DUMB OLD HOUSEWIVES

We can't help with our votes

2012-02-10T17:33:00.000-05:00

But we can pray for our American friends to have the courage of Thomas More.

Mark Steyn on the HHS mandate.
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Jim Cuddy reminds my why I love him, part 2.

2012-02-10T16:57:00.000-05:00

Last night I had a date with Jim Cuddy. Mr. B. came along, too. We all had a rockin' good time at the National Arts Center, the Jim Cuddy Band's fourth last stop on their national tour.

Opening for the JCB was Doug Paisley, an artist to whom I was very glad to be introduced. Check him out! I'm going shopping for his music today.

Mr. Cuddy played most of the songs from his latest album, Skyscraper Soul, as well as a couple of hits from his other solo albums. Blue Rodeo favorites were in the set, too. It was lovely to hear a live performance of "Bad Timing", my favorite Blue Rodeo song. (It was just like this video, except from where I was sitting Jim Cuddy was only about two inches tall.) For an encore, Jim sat down at the piano and treated us to "Try" .

The concert concluded with an acoustic rendition of "Wash Me Down", a beautiful track from Skyscraper Soul. Doug Paisley, Anne Linsday, Jim Cuddy and Colin Cripps stepped away from the mikes and sang. Truly sublime. I felt that I had not only been washed down, but had also drunk deeply of something pure and clear. It was rather jarring to get up and leave the theater for a cold parking garage instead of staying in our seats to sigh with contentment for an hour or so. I haven't found any videos posted from last night's concert, but here's one from their appearance in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. I'll say no more. Watch, and sigh with me.

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Everything you need, and so much more.

2012-02-10T15:17:00.002-05:00

This week I visited ~~Buy 'n Large~~ the biggest Ikea in Canada (until Montreal gets a bigger one in 2013). The new Ikea has two enormous levels, thousands of products, a 640 seat restaurant, uncountable Swedish meatballs, and can be seen from the moon. You have to be ready to spend time in this store. After penetrating the labyrinth and discovering that they didn't have the item I required, I wanted to leave. However, "leaving" proved to be another thing Ikea could not provide. I had to ask a clerk for the fastest way out of the store. The only exits I could find were for emergencies, and I wasn't going to follow the blue arrows on that 1.3 km journey back to daylight.

The clerk - let's call her Ingrid - hesitated a little. "You can take that shortcut," She pointed to an inconspicuous gap in the wall which was marked by a small, blue sign with letters about 1.5 inches high. (They really don't want you to take a shortcut.) After that, Ingrid continued, I could find my way to another area of the store where...someone else could tell me how to get out. I thanked her politely, but as I walked away I thought, how does she leave at night? Then the chilling truth struck me: She was just another customer who couldn't escape. I did wonder why she was holding a toothbrush. It was then that I noticed the store was playing Hotel California on an endless loop....

I thought the old Ikea was big enough, but I can see how they found it inadequate given that the new store's sign is roughly equal in square footage to the old store.

Some people really love Ikea; I know this because on one trip there, many years ago, I was able to sell a used diaper to a couple of university students by labeling it a tea light holder ("Stjinkii"). We went to that old store fairly often. Then we bought a dresser in whose top the Ikea gnomes had neglected to drill any holes, thus rendering it an ordinary board which was impossible to attach to the rest of the dresser. (I think that was the "Defektiv" line of bedroom furnishings.) After we stood in line for an hour to exchange it, Mr. B. said, "Never again!" and he has not set foot in Ikea since.

Ikea does have some lovely showrooms. I'd like my house to look like some of their setups, but I have lost confidence in their furniture. I've given up buying any Ikea product that has moving parts. This considerably narrows my choice of home furnishings, but I haven't joined Mr. B.'s boycott just yet. It may not be possible to fashion a Queen sized headboard out of 80 paper napkins and a salad bowl, but you never know until you try!

Anyway, the morning shift is about to start. I'd better get off this inventory computer and hole up in Office Storage for the day. I recommend the Yagenplutz for its airy spaciousness. And I don't want Ingrid to get there before me.
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Mr. Steyn, we are holding you to it.

2012-02-10T01:46:00.001-05:00

As per Mrs. Beazly's example, I watched Mark Steyn's blissfully lengthy stint on BookTV the other day (yes, Virginia, you can homeschool kids, do laundry, make meatballs, and ponder civilizational collapse simultaneously, especially when you have a new Mac).

Near the very end (of the program, not the world), he said he's thinking of compiling an ANTHOLOGY OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE!! Now, being extremely interested in both children and literature, and doing a lot of homeschooling that involves both, I say unto you, Mr. Steyn, please do this thing with all possible haste. My youngest is seven and rapidly becoming an avid reader. Wouldn't it be great for her to become an avid Steynette before the age of ten?

You know this book would sell like hotcakes, because your lady-fans are virtually the only ones out there having babies, and most of us care about what we read, and a great many of us are also heavily involved in educating our children. So do it. Compile the Children's Anthology. We will hound you till you do.
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How did I miss this?

2012-02-10T00:50:00.000-05:00

Somewhere in the last wee while, we picked up our fifth follower! This calls for a Flannery quotation.

When in Rome, do as you done in Milledgeville.

--Source unkown (for now...)

I want one.

2012-02-09T13:44:00.001-05:00

So much more meaningful than the Big 0's hopey-changey logo.

A coffee mug would be OK too.

And Mrs. Beazly is right; Mr. Khil does have a great voice.
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What the Dickens!

2012-02-07T18:31:00.003-05:00

The DOHs, both being ~~huge~~ avid and enthusiastic fans of all things Dickens, cannot let this day go by without mentioning his bicenentary, celebrated today.

Where does one begin? How about over at Pundette's... because I couldn't say it any better myself, and besides which, she's already done the work. (If I didn't know better, I'd think we homeschooling Catholic Dickensian Steynette moms all shared a brain, even if not the diligence gene.)

Do you have a permit for that Dr. Pepper?

2012-02-05T20:10:00.000-05:00

This could only come from California. At least, that's what you'd like to believe.

"We recognize that societal intervention to reduce the supply and demand for sugar faces an uphill political battle against a powerful sugar lobby," the researchers say, "and will require active engagement from all stakeholders."
But such "tectonic shifts" in policy are possible, they say, pointing to bans on public smoking, limits on alcohol sales and condom dispensers in public washrooms. "It's time to turn our attention to sugar."

However, they're not the only ones who think the government should be looking after our sugar intake.

It may seem incongruous that the same folks who will stamp out your cigarette for you (or perhaps just drown it in your contraband cola) would also encourage you to engage in the "less risky" sex that condoms reassuringly offer. But it really comes down to self-control: specifically, no one should ever be required to exercise any. Cigarettes are bad for your health, therefore they should be banned. Promiscuity can spread STDs, therefore you must be provided with a condom. Too much sugar can cause obesity, therefore the sale of pop should be restricted. When it comes to your habits, the government should always be there for you! Heaven forbid that you should ever have to say "No" to yourself.
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I don't really care about the Super Bowl, but three hours of Steyn is a Fantastic Dish.

2012-02-05T19:07:00.001-05:00

I was able to catch about half of his appearance on BookTV, and I'm looking forward to watching the whole thing. It repeats February 6 and 11.

I hope he writes an autobiography someday.

Here's Steyn's latest in the O.C. Register - really superb.
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I am very glad because my nephew is getting married

2012-02-03T14:40:00.003-05:00

Because that means a rowdy family party/dance. I hope they have a DJ, so that I can request this totally viral song at the dance. (You should see its popularity rating on iTunes. Hilarious.) Warning: the first viewing/hearing is surreal, and may cause dizziness, loss of balance, and/or cognitive dissonance. Subsequent hearings: abandon all hope of getting the tune out of your mind and join the zombie hordes who love it.

Artist: Eduard Khil; Title: "I am very glad, because I'm finally returning back home (Trololo)"

Maybe he was in the gulag for singing this song.

DOH fever is gripping the nation.

2012-02-01T10:31:00.000-05:00

Colin at The Theology of Dad is kind enough to add us to his Canadian Catholic Blog Roll.

