2 websites sure to make you laugh

With all of the heavy dealings of the modern age, here are two websites guaranteed to make you laugh, or cry, or both.

www.peopleofwalmart.com

www.thisiswhyyourefat.com

Cheers?

beers by HTLN: part 4

I realized that I failed to post the beer list from our wedding. Since we were using the caterer I worked for throughout college, they allowed us to bring in our own beers, wines, and Ale 8... Witness the greatest beer selection in wedding history.

Stag – Milwaukee, WI – “Golden Quality since 1851” – Popular favorite of hunters and four wheelers alike.

Pabst Blue Ribbon – Milwaukee, WI – Claims to be the nation’s largest American owned brewer (after AB’s sale to the Belgian InBev…) Classic yellowy flavor.

Robert the Bruce Scottish Style Ale – Three Floyds Brewery in Munster, Indiana - 6.5% ABV, 35 IBUs – Marked by well rounded malt flavor and caramel undertones – a typical Scottish Ale.

Bigfoot Barley wine Ale – Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, California - 9.6% ABV, 90 IBUs – Taste might be best described as complex, with a robust malt flavor complimented by an intense earthy hop flavor.

Maximus IPA – Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma, California – 7.5% ABV, 75 IBUs. – A fine India Pale Ale marked by heavy hop taste. Maximus is golden in color with strong citrus undertones, mainly grapefruit and orange peel. The perfect example of an IPA.

Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale – Alltech Brewing Company in Lexington, Kentucky – 7.9% ABV, low to moderate IBUs – This fine ale is aged for up to 6 weeks in used bourbon barrels from some of Kentucky’s finest distilleries. Other than the strong bourbon flavor, it also has subtle notes of vanilla and oak.

American Amber Ale – Rogue Brewery in Newport, Oregon – 5.6% ABV, 53 IBUs – Generous hops with bold malty accents, the American Ale has a subtle coffee aroma and a full bodied, well balanced taste.

Anchor Porter – Anchor Brewery in San Francisco, California – 5.6% ABV, 40 IBU – Dark roasted malts yield a black Porter, not quite as heavy as a stout but with more complex flavors like chocolate. This is our favorite Porter.

The future of HTNL

Lately I've been pondering the future of this blog.

Initially, I started writing as a volunteer blog with CAP, then as a winemaker/vagabond blog. Throughout the entirety of this experiment I've tried to defend and show the glorious beauty of a devout Catholic life.

I'm wondering if I should continue writing it as I have many other things pulling me away. I'm wondering if this project is relevant or beneficial for anyone. I will take your comments into consideration.

Holler back.

Cheers.

Put it on the Board... yes.

“The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person — every person — needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need . . . . In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man can live ‘by bread alone’ (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3) — a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically human”

Pope Benedict XVI, “Deus Caritas Est,” No. 28

An observation from this morning's Mass

This morning, the kids in Mass seemed particularly unruly. Maybe it's a full moon, who knows. I try to think of this as an exercise in focus and concentration. There is a passage from C.S. Lewis' "Screwtape Letters" that speaks to this point, how the devil can achieve a victory by distracting you during Mass, especially during the most important parts of Mass; the Consecration and reverent reception of the Eucharist.

Well, one particular youngster was literally bouncing around two pews in front of us and his mother seemed to be ... a bit lax in keeping him from crawling under the pew, making noise, etc. But, whatever, it wasn't a big deal and as adults we should be able to ignore this. Actually, if you have to concentrate more, it should in theory draw you deeper into the Mass.

Anyway, the one point during the Mass when the mother really snapped the kid into shape and 'made' him concentrate was during the Our Father. She forced him to stand up straight and hold hands (incorrectly extending the hands they weren't holding to mimic the priest). Now every part of the Mass is significant and important. But there are far more important moments than the Our Father to snap one's children into line and really listen and be attentive ... such as the Consecration for example. And then, to emphasize a liturgically distracting practice such as holding hands and raising your hands like you're participating in a sappy, fluffy praise and worship "song"? Seems odd to me.

But, we always make a point to pray for parents in Mass and to make sure that we really do not care if their children cry from time to time or if they have to reel their kids in who are acting up. It's certainly nothing to be embarrassed about. And it's more important that they are actually there. I'm just pointing out that its a bit odd to emphasize the importance of an incorrect Liturgical practice, that is, if you were to pick one point during Mass to emphasize.

