Happy Mother's Day 2

Needed some humor today too:



RS

The Reality of Santa Claus

Did you know that Santa Claus is a physicist? Well, a scientist at North Carolina State University has shown the science behind the seemingly impossible task of Santa delivering presents to all the children of the world in one night.

Santa does it with advanced technology such as:

- exploiting relativity (for 1 night delivery)

- nanotechnology (for actually "growing" the presents)

- genetic engineering (flying reindeer)


- high level communications antenna (knowing who's naughty or nice)

Article here:

Technology helps Santa make magic, scientist says.


And very low res interview broken up into 4 parts (quicktime format):

1) What is Dr. Silverberg's theory on Santa?

2) How does Santa get around the world in one night?

3) Time moves differently for Santa

4) Other researchers have come to different answers than you

RS

Favorite Christmas Song

Time for some levity.

A classic. It pretty much sums up all the things I hate about the commercialization and secularization of Christmas.

The Twelve Pains of Christmas by Bob Rivers. Well done homemade video too.



RS

How people got here #110508

Usually people visit this blog because they are looking for pictures, translations, feast day information, information about a particular church in Rome, (and happily) indulgence information. But I enjoy looking through some of the searches that people do to end up on my sight. For example, it used to be that if you looked up "LHC end of the world" I would be the first result on google.

One of the most popular posts is due to people searching for the interpetation of forgiving someone 7x70 or 77 times.

I also get a lot of hits of people looking for a picture of the Body of Saint John Vianney.

I get a lot of hits about the Portiuncula Indulgence on August 2nd.

I also get quite a few hits regarding the monastic diurnal, which I highly recommend.

I actually get a lot of hits for my Michael Jackson autograph, but I would bet most people are looking for the pop singer's autograph and not the beer expert's.

I got one search of "'short road to chaos' 'thomas More'"which seems appropriate for this election time reminding me of a quote from Saint Thomas More.

Oddest search of late: "What does Jet Li chant"

LOL.

RS

Song for November 5th, 2008

This is for Ronny, who would like to sing this song to all those who voted for Obama.

"Head Like A Hole" by Nine Inch Nails

(sorry, couldn't find an embedable version of the video)

RS

Zombie Survival Test

Heh, I guess going through the whole Half-Life/Half-Life 2 series and watching "Shaun of the Dead" help. I'm going to need it to get through the Zobamabies. Found through Fr. Erik Richtsteig's blog



The scary thing is that I've imagined Obama singing the "RE Your Brains" song to me. It's a funny song if you've ever worked in corporate America and like zombie stuff. So head over to Jonathan Coulton's music page and listen to "RE Your Brains." Just go down to "Thing a Week Two" and the last song should be "RE Your Brains", then just click the "Hear" button. It'll be creepy picturing Obama singing it to you.

Note: It is a zombie song, so it does have some descriptions of how zombies attack.

RS

More LHC Media

News report on first experiment:



(sorry the ad at the beginning is longer than usual)

RS

LHC start delayed for at least two months.

Well, bad news on the science side of things. The LHC has had some mechanical failures and will be out of commission for at least two months according to a CNN article:

Large Hadron Collider down for 2 months

At this rate it looks like we'll get something for Christmas, either a Higgs particle, a new physics, or a just the end of the world. LOL.

See, if Congress hadn't canned the Superconducting Super Collider here in Texas, we probably would have figured all this science stuff out by now.

Here's a webcam of the LHC so you can watch what's currently going on if any are online.

LHC Webcams

RS

Current most overused word in the media

"Slam"

I am so sick of seeing this word. You know it is overused and usually used in situations which really don't need that dramatic of a word.

"LOS ANGELES - A light rail train slammed into a bus near downtown during Friday morning's commute, injuring at least 13 people, fire officials said."

"Ike Slams Into Eastern Cuba; Thousands Begin Evacuating"

OK, maybe it's appropriate in those instances. But I see it everywhere, so I've become jaded to the word ... aside from it being annoying.

"Catholic Bishops Slam Pelosi On Abortion"

It's just getting ridiculous. I swear, any outside observer looking at US media coverage would think that the US Presidential election is actually decided by a tag-team wrestling match.

(story made with ACTUAL headlines)

This is the big tag team match! Obama and Biden are going up against McCain and Palin for the Heavyweight Presidential Championship of the United States of America!

