1. I've been oddly tired this week; it's been hard for me to make myself do any work or focus on anything. I don't know whether it's depression, low blood-sugar (I'm fasting for Advent), adverse spiritual influence, or some combo. Probably a combo. 2. There are ways to reach superficially similar effects through morally opposite … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Grumpy Talk Mostly of Manners and Values
Thoughts
Friday Flotsam: Birthday Mindset, ‘My Hero Academia’, and Other Stories
1. Yesterday was my birthday, which is once again depressing to realize. I'm never satisfied - or even close to it - of what I've done with my life so far. But I'm trying not to think in those terms and to instead try to think of whether I'm doing better than I was yesterday. … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Birthday Mindset, ‘My Hero Academia’, and Other Stories
Brief Christ the King Thoughts
Instituted at a time when earthly monarchies were toppling or falling one-by-one, the Feast of Christ the King is meant to remind us that Our Lord does not only rule the 'spiritual' life and the Church, but all Earthly things as well. All nations are rightly subject to Him in all their affairs, not just … Continue reading Brief Christ the King Thoughts
Friday Flotsam: ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ and Going Back
1. The big exciting thing from this past week I think deserves it's own post, so I'll talk about that one later. 2. I pulled up 2013's Jack the Giant Slayer earlier this week. You know, I'm a little torn on that; on the one hand, it's silly, cheap-looking (especially in the costumes), it's depiction … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’ and Going Back
Friday Flotsam: Voting, Veterans, Video, and a Gospel Verse
1. I voted this past Tuesday. Might be the last time I do, since I reject the liberal paradigm that the practice represents and I find the whole thing to be frankly absurd anyway. Though I'll probably still vote in local elections, once I settle down somewhere, since I think those are the only ones … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Voting, Veterans, Video, and a Gospel Verse
Friday Flotsam: Corman and Earthbound
1. Very busy week at the job, with all kinds of calls and issues coming up. And I've got a cold on top of it. Things seem to have tapered off a bit, fortunately, and the cold only gave me one really bad day. Still, looking forward to the weekend. 2. A good mark of … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Corman and Earthbound
Friday Flotsam: Mostly On Halloween
1. "The spirit of wickedness in high places is now so powerful and so many-headed in its incarnations that there seems nothing more to do than personally to refuse to worship any of the hydra's heads."-J.R.R. Tolkien (from a letter written in late 1969) 2. Our problem with Halloween is that we miss half the … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Mostly On Halloween
Reviews: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
There are some curious superlative exceptions in the history of cinema. The great epic of the American screen – Gone With the Wind – was made by someone other than Cecil B. DeMille. Humphrey Bogart’s greatest romantic role was opposite someone other than Lauren Bacall. And, in my opinion, the best and most frightening horror … Continue reading Reviews: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Friday Flotsam: Bl. Karl, Lasik, Tolkien, and Anime
1. First and foremost; today’s the feast of Bl. Karl of Austria, whose prayers we desperately need today as the wreckage of Christendom spirals ever more wildly out of control. Just learned of a quote of his that has immediately become one of my favorites: “We are bearers of culture even in the land of … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Bl. Karl, Lasik, Tolkien, and Anime
‘Good Ole Rebel’ at the Everyman
My latest piece is up at the Everyman: I’m very fond of the postbellum Confederate song ‘Good Ole’ Rebel’. Dating from the bitter days of Reconstruction, it offers a defiant rejection of the new order: Oh, I’m a good ole’ rebel, now that’s just what I am For this ‘fair land of freedom’ I do not … Continue reading ‘Good Ole Rebel’ at the Everyman
Serpent's Den 