Any stories of hand holding or hand waving we can laugh at?

My name is Juan Pablo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die

In the wild world of NASCAR, the "chase" has begun. This means, over the course of the next 10 races, 12 drivers will compete for the coveted Sprint cup. It is the most exciting time in motor sports. This year is a bit different because Juan Pablo Montoya is trying to become the first foreign born driver to win the Sprint cup.

But hey, I figure that if we have a foreign born president, why not a foreign born NASCAR champion?

Life and Death in America

I've noticed, as of late, that when someone dies in our country, the standard method of procedure is to immediately beatify them in a secular way. The best examples I can think of are Michael Jackson and Ted Kennedy. Far from desecrating the memory of the dead, our culture seems to be systematically highlighting the supposed wonderful and influential lives these people lived. Only the thing is, in many ways, they led deplorable lives. The secular media makes them seem like saints but they are not, seemingly far from it. I mean Kennedy was responsible for the death of a woman for gosh sakes and Jackson's exploits were equally as despicable.

I wonder why our culture insists of making saints out of the dead, simply because of the fact that they are deceased? My guess is that this is largely due to the fact that our culture, as a whole, has no idea how to deal with death. The media fears death because they are incapable of making a decision on the matter. If there is no heaven and no hell, as John Lennon tells us, then what does it matter what kind of life the person lived? In reality though, this theory is so far fetched that no one can really believe it, especially not when the chips are down. So they frantically try to make a secular saint out of Ted Kennedy, trying to convince themselves that, "hey, he was a pretty good guy." Which is incredibly false. Because, just maybe, there really is something after death and maybe, if we say it enough or convincingly enough, this guy could be a really good guy. I suppose that in a morally relativistic society, where the predominant culture preaches that there is no right and wrong, every one is a "pretty good guy."

In reality Christ makes saints out of sinners. But, in a culture proud of rejecting Christianity, the secular media seems to have taken the task of sanctification upon itself.

Your thoughts?

John Stockton

This past week was the induction ceremony of Michael Jordan to the NBA hall of fame. Growing up in the Chicago-land area during the Jordan dynasty, its impossible not to think of Jordan as a larger-than-life superhero type. All of us who had the Bulls short shorts, 3- peat white t-shirts, and "Steve Kerr: The Kerrminator" t-shirts remember the last second shots, the heroics, the championships. And yet, this is not the entire story. We were not really exposed to the gambling Jordan, the mean spirited Jordan, the public and messy divorce he experienced, and the competitive nature of Jordan that was so intense to scar his legacy and seemingly his person.

The speech of Jordan, I'm afraid, highlighted the latter portion of Jordan's legacy, the bitterness, the mean spirited competitiveness, the pettiness. Frankly, he came off not as a champion but as kind of a jerk. He even went so far as to point out how 'huge' of a mistake his highschool basketball coach made in not picking him for the team. Does the greatest player of all time really need to point that out to prove he is the greatest ever?

On the other side of the aisle, was John Stockton with his wife and 6 kids. Stockton had the misfortune to have his career in the shadow of Jordan's. Stockton's Utah Jazz were always just behind Jordan, always second best. Stockton was the Yan Ullrich to Jordan's Lance Armstrong. But, never-the-less, Stockton is one of the game's greatest point guards.

I watched Stockton's speech, which was genuine, self depreciating at times, and always correctly proportioned and in proper in context. He told of how he was never the best player on his team, and even not the best player in his own house (he only beat his brother once in all their years of playground games). He thanked all of the 'small' people in his life; his trainer, the team's owner, the people in the Jazz office (whom he mentioned by name), even the family's priest. As in his career, his behavior radiated with class and dignity. He showed how his priorities were always to his family, invoking stories of their dinner table and speaking to each of his children separately. All Jordan could say to his children was "I'm glad I'm not you guys." Stockton also spoke to his wife (herself one of 15 children) and thanked her for keeping their home truly a home while he was away on road trips with the team.

I suppose it was unfair for Stockton to have always been in Jordan's shadow during his career, accomplished though it was. But I suppose it was equally unfair to put Jordan up on the stage with possibly the most classy and dignified figures the NBA has ever known; John Stockton, Jerry Sloan, and David Robinson. These three athletes depicted all that is right with the NBA, and how with their generation's passing so also went the passing of the dignity of the NBA itself. Jordan, on the other hand, showed the passing of the torch from a team to an individual game, dominated by individual achievements, publicity, corporate sponsors.