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Hey Girl.

2012-02-01T10:13:00.004-05:00

Here comes another long month of home school. Need some inspiration?

via Pundit & Pundette
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And speaking of Lego...

2012-01-30T10:41:00.000-05:00

Feminists of the world, GET A LIFE! Or go to Afghanistan and see what you can do about that not-letting-girls-go-to school situation. Oh, I guess it's easier to stay home and pick on Lego.

Fembots up in arms over pink Lego (aka "gender specific marketing"). Hello? This type of marketing always has and always will exist. Pink Lego? My little girls LOVE IT. They also own and love sets with police vans, airplanes, and all that boy stuff. There is girl stuff and there is boy stuff and there's no shame in celebrating it.

Ten kitchens, 90,000 square feet, and seven children

2012-01-27T11:08:00.001-05:00

No, Mrs. P., that's not a summary of all the house plan permutations you've gone through over the last ten years and the persons to be made comfortable therein. This is all about The Queen of Versailles.

Director and photographer Lauren Greenfield:

“I’m not as interested in rich people as I am in our values. I’m interested in consumerism in our culture and how powerful it is.... I’m also interested in social class. And in America, money defines social class.”

Perhaps this won't encourage any kind of virtue in a dumb old housewife dissatisfied with her 0.43 kitchens and 1100 square feet, but it does sound interesting. And maybe it is a good reminder that to much of the world, even 1100 square feet seems like a palace. Especially if it includes running water... and electricity....
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Happy Birthday

2012-01-27T00:49:00.002-05:00

To the greatest composer the world has ever known.

I saw Amadeus when I was twelve. It truly changed my life, because I had not had much exposure to classical music before that. Mrs. P. took me to see it...and to my first ballet...and to my first opera.
Thank you, Mrs. P., for all the beauty you have brought into my life. This one's for you.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;.&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Where no Lego man has gone before

2012-01-27T00:17:00.000-05:00

Master Beazly the younger was just wondering yesterday what to do with his Lego when he gets too old to play with it.

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Just for The Record

2012-01-25T23:44:00.005-05:00

And I mean that, literally. Here's a piece (pdf version) I published in The Record, "Australia's oldest weekly newspaper" (est. 1874). It presents "Catholic news and opinion from Perth, Australia, and the world." (I guess I qualify for that last one).

And so, for the droves of Record readers who come here as a result of the article, welcome to DOH!

UPDATE: it seems that despite the magic of computer wizardry, most of DOH's fans are having difficulty opening the pdf link. So here's the plain old text of the piece.

God is present in every moment of our time

December wasn’t long enough; it never is. How I wish I’d have done less rushing around, doing the necessary evils (shopping, office parties, meetings, recitals), and spent more time with loved ones: more time with aging parents, with the aunt in the senior’s home, with the friend who has cancer, with our daughter who has now travelled the 500 km back to university, not to be seen again for months—more ‘quality’ time with my husband and younger children, whom I see every day, but sometimes don’t “see” at all. More time in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Having just rung out the old year and ushered in the new, “Time” may be on our minds these days. What did I accomplish last year? Did I meet all my goals? Did I meet any of them? What do I hope to achieve in the New Year? We make resolutions, surely one of which is better time management.

For some, especially those who are suffering, elderly, or lonely, time may drag interminably—it doesn’t need to be managed so much as endured. For others, time goes by all too quickly. Those of us who are living through the double-whammy of being middle-aged and far too busy with family life and community activism can sometimes get confused—as I remarked to my sister a month or so ago: “I can hardly believe 2010 is coming to a close.” There’s nothing like momentarily losing an entire year to make one sit up and take notice that perhaps things have gotten away from you.

We are (quite naturally, in a fast-paced world) obsessive about time: we wear watches, carry datebooks, calendars and schedules (if not the archaic paper variety, then in digital form: iPads and iPods and iPhones and iThings too numerous to name). I’ve even programmed my new laptop to tell me (out loud, in a semi-human voice) what time it is, on the hour, every hour, so that I don’t waste too much time on the computer. Since I have relatives, friends, and even editors (groups not mutually exclusive) living in various time zones all over the planet, my laptop also displays clocks telling me the time in the UK, Prague, Australia, New Zealand.

We follow friends and celebrities on Twitter and Facebook for minute-by-minute updates on their every thought (and bodily function). Constantly online, we don’t bother reading news that’s more than six hours old. We even like to remind God what time it is: bold reformers in the Church constantly tell the Holy Father that he should change Church teaching to ‘get with the times.’

I am grateful for the season of Advent, now past (and all too quickly, alas), which tells us, in the bustle and frenzy of Christmas preparations, that Christ is Lord of all eternity, and sooner or later, we will be joining Him there. That God exists outside of time, and therefore, at least on a certain level, so must we.

Time is on our side, because God created it; it is there to serve us, and in turn we must use it to serve Him. We shouldn’t seek to conquer it, slow it down, speed it up, pass it, waste it, much less kill it. In every moment, God is eternally present to us. Whether our lives consist of empty loneliness or harried activity, we must, mind and soul, be eternally present to him, because we know neither the day nor the hour when he will call us physically to Himself.

We don’t need New Year’s resolutions or the strength to carry them out, because inevitably they ask more of us than we seem to have (hence, the abandonment of such resolutions by the third week of January). What we need is to remember that God is in charge, and everything will unfold according to His plan. Mainly we need to repent of our stubbornness in cooperating with Him, and have a firm purpose of amendment to do a better job of knowing, loving and serving Him—not in the next decade, or year, or upcoming week, but during the next sixty minutes of our life. He’ll take care of the rest.

Happy New Year.

Definition of the Day

2012-01-24T18:49:00.001-05:00

Idealistic youth: the time of life when you want to stick it to The Man on behalf of all the disenfranchised.

Maturity: the time of life when you realize that your youthful ambition has ironically been fulfilled, cuz it turns out that The Man is your husband, paying punitive taxes on his single income in order to support not only his family, but also untold numbers of the disenfranchised.

Or as the Avett Brothers sing it,

2012-01-23T21:16:00.000-05:00

"...I know we are young, but we won't always be, so marry me..."

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By Jove, I think I've got it!

2012-01-23T19:46:00.003-05:00

Conclusive proof that Mark Steyn and Tim Thomas are the same person.

No wonder SteynOnline goes a little quiet during the playoffs.
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And speaking of Mitt Romney

2012-01-22T21:27:00.001-05:00

As we were this weekend, when a young friend (of the eldest Miss P) came to visit...

I happened to mention Mod Hair Ken, and even though the young lady had had some Barbie experience in her past, she was (of course) not old enough to remember Mod Hair Ken. So here are a few images to scare you, and to remind Mattel to never, ever think about giving Ken rooted hair again.

This is how he looks in the package:

And for the first week or so, he's kinda groovy

But behold, once he's been played with for any length of time, and left once too often at the bottom of the toybox, the hair goes terribly, horribly WRONG.

Why yes, I do look like Neil Diamond!

Aaggghhhhhhh!

Just... no.

Truly the stuff of nightmares: It's the Black Sheep Dog on Rogaine!

Same continent, different worlds

2012-01-22T19:14:00.006-05:00

Sheesh. I just tried to order some stuff (for the kids!) from Amazon.com (based in the U.S.) because Amazon.ca (based in Canada) has oh, let's say ZERO items of the product I was interested in.

Then at the checkout, I get this message on 99% of my items.

We're sorry. This item can't be shipped to your selected destination.

"Can't"? Cuz as we all know, the logistics of carrying something across the Canada/U.S. border is so difficult and/or bewildering, due to the shark-infested waters, burning-oil-filled moats, dense forests, huge mountain ranges, marauding Eskimo drug-lords, and so forth.

I mean, how difficult could this be? They can put a man on the moon, but they "can't" ship a toy across the border of two countries that both speak English and have relatively competent postal services?
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Oh the joy

2012-01-18T16:53:00.000-05:00

Of having not one, but two daughters studying grade 9 piano. That means, of course, twice the Chopin. In your very own house. Live.

Miss P. #3 is working on this valse. I had never before heard it (despite owning at least a dozen or more CDs of Chopin music) and it is very lovely. It was published posthumously.

