In 1960 the black and white film Never on Sunday was issued staring Melina Mercouri as a Greek prostitute who refused to work on Sunday. She later married the director who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. The daughter of the mayor of Athens, she was expelled from Greece during the period of the Greek military junta. Later she was elected to Parliament and became cultural minister of Greece during the 1980’s. She died in 1994. So, why am I…
Yesterday, we did nothing. We didn’t leave except for lunch. We used the hot tub and dip pool, read and did little else. Great weather. Not hot and not humid. The ocean sounds are wonderful. The waves pound in less then 50 yards away, hitting the rocks and sending spray flying into the air. Pelicans swoop low to the water looking for a meal and drop like a stone when they see one. They appear to be successful. I think of that rhyme…
The Shrine of Remembrance is located in Melbourne, Australia. It is one of the largest war memorials in Australia and was originally built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I (1914 – 1918). Erected between 1928 and 1934 it was constructed during a time of great unemployment and financial crisis in Australia. 300,000 people were present during the opening of the memorial. This huge granite structure is on top of a…
Last Saturday night my wife Lita and I attended the Tacoma Symphony fund raising auction at the convention center in Tacoma. One of the items available was a musical visit to the Wurlitzer Manor and Gardens in Gig Harbor (http://www.wurlitzermanor.com/) We live in Gig Harbor and some how I had never heard of this place or a Wurlitzer organ in our area, so I looked it up on the Internet. I found an article in the Puget Sound Online Pipeline…
In his book Catholicism at the CrossroadsPaul Lakeland examines the Catholic Church of 2008. Lakeland teaches at Fairfield University and holds the Aloysius P. Kelly S.J. Chair in Catholic Studies there. He has written previous books on the subject, one of which won first place for theology in the Catholic Press Association’s 2005 awards. Here are a few of he points he makes in this well thought out and reasonable book. In his list of some ten steps toward a…
Stafford Betty has written an article "Why U.S. Catholics are Heading for the Exits" in the October 17, 2008 edition of the National Catholic Reporter. It’s well written and insightful. He begins by saying that some 20 million American adults describe themselves as "ex Catholics" and says that anywhere from one third to one half of fundamentalist church members once belonged to the Catholic Church. Betty maintains there are three primary reasons for the exodus. One, he says, is: "Fundamentalist…
As soon as I saw the photo of my candidate, Obama, with his shoes up showing the holes in the bottom of both shoes I was, well, suspicious. I immediately thought of Adali Stevenson, the Illinois governor (Obama's home state) who was the Democratic candidate for president in 1952 and 1956. Anyone old enough to remember the 1952 campaign would remember the photograph taken of Stevenson with the sole of one shoe showing a hole in it. The hole in the sole became a campaign issue…
No, I'm not talking about the French emperor and his mistress. I'm talking about our long time pal, our dog Napoleon and his "sister." We brought Josephine home when she was a pup and even though Napoleon was an Alpha male, she treated him as if he was her mother. They were totally attached to each other. She followed him everywhere and imitated him. After our pal Napoleon died last Sunday Josie has been lost. She searches for him and…
