Interesting comments from the Pope

Especially interesting are his comments on the Synod document, which he says will be signed soon, being a diocesan bishop besides being Pope, and on prayer.

Excerpts and link to more here.

Catholic Blog Awards

The Catholic Blog Awards have been announced. I registered, but didn't vote. The huge list of nominees (many of whom I wasn't familiar with) was just too daunting. But it looks like every single one of the categories is topped by an excellent winner.

Perhaps the one exception is "priest blog". I love WDTPRS, but they're are just so many good possibilities.

Sensible advice from "Dear Prudence"

To ease your burden of coming up with a theme for each of your "at least" five baby showers, cancel at least four of them.

OK, Steve wins the prize...

At the top of each of your posts is an empty div tag. Inside that tag is a style attribute with a clear: both rule.

That is what is causing the problem.

Turns out that in Blogger under Settings --> Formatting there is a setting for "Enable float alignment".

That setting "Allows image and text alignment options using the <div clear:both> tag. (Choose "No" if you are having post layout problems.)"

It was turned on, now it's turned off and things work right again.

Thanks, Steve.

I just wanted to say that if you didn't get a Christmas card it doesn't mean I hate you.

I just was so slow in getting them out that at a certain point it seemed ridiculous to send any more.

Also... if anyone knows how to fix this thing so that the posts start at the top of the page again. Darn html kludge.

Acents, acents, and more acents

Check out this cool website. It's got samples of people with all sorts of different regional accents from around the world reading a paragraph containing all the sounds used in English.

The Rochester Polonium Experiment

Remember the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko with polonium? Turns out some of the early experiments on the effects of polonium on humans were part of the World War Two atomic weapons experiments at the University of Rochester.

hat tip, the Federation of American Scientists' (a.k.a. Federation of Atomic Scientists) Secrecy News.

The U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings notes:

ex-Guadalcanal (LPH-7) Sunk as target in a live fire exercise off the Virginia Capes in 2,850 fathoms at 32 degrees 3 minutes N, 74 degrees 15 minutes W.

Paul Begala's good advice for Rudy Giuliani if he wants to be president:

"You can’t switch on everything. So surrender to the far right on one issue: abortion. But the only way to do it is whole hog. Use your trump card: 9/11. Tell them the death you saw that day gave you a greater appreciation for the sanctity of life. You’re Saul on the road to Damascus. Praise the Lord and pass the delegates."

More.

From the New York Times.

A disturbing editorial for prospective Mitt Romney supporters.

More "Best of" Lists than you can shake a stick at.

With a hat tip to the New York Times.

Simon Doonan in the New York Observer:

Don’t get me wrong: It’s not that I’m anti-art. It’s just that, when confronted by the unquestioning, slavish, masochistic fervor of the typical Art Basel attendee, I turn into Ted Nugent. I want to buy a gun, closely followed by a Thomas Kinkade painting.

Not so interesting fact from the New York Times, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006

Headline: "In Bronx, Job Statistics Paint a Complex Picture"
Subhead: "Work Still Hard to Find, Unemployed Say"

Well duh! The unemployed are by definition those people who are having trouble finding work...so if you ask them...

Metro Section, pg. 47

Interesting fact from the New York Times, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006:

Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon still sells 10,000 copies a week.

Arts Section, page 36.

The best of part of the new Blogger Beta I've discovered so far is that publishing now seems to be instantaneous.

Carthusians Movie to Open in New York City

Into Great Silence the movie about the Carthusians that gotten rave reviews at festivals will open at New York City's Film Forum on February 28.

The Ordination of The Rev. Al Kimel

(The quality of the pictures reflects both the ineptness of the photographer and his equipment, and the fact that I didn't want to use a flash.)

After the procession.

The Most Rev. John Myers, Archbishop of Newark, incenses the altar, that's the Deacon of the Mass on the left.

The Homily and Admonition of the Candidate at the chair.

The promise of obedience.

The laying on of hands.

The prayer.

I think this is the handing over of the instruments. (I knew what it was when I took the picture...I just don't know remember now.) This is after the vesting, so that's Fr. Kimel in the purple chasuble with his back to the camera.

Can you tell I just got film developed?

Here's a shot of my building. (I've never been in the front door and you actually can't see my entrance in this photo.)

Chickens in the Basement

A closeup and a wide shot of the chickens in my boiler room. I wouldn't mind so much, except that you can see the uncontained chicken feed in the top left picture. The window is just barred (no glass) so rats can feed happily off the chicken feed too.

Sadly there were no roosters perching on the pipes when I took this picture...

In my neighborhood, even the pigeons are undergoing gentrification.