Fra' Andrew Bertie, 1929-2008

Fra' Andrew died on Thursday. A great article about him on Andrew Cusack's blog here

The Lost Suit

I am a devotee of thrift shops. You will frequently find me skulking up and down isles of Am-Vets, Goodwill, the Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul or the Ladies Zionist Guild. It was in thrift-store-ville here amongst the defunct 8-track tapes, the undressed baby-dolls, the 1970’s coffee tables and broken hairdryers that I found the thing which slipped from my grasp.

While checking out the men’s suits I came across something that stood out from the rest. It was a 1960’s era safari suit. Yes, a safari suit. I am talking about a three piece khaki wonder with full sized breast pockets (perfect for storing extra ammo for that elephant gun.) What a thing! I panicked. I was breaking into a cold sweat.

This thing was bursting with a style not sported by anyone since Fred C. Dobbs in Treasure of the Sierra Madre. This was Proffesor Challenger, this was Gunga Din, this was the most bad-ass suit ever fashioned by hands of men.

“What a suit!” I thought to myself. Here it was, the Holy Grail of suits. My first thought was me wearing this three piece while camping in the Adirondacks. Oh other campers would be wearing “shorts” and “t-shirts”, but I, oh, I would be dressed to the hilt and roasting my weenies in style!

Then doubt crept into the back of my mind. What if people think I am some sort of a weirdy walking around dressed like Alan Quatermain. Would my wife take to my new garb with the same enthusiasm as I? Would they be after me with a net? Ought not I really be spending my money on something more useful? Quickly I went from hearing the calls of tropical birds in the treacherous jungle to bad 1970’s soft-rock music on the thrift-store sound system.

I left that suit there that day. I probably went home to watch T.V. and my twelve dollars likely got spent on snack cakes and beer instead of that suit, that cloth big game hunting piece of pure potential adventure.

Lets hope whoever did buy it is using it well today.

Traditional Latin Mass returns to Boston

After being booted because Holy Trinity was slated to be inexplicably closed, the old Mass is back and they will have a Midnight Mass this Christmas.

Here was the announcement:

This morning Fr. Connolly announced (to the throngs in attendance at
the 10 o'clock Mass) [NOTE: He is being ironic; seven attended the
Mass, due to the snowstorm] that after his consultations with His
Eminence, he (Fr. Connolly) has decided that the Tridentine Latin
Mass will again be celebrated weekly at Holy Trinity. He mentioned
that it remains for us to work out a schedule of clergy to enable us
to have the priests necessary to ensure proper coverage. There also
will be careful consideration as to the time the Mass will be
celebrated. The possibility of having the Latin Mass take place
before the Novus Ordo one [NOTE: 10 AM] is under active
consideration.

Peter Cooper
Holy Trinity Business Manager

These Animal Men

I had to fight not to turn this blog into a showcase for all of the gegakiana that I find on youtube, but there is too much and I can no longer fight it.

Here is an amazing musical video from a revolutionary 1990's Britpop band These Animal Men (the tag given to the unruly British by Julius Caesar).

The SOUND OF YOUTH:

Thrift Store Adventures

I need to devote a post to a great blog I stumbled on: Thrift Store Adventures. I love thrift store shopping and have been at it forever. I always loved the mad assortment of bizzare things one could find there. There are certain wonderful and strange things in thrift stores, things you would never buy but the owner of Thrift Store Adventures has an eye for them and very clerverly chronicles his finds blog-style. Excellent! Check out some of the things they have on there:













Head on over there, its amazing!

A Yankee Doodle Dandy

One of my all time favorite guys, Brian Dewan, here playing an early rendition of Yankee Doodle Dandy (actually our state song). Mr. Dewan did a N.Y. cable access program playing an assortment of political songs, they are great and you can find the rest on youtube. I'll post some Dewan audio sometime soon, too.

Vatican Soldiers

Churchill once tried to explain the political importance of the Vatican and the importance of having the Church as an ally against Germany and Stalin gave the oft quoted reply "How many divisions has Pius XII?"

In truth, Pius XII had at least one according to a Time magazine report I stumbled across from 1944. It says the Vatican had:

Mobilized a "special defense corps" estimated at 2,000 men to guard Vatican property in Rome.

