TRIUMPHALIST--YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Mary the Mother of God
May the blessings of God the Father, the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you on this most profoundly Christological Solemnity.
Avatar
For about the last 35 years, I've thought that the best movie I have ever seen was The Quiet Man, with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. No more.
I can say I have never seen a better movie than Avatar.
I will say that all $458 million dollars spent on the production was visible on the screen. I was actually expecting a B movie with great special effects. I got something much, much better. The performances of Zoe Saldana and Michelle Rodriguez were their best so far. Sigourney Weaver was her usual excellent self. And you didn't really notice the spectacular special effects, you simply believed them.
The movie adhered to the ruling axiom of successful SF--grant your gadgets and circumstance and tell the story.
And the story was very very good. I don't know how much was deliberate, but there were echos of Ursela LeGuin's The word for World is Forest, Anne McCaffery's Pern, some of David Drake's Hammer's Slammmers short stories. And some of the story elements Incorporated echos of the Italian campaign in Ethiopia, the saga of Tecumseh, as well as features of the life of Blue Jacket and Simon Girty. There was a character who reminded me of Pontiac, as well.
Once, about 32 years ago I studied Anthropology, and whoever wrote the script managed to do a good job on tribal life. I noticed that the Alien natives seemed to be a cross between American Indians and Elves. Not to mention beautiful.
Oh--the movie is so beautiful to watch it's almost hard to watch.
I do want to mention something--this is in no way a Christian movie. It's not anti Christian--it is profoundly nonchristian--Christianity doesn't figure into the story.
And one las disclaimer, or maybe two. The area I spent my boyhood in, where I hunted and picked berries, hunter morels, all lthat good stuff no longer exists--it was strip mined. I'm far from a tree hugger, but that's a theme that resonates with me. Also, I'm part Chrokee--and I know how I felt when I first say the Oconoluftee. That theme resonated also.
I can say I have never seen a better movie than Avatar.
I will say that all $458 million dollars spent on the production was visible on the screen. I was actually expecting a B movie with great special effects. I got something much, much better. The performances of Zoe Saldana and Michelle Rodriguez were their best so far. Sigourney Weaver was her usual excellent self. And you didn't really notice the spectacular special effects, you simply believed them.
The movie adhered to the ruling axiom of successful SF--grant your gadgets and circumstance and tell the story.
And the story was very very good. I don't know how much was deliberate, but there were echos of Ursela LeGuin's The word for World is Forest, Anne McCaffery's Pern, some of David Drake's Hammer's Slammmers short stories. And some of the story elements Incorporated echos of the Italian campaign in Ethiopia, the saga of Tecumseh, as well as features of the life of Blue Jacket and Simon Girty. There was a character who reminded me of Pontiac, as well.
Once, about 32 years ago I studied Anthropology, and whoever wrote the script managed to do a good job on tribal life. I noticed that the Alien natives seemed to be a cross between American Indians and Elves. Not to mention beautiful.
Oh--the movie is so beautiful to watch it's almost hard to watch.
I do want to mention something--this is in no way a Christian movie. It's not anti Christian--it is profoundly nonchristian--Christianity doesn't figure into the story.
And one las disclaimer, or maybe two. The area I spent my boyhood in, where I hunted and picked berries, hunter morels, all lthat good stuff no longer exists--it was strip mined. I'm far from a tree hugger, but that's a theme that resonates with me. Also, I'm part Chrokee--and I know how I felt when I first say the Oconoluftee. That theme resonated also.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Just notes
The Antichrist: Anyone who doesn't believe in an Antichrist, but who is a professing Christian might want to consider this: In Columbia, a provincial governor has outlawed Christianity and decreed that any Christian in his province (which is set aside as a tribal heritage area) who don't return to the Animism indigenous to the area can and will be arrested and jailed. He made the announcement at a gathering of Christians on Oct 27. A group of Christians who refused to revert to animism are still in jail.
Go Ireland: The Irish high Court has ruled that EU pronouncements and regulations do not trump the National Constitution. Yes, a European nation has said that it's internal laws and constitutional principles are not compromised by membership in the EU.