Miss P. #4 is working on this one. Much better known, the famous "Minute Waltz" (originally titled, according to this video Valse au petit chien).

I like this interpretation by Erez. Most people play this waltz way WAY too quickly and it just sounds horrid and ridiculous, which, of course, Chopin can never, ever be. It is not meant to be played in under 60 seconds. It's minute as in a cute, funny little dog (hence the name) and not MI-NUT as in, 'let-me-impress-you-with-my-Cliffs-of-Insanity-turbo-speed-dog-in-a-blender-pianny-playin' --the videos of which are ubiquitous online an need not be linked to here.
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Why I love Houzz.com

2012-01-18T12:38:00.001-05:00

Not only do they have a lot of purdy pictures,

traditional kitchen design by atlanta interior designer Mary Anne Merfeld - Allied Member ASID

but they understand me.

This year, the driving force behind what we want in our kitchens is our need for calming spaces and improved functionality to reduce stress in our busy lives.

Amen, and again I say unto you, Amen.

I liked this link: 12 Ways to Enjoy Your Kitchen More This Year

I agree with #7 "Get rid of your cabinets". Done...but maybe I should have waited till we decided on some new ones. Other ideas are not so practical, i.e. "Introduce artwork" (exactly how do you get greasy caked-on dust off a sculpture or a painting?) My kitchen artwork is all done in wax crayon and stuck on the fridge with magnets. Alas, for many of us, these are the most practical 12 ways to enjoys our kitchens more this year:

1) Spend less time in it.
2) Move to a different house
3) Move to a different house
4) Move to a different house
5) Move to a different house
6) Move to a different house
7) Move to a different house
8) Move to a different house

9) Move to a different house

10) Move to a different house

11) Move to a different house

12) Move to a different house

Ye gods of global warming, hear our prayer!

2012-01-18T12:02:00.001-05:00

It's -34 C here this morning. Factor in wind chill, and it feels like -44, which, for obscure mathematical reasons that are far beyond me, is pretty much the same number in Fahrenheit.

From the Environment Canada website:

Bitterly cold Arctic air combined with westerly winds of 15 to 30 km/h will produce wind chill values in the -40 to -49 range throughout most of Southern Saskatchewan today through Thursday. At these extreme wind chill values frostbite on exposed skin may occur in less than 10 minutes.

Brrr. Dreaming of summer...

GOshshshsh!

2012-01-18T00:12:00.001-05:00

Napoleon Dynamite has resurfaced in animated form.

It made me laugh more than a few times, but I have to say, the charm of the ND movie lies partly in the fact that we all went to school with a guy who could plausibly come to class with his pocket full of Tater Tots. The over-the-top cartoon zaniness of the two episodes I've seen kind of takes that away.

Still, I'm willing to give it a chance. Just the sound of Jon Heder's voice cracks me up.

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I love being domesticated

2012-01-17T19:09:00.006-05:00

Truly love it. Many years ago, on her way through town (a different town, not the Unnamed one I live in now) an old high school chum dropped in to see me and my new husband. Upon discovering that I had just baked a pie, she kind of snorted, "You're pretty domesticated," which seemed to be intended to make me feel ashamed (as though I had somehow abandoned the feminist principles I'd imbibed at university.)

I did feel ashamed, but mainly because I did not know then how to make a good pie. (The filling was runny and did not contain nearly enough sugar. Fail). I should add that she did not taste the pie; she was simply commenting disparagingly on the very fact of my having stooped to bake one. Feminists in the 80s did not make pie. I don't know what they did make, besides a lot of angry noises, and, later, when they took the reins of power in western society, a lot of bad laws and government bureaucracies. But I digress.

When you are domesticated, you can produce things like this:

Fresh and hot, which is really nice on a day when the temperature outside is -30 degrees Celsius (yes, that's even cold in Fahrenheit: -20). And you can get excited about owning things like these, my favourite bread-baking pans. Clay and cast iron, respectively. Now there's a throwback if ever there was one.

Everybody wants to save the world; nobody wants to help Mother with the dishes.

Mrs. B. chimes in...

I don't care how much you hate the patriarchy - every human being should know how to cook. And mend their clothes, and clean, and fix things....

Mrs. P., those loaves look so good they could be food art. Are you sure they weren't delicately chiseled out of styrofoam, perfectly browned with a blowtorch and then coated with hairspray? If you can verify that they weren't, I think I have to get me some of theseyer clay and cast iron loaf pans.

You bring the bread, I'll bring the place for us to break it.

When Pinkertons come to town, only the very best will do.

I'll even bring dessert, courtesy of Miss Beazly:

Monsieur le Snowman...

...his happy-go-lucky friend...

...and DESSERT IS MADE OUT OF PEEEEOPLE!!

None of us will stand on these slippery slopes. (UPDATED)

2012-01-17T11:23:00.002-05:00

A sample of the treatment offered to a little girl who isn't "perfect"... like the rest of us are.

What's next? Will they nix your heart surgery because you're depressed? Will they decide not to waste expensive medication on you if you're blind?

Update: A heartening development.

via Mark Shea

Self-abuse, Catholic style

2012-01-16T02:34:00.002-05:00

I dare you. And if you can, you have a stronger constitution than I do, because I couldn't-- not after listening to a full 25 seconds of (shudder) Ray Repp's "To Be Alive" over at Deborah G's site.

It's a site that contains audio files of original recordings of Folk Mass Music from the 60s and 70s. (In fact I think we still sing some of these in my parish, so if you feel inclined, light a votive candle and say a prayer for our deliverance, preferably via St. Cecilia).

As one wag over at Fr. Z's site commented, "I think I'll go wash the blood out of my ears now."

h/t Fr. Z, via Deborah Gyapong
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Tragic because it's true

2012-01-15T22:45:00.001-05:00

Or so it seems. American Spectator's David Catron compares the Republican Party to Thelma and Louise:

The GOP should be well positioned to send the President into retirement. Instead, the party's nomination process has become a bloody battle in which the candidates are viciously attacking one another rather than Obama, denouncing core conservative principles rather than the failures of big-government, and seems to be on the verge of producing a "winner" who has no prayer of defeating the incumbent.

As a Canadian, I can't vote; I can only watch the train wreck. And pray. Cuz if the U.S. of A. goes over the cliff, so do we.
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Which would you rather eat?

2012-01-14T13:34:00.002-05:00

This:
Modified milk ingredients, cream, sugar, glucose, stabilizer (mono and diglycerides, guar gum, cellulose gum, polysorbate 80, locust bean gum, carrageenan, calcium sulfate), artificial flavour (contains sulfites), colour (contains tartrazine).

Or this:
Whole milk, sugar, cream, vanilla extract

The second recipe, you say? Me too. And now I get to, on a fairly regular basis, thanks to my girls, who got me this great toy for Christmas.

As usual, I'm too ~~computer illiterate/lazy~~ busy to take a photo of my machine and post it here. Maybe someday. This is an Amazon image. But the machine works like a charm and the ice cream tastes great. The best part? You can't overeat, because it only makes two litres (about 2 quarts) so there's just enough for one dessert serving for my family (8 or 9 of us, depending on who's home from university at the time).

Oh, and this hardly matters (cough) but it also makes margaritas.

I also got this date book (and a calendar) for Christmas, from Mrs. Beazly.

What the heck is 'guar gum' anyway? And 'tartrazine' sounds like something that you'd use to strip varnish.

All this talk about ice cream makes me want to listen to the Buffalo Bills...

For whoever likes a good ghost story

2012-01-13T21:18:00.001-05:00

Rent/borrow The Eclipse. It's in the vein of The Woman in Black. (Which, I see, has apparently just been remade. But I'm talking about the 1989 version.)

I don't like gory movies, and I don't like movies with a demonic theme because unlike say, the Mountaintop Motel Massacre-er, Satan is real and at work in the world every day. But I do like a good ghost story. My only tip is don't watch the trailer first. Whoever put it together thought they needed to put all the scary moments into it, thus spoiling their effect in the film.

Just don't watch it alooooooone....

We're #3! We're #3!