Acquired a fleet of 21 coastal ships to bring food to the "hard-pressed people of Rome and Vatican City." The ships will operate between Rome and Genoa, flying the Vatican flag.†

Other defense measures taken during the past six months: 1) increase of the efficient, well-equipped Swiss Guards from 100 to 600 men; 2) increase of the Pontifical Military Guard (papal gendarmes, who ordinarily police palace and gardens) from 800 to 3,300 men; 3) quadrupling the Palatine Guard of Honor to 2,000 men. This small army has been equipped with modern weapons. The Vatican walls have been prepared for machine-gun defense "should the occasion arise."

†The small Vatican flag has two equal vertical stripes, yellow and white, carries the papal insignia. Until 1860 the Vatican had a small armed navy, used chiefly against pirates. (AWESOME!! VATICAN NAVY VS. PIRATES!!)

I couldn't find too many photos of these soldiers online, all but the Swiss Guard were abolished by Paul VI in 1970 (oh brother) so here are some for you (click for a larger view):

The Papal Gendarmes (being inspected by Charles de Gaulle:




The Noble Guard (as the name suggests made up of only Noblemen) they were also a horse guard I believe:



The Palatine Guard, the main body of the Pope's forces, all volunteers:



and of course, the Swiss guard:

Connecticut Love

Speaking of records, here is a great one I picked up at a tag-sale some years ago. The old lady who sold it to me was the singer's aunt or grandma. She had four or five copies and for whatever reason I bought all of them.

The 7" dates from 1985 and was put out by Reel Dreams Records of Maple Avenue, Hartford. Seems to be a March of Dimes fundraiser record of sorts. Side A is "Connecticut Love" and side b is a track called "Miracle on Caney Street" There is also a March of Dimes message from Scott Slifka and Governor William O'Niell.

Here is Johnathon's website.

Here is the mp3 of Connecticut Love

Happy Christmas

A Christmas present to you: one of the best Christmas albums I have ever come across A Clancy Brothers Christmas. God knows why this is not in print! I cannot believe that it would not be immensely popular. The Clancy Brothers drift easily between drinking songs to songs about Our Blessed Mother, songs with hoots and hollers to songs sung in Latin (a sign of a well rounded culture as my friend pointed out).

Here are the lyrics to Christmas in Carrick courtesy of Recta Ratio

On the road the frost is glistening.
People stream from Midnight Mass.
Friendly candles glow in windows.
Strangers greet you as you pass.
Home then to the laden table;
Ham and goose and pints of beer,
Whisky handed 'round in tumblers,
Christmas comes but once a year!

Puddings made with eggs and treacle,
Seeded raisins and ground suet,
Sated breadcrumbs and mixed spices,
Grated rind and plenty fruit,
Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg,
Porter, brandy, and old ale.
Don't forget the wine and whisky!
Christmas comes but once a year!

Women fussing in the kitchen,
Lay the food on every plate.
Men impatient in the hallway,
Guinness and porter while we wait.
Who cares if we work tomorrow?
Now's the time to spread good cheer!
Pass the punch around the table!
Christmas comes but once a year!

Click here for the download of the whole album

My Top (Five) Records of 2006

Here are my picks from the records I bought which came out this year.



1. The Aggrolites; Self Titled.

The Aggrolites started out as a backing band of Derrick Morgan. This is one of the greatest Reggae albums of all time as far as I am concerned. It is the Aggrolite's second album and it is jam packed with tracks that will no doubt go down as classics. They are already working on a third record due out in May 2007.



2. Midlake; The Trials of Van Occupanther.

A bit Grandaddy, a bit Radiohead, a bit 1970's folk pop. Whatever they have done it turned out to be a most incredible album that I can recommend without hesitation.




3. Portastatic; Be Still Please.

I have to admit that I buy everything Portastatic puts out and that this record lacks the "umph" of Bright Ideas. Despite this it still is an insanely good set of songs from Mac & Co.



4. Yo La Tengo; I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass.

Yo La Tengo has been making records since the mid 80's and you think by now their stuff would be getting a bit disappointing or repetitious but no. I Am Not Afraid is one of my favorite Tengo albums to date. My favorite track is Black Flowers. Here is an MP3 of another good poppy one, Beanbag Chair.




5. The Robot Ate Me; Good World.

This is so good. Really strange eerie yet peppy music sung in a super-high falsetto backed with clunks and clinks and toy-instrument type sounds. A lot different than the geek-pop of Carousel Waltz (which I also loved). Check out the track Djien how can you not love this?


OK that is all for now.

The Taruithorn Singers

I found this randomly off of a some Russian file-sharing website. A CD of music from the Oxford Tolkien Society.

