction that "Love's the only house big enough for all the pain in the world." I may be mistaken, but this sounds to me like a profession of faith in the Christian church. McDaniel's Cultural Calendar includes many items of Christian interest (saints' days, etc.) but also includes a greater variety of general cultural history than any other online calendar I know of.  Like all Christian documents, it displays little regard for the truth (dates are often wrong), but its heart seems to be in the right place.  Most important, in light of McBride's persuasive song lyric, is the fact that McDaniel's calendar -- and therefore, perhaps, his church -- does seem to be big enough -- at least in principle -- for some of the pain in the world, as well as some of the joy.  Unfortunately, the church has much less room for truth than for emotion. For emotion, see McBride's album of that title.  For some thoughts on truth, see McBride's fellow country singer, Patty Loveless (whom I greatly prefer to McBride). The above reflection was prompted by McDaniel's having a written a document that includes both of the following items for June 27: TV's Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan, was born on this day in 1927. He was also Clarabelle the Clown on Howdy Doody. On this day in 1928, an American expatriate bookseller, Sylvia Beach, and her companion Adrienne Monnier, had a dinner party to which they invited James Joyce and Scott Fitzgerald. It was held at her flat above her bookstore Shakespeare & Company.... These two items appear to have been placed by McDaniel in the right date slot.  (Christians may sometimes have the right values, but should never be trusted to have their facts straight.) 4:05 pm Comments on this post: The Good Cap'n was my only respite from that weirdo Mr. Rogers. Ick.  Give me Mr. Green Jeans any day.  Please. Posted 6/29/2003 at 3:26 am by oOMisfitOo

Thursday, June 26, 2003

Magic "I really don’t believe in magic. I believe in some kinds — the magic of imagination and the magic of love." — J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter's creator, June 26, 2003 Amen, Sister. 9:57 pm Comments on this post: me too! Posted 6/26/2003 at 10:45 pm by NickyJett . . . and White Light.  I believe in love, in imagination and White Light, which is a little of both. Posted 6/27/2003 at 12:08 pm by oOMisfitOo I believe in the all encompassing power of love and the Light, both of which are part of the same Omnicient Being! Posted 6/28/2003 at 8:25 pm by winniezpoo

Thursday, June 26, 2003

ART WARS: Art at the Vanishing Point From the web page Art Wars: "For more on the 'vanishing point,' or 'point at infinity,' see Midsummer Eve's Dream." On Midsummer Eve, June 23, 2003, minimalist artist Fred Sandback killed himself. Sandback is discussed in The Dia Generation, an April 6, 2003, New York Times Magazine article that is itself discussed at the Art Wars page. Sandback, who majored in philosophy at Yale, once said that "Fact and illusion are equivalents." Two other references that may be relevant: The Medium is the Rear View Mirror, which deals with McLuhan's book Through the Vanishing Point, and a work I cited on Midsummer Eve  ... Chapter 5 of Through the Looking Glass: " 'What is it you want to buy?' the Sheep said at last, looking up for a moment from her knitting. 'I don't quite know yet,' Alice said very gently.  'I should like to look all round me first, if I might.' 'You may look in front of you, and on both sides, if you like,' said the Sheep; 'but you ca'n't look all round you -- unless you've got eyes at the back of your head.' But these, as it happened, Alice had not got: so she contented herself with turning round, looking at the shelves as she came to them. The shop seemed to be full of all manner of curious things -- but the oddest part of it all was that, whenever she looked hard at any shelf, to make out exactly what it had on it, that particular shelf was always quite, empty, though the others round it were crowded as full as they could hold. 'Things flow about so here!' she said at last in a plaintive tone...."  "When Alice went      through the vanishing point" 5:00 am Comments on this post: I and ALICE are one! Posted 6/26/2003 at 9:54 am by NickyJett

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

In memory of Staige D. Blackford:  Introibo ad Altare Dei "...they [the clergy] believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." — Thomas Jefferson "Stately, thin Thomas Jefferson came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.... He held the bowl aloft and intoned: — Introibo ad altare Dei. Halted, he peered down the dark winding stairs and called out coarsely: — Come up, Staige! Come up, you fearful editor!" With apologies to the University of Virginia, to the Virginia Quarterly Review, and to James Joyce. "Man, it's long... It's a long, long, long road." — Frank Sinatra See also memorials to George Axelrod and Leon Uris, both of whom died at the summer solstice, June 21. 2:45 am Comments on this post: ur site looks empty. props Posted 6/25/2003 at 11:14 pm by twurkin13

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

In memory of Leon Uris: Mate Change Problem White to mate in 2 moves H.W.Grant, 1st Prize, Australian Column 1924 The concept of "mate change," appropriate on this, the coronation date of Henry VIII, is explained at Chathurangam.com, my source for the above problem. For the connection with Leon Uris, find the "key" to the above chess problem... i.e., the notation for White's first move. From the New York Times, June 24: "Reviewing Mr. Uris's 1976 novel Trinity in The New York Times Book Review, Pete Hamill wrote: 'Leon Uris is a storyteller, in a direct line from those men who sat around fires in the days before history and made the tribe more human.'" Uris, 78, died at the summer solstice... Saturday, June 21, 2003.  See also Force Field of Dreams. 7:59 pm