2012-01-13T20:44:00.000-05:00

You have to imagine me chanting that while waving a big foam hand around. Thank you for putting us on your list, Daria!

It's probably a good thing

2012-01-13T11:20:00.002-05:00

That this cake topper wasn't available 25 years ago, or I'd have had it on my cake.

Perhaps I exaggerate; would Mr. P have stuck it out for a quarter-century otherwise?
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Your childhood...

2012-01-11T15:33:00.000-05:00

...brought to you by Hartland Plastics of Wisconsin.

Curiouser and Curiouser

2012-01-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

Christie Blatchford's latest report from the Shafia murder trial.

If killing your defiant child(ren) is supposed to restore honor to a family, why do the cowards who commit these demonic acts never own up to the valiant thing they have done?
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The Last Night of Christmas

2012-01-09T23:46:00.001-05:00

Today we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. Dear readers, I hope you had a merry and blessed season. If 2011 was a good year for you, join me in thanking God for the gift of 365 days of His grace and blessings. If it was not happy year for you, may 2012 be a better one.

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"What does Decent Films Guy say about it?"

2012-01-07T09:02:00.001-05:00

...is the question we ask when looking for a good flick. Steven Greydanus is our go-to guy for movie reviews, and he continues his "Still Christmas" theme with this installment about movies for this holiday.

I have finally unearthed my VHS tape of "It's a Wonderful Life". I think it will make a nice closer for the Christmas season.

And kiss the feet of God

2012-01-06T00:00:00.006-05:00

The story of the Magi has inspired some of my favorite carols. Here's one more: "The Three Kings" by Laurence Housman is set to glorious music by Healey Willan. This flawless rendition is from "The Mystery of Christmas" by the Elora Festival Singers.

As I begin a new year, I like to think of the kings starting out on that long journey. The shepherds came out of the dark and the cold to see the Christ Child, but the kings were comfortable where they were, and sought Him still. Will we?

"Who knocks tonight so late?"
the weary porter said.
Three kings stood at the gate,
each with a crown on head.

The serving man bowed down,
the Inn was full, he knew.
Said he, "In all this town
is no fit place for you."

A light in the manger lit;
there lay the Mother meek.
This place is fit.
Here is the rest we seek.

Come, come. They loosed their latchet strings,
so stood they all unshod
"Come in, come in, ye kings,
and kiss the feet of God."

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More proof that Christmas is not yet over.

2012-01-05T23:30:00.003-05:00

It's like a musical turducken.

Mrs. P., do you think Mr. Steyn might let us take Martha Stewart's place on his next Christmas show?
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Good news for Mrs. Jones

2012-01-04T01:53:00.000-05:00

I think she just made a million dollars. Mrs. Blurn, your kitchen is small, but lovely. And CLEAN. Mrs. Jones wins the prize for the smallest kitchen. Cuz you can open your fridge, and she can't. Not without hitting the base cabinets on the opposite side. True story. These are very nice pics. You would never know a mother of six lives here and had time to clean her kitchen.

(Mrs. Blurn's comments in italics. Mine in not-italics.)

Note Joanna Bogle book on my trolley, waiting to be used for the liturgically appropriate Christmas cooking that didn't eventuate this year.

You have room for a trolley. Oh, and I love the magnetic knife rack. That's on my wish list.

White subway tile: score.

Bench space speaks for itself

(I'm guessing that's Ozian for countertop)

Stainless steel integrated drain board: score. They are standard in Oz; you have to special order them here, which is jist as stupid. I mean, how many of those crappy Rubber dish drain things do you have to buy (then watch as they crack and mould) and then throw away? There must be some kind of Rubbermaid conspiracy here that makes integrated steel drainboards so rare.

Look at that poor Kitchenaid mixer tucked away in shame.

No reason for shame: for one thing, it's RED (score). For another, dig that counter-to-cabinet clearance! In her last apartment, Mrs. Jones did not even have room to accommodate her mixer on her countertop (there must have been like ten inches of clearance).

Lovely window size; white trim: score. WINDOW: score (Mrs. J. doesn't have one)

(Is that ceramic tile on the floor? I have three layers of linoleum (70s, 80s and 90s) and some bare patches of plywood where we ripped out cabinets)

Saddest part: I'm thinking, "Well, the 90s stuff is fairly new." Yah, right, only pushing 22!)

Verdict: the only thing bad about your kitchen is that it is NOT IN CANADA.

Thank you, Mrs. Blurn, for the virtual tour of your kitchen.

Some boys of my acquaintance will appreciate this

2012-01-03T10:13:00.003-05:00

And so will their mom. I'm not smart enough to embed the video (boo hoo!) but it's funny and reminds me of the Masters Beazly's Lego animations.

(Oops! Language warning on one of the rioters' signs. Share at your own discretion.)

LiveLeak.com - Occupy Wall Street Riot Brigade Lego Set

The world can stop at a partridge in a pear tree if it wants to, but I'm in for the whole 12 days.

2012-01-01T19:52:00.000-05:00

The stores are displaying their Valentine's Day merchandise and your neighbors' snow-bound trees are slumped by the curb like evicted Ghosts of Christmas Past, but the season isn't over yet. Christmas is the gift that keeps on giving. Here's how Steven Greydanus, and some of his readers, keep the holiday.

We got a great idea from A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families (buy it here): make your living room window into a giant Advent wreath. You can see the candles in this photo of our tree. You "light" them one by one with yellow tissue paper, and when Christmas day arrives, you can change the purple and pink tissue candles to white.

I've never gotten 12 presents for any one Christmas, but I think it would be cool to open just one gift a day until they ran out, instead of opening them all on Christmas Day. Of course, this idea is as popular with the Beazlies Minor as, say, packing away the Wii for the summer. So I'm pretty sure it will always get vetoed in the lower house.

   Another tradition I like is the "pass on to your little sister the nativity set which has been in your family for sixty years" tradition. You have to have a little sister and be unselfish to carry on that tradition, so I'm afraid the ox stops here on both counts. One must use these opportunities to practice being a grateful and humble receiver.

Enjoy the last week of Christmas!

Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

2012-01-01T00:00:00.012-05:00

The funniest part is

2011-12-28T15:38:00.001-05:00

I want one of these.

I'm still enamoured of unfitted kitchen design. I was looking at some fancy, expensive cabinet brochures the other day, and thought, "These kitchens are all ugly, boring and completely free of personality," which is a good thing, because I can't afford them anyway. In the end (and I do mean The End, because I pretty much expect to die of old age by time my kitchen renovation is completed), I will have achieved something akin to "shabby chic." Perhaps "shabby eclectic" or "shabby rustic" or "shabby scrap and salvage" or just "shabby." In which case I should probably just keep what I have right now and save a whole bunch of money.
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Mark Steyn, Christian evangelist

2011-12-26T18:55:00.000-05:00

Read it all.

h/t Pundette

December Turned to May

2011-12-25T22:05:00.001-05:00

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Merry &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

What sweeter music can we bring
Than a carol, for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King?
Awake the voice! Awake the string!
Dark and dull night, fly hence away,
And give the honor to this day,
That sees December turned to May.
Why does the chilling winter’s morn
Smile, like a field beset with corn?
Or smell like a meadow newly-shorn,
Thus, on the sudden? Come and see
The cause, why things thus fragrant be:
‘Tis He is born, whose quickening birth
Gives life and luster, public mirth,
To heaven, and the under-earth.
We see him come, and know him ours,
Who, with his sunshine and his showers,
Turns all the patient ground to flowers.
The darling of the world is come,
And fit it is, we find a room
To welcome him. The nobler part
Of all the house here, is the heart.
Which we will give him; and bequeath
This holly, and this ivy wreath,
To do him honour, who’s our King,
And Lord of all this revelling.
What sweeter music can we bring,
Than a carol for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King?

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

A most beautiful, merry and blessed Christmas to our readers!
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More Christmas music

2011-12-24T10:00:00.001-05:00

From the incomparable Jim Reeves.

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Oxymoron of the day

2011-12-22T14:56:00.000-05:00

Heh, we saw this sign on a recent family outing.