Wow, this is great, you need to download and listen to the whole thing. It is a bunch of Tolkien geeks sitting around singing songs about trolls, goblins, hobbits and the like, REALLY REALLY GREAT STUFF. 100% gegak. It has some good musicianship and some excellent playing mixed in with some use of an electronic keyboard. CLASSIC! I cant tell you, this is one of my favorite all time records.

click here to download the whole blessed thing.

Look at these guys at work:

Gummy Beers

Here is a great candy I stumbled on that they have over in the U.K.: Beer Pints. "Beer flavoured jelly pint pots, great tasting juicy pints of beer." Made by a company called Kingsway. You get approx 32 pints per package. Excellent. I want to order some.

Check out this website, they have a lot of cool candies.

Cheese Rolling: The Greatest Thing Ever

Excuse me if I have never heard of the centuries old sport of Cheese Rolling and cannot contain my enthusiasm. Its this kind of thing that reminds me how much I love human beings. Cheese Rolling has been decribed as "twenty young men chase a cheese off a cliff and tumble 200 yards to the bottom, where they are scraped up by paramedics and packed off to hospital". The cheese wheel is seven pounds and can reach speeds of up to 70 mph annd has been known to seriously injure spectators on its way down. The winner, of course, gets the cheese.

Check out THESE PHOTOGRAPHS from the BBC website of the 2006 race. There is also video on there that you should certainly see. Incredible.

What is Going on Here?

According to this article in a South Mississippi paper, these parents named their boy E.S.P.N. after the sports-themed cable network. What the frag?! It gets even worse - the article says that there are THREE OTHER children out there also named ESPN.

HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD? What is going on here?!


Here is the article

Some Streetside Dreck

This is from the Congress of New Urbanism. We have similar signage in Hartford with an adult's impression of a "cool" looking youth saying "be cool, stay in school." Kids are not so stupid. Anyways, it seems that people think we need to light everything up like Las Vegas with flashy garbage like this.

Here is what John Norquist has to say:

"Detroit elementary school sign. In a city and school district strapped for cash they invest $$ in suburban signage. These signs
are all over and spreading. I suppose the signs are intended to overcome the doubts parents have about schools. Remember how banners were intended to add character to struggling main streets? The banner sales force hit every old burg with an inferiority complex and made a bundle. Now the back-lit sign salesmen have hit up every school district in America; probably even your town."

The Famous Musical Stones of Skiddaw

Constructed between 1827 and 1840 by Keswick stonemason Joseph Richardson out of special 'hornfels' slate, the Musical Stones of Skiddaw were made famous throughout Britain and Europe in the Victorian period. They were played expertly by Joseph and his three sons and they performed with the instrument front of Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace three times in 1848. They instrument has been kept at Keswick Museum and Art Gallery since 1914 and any visitor can walk in and play them. In the last two years they have been taken out out tour again for special concerts.

Click here for the wikipedia entry on the Musical Stones.

Below is a video of a live performance featuring the Musical Stones at Leeds.

Lucasfilm Ltd. Makes Documentary on Emperor Karl

According to the newsletter of the Blessed Karl of Austria League of Prayers for Peace Among the Nations, the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles DVDs are set to be released in 2007. The other bit of new news in here is that it says the discs will be made "available to schools." Anyways, the Emperor Karl episode of Young Indy was one of my favorites and I am really looking forward to these DVDS (George, if you are reading, please leave in the George Hall bookends. Thanks. You're the man.)

Here is the full text of the article:

Lucas Films in California is preparing for the release on DVD of the TV series, "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles." The release will be accompanied by documentaries on various historical figures from World War I featured in the fictional series. The second documentary in the series will be about Emperor Karl I of Austria. The studio is headed by the famed Hollywood director George Lucas.

H.I.R.H. Countess Maria Beatrix Arco and H.I.R.H. Archduke Simeon of Austria, both of whom are grandchildren of the Emperor, and Br. Nathan Cochran, O.S.B., the American/Canadian Delegate to the Presidium of the Emperor Karl League of Prayers, were interviewed on-camera in New York City as part of the documentary.

The interviews were part of the research for the documentary about Emperor Karl I, and will include information about the League of Prayers and about the Emperor's Beatification, which occurred in 2004. It will be about 30 minutes long, and be made available to schools.


"The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” was based on the Indiana Jones series of films produced by George Lucas Films. The TV series followed the Indiana Jones character, as a young boy and young man, during his early adventures as he encounters various historical figures.

During one episode of the series, the young Indiana Jones helps smuggle in and out of Austria two of Emperor KarlÂ’s brothers-in-law, Princes Sixtus and Felix, so that they could meet with him and take his peace proposals back to the French and English.