OK, the two teams are in the ring. The referee has Obama and McCain step forward before the bell. OH! Before the bell rings, McCain is already in Obama's face, yelling. "IN 'POLICY SPEECH,' MCCAIN SLAMS OBAMA"

And the bell rings. But Obama quickly get's up and begins fighting back. It looks like Obama already has the upper hand. He moves in on McCain and ... WOW! "OBAMA SLAMS MCCAIN ON IRAQ FACTS" then he goes again! "Obama Slams McCain Over The Economy"!

Uh-oh, Palin doesn't like this ... she jumps into the ring. But Obama is ready and ... oh, Obama has them both and "Obama slams McCain camp ..." Palin crawls out of the ring back to the corner.

Obama makes a tag with Biden and now Biden is in the ring. He grabs McCain and "Biden Slams McCain on Economy"! Biden is playing to the fans.

But watch out, McCain is crawling to the corner. And Biden is not paying attention. Yes, McCain makes the tag! But Biden sees it in the nick of time and "Joe Biden Slams Sarah Palin on Down Syndrome Son, Stem Cell Research." Biden again plays to the crowd. Wait, what's this? Palin is up faster than he thought! She grabs Biden and "Sarah Palin Slams Biden on Energy; Drill, Drill, Drill!" Oh, she's pummeling him!

Obama tries to enter the ring! But, what!? It looks like, we have another player! Out of the crowd ... and he grabs a chair ... and is that, yes, it is! "Lindsay's dad slams Barack Obama" BOOM! And Obama is reeling.

After drilling Biden, Palin goes for the tag and McCain is back in the ring. And "McCain slams Biden in new Ad" Biden is motionless. McCain turns and taunts Obama! What's he saying? Oh, he points at Obama, laughs, picks up Biden and "McCain slams Biden VP pick" right to Obama's face!

Oh, we have other people running into the ring. I don't think the Dems liked that. Now, Hillary is running onto the floor. She jumps in the ring, and "Clinton Slams McCain On Farm Bill" but he gets right up and "McCain Slams Clinton for Support of Woodstock Concert Museum".

Then Palin jumps in too, and "Palin Slams Hillary For Her No Show"

Now the Republicans are getting some help. George Bush comes running in but Hillary sees him and "HILLARY SLAMS BUSH ON BIN LADEN

In fact Hillary is going nuts! She's attacking her own team and "Hillary Slams Obama Over Deceptive Ohio Mailers" Obama is furious, and "Obama slams Hillary on her gaffe about lobbyists"

Oh, it's complete chaos in here! We'll be back after this commercial break ...


Admit it, people would be much more interested in the elections if this were the way it was decided. LOL

Regarding this post, I can see it now: "Media outlets slam the Roman Sacristan for slamming the use of the word 'slam'"

RS

If The Dark Knight trailer seemed to dark for you

if the original trailer was too dark:



Try this one:



RS

Are vegitarians meat eaters?

I need some Monday levity.

Maybe vegitarians do eat meat indirectly:



Beware of the lettuce!

RS

When students get bored.

My semester in Rome (way back in the day) was a lot of fun. But after awhile, you see so much art, you do get bored. So I got some friends to pose with the art.

Headless statue(s) at the Roman Forum
New meaning to the term "Art theft"?
Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy
RS

Media Overload

For Carolina Cannonball



(this video is clean, but click on some of his other videos at your own risk)

RS

Large Hadron Collider Rap

Well, we're getting closer to the beginning of the big experiments at the LHC in Switzerland. They've apparently started testing beams this month. Then in September they'll start circulating beams throughout the whole LHC. But the high energy tests won't be started until sometime in late October.

In the meantime here's an amusing rap about the LHC. It's about a month old, but I haven't seen it on the Catholic blogosphere yet. It may seem cheesy, but it's actually pretty well done.




My only complaint is that their brief explaination of the Higgs Boson makes the Higgs field seem like a modern tweaked version of the aether field.

I think what would make me laugh the most with the LHC is if they find out quarks are made up of other particles. Not likely, but you never know ...

