Advent Week #2: Friday - THE BABY IS UPSIDE DOWN!

If only it were true in real life.

The Feto-Meter shows the baby twirling upside down, which is not the way he is positioned right now. Of course, the Feto-Meter does not show the 2009 Model Noisykid with his outdoor plumbing, either.

We are investigating ways to make the baby 'come about' - a nautical term, from my days in the Air Force. But I digress.

Today is Friday, a day our family usually abstains from meat. However, today is also the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In honor of this occasion, I send you some Meatloaf for your viewing and listening displeasure:




Well, it's cold and lonely on this Texas Winter night. I can see the keyboard by the monitor light.

Advent, Week #2: Thursday

I feel as if I have been remiss, sending you 'easy' penitential musical hairshirts.

That will end now.

Do you remember the Partridge Family?

This guy sang for them; I only had eyes for Susan Dey.




Oh yeah.

I outgrew my boyhood crush for Susan Dey and her braces which picked up radio signals, met Wifeofdadwithnoisykids, and the rest is history.

Addendum: Advent Homily and Procession

Here is a LINK to a sermon by Fr. Angelo Geiger, from the Franciscans of the Immaculate.

Of note, the Brother seen with the cowboy hat is a former parishioner who is in the novitiate of that order.

Music from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

This next LINK shows the outdoor procession on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. For those of you who are playing the home game version of "Where's Dadwithnoisykids?" you can earn a lot of points in this video. Look for dadwithnoisykids, Wifeofdadwithnoisykids, and several of the Noisykids. As a hint, look for two of the oldest and largest Noisykids as altar boys in the procession.

This reminds me that I need to make 2009 the year that I learn Spanish.

Advent, Week #2: Wednesday

Consider the shepherds, the lowly shepherds who were the first to learn of the birth of Our Savior.

Consider their response if they heard the choir of angels accompanied by this instrument:




Thanks to Sue D. for this link!

Advent, Week #2: Tuesday

I am on call today, so I shall be brief.

Follow this LINK to get a special Christmas greeting from Weird Al Yankovic.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

Consider this version of Jingle Bells by a bunch of guys who look as if they just left a Star Trek Convention:



Speaking of bad acting - I mean, Star Trek - take a look at this:

Second Sunday of Advent

Sunday is a day of rest; therefore, I bid you to rest as you watch this number:



Far, far from Aqualung....

Sunday is a good day to take stock on how well one is doing with the three parts of Advent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving.

Prayer: Is the only prayer you say this week something like, "God, when will he stop torturing us with these videos?"

Fasting: Are the videos ruining your appetite, and limiting your intake of food?

Almsgiving: Would you give anything to stop these videos?

It is not too late to start again with prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

By the way, I would stop this exercise in musical hairshirtery for the right price.

Advent Week One: Saturday

This is no time to relax our exercises of mortification.

Tonight, I shall include one of the Noisykid videos from last year after this little bit of bad music 'for the ladies.' After watching the Puppini Sisters sing a jingle, I thought it was time for the women folk to watch a video just for them:

Here is the Link, or watch it below:



Now for one which is not a penance for me to watch; this is Noisykid #8 singing 'Away in a Manger:'

Texas Christmas Ornaments

These were made by my children, and are for sale at today's St. Nicholas Feast Day party.

Feast of St. Nicholas

Here are the family shoes, filled with goodies.

Advent Week One: Friday

At the end of the week, we shall spend a moment contemplating the concept of the 'Little Drummer Boy.'

This musical thorn(below the poem) generates more questions along the line of 'What were they thinking?' than anything else.

But first, I bring you one of my favorite poems from a priest who wrote extensively; one of his greatest works is his work where he discusses his conversion to the Faith. This poem, Lead Kindly Light, is one my confessor introduced to me. It talks about asking God to show one the 'next step' to take when one is lost. We might not know all the steps we have to take as we make our way through this life, but it is enough to know what one is to do right now.

Lead, Kindly Light

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead thou me on;
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead thou me on.
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.

