Three and a Half Timeouts Tuesday (Vol 6)

Vol 6 - The Fairy Tale Edition

I.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Smiter the Archdeacon.  He was a happy archdeacon, who was very good at his work, and very pious.

II.

One day, the wicked count tried to steal a very valuable estate from the good bishop.  The bishop, being a holy bishop, sent Smiter the Archdeacon with a sternly worded letter and sixteen of his best knights to ask the wicked count to give the land back and stop being so wicked.  The count refused, and attacked the noble archdeacon and his knights, and slew many, and captured them and confined them tightly, and tore up the bishop's well-written letter and burned it. 

III.

But, after being put under the interdict, along with all his family and retainers and vassals, eventually he repented and begged the bishop to accept his land and his archdeacon back, and to give the count a suitable penance.  And Smiter the Archdeacon had many other wonderful adventures carrying out the bishop's will, and doing his best to keep peace and faith flourishing all throughout the land.

III-et-dimidium:

...until the next adventure!

3 and 1/2 Time-Outs Tuesday - vol 5

9/11 - The Memorare Edition

I.  

We're not getting out of this without our mother's help.  "Remember, O most gracious virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession, was left unaided.  Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, O virgin of virgins, my mother.  To thee I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.  O mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen."

(h/t http://catholic-rosary-beads.ofara.com)

II. 

And of course, we remember this:

(AP photo, Telegraph.co.uk - and I disagree with Swami's argument at this link, which is a form of the "ends justify the means" argument, which is false because evil cannot be done so that good may result.)

III. 

And tomorrow is the memorial of the Holy Name of Mary: "Blessed be the name of Mary, virgin and mother!"

III.-et-demidium: 

If it's knocking down skyscrapers you're after, Gammera the Invincible is better.  To paraphrase one scene, "Nuke the turtle!  And get me a sandwich!"  That's a cultural imperialism I can sink my teeth into.

(h/t IMBD)

Three and a half time-outs, vol 4

Mid July: the random pining for places of my youth eye-candy edition

I. I was here twice, more than a score of years ago:

(http://www.discoverfrance.net)

II. I was here once, about the same time:

(http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/)

III.  Before that I lived here (you can't actually see my house in this photo):

(http://www.legendtours.ca/)

III-a-half: Where does the time go???

Three-and-a-half Timeouts, Vol III

Random Ecclesial Gossip Edition

I. With a maniple wave to Fr. Z, Vatican Insider reports that a Greek manuscript of the 11th century has been discovered in a library in Bavaria, with 29 previously unknown homilies of the great exegete Origen of Alexandria. I agree, this is just cooler than just too cool.

(Image from Catholic blog payingattentiontothesky.com.)


II.God is dead: Fr. Pontifex and Spirit Juice Studios respond. (Why can't I get the embed to embed?)

III. When theologians attack!! (Why don't I want to have anything to embed?)

III et dimidius.  Click and Clack are retiring?  (I thought they'd be there forever...)

3 1/2 Time Outs (Vol 2)

My second volume of this meme is the Daddy Wars edition.  Prescinding from pointless pugilism, one can propose a plethora of paradigms, plenty of which palliate our pounding parental lobes.

I. Five responses:
     1. Stomp hard on the toes, then run.
     2. I like a .410 for the under 10.
     3. What's a video game?
     4. No comment.
     5. When you're right, you're right - Fr. Eric's duct tape is classic and stylish.

II. Five questions (and to make it easy, these are T / F):
     1. Flip flops are lame.  Unless they're color coordinated with the hat.
     2. If some is good, more is better.
     3. The first rule of non-cooperation is hit it with a hammer.  The second rule is see rule one.
     4. The maximum number of rooms in a house that may be painted any shade of pastel is two.
     5. Symmetry is unnecessary.

III. Opening the second front:
     Baseball has a certain aesthetic charm, and as a communal event, outside in the summer, it's almost unmatched (carillon concerts, although rare, are a higher caliber of charm).  However, as a sport, it's effete.  Manliness in sports resides on the ice.  If you can limp, you can play.  Also, God is a goalie.

III-point-v: On Maneuvers:
     Football in the snow is a close second. 

3 1/2 Time Outs (Vol... ummm... 1)

It's not Tuesday, but it's not Sunday either, so I'm gonna jump into the raging 3 1/2 Time Outs meme started by LarryD. He also started Fantasy Bishball, and I hope that makes a comeback this summer.

This is the Memorial Day version.

1. Here's an F4F, circa 1942. This was called "Wildcat."

It was armed with .50-cal machine guns and could also carry rockets and bombs.

2. Here's an F4F, circa 1972. This was called "Phantom."

It was armed with a variety of missiles and bombs.

3. Here's an F4F, circa 2012. This is called "Constitutional Defender."

3 1/2. The F4F "Constitutional Defender" is armed with these:

...and these:

...which makes this most recent F4F infinitely more powerful than either of the first two.

(All images are used non-commercially, and believed to be in the public domain, or otherwise permitted.)

Stephen L. Talbott on Evolution

A very cool series of articles in the New Altantis, about evolution, the illusion of randomness, and purpose (telos) in organisms.