RS

I may have a vocation to this order

"The Dormition of the Virgin" by Andreas Ritzos
As I was digging around on the internet, I came across this order which I had never heard of before:

The Canons Regular of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (O.Dorm.) are that rarity, an enclosed, purely contemplative order of men. While they naturally hide from the world, some description of their unique vocation, according to the Regula Patrum Soporificum, may be of interest.

(The Order ought not be confused with the Assumptionist Fathers, who follow the Augustinian Rule, and are named for Our Lady's transferral body and soul into heavenly bliss. The Falling Asleep (dormitio, koimêsis) of the Blessed Virgin is the older name, common to East and West, for Holy Mary's sacred and everlasting repose in the Lord.)

The full article has much more detail about their life.

The Dormitionists

I think they might be a natural fit for my temperment and activity level. I'm going to go write to the vocations direcetor right after my nap!

RS

Designing a stop sign.

What would it be like if the US bishop's had to design a stop sign back in the late 1970's:


The US bishop's sign would first be released as an orange-yellow nonagone with the words "gently touch pedal" (this way it's inclusive of all pedals and doesn't focus on just the break pedal) which would still result in people running into each other. We'd have these signs for about 40 years.

Eventually, people would either just get off the road, or they would just come flying through the intersections with the claim they are just following the sign.

Then the design committee would come back with the word "stop", but it would be rejected with the excuse that nobody uses that word anymore so they wouldn't know what the word meant. Even though Rome had approved the red and octagonal parts of the new sign.

However, with word "stop" having been leaked, many people complain that: 1) it's not what they are used to. 2) the word "stop" is too archaic (nobody will know what it means). 3) the sign supposedly focuses only on one pedal. 4) the word "stop" is too demanding.

RS

You don't think it's become a religion?

Time for some Monday levity.

I hate politics and most of the discussion thereof, but here's a rare post on it.

As much as it is a satire, it pretty much does describe many Obamaniacs' feelings (including the the media) ...


or is it just a trip into the head of Obama himself? Probably both. The irony is that liberals whine that religion should not be a part of politics. Yet, Obama supporters are often more fanatic than most religious.

Sacristan's bow to Mom & Dad for the tip for the video.



RS

RS Movie Review - The Matrix Revolutions

***(WARNING: Probable spoiler alerts)***
Just skip to the bottom if you really plan on seeing this movie.

The Matrix series has been an odd thing for me. When I went to see the first movie, "The Matrix" the theater was having technical problems and the sound channels were going out every so often. Needless to say, that made a highly confusing movie, even more incomprehensible. The effects were great, but it was just confusing (due to lack of sound).

After talking with friends, I gave it another chance and watched it when it came out on DVD. Once I figured out what was going this time, I began to enjoy it and found it pretty creative, and ended up buying the DVD and watching it many times. I still really enjoy "The Matrix."

So when the sequel, "The Matrix Reloaded," was announced, and I saw the trailer, I was stoked. A friend and I went to see it opening weekend. There were technical problems again (different theater). The center sound channel would fade out occasionally, but not as bad as when I saw the first film. Still, the second one had to be one of the most disappointing sequels I have ever seen.* It was like they took the Matrix, stripped it of any decent plot, and then made it sleazy. For instance, Zion is just a big, sweaty rave party full of rastafarians and geeky white folk. The first time I saw Zion I realized I would have actually wanted to stay in the Matrix if I had the choice. Guess you can kiss any of that Christian/gnostic symbolism of the first movie out the door. It was clear the Wachowski Brothers were just milking a sucessful first movie (especially because the second one ended with a cliffhanger).


I hated "The Matrix Reloaded" so much I have not even been curious to see the final movie of the trilogy, "The Matrix Revolutions." Well, I did have one reason I wanted to see it: I heard that Neo dies. Yes, I hated the second movie so much I wanted to see the protagonist get his just desserts for putting me through the sequel. However, that reason has still never really prompted me to want to watch the movie.

So why am I reviewing the third movie? Well, I finally came across a form that I figured I would watch. When cruising around the web last night, I came across a movie "review" that was more of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 viewing. It was the entire movie with two guys making humorous comments throughout the whole thing. You may think the "commentary" is annoying, but I have to say, it was the only thing that got me through the movie. And sadly, as loud as they were compared to the movie volume, I really didn't miss anything important.