So long thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those Angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

J.H. Newman

Newman comes from the same land as one of these singers; perhaps this singer will one day change his wild ways and enter the Church as well. Perhaps he could put the second verse of poem to music.

But I digress. Back to a meditation on the Little Drummer Boy

"Unless we recover the zeal and the spirit of the first century Christians - unless we are willing to do what they did and to pay the price that they paid, the future of our country, the days of America are numbered."

Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
1914-2000

Now I shall lob one over the wall, courtesy of the Puppini Sisters - these don't look like consecrated Sisters....

First Week of Advent, Wednesday

"Nothing can make you such an imitator of Christ as your concern for others. Although you sleep on the floor, even though, I dare to say, you kill yourself, if you are not attentive to your neighbour, you have done very little; you are very far from being an image of Christ."

St. John Chrysostom

From the series of books In Conversation with God: Volume One: Advent and Christmastide, by Francis Fernandez

Now for the video. This is a sing-along, for those who speak Japanese. The rest of us can just hum, or stare in confusion.

Advent Day #3 - Meditation and Mortification

Day Three of Advent brings to mind a quote found elsewhere on this blog, one from the Maxims of St. Ignatius of Loyola:

“If God gives you an abundant harvest of trials, it is a sign of the great holiness to which He desires you to attain.

Do you want to become a great saint?

Ask God to send you many sufferings. The flame of divine love never rises higher than when fed with the wood of the cross, which the infinite charity of the Savior uses to finish His sacrifice.

All the pleasures of the world are nothing compared with the sweetness found in the gall and vinegar offered to Jesus Christ; that is, hard and painful things endured for Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ.”


Advent is a time of

PRAYER


FASTING


ALMSGIVING

Permit me to add three more words to the above list:

KATHY


LEE


GIFFORD

Click on this link (for you Facebookers) or watch the video below:

Advent Day #2: Penance, Prayer, Meditation

Today's Musical Hairshirt requires you to follow the link to YouTube because embedding has been disabled.

Make the journey.

Before you go there, consider praying this prayer for a Latin Mass Community which has outgrown the small chapel they are permitted to use:

"O God, who did restore to the Jews, returning from exile, their beloved temple, hear our prayer.

Grant that we may have a house dedicated to your worship, a church in which You will be glorified.

May it be the house of God, the gate of heaven.

In it may your Divine Life be given in Baptism, Your grace restored in penance, Your Body be received in the Blessed Eucharist, Your strength shared in confirmation, Your family be perpetuated in holy matrimony, the sick healed by the oil of extreme unction.

In it may the words of Your revealed truth be preached.

On its altar may You, the High Priest, again make present Your saving sacrifice.

May its tabernacle be the throne from which you rule.

This we humbly ask through Christ our Lord.

Amen."

While I am at it, please remember to pray for the repose of the souls of three of my friends and colleagues who died in Ann Arbor, Michigan on this day in 1994. I previously posted commentary on this subject here and here.

Advent BEGINS NOW

Once again, I am opening up the Mosh Pit for your viewing pleasure. Consider this as a type of mortification for those who need a little help getting into the spirit of Advent.

Prayer

Fasting

Almsgiving

Jon Anderson from the group Yes singing "I Saw Three Ships'"

Thanksgiving Meditation

Folks enjoyed the turkey cooked with Shiner Bock beer over the one cooked with mustard, but still preferred the ones cooked last year with wine. So next year I'll go back to wine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, I know this was posted already, but I am conducting an experiment with Facebook.

November 25 2008

Today would have been Theodore's 16th Birthday.

I still get bills for some of his medical care; one in particular keeps getting larger each time I receive it. Every time I call the billing company they tell me it was an error and we have a zero balance on our account.

Somewhere a tree was planted in Theodore's honor; I can't imagine that it would be able to sit still. I recall how he used to sneak up to the lectern and start talking into the microphone. He especially liked to run to the lectern as soon as i went into the confessional.

Speaking of confessionals....