St. Meinrad: The seminary is attracting attention because it's enrolment is the highest in 20 years. I have to say I am unimpressed by the coverage of this event. The main story was printed in the Louisville Courier-Journal. It contained a bit poo-poooing the fact that the most conservative Dioceses in the US have no shortage of seminarians, alleging that they don't stay to completion of their studies. Not so. The two most conservative diocese in the US, Lincoln Nebraska and Arlington, Va, also have no shortage of priests. The problem is that the Modernizing Faction doesn't want to acknowledge this. Strange: the dioceses in the US with improving numbers of seminarians are headed by the more traditional Bishops.
BTW--Lincoln Nebraska, with no priest shortage and the most conservative, traditional bishop in the US, is also the only Diocese that hasn't been wracked by the gay Ephibophilia scandal.
Go Ireland: The Irish high Court has ruled that EU pronouncements and regulations do not trump the National Constitution. Yes, a European nation has said that it's internal laws and constitutional principles are not compromised by membership in the EU.
St. Meinrad: The seminary is attracting attention because it's enrolment is the highest in 20 years. I have to say I am unimpressed by the coverage of this event. The main story was printed in the Louisville Courier-Journal. It contained a bit poo-poooing the fact that the most conservative Dioceses in the US have no shortage of seminarians, alleging that they don't stay to completion of their studies. Not so. The two most conservative diocese in the US, Lincoln Nebraska and Arlington, Va, also have no shortage of priests. The problem is that the Modernizing Faction doesn't want to acknowledge this. Strange: the dioceses in the US with improving numbers of seminarians are headed by the more traditional Bishops.
BTW--Lincoln Nebraska, with no priest shortage and the most conservative, traditional bishop in the US, is also the only Diocese that hasn't been wracked by the gay Ephibophilia scandal.
Holy Innocents
Cathy of Alexandria, over at http://therecoveringdissidentcatholic.blogspot.com , had a post for the Feast of the Holy Innocents that I'm entirely in agreement with.
But I've been thinking about something. Why isn't this feast more popular, in an official sense, with the pro-life movement? It seems a natural fit, and it seems like a good starting place for "conciousness raising" at the parish level. And let's face it--many parishes studiously ignore abortion and euthanasia issues in favor of capital punishment issues, it's less challenging to the culture at large.
If we were to pressure our pastors to stress this feast more fully, to ask for the Office of Readings, or Morning and/or Evening Prayer on this day, and our pro-life people in our parishes to work on this Feast I think it would be productive. After all, this observance ties the murder of infants for the convenience of power into the Life of Christ. It shows how the elimination of children through killing them is part and parcel of Satan's attempts to prevent us from fulfilling our true nature and purpose: to know, love and serve God.
Then again, I can be wrong. The season is a busy one. We have the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God on the first, the Solemnity of Christmas just a couple of days before. It could be a lot to ask. Of course, both those solemnities are all about being open to life, to God, and penance isn't always about kneeling on pencils. Maybe the extra work and sacrifice could bear fruit. Even if it's only in on persons heart.
But I've been thinking about something. Why isn't this feast more popular, in an official sense, with the pro-life movement? It seems a natural fit, and it seems like a good starting place for "conciousness raising" at the parish level. And let's face it--many parishes studiously ignore abortion and euthanasia issues in favor of capital punishment issues, it's less challenging to the culture at large.
If we were to pressure our pastors to stress this feast more fully, to ask for the Office of Readings, or Morning and/or Evening Prayer on this day, and our pro-life people in our parishes to work on this Feast I think it would be productive. After all, this observance ties the murder of infants for the convenience of power into the Life of Christ. It shows how the elimination of children through killing them is part and parcel of Satan's attempts to prevent us from fulfilling our true nature and purpose: to know, love and serve God.
Then again, I can be wrong. The season is a busy one. We have the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God on the first, the Solemnity of Christmas just a couple of days before. It could be a lot to ask. Of course, both those solemnities are all about being open to life, to God, and penance isn't always about kneeling on pencils. Maybe the extra work and sacrifice could bear fruit. Even if it's only in on persons heart.
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