Yes, "The Matrix Revolutions" was actually as bad as "The Matrix Reloaded. Really on it's own it was worse. Take "The Matrix Reloaded" which had already stripped the decent storyline out of the "The Matrix" and now strip away all the cool fight choreography and cinematography, and for the most part, the Matrix itself, and you have "The Matrix Revolutions." But there are two reasons it wasn't worse: 1) The ending of "The Matrix Revolutions" meant that the trilogy was over and 2) Neo did die (Yea! \o/ ) ... actually we're not totally sure about that by the end. Anyway ...

It was horrid though. Most of the movie didn't even take place in the Matrix, which is what made the first one great and the second one tolerable. Instead it took place in the boring, drab "real world." The other thing that annoyed me was that everyone was so darn serious. Everyone was so sober, tense, and stiff that I thought they all had been given an atomic wedgie before shooting the scenes. They could rarely even squeeze out more than one sentence at a time.

Enjoy you wedgie, Mr. Anderson?
Then you have three story lines going on at once that take forever to cycle through.

1) You have Neo and Trinity going off to save the world.

2) You have Morpheus on another ship, and he practically plays a bit part in this movie (actually the movie is so long and bounces around so much, you really don't feel like anyone really starred in the movie). As the commenters noted, Morpheus becomes the Chewbacca to the Han Solo-like female pilot and the male captain who has to say the "GD word" every other sentence.

Morpheus in "The Matrix Revolutions"
3) Then you finally have Zion about to get attacked by the machines (as you find out at the end of the second movie). By the time the machines get to Zion, you are cheering for them to just kill everyone and get the movie over with.

The Morpheus storyline has them trying to get back to Zion to save it, and when they actually do make it and save the day, you realize you still have another FORTY FIVE FREAKIN' MINUTES LEFT IN THE MOVIE!!! Of course you still have the Neo storyline, but you also find out that after that excruciating battle for Zion that that was just the FIRST WAVE of machines!

I'm not even going to go into the acid trip that was the Neo and Trinity storyline. All I can say is that at one point, when they went above the clouds and saw the sun, it reminded me of the only worse movie (and sequel) I have ever seen: *"Highlander 2: The Director's Cut." That is not a good thing, and just re-enforces how bad this movie was. In fact, the whole trilogy is much like the first three Highlander movies. Just watch the first movie of the series and pretend the other two don't exist.

And then I really am not sure what happened at the end. I'm not sure Neo really totally saved the day. I almost saw a crack in the door of the plot that would allow more movies to be made if someone were actually evil and twisted enough to try and do that. (I can see it now "The Matrix Regurgitated.")

Oh, wow, there actually is something like that.



***(END OF SPOILERS)***

So for those of you who skipped down to this part ... you might as well just read my review with spoilers, the movie just stinks. "The Matrix Revolutions" is an appropriate name because it is just revolting. The only reason to see it is to see how bad it is. If you really insist on seeing it, probably the best way is to watch the video I saw. The commentary is rated R, but then, so is the movie, so don't think the commentary makes it any more appropriate for children. It's in 7 parts, and here's a link to the first part (you can see the other parts from this one):

Hem Haw 1

Here's a pictorial summary of the trilogy:

click picture to embiggen
[This has been a public service announcement from your friendly Roman Sacristan]

RS

Bonus Amusement: Notice how Agent Smith and Carl Sagan sound exactly alike:

Happy Independence Day

Because everyone needs something patriotic:



And because after last year's post, simple fireworks just aren't enough:



RS

Grizzly news

"Avid reader" Ronny sent me some grizzly news, well, not grizzly as in gruesome, but grizzly as in my mascot ... perfect for some Monday levity.



I personally hate it when people set up barbed wire to get my hair. In one sense I feel it is rather ironic. In this age of "animal rights," who does the US Geological Survey think they are to violate our grizzly privacy with their CCTV's!?!?! Are US national parks turning into London's 1984 becoming real with today's CCTV proliferation?

You humans need to quit assuming we want rights. We just wish you'd leave us alone and quit using us animals for your political agendas. PETA, LEAVE ME ALONE! The Onion has a point (LOL):



Of course the minute I saw the MSNBC video, I had to search youtube because I knew that somebody would do something like this:





Which eventually reminded me of the dancing bear in this video. I love the way these guys flip the usual "thug" image of rap and make it more "fuzzy."



RS