Speaking of quivering with excitement

2011-12-21T22:03:00.000-05:00

Recognize anyone special in this trailer, Mrs. P.?
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May contain more than a trace of Peanuts

2011-12-21T16:24:00.001-05:00

Mark Shea directs our attention to 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'.

Thank God Charles Schulz stuck to his guns (#1-3), that he followed his artistic sensibilities even when they conflicted with his personal taste (#4), and that he sought to glorify Christ in his art, as we all should in every work we do (#5). The rest, as they say, is history! (I'm also glad 'ACBC' is no longer a Coke commercial.)

We now enjoy "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on DVD, but every time I hear the opening chords of "Christmas Time is Here" I think of the excitement that ran through our house when those once-a-year broadcasts aired: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", "A Christmas Carol", "The Sound of Music". You always hoped the CTV station from Regina wouldn't be coming in too fuzzy when "The Sound of Music" started on Christmas Eve!

I've added to my list of favorites as I've grown older: "It's a Wonderful Life", "Meet Me in St. Louis". For me, this is still the best moment from them all:

Theo on the Agenda

2011-12-21T01:24:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed this interview between two of my favourite Canadian journalist-guys, Steve Paikin and Theo Caldwell, as they discuss the U.S. presidential race. Theo thinks it's a two-horse race at this point: Newt and ~~Mod-hair Ken~~ Romney, whereas I hope, along with Pundette, that Rick Perry still has a shot (but then everyone knows that Catholic mothers who wear pants all think alike). Anyway, Theo could talk for 22 minutes about stale cheese and I'd still listen with rapt attention. He is as insightful, eloquent, witty and dapper as ever. (Have I ever mentioned how stupid SUN News network is for cancelling his show?) Don't worry, Theo, I'm not planning to dye my hair red or start wearing a black spandex unitard any time soon.

It's the marshmallow on our figgy pudding.

2011-12-20T21:56:00.001-05:00

Still quivering with excitement from our stay in the "Listener of the Day" slot, we Housewives now find ourselves tucked into SteynOnline's Countdown to Christmas. Woo-hoo!

A great read for anyone who has been wondering how Mark made the leap from wordsmith to warbler.
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Demography is only half the equation

2011-12-20T11:26:00.001-05:00

You also need Faith in God. Most other kinds of "Believing" just won't do. Feel sorry for Europe by all means, but be mindful that they consciously chose their fate.

From a fabulous-looking site: Mommy Life

The decision of one or more generations to not have children and walk away from their faith has ultimately affected the whole economy of a country. For this reason our compassion needs to be properly placed. Since this experience, I have chosen to focus compassion towards a society who has lost faith in God and who have only placed faith in themselves, causing a failure and collapse which extends to all of us financially and socially. I pray for an increase of faith in society. Only then will there be economic prosperity.

h/t Pundette
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I'm having chicken for Christmas

2011-12-20T10:47:00.002-05:00

More here
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Glittering crowds and shimmering clouds

2011-12-19T16:11:00.000-05:00

This fall we took our first trip to New York City. We had a great time even though about 50% of the souvenirs we bought were umbrellas.

Our hotel was in Secaucus, New Jersey. It was beautiful. It's not always easy to find a single room that holds five people, but the Hyatt Place has them.

(This is only half the space - there was also a sitting area with a pull-out couch.) Plus, the room bore the hallmark of luxury: the TV had more inches than years I've been alive.

The bus that went into Manhattan stopped right across the street from our hotel. It took us to the the Port Authority Bus Terminal from whence we walked to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
This was a special thrill for our younger son and brings the total number of aircraft carriers/nuclear submarines I've boarded to three. So don't let anyone tell you motherhood is boring. I could have used a little more air and space and a little less "sea" pouring down on us, but that just gave us a better idea of what it must have been like to plow across the Pacific.

Something I will say for the U. S. Navy: they know mixers! Mrs. P. and some of our regular readers will be gratified to know that approximately 2% of the photos I took in NYC were of the mixers and kitchens on Navy ships.

No point in downsizing this photo. Am I right, Ladies?

Now imagine the size of the cheesecake.

I like the freestanding cabinetry, but exposed industrial fuse boxes are so last year.

Makes you want to join the WAVES, huh?

Those of you who are familiar with the Nautilus's Ten Commandments of Damage Control will be happy to add to them another nugget of wisdom spied on the walls of the Growler:

Sub space is tight. Even your warnings have no room for words that don't get right to the point.

After our military exercises it was lunch in Times Square and then on to the Manhattan Toys 'r' Us. The kids wanted to ride the Ferris wheel located inside the store. This was where we made our only travelers' faux pas - we bought the kids a play tent and decided to set it up in a quiet little public park to see if it had all its parts. What was the name of that place again? Zucchini Park? Zamboni? Anyway, it started a trend. Sorry about that, Big Apple.

After that we went over to the Empire State Building. Here's a tip for anyone considering a trip to NYC: zero visibility at the top of the ESB REALLY cuts down on the queues.

Still, I regret nothing. As Mr. B. said, "We're not coming all the way to New York City to not go up the Empire State Building!" There were more guides at the top than there were observers, but judging by the number of people in maroon uniforms, that might be true any day. The only time you could see the city below was when the wind was blowing the hardest and swirled the clouds away for a few seconds. Of course this also meant cold rain being driven into our faces and our umbrellas turning inside out, but who says everyone's experience of the Empire State Building has to be this one? I had always wondered what it was like to be caught in a hurricane.

After we visited the ESB it was starting to get dark, so we took the subway back to the bus terminal and boarded the commuter bus to New Jersey. Our 13-year-old almost ditched us at the first stop, which was a park & ride. He was sitting a couple of seats ahead of us, and at first it looked like he was just getting up to let his seatmate out. But then he started walking toward the door of the bus. We called to him, but he didn't hear us. Finally Mr. B. yelled at the top of his lungs, "BEAZLY SON, DO NOT GET OFF THIS BUS!" This caught his attention and also set all the New Jersey business commuters a-tittering. It is pretty funny to think of it now, but at the time, losing one of our children in New Jersey probably would have put a damper on our merriment. And let me tell you, we didn't need to be any damper.

The next day we drove down to Liberty State Park on the NJ side. From there we took a ferry to Ellis Island. I would have loved to spend about three hours there - the posters alone are fascinating - but the kids got tired of it after about 45 minutes. You know how uninterested ~~kids~~ human beings can be in events that happened before they were born, and which are directly responsible for the level of liberty and prosperity they now enjoy. (This is why, to my shame, I still don't know if my maternal grandparents came through Ellis Island.) It was very moving to stand in the great hall in the main building and think of all the hopeful souls who had passed through there. I thought of my grandmother, who was about two years older than my son is now when she left her home and family, never to see her parents again. I had similar thoughts when I visited Pier 21, where my father first set foot on Canadian soil nearly seventy years ago.

After Ellis Island the ferry stopped at Liberty Island, where, of course, we saw the Statue of Liberty. This opportunity to contemplate God's gift of liberty, and the vigilance we must exercise in order to preserve it, was quite affecting. We were also glad that it stopped raining long enough to take a picture of something above our heads without the risk of being drowned.

And that was our vacation. I hope to be back soon. I still want to see St. Patrick's Cathedral, Collyer Brothers Park, the leaves changing in Central Park....

Thanks for letting us in, America. I'm sure my grandparents say thank you, too.

Break out the eggnog!

2011-12-19T09:15:00.000-05:00

Christmas comes but once a year - and so have our links from SteynOnline since we started blogging in 2009. I am very excited to be today's Listener of the Day.
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And speaking of chocolate

2011-12-18T13:58:00.001-05:00

Bernard Callebaut, Canada's world class chocolaterie.

Forget the diamond anniversary ring. I want this for Christmas. I had to resist the temptation to file this bookmark under "Faith and Devotions" and instead opted for "Shopping". I especially enjoy the interactive chocolate map.
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It's Rummage Sale day at DOH

2011-12-18T00:00:00.002-05:00

In honour of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, here is a column that was published in the December, 2009 issue of Catholic Insight.