The best example of this point, the passing of the NBA into a game dominated by individual achievement, is that while Jordan's Youtube video of his speech had a little over 97,000 views, Stockton's had only 307. I suppose a short white kid from Gonzaga with a big family just can't pack the same punch as the face of Gator aid, Hanes, Nike, and a generation of NBA stars.

No doubt, Jordan was the best ever, the best basketball player to play the game. This is uncontested. But, if I had to choose which line to take in terms of character and personal life even balanced with career achievements and accolades ... it would be no contest.

Cheers!

P.S. Stockton is also a Catholic so holler at yo boy!

3 stories you wont read in the NYT...

The following is from Mark Steyn. If you are wondering why I am always harping on about Mark Steyn, Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell, it's because I believe them to be the most vibrant, sane political thinkers of our time.
...
Three stories bubbled up in the past week, although if you read The New York Times and the administration's other airbrushers you'll be blissfully unaware of them: The resignation of Van Jones, former (?) communist and current 9/11 "truther," from his post as Obama's "Green Jobs Czar." The "reassignment" of Yosi Sergant at the National Endowment for the Arts after he was found to be urging government-funded arts groups to produce "art" in support of Obama policy positions. And, finally, the extraordinary undercover tape from Andrew Breitbart's Big Government Web site in which officials from ACORN (the Obama chums who'll be "helping" with the next census) offer advice on how pimps can get government housing loans for brothels employing underage girls from El Salvador.

....Likewise, Obama didn't "join" himself to the liberal leadership; he is the liberal leadership. The administration didn't fall in with the wrong crowd; they are the wrong crowd. Van Jones, Yosi Sergant and ACORN are where Barack Obama's chosen to live all his adult life. Even if he wanted to be the bipartisan centrist of David Brooks' fantasies, look at his Rolodex and then figure out just where such a man would estimate the "center" to be.

-Mark Steyn: see the whole article here

Sanity part III

Here is a great video of Thomas Howard, prominent theologian and thinker, speaking of his conversion from evangelical Protestantism to Catholicism.

There are 5 parts which you can find after watching the first one linked above.

Cheers.

Sanity Amidst the Screaming (part II)

The South has come again. Git git git!

Sanity Amidst the Screaming

Shortly after my victory over unemployment, I discovered that I did not win the battle over being poor and without a car (yet). As a result, I have to take the train into my lab every day. The train ride is ... spirited to put it charitably. There are many enthusiastic individuals who love to raise their voices and emit all sorts of boisterous proclamations and turns of phrase to the delight of all. Amidst the cacophony of the modern world, I have found a slight bit of sanity in saying my rosary walking to the train and riding on the train. Its such an awkward place to be, the train. I always thought the fields were lonely places to work, but in the city, you are surrounded by millions of people and hardly ever utter a word. Where else can you be so close to humans and so far from humanity than packed on a the B.O. soaked gypsy boxcar known as the St. Louis Metrolink?

As I was boarding the train yesterday I randomly sat next to a man for the morning ride. After a while I noticed the man make the sign of the cross as he had clearly finished saying his rosary. I thought it uplifting, like seeing a comrade on the field and noticing that you are both carrying the same powerful sword that proved essential to legions of your ancestors.

Today, I sat next to the same man. After he finished his prayers and made the sign of the cross, I noticed he had a rosary in his hand that he carefully placed away in a rosary pouch. I took my rosary out of my pocket and showed it to him saying, "I thought that's what you were doing yesterday." Sort of a, "hey, check it out, we both roll in the same way son" as some other train riders may say. He chuckled and went back to looking out the window.

He didn't say anything for a while after that and I thought I may have freaked him out a bit. After 15 minutes or so he turned and introduced himself. "Sorry, I have a lot of other prayers to say after my rosary. I would've said something sooner." We chatted for a little while on where are good places to go to daily mass, where we both worked, etc. Then we parted ways.

It reminded me of the one passage from Lord of the Rings where Gimli laments he does not have his kinsmen present during one of the major battles. Another character reminds him that he need not worry, because where ever his kinsmen are, battle surely marches on them as well. So although they would not be in battle together, the would certainly both be in battle. Such is the way of the devout Catholic. So often we are in battles on our own, when the Church, the family or traditional values come under attack during the course of our lives. Every once in a while though its good to see another joyful warrior carrying his cross in his own way.