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

Night and Day... Some comments on yesterday's entry that are too good to be hidden under a "comments" link.  References are to Through the Looking Glass. My understanding of the "Red Queen" was that it was a metaphorical reference to a womans menstrual cycle. The two queens were representative of a womans behaviors throughout. Or some such thing. Posted 6/24/2003 at 11:12 AM by oOMisfitOo Humn. [affects very proper British Accent:]  I suppose then the good reverend is out of his bloody mind? Posted 6/24/2003 at 11:14 AM by oOMisfitOo Speaking of religion, blood, and the 23rd, perhaps Sissy Spacek should play both the Red and the White Queen in Looking Glass. Remember her prom night? See my entry of May 23rd, The Prime Cut Gospel.  Posted 6/24/2003 at 2:46 PM by m759 For today's musical offering, click here. 3:43 pm

Monday, June 23, 2003

Harry Potter and the Fairy Queen Lest the incautious reader gain the impression from yesterday's entry "The Real Hogwarts" that Christianity is anything other than a pack of damned lies, or that the phrase "oasis of civilisation" I used yesterday was meant otherwise than with tongue in cheek, I would like to nominate a well-known professional Christian liar as Queen of the Fairies this Midsummer Eve. The reader is referred to The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart, by the Rev. Peter Gomes, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard and pastor of that institution's Memorial Church. The Rev. Gomes, an acknowledged homosexual, gave a commencement address recently wearing a gorgeously red academic gown.  This comported well with his contention that the real heroine of "Through the Looking Glass" was not Alice, but the Red Queen.  The reason?  The Red Queen, Gomes says, could believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast.  Apparently this is a virtue in Christian Morals, at least at Harvard. For a RealOne video of Gomes's address, click on the link below: The Red Queen (Actually, the queen who discusses "six impossible things" in Chapter 5 of Through the Looking Glass is the White Queen, but clergymen never let a little detail like truth stand in their way.) 7:45 pm Comments on this post: My understanding of the "Red Queen" was that it was a metaphorical reference to a womans menstrual cycle. The two queens were representative of a womans behaviors throughout. Or some such thing.  Posted 6/24/2003 at 11:12 am by oOMisfitOo Humn. [affects very proper British Accent:]  I suppose then the good reverend is out of his bloody mind? Posted 6/24/2003 at 11:14 am by oOMisfitOo Speaking of religion, blood, and the 23rd, perhaps Sissy Spacek should play both the Red and the White Queen in Looking Glass. Remember her prom night? See my entry of May 23rd, The Prime Cut Gospel. Posted 6/24/2003 at 2:46 pm by m759

Sunday, June 22, 2003

Trance of the Red Queen In memory of playwright George Axelrod, who died Saturday, June 21, 2003. From the Chicago Sun-Times: "In 1987, Mr. Axelrod was saluted at the New York Film Festival. He told the admiring crowd: 'I always wanted to get into the major leagues, and I knew my secret: luck and timing. I had a small and narrow but very, very sharp talent, and inside it, I'm as good as it gets.' 'The Manchurian Candidate,' in 1962, based on Richard Condon's novel about wartime brainwashing and subversive politics, may have been Mr. Axelrod's best achievement. He declared in 1995 that the script 'broke every rule. It's got dream sequences, flashbacks, narration out of nowhere . . . Everything in the world you're told not to do.' He considered 'The Manchurian Candidate' a comedy...." "Don't you draw the queen of diamonds,      boy, she'll beat you if she's able. You know the queen of hearts      is always your best bet." — The Eagles, "Desperado" Another quotation that seems relevant: "The hypnosis was performed by the good and pious nuns...." For the Diocese of Phoenix  See entries of June 4 and June 15. See also two items from Tuesday, June 17, 2003: A 6/17 Arizona Daily Star article on Phoenix bishop Thomas O'Brien, and the 6/17 cartoon below.   Tony Auth, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 17, 2003 For background, see Frank Keating in the New York Times, 6/17/03. My entry of 5 PM EDT Saturday, June 14, 2003, which preceded the death involving Bishop O'Brien, may also be of interest. 9:00 pm