The Spirit of Christmas Present

I have an embarrassing admission to make: as a long-time devotee of 19th century English literature (and Dickens in particular), I have only just recently read “A Christmas Carol.” I can hear the incredulous gasp all the way from Ottawa, where my sister lives. (A decade ago, she gifted me with the book, and now I can tell her that I have finally got round to reading it.) I have no defence, other than to say that my procrastinator’s disposition knows no limits.

The story asks the perennial question: how can the “spirit of Christmas” live in us all the year round? Even for those who do not believe in God, Christmas remains a season of love, peace, charity, hope and goodwill. If we can rise above and beyond ourselves during this blessed and merry season, why can we not do so on a daily basis?

Dickens offers a partial answer: he advocates for self-knowledge (especially of one’s sins and shortcomings) and for good old-fashioned Christian charity. Modern film versions of “A Christmas Carol” trip over themselves in order to expunge references to God, but they still take the same tack of repentance and philanthropy. As the Spirit of Christmas Present sings in the musical version of The Muppet Christmas Carol, “Wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas.”

In the same version, the song “Bless Us All” (ironically) cuts out God entirely, although the song is certainly addressed to an entity. “Let us always love each other / Lead us to the Light / Let us hear the voice of Reason / Singing in the night.” Reason, of course, is juxtaposed to “faith,” (that entirely irrational entity) notwithstanding that any truly reasonable being ought to be sleeping at night instead of singing. They don’t teach logic (or for that matter, poetry) at school any more, especially film school.

Nor is there anything particularly loving or reasonable about what constitutes “Christmas” for many people (sadly, even for some who profess belief in Christ): excessive materialism and shopping-unto-debt, cooking and baking and wrapping; going to parties and stress and sheer exhaustion. Some people even throw in gluttony, drunkenness, and lust, which is sort of the devil’s grand joke: “celebrating” the Incarnation by indulging in sins of the flesh.

Relax, this is not about doing away with the gifts, the food, the parties; no one is advocating Puritanism. But as always, Catholics need to focus on the why and how of celebrating the Incarnation, and how we can carry it forth to the rest of the “rolling year” (I love that Dickens phrase).

Some two millennia ago, the Incarnation meant God coming to earth as man; today it includes something equally wonderful, but only for those who believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Tragically, many Catholics have lost faith in, and reverence for, the Eucharist. I won’t indulge in a lengthy blame-fest (a short one will do). In the last forty-plus years, we’ve been subjected to a great deal of poor catechesis, appalling homilies, ghastly liturgical practices, horrid church architecture and interior décor (you shouldn’t even use a word like “décor” to describe the inside of a church, but these days, you must). Eucharistic devotions have all but disappeared in many parishes. We are not ‘allowed’ to kneel for the reception of Holy Communion, and now (thanks to various bugs and viruses) we are “gently discouraged” from receiving Our Lord on the tongue.

The Eucharist is Christ, tangible and enfleshed, Almighty God Incarnate. My column title is a pun, of course, because “Present” does not just mean ‘today’; it means Gift. Emmanuel, “God-with-us” in the Eucharist is His Christmas present to us, the gift that keeps on giving. Christmas is, literally, “Christ’s Mass.” And it happens, at some point on the globe, every hour of every day.

Do we appreciate this incredible Gift? If so, our marching orders are clear: restore reverence to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; love the Holy Eucharist with our whole being; worship and adore it; anticipate receiving it (doing so worthily—go to confession regularly!). In this, we may live the spirit of Christmas all year round.

“Come in, and know me better, man!” spake the voice of the Ghost of Christmas Present in Dickens’s tale. May we hear it as the voice of our Eucharistic Lord.

God bless us, everyone. Venite adoremus.

O, I almost forgot, but it's a good thing Mrs. Beazly didn't

2011-12-17T20:38:00.000-05:00

Today is the first of the O Antiphons, O Wisdom. I see Mrs. B. has posted a video. Enjoy.
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This year Mark Steyn has released a Christmas album AND accurately predicted the devastation of society as we know it.

2011-12-16T02:28:00.004-05:00

Do you even have your Christmas shopping done yet?

You know, I still remember the moment I found out Ronald Reagan had had this whole other life as an actor before he became President of the United States. I can just see my kids having the same reaction years from now with Mark Steyn: "You mean he wrote books, too?!"

UPDATE:

Hello, SteynOnline readers! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thanks for spreading some Christmas cheer our way, Mr. Steyn!
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If you need to have this explained to you, you are not a nerd. Congratulations!

2011-12-16T01:51:00.004-05:00

If you think it's really funny, you are classified as nerdoid.

If it makes you angry, then I'm afraid nerdifaction is complete and you should just go back to working on your Klingon costume once your spasms have subsided to the point where it's safe to use scissors.

Thank you, Mark Shea.

Mrs. P weighs in. The only way this joke could be more complete is if Leonard Nimoy was behind Patrick Stewart, making rabbit ears (with the Vulcan salute, of course).
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Jim Cuddy reminds me why I love him.

2011-12-16T01:13:00.002-05:00

I was a little disappointed with Blue Rodeo's last album. Not so with Jim Cuddy's latest solo work.

Skyscraper Soul. Get it. Listen to it. Love it.

I also love Jim Cuddy because in the notes of every Blue Rodeo and solo album he tells his three children and wife of twenty-some years how much he loves them.

And because he reminds me of Woody the Cowboy.

Separated at birth.

Am I right?

This week the Ottawa Citizen was running a contest in which Cuddy fans could win tickets to his February stop at the National Arts Center, as well as a library of all his CDs. One lucky contestant will also get to meet the man himself after the concert. Now, I already have all his CDs and my tickets to the concert, but I still kinda wish I had entered. Jim Cuddy has written the soundtrack to my life, and I would have looked forward to the melancholy ballad he might have penned after meeting me: "Nervous Mumbling Idiot Girl from Ottawa":

Oooh, I was tired when I met her,
But I smiled and said hello,
She said somethin' that sounded like "Newtnk apptr ak lrrr,"
And that's when I knew it was time to go....

In other news, Blue Rodeo is about to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
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Homeschooling mom moment of the day

2011-12-15T11:06:00.001-05:00

Mom: Are you girls enjoying the Authors card game?
Misses Pinkerton: Yes!
Mom: Are you learning lots?
One of the younger Misses Pinkerton: Yes, I've pretty much memorized all the titles of the books by Jane Eyre!
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Understanding Islam

2011-12-15T10:27:00.000-05:00

In a bid to help explain why some Muslim clerics think bananas and cucumbers are evil.

Dr. Sanity:

The men of Islam are obsessed with sex beyond even the wildest imaginings of the Western male's mind. And the obsession is extremely bizarre and pathological.
[...]
Consider for a moment a culture that would prefer to let little girls die in a burning building than to risk having them run out of said building not clothed in properly modest dress; and tell me that such a society is less preoccupied with matters of sex than we are in the West.
Enormous effort goes into veiling women, dressing women modestly, silencing women, covering women's bodies, punishing women, controlling women, reviling women, humiliating women, beating women, subjugating women, avoiding the dishonor of women, keeping women uneducated, policing women, infantilizing women--in short, dehumanizing women -- all under the guise of "protecting" and "honoring" them as they relegate them to animal-like status.

h/t Deborah Gypong

Snippet of Steyn

2011-12-15T09:56:00.001-05:00

Oodles of humour (and insight) in just 25 words.

After 30 years of promoting "diversity" and "dissent" and the "courage" of "artists" who take "bold", "transgressive" "stands", everyone in Hollywood now thinks exactly alike.

h/t FFOF
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Time for some Advent inspiration

2011-12-14T12:51:00.000-05:00

This is a different tune than the one I'm used to, but it is very lovely. And of course you can't beat this sort of choir, not even with a haugenhaas arrangement.

If I had unlimited kitchen storage space

2011-12-13T10:40:00.003-05:00

And unlimited funds, I would probably get me one of these:

A cathedral bundt pan. Who knew such a thing even existed? There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio...

Update: And this... omigosh, too cute! (You simply must have a medieval village surrounding the cathedral). Can't you just see these in a gingerbread colour, dusted with icing sugar?