Although Indiana Jones’ involvement is fictionalized, the actual historical event happened and is called “The Sixtus Affair.” The Emperor wished to establish peace negotiations with the Entente Powers. The normal diplomatic channels had broken down, and although the princes were brothers of Empress Zita, they were also serving in the Belgian Army and had contacts at the highest levels in France and England. Because of their unique situation, the Emperor believed that they could best serve the interests of all sides in any peace negotiations.

The television episode portrays the dangers surrounding this bold move by the Emperor, as well as the many forces trying to thwart his efforts.

The documentary and series has a projected release date in 2007, and will be available on DVD.

Lucas and His Constant Tinkering

W over at Traditio in Radice has written a brilliant piece comparing the Star Wars prequels with the Novus Ordo Mass. I love it! Classic gegakianism! W says:

"Episodes I, II, and III are obviously the Novus Ordo of Star Wars. While they are vaguely of the same Star Wars universe in that we still have the Jedi, the Force, the Republic, &c., they are clearly a totally new and different creation. They are watered down, campy, lacking in the dirt and grit that made the original Star Wars universe feel "lived in", and replete with weak characters. There's lots of eye candy, but almost none of the substance that made the old films great classics of science fiction. Like increased lay "participation", "culturally relevant" music, improvisation, and use of the vernacular, they provide us with appealing visual goodies like stylish weaponry and great lightsabre duels, massive battles with lots of explosions, the very pretty Natalie Portman, big celebrities like Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson and Jimmy Smits (versus the mostly unknown cast of the old films, especially the solid core of British actors) and "fan favourites" like Boba Fett."

Read the whole thing at:

http://radtrad.blogspot.com/2006/08/star-wars-liturgical-analogy.html

The post was prompted by the release of the unadulterated versions of Star Wars on DVD recently (the versions that Lucas said didn't exist anymore and would never be on DVD - remember those?) Ah, to hear the Ewok Victory Song again in all its glory, not to mention Lapti Nek. Well, I could go on for hours about the problems with the Special Editions and also with the prequels but I won't. I am just going to expel them from my universe henceforth. Rather like the Novus Ordo.

Mushrooms, Civil War Reenactments, Whatnot

A gem of a spot in Hartford is Cedar Hill Cemetery, part graveyard, part park, part nature preserve its one of the first ever park-like landscaped cemeteries, made by (and for) the Victorian-Era residents of Hartford. A gazillion and one famous Hartford folk are buried in the ground there, but the place itself is sort of a time-capsule, unchanged by the modern world swirling around it.

A few people I've met who grew up in its neighborhood have told me of its importance to them as city children. Its full of ponds and generations of Hartford kids have skated on them or caught frogs or fish. It is also full of wildlife: I've seen a ton of deer and also heard tales of the bobcats. You would never know you are in Hartford.



Only a few months ago we found a turtle walking down a nearby city street and figured he had wandered out of there. We kept him in a tank for a few weeks and then let him free in one of the ponds. He swam out, circled back and popped up his head looking at us almost as if to ask us if it was alright for him to be there or maybe just to say "so long."

The cemetery has started sort of an outreach thing, getting the community more involved. They are even going to get a sign.

They offer a bunch of programs open to the public. Some of them look pretty great. The next one is a Civil War themed thing, I guess over 40 soldiers who fought in the War Between the States are buried there.

We checked out the "mushroom foray" led by a knowledgeable member of the Connecticut Mycological Society. It was great! The guy showed up wearing a sweatshirt with 30 different species of wild mushrooms emblazoned on it. We left with a plastic bag full of mushrooms that we knew wouldn't kill us ( at least I hope).

Information on the programs can be found at

http://www.cedarhillcemetery.org/Events.htm

Although it doesn't say, each event is $5 but well worth it to see a guy with a mycological sweatshirt.

The Great Schnozzola

Watched the classic Jimmy Durante film Joe Palooka last night. Great stuff but it was Durante, of course, that made it worth the watch. What a shame that the majority of his films are not available on DVD or even on VHS.

Durante started his career as a ragtime pianist in New York about 1911 playing in the same circles with musicians like the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. He played in a mess of Jazz bands into the 20's which was when his vaudville career took off.

He smoked cigars. He was a Catholic.

Fr. Peyton had a radio show called the Rosary Hour and he'd get prominent Catholics to come on the air to recite the rosary. Durante was one guest. That would have been a thing to hear...

"Hail Mary fulla greats, da Lord is wit'dee."