Sunday, June 22, 2003

The Real Hogwarts is at no single geographical location; it is distributed throughout the planet, and it is perhaps best known (apart from its disguises in the fiction of J. K. Rowling, C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and other Inklings) as Christ Church.  Some relevant links: Christ Church College, Oxford Harry Potter at Christ Church, Oxford Christchurch, New Zealand University of Canterbury Physical Sciences Library: Keeping Current with the Web: Maths & Statistics, June 2002 Diamond Theory: Symmetry in Binary Spaces http://m759.freeservers.com/ The author of this site is Steven Cullinane, who has also written booklets on the subject.  The web site provides detailed discussions of Diamond Theory, and is intended for college math students or mathematicians.  According to Cullinane, Diamond Theory is best classified in the subject of "finite automorphism groups of algebraic, geometric, or combinatorial structures." The site also includes links to other resources.    From the NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering and Technology, Volume 1, No. 9, 7 June 2002, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2002.  http://scout.cs.wisc.edu Christ Church, Christchurch Road, Virginia Water, England The Vicar of Christ Church has written a scathing attack on white-trash religion, "Christian Zionism," that should be required reading for all prospective U. S. demagogues. Finally, on this Sunday in June, with The New York Review of Books of July 3, 2003, headlining the religion of Scientism (Freeman Dyson reviewing Gleick's new book on Newton), it seems fitting to provide a link to an oasis of civilisation in the home town of mathematician John Nash -- Bluefield, West Virginia. Christ Church, Bluefield, West Virginia 2:28 am

Friday, June 20, 2003

The Order of the Phoenix Some links of interest on this day of Potter-mania: The Royal Order of the Phoenix Knight's Gold Cross  With Swords awarded to Arthur Edmonds, Royal New Zealand Engineers, attached to Special Operations Executive and parachuted into occupied Greece 1 October 1941, serving with Greek guerrillas. St. James Church Cemetery, Kerikeri, New Zealand In Loving Memory of  Arthur Edmonds who died June 20th, 1914, aged 88 years: Logos  Logo, Anglican Diocese of Auckland Logo, Catholic Diocese of Phoenix See also Cullinane College. "The dark lord re-emerges, but thinking he can now kill Harry, discovers that Harry is still protected, since both his wand and Harry's wand have as their essence two feathers from the same phoenix, a phoenix that has only given two feathers, and they cannot be used against one another." — Harry Potter: Social Activist for the 21st Century "The question is — why does the same story keep getting told? The answer is that we’re still trying to figure it out." — Me and Frodo Down by the Schoolyard 1:28 am Comments on this post: Thanks for the background and context Posted 6/20/2003 at 9:21 am by NickyJett

Wednesday, June 18, 2003

Claves Part II http://www.skytopia.com/project/scale.html http://www.tunesmithy.connectfree.co.uk/ musical_note_intervals.htm http://www.kirnberger.fsnet.co.uk/ 6:33 pm

Tuesday, June 17, 2003

Claves Regni Caelorum On actor Gregory Peck, who died Thursday, June 12, 2003: "He had early success in 'The Keys of the Kingdom,' in which he played a priest." As Peck noted in a videotape played at his memorial service June 16, "As a professional," he added, "I think I'd like to be thought of as a good storyteller; that's what's always interested me." June 16, besides being the day of Peck's memorial, was also Bloomsday.  My entry for 1 PM on Bloomsday, a day celebrating the Ulysses of James Joyce, consists of the three words "Hickory, Dickory, Dock."  A comment on that entry: "I prefer the Wake." The following, from the Discordian Scriptures, provides a connection between the Bloomsday mouse and the Wake of patriarch Gregory Peck. Hickory Dickory Dock Hickory, dickory, dock! Here we are on higher ground at once. The clock symbolizes the spinal column, or if you prefer it, Time, chosen as one of the conditions of normal consciousness. The mouse is the Ego; "Mus", a mouse, being only "Sum", "I am", spelt Qabalistically backwards.  This Ego or Prana or Kundalini force being driven up the spine, the clock strikes one, that is, the duality of consciousness is abolished. And the force again subsides to its original level. "Hickory, dickory, dock!" is perhaps the mantra which was used by the adept who constructed this rime, thereby hoping to fix it in the minds of men; so that they might attain to Samadhi by the same method. Others attribute to it a more profound significance -- which is impossible to go into at this moment, for we must turn to:   Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.... The Bloom of Ulysses has a certain philosophical kinship with Yale literary critic Harold Bloom.  For material related to the latter Bloom's study of Gnosticism, see Chaos Matrix.  For the conflict between Gnostic and Petrine approaches to religion, see Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos. From an account of Peck's memorial service: "Mourners included... Piper Laurie...." OK, he's in. 5:20 pm

Monday, June 16, 2003

Bloomsday, 1 PM Hickory Dickory Dock. 1:00 pm

Monday, June 16, 2003

Bloomsday, 1 PM Hickory Dickory Dock. 1:00 pm Comments on this post: The original manuscript used to live down the street from us and every Bloomsday we would go and listen to city VIP's read the first chapter.  However, I prefer the Wake. Posted 6/16/2003 at 2:23 pm by BabalonTheBride

Monday, June 16, 2003

Bloomsday. See Bloom and Midsummer Eve's Dream. 12:00 pm