Our Lady of Guadalupe,

2011-12-12T15:48:00.000-05:00

Pray for us.

Can't...blog...

2011-12-12T15:43:00.002-05:00

Too busy playing with new toys. Yes, I know, it's not Christmas yet, but I'm apparently going to cook a turkey for the big family gathering this year, so I want to try this thing out before the fact. (Very unlike me, I know.) Today, we're making the Mother of All Chili recipes.

And the best part (besides getting a better price than this, which I did) is, I didn't have to order it online or drive 200 miles to buy it. Picked it up at my local Co-op grocery/hardware store after Mass today. It feels good to shop locally (even though the dang thing was probably made in China...)

New MacBook update

2011-12-05T14:28:00.004-05:00

It's proving to be really handy! It's great for distracting the kids while I get my writing and correspondence done on the Acer. They could play with that amazing Trackpad all day. And they'd have to, wouldn't they, because it didn't come with any games! (What can you possibly say about a computer that doesn't have FreeCell?)

Oy vay! What can you say about a company that doesn't know when to use adverbs?
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One of the great things about having a blog hardly anyone reads

2011-12-05T14:10:00.006-05:00

Is that you can re-post things and nobody minds. Such as the lovely photos of the Delicious Things of Christmas Past. (We haven't done any baking yet this year, but as soon as we do, I'll put up some snaps).

Tealight holder on right not baked by me.

Oops! How did this get in here?

Not really happy posting for a Sunday in Advent

2011-12-04T15:13:00.001-05:00

Will it impress anyone if I say that I was just as skeptical as The Steyn about the so-called Arab Spring? Probably not. Wish we'd both been wrong.

In the so-called "Facebook Revolution," two-thirds of the Arab world's largest nation is voting for the hard, cruel, bigoted, misogynistic song of Shariah.
The short 90-year history of independent Egypt is that it got worse. Mubarak's Egypt was worse than King Farouk's Egypt, and what follows from last week's vote will be worse still. If you're a Westernized urban woman, a Coptic Christian or an Israeli diplomat with the goons pounding the doors of your embassy, you already know that.

Jim Reeves

2011-12-02T11:18:00.000-05:00

Because I just feel like listening to his mellow, mellow voice.

Advent inspiration can come from anywhere.
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Happy Advent

2011-12-01T10:44:00.003-05:00

I'm only four days late with this wish, but may you have a peaceful, fruitful Advent season.

...more peaceful and fruitful than mine has been so far. I'm embarrassed to say that we've been so busy running around doing relatively useless things, I have not even had time to set up my own Advent wreath. Peace on earth? I would like fifteen minutes of it on my own schedule...

Here, courtesy of EWTN, is a link to some daily Advent devotions.
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For your cartoon viewing pleasure

2011-11-30T09:58:00.004-05:00

Here's another Disney flick you'll never see in a rerun on TV.

Très cool side note: by a stroke of good luck, our family inadvertently acquired the original sheet music for this song (hoarding isn't always bad). And no, it's not for sale. Yet.
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Worst photoshop job of all time

2011-11-29T16:09:00.004-05:00

This photo was actually posted on the SUN website. Yes, on a news website. You know, where journalists work. Making news. (It has now mysteriously disappeared, however, not unlike some of their former excellent program hosts). My buddy Theo Caldwell says he can remember when this snap was taken. Cuz he was in it. Try to guess where he was standing. No, really, try. You'll never guess.

For the love of all that's truthful and classy, can't you guys at SUN even try? Oy vay.

This kind of reminds me of a recent family photo:

I am, of course, on the far left (no wonder my girls are so beautiful!)
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My new MacBook

2011-11-29T11:43:00.000-05:00

and I are getting on splendidly this week--- perhaps because it's been shut down since last Thursday and is now gathering dust in my bedroom.
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Happy birthday Mr. Beazly

2011-11-28T14:57:00.001-05:00

So much for the box of homemade candy I was planning to mail you a week ago... (Trying to remember what the road to hell is paved with...) In honour of your birthday, a Savage Chickens cartoon:

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T11:24:00.000-05:00

To all our lovely American readers! Sure, there's always way too much negative crappy stuff going on in the world, but there is also much to be thankful for, and maybe we need to focus on that a little more often. God is good.
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And scientists actually wonder sometimes

2011-11-21T15:18:00.001-05:00

why people laugh at them. From our killer headlines file:
Scientists find huge caribou herd thought lost in Canada

How in blazes do you lose, actually lose an entire herd of caribou--even in Canada? Gary Larson, where are you when we need you?
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I note with disappointment

2011-11-21T13:38:00.002-05:00

That in the new Macbook user's manual, under Chapter 4 ("Problem, Meet Solution"), subheading "Problems That Prevent You from Using Your Macbook Pro", there is no category for "Basic Stupidity."

PS, all you Gnostics (Apple fans): so far, I hate this thing. (This after hearing, from TOOOO many people, "You'll LOVE it.") Only time will tell.
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"Then there was the tired old liberal in a sweater..."

2011-11-19T01:16:00.000-05:00

The one, the only, Standford Nutting. And the nut behind him, Kevin O'Brien. Interesting interview.

"We have two choices in dealing with the Standord Nuttings of the world: to laugh at them or to kill them. It’s more effective to laugh at them."

The only time I like these words

2011-11-17T16:34:00.000-05:00

"Winter Conditions Exist, Icy or Slippery Sections, Swirling Snow, Drifting Snow"

...is when they are followed by "Travel not recommended." Winter has truly arrived in my part of the world.

(Not an actual picture of my street, but it could be.)

Steyn would have something to say about this

2011-11-17T13:05:00.004-05:00

80 is the new 65 when it comes to retirement, survey says.

On the issue of Social Security there was an age divide. Those in their 60s expect Social Security to provide 46 percent of their retirement funding. But more than a quarter of Americans in their 20s and 30s expect no income at all from Social Security during their retirement.

Duh! There's a reason for this. Read After America.

I recently read an article in the Cdn Reader's Digest called "60 is the new 20". It was written by a retiring civil servant, who was looking forward to a long, fun retirement, after having a cushy, easy, and pointless government job all his life. It was supposed to be funny, but after reading Steyn, the piece made my blood boil. Just who does that retiree think is paying for his well-padded retirement?
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Stupid and stupider

2011-11-17T12:51:00.000-05:00

Because Dumb and Dumber just won't cut it this time. Which is more asinine, the secular world in general, or Benetton in particular?

"Benetton had said its "Unhate" campaign was aimed at fostering tolerance. It featured photo montages of purported enemies kissing."

Where to begin? The pope doesn't hate anyone, whereas Benetton's "unhate" campaign is openly hateful of the Catholic Church and the Holy Father. Tolerance, anyone?

Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven.
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Just in case my daughters ever visit the blog

2011-11-16T09:38:00.001-05:00

THIS is what I want when my current mixer (lovingly dubbed "The Kitchen Chump 2000" by Mrs. Beazly) goes to its eternal reward--or for a certain milestone birthday, whichever comes first.

Isn't it just the loveliest, most shiniest piece of kitchen art you've ever seen?

Oh, and I also want the pasta attachment. MMmmmmmm.... fresh, soft, whole wheat pasta...
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Lysol is a blessing from the Lord

2011-11-15T16:50:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure why, but that's the first thing that popped into my head upon reading these words:

By 4:30 a.m., the park was empty, wiped clean of any traces of the camp that had been there since Sept. 17.

It's about time. Some of their grievances were/are legit, but crapping, fornicating, and shooting up in public is not. There have to be better ways to change the world.

Irony nugget: "A state court judge held a hearing Tuesday afternoon on the legality of the eviction."
Excuse me? Zuccotti park is PRIVATELY OWNED. As for "legality", what the hell has been going on there daily for the past two months?
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"I don’t now I thinke gust do what you want."

2011-11-14T09:38:00.001-05:00

One of the many comments from public school kids replying to the query: "Would you like to be home-schooled?" It's an NY Times piece, further discussed by Pundette. Amusing, yet profoundly sad.

i think that homeschooling is ok but public schools are better because its almost like life you are going to have to deal with people that you dont like in life and school shows this at times.i dont think this could preper us for the real world because your not comunicatingi with people as much as you would at school.for most people it is a good learning activity

Every so often

2011-11-10T10:40:00.000-05:00

You have one of those "I'm glad I'm homeschooling" moments. It makes all the other more, ahem--challenging-- times worthwhile. The other day the Misses Pinkerton were playing Scattergories. The letter was "H" and one of the categories was "authors". My 9-year-old wrote down Hilaire Belloc. It warms the cockles of a mum's heart.
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Margaret Wente explains

2011-11-09T16:28:00.006-05:00

the Occupy movement. (Just to give our readers a break from the Steyn--though who could ever need one?)

These people make up the Occupier generation. They aspire to join the virtueocracy – the class of people who expect to find self-fulfillment (and a comfortable living) in non-profit or government work, by saving the planet, rescuing the poor and regulating the rest of us. They are what the social critic Christopher Lasch called the “new class” of "therapeutic cops in the new bureaucracy."

The trouble is, this social model no longer works. As blogger Kenneth Anderson writes, “The machine by which universities train young people to become minor regulators and then delivered them into white-collar positions on the basis of credentials in history, political science, literature, ethnic and women’s studies – with or without the benefit of law school – has broken down. The supply is uninterrupted, but the demand has dried up.”

It’s not the greedy Wall Street bankers who destroyed these people’s hopes. It’s the virtueocracy itself. It’s the people who constructed a benefit-heavy entitlement system whose costs can no longer be sustained. It’s the politicians and union leaders who made reckless pension promises that are now bankrupting cities and states. It’s the socially progressive policy-makers in the U.S. who declared that everyone, even those with no visible means of support, should be able to own a home with no money down, courtesy of their government. In Canada, it’s the social progressives who assure us we can keep on consuming all the health care we want, even as the costs squeeze out other public goods.

Do read the whole thing. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be social workers or government bureaucrats. Think doctor, dentist, plumber, electrician, bricklayer instead.

h/t SDA

Requesting prayers

2011-11-09T13:22:00.002-05:00

for a very dear friend who has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
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From our Killer Headlines file

2011-11-09T10:20:00.001-05:00

Fake exorcist arrested for molesting trusting women

The sub-title is almost as good: "Confesses to 'inappropriate' touching in court but blames his actions on the devil"

Saudi Arabia’s religious police arrested an Egyptian man claiming to have exorcism and spiritual healing powers for molesting many women by telling them he can rid their bodies of the devil through their sexual organs.In court, he blamed the devil for his acts.

Instead of jail time, he'll probably receive some kind of government award, and get his own talk show. The mainstream media won't carry this story, cuz the perpetrator is not a Catholic priest.

A picture is worth 99% of words

2011-11-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

Hey, buddy. Neither are you.

Invasion of the cranky vegans

2011-11-09T09:54:00.001-05:00

Coming to a university near you. h/t Steynian gold, in one little teaser:

"Ryerson U, a Human Rights Tribunal and a 37-year-old student make this one a nominee for Story of the Year"

The actual story (National Post) is about a vegan student who feels discriminated against because her college faculty (Social Work) won't let her to do her PhD on (wait for it) animals.

Sinem Ketenci, 37, who immigrated from Turkey as a young woman and studied at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay before doing a master’s at Ryerson, alleges a senior professor disagreed with her comparison of maltreated animals with marginalized people, said the connection was “very inhuman and racist,” and pressured Ms. Ketenci’s untenured supervisor into withdrawing his recommendation of her PhD candidacy at other schools, which she called an academic “kiss of death.”

Which, as we know, is the exact same thing as being swallowed by a python, or having your throat ripped out by a pack of hyenas. She may have a case. Solid proof that she is PhD material:

1) Whiny and pathetic, not afraid to play the race card, which is entirely immaterial in this case:
“If I were white, born here, this case would not have happened,” she said.

(Oh please! Would you have been able to achieve a university degree if you'd stayed in Turkey?)

2) Has elevated obfuscation to an art:

“I believe that the faculty’s reaction has its basis in the strict religious belief of ‘men’s domination over animals’ that racialized people’s suffering should not be spoken about in the same context of animal suffering and that sympathy for animal suffering is not as important as sympathy for racialized peoples’ suffering,” her complaint reads. “It is as if one must choose and cannot believe in both.”

3) No sense of logic or ethical consistency:

a) The woman says she has been a vegan for three years, and a vegetarian for seven before that, so her commitment is a decade long and serious, but she admits to a certain ethical looseness.Asked whether her sneakers have leather detailing, for example, she shrugs it off with a maybe, as if it is the exception that proves the rule.“Animals shouldn’t be treated like animals either,” she quips. “Increasing animals’ value, I am not decreasing the value of humans.”

b) (On being accused of racism): “How am I being racist if ‘race’ is a part of my identity?”

Umm, we ALL have 'race' as part of our identity. Unless white is not a 'race'. Does that mean only whites can be racist? Or that no one can be racist. Or that we're ALL racist?

All in all, it seems to have left her scarred for life:

In an interview Monday, Ms. Ketenci said the fallout has extended to her personal life, costing her friends among fellow students, and left her “traumatized.”

Wow, that's tough, but it's not as bad as being killed and eaten by a predator, which would have happened if she'd been an animal in the wild.

She is asking for $15,000 compensation. Try getting that from a tribunal of goats or rabbits. Maybe humans and animals aren't equivalent after all.

What kills me (as always) is that my tax dollars are, in one way or another, supporting this nearly-middle-aged college student's existence, lifestyle, grievances and "education."

I'm sure she will triumph in the end:

When her qualitative research project about animal rights activism in social work was denied this year, leading ultimately to this complaint, Ms. Ketenci’s response was to suggest a new one about the “marginalization and systemic discrimination of animal rights activists.”

Gotcha, Ryerson.

I thought I was the only one

2011-11-07T22:13:00.001-05:00

...who thought the villain from Monsters vs. Aliens, Gallaxhar, looked like a certain POTUS.

But it turns out I'm far from alone. My 9-year-old, on seeing the photos, chimes in: "And they're the same too! Except that Obama wants to destroy America, instead of the whole world." Kids say the darndest things.
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It's Election Day in Saskatchewan!

2011-11-07T10:44:00.000-05:00

Go vote!
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Steyn sums up Oakland

2011-11-07T10:37:00.000-05:00

More specifically, the "Occupy" riots of last week:

I don’t “stand with the 99%,” and certainly not downwind of them. But I’m all for their “occupation” continuing on its merry way. It usefully clarifies the stakes. At first glance, an alliance of anarchists and government might appear to be somewhat paradoxical. But the formal convergence in Oakland makes explicit the movement’s aims: They’re anarchists for statism, wild free-spirited youth demanding more and more total government control of every aspect of life — just so long as it respects the fundamental human right to sloth. What’s happening in Oakland is a logical exercise in class solidarity: The government class enthusiastically backing the breakdown of civil order is making common cause with the leisured varsity class, the thuggish union class, and the criminal class in order to stick it to what’s left of the beleaguered productive class. It’s a grand alliance of all those societal interests that wish to enjoy in perpetuity a lifestyle they are not willing to earn. Only the criminal class is reasonably upfront about this. The rest — the lifetime legislators, the unions defending lavish and unsustainable benefits, the “scholars” whiling away a somnolent half decade at Complacency U — are obliged to dress it up a little with some hooey about “social justice” and whatnot.

At least someone is still blogging

2011-11-07T10:34:00.001-05:00

Even if it's depressingly, well, depressing... The one, the only, Pundette.

But when the parents themselves have never fully embraced adulthood, the goal of bringing a child to independent maturity (the real point of child-rearing, by the way) becomes a difficult trick to pull off.
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More sounds of silence

2011-11-07T09:29:00.000-05:00

Life with only one computer in the family is taking its toll. Our main PC died two weeks ago and everyone is competing for time on my crummy laptop. Needless to say, I'm at the bottom of the priority list. High school students doing online classes, and hubby doing financial stuff have bumped me somewhat lower on the must-use-computer ladder. I'm biting the bullet and ordering a new laptop this week.
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