I had a dream about Theodore several weeks ago early one morning. In my dream, Theodore was in church along with the rest of the family. I was standing in line for confession, and Theodore was running around greeting all the people who were present. From somewhere he pulled a tray of donuts, which he began offering to all the people. He ran into the sacristy with his donuts, laughing all the way. In my dream, I started to laugh but ended up crying.

I told my wife about my dream when I left for work, and she had a dream about Theodore afterwards. She dreamed that Theodore told her he was happy where he was.



The look on the face of Henry V after he lay the child in the cart always gets me; hardly a day goes by without me having a flashback of Theodore's death and my failed attempt to resuscitate him.

While the World and I Sleep

While the world and I sleep,

someone will hit the mark.

Exceeding thirty-K,

ere light replaces dark.

No fanfare will it cause;

no quarter hour of fame.

Grateful for your visit,

we'll never know your name.

Thanks all who come and gaze,

upon the words you see.

I won't apologize

for my Bad Poetry.

SMD

11.22.2008

On the anticipated 30,000th visit to my blog, which was started in late June, 2006.




UPDATE!!!!

NUMBER 30,000 was from Taiwan!
That person was looking up stuff about St. Jean Vianney!

Thank You!

Early Thanksgiving Wishes

Permit me to be one of the first to wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving. Here in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area, Christmas music started a few weeks ago on one of the local radio stations.

We are blessed in so many ways, and we have so much to be thankful for even in a year that has been full of sorrow. I would love to list the many blessings we have received, but it is Saturday, and it is time to work around the house.

Dadwithnoisykids Is Chastised

Some things can bear no explanation. All I can say is that is my 'Default Picture Walrus' trying out one of the features of the new iMac.

I am humbled.

I went shopping with my wife this evening. My main role was to drive the car and pay the bills and spend some quality time with my Best Beloved.

I think I succeeded on most counts. Heck, I even got her in on time, as I promised my 13-year old son:

"How late are you going to be out?" said he.

"I shall have your mother home before 10 o'clock," I replied. "If we are going to be late, I shall call."

He still looked concerned....

We went to a mall in Dallas which is soooo upscale that I am wrong to call it a mall. I had to pay just to walk through one of the stores.

We went to a store where they sell high quality kitchenware and force feed you things that they are cooking in the kitchen/checkout counter which is located in the center of the store. There I was chastised by my wife for something I did over the weekend.

But first, consider this one thought: I could have made the first sentence in the paragraph above a lot smaller if I had just told the truth and said we went to a Williams-Sonoma store.

But I digress. There, as I sipped hot apple cider and slurped butternut squash chowder with risotto, my wife enlightened me on the realities of good stockpots and how much they cost. For you see, over the weekend, I canceled an order for an 8-quart stockpot which would have cost about the same amount as a dinner at Nick and Sam's for me and the missus. I said there had to be a better deal somewhere else. My wife showed me that 'better' deal, and then spoke sweetly on the economics of buying inferior pots which fail sooner than more expensive ones.

Let this be a lesson to all men who meddle in stockpots.

We got home by 9:30 p.m., to the relief of all the children.

Veterans Day Meditation

Today, Veterans Day, I spent the day doing what I did while I served in the U.S. Air Force.
 
I spent the day administering anesthesia to children at the hospital where I work.  For four years, I showed up to work, took care of patients, did administrative work, and sat in on a few committee meetings. 
 
For four years, I never got shot at, never worked in a war zone.  I did have to get trained on small arms before deploying to El Salvador, but I never was issued any weapon. 
 
For all those who served in combat, I thank you for all of your sacrifices.  For those who died in service to our country, i shall remember you in my prayers today.
 
It did strike me that I participated in probably the only government program which resulted in an improvement in my earning potential.  I doubt that any other government program could help me realize my dream to be a doctor.

---

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Buyer's Remorse Will Set In

This is not a political blog, but I have to mention that in just the few days since the elections there are some interesting things coming to light.

Note that the stock market has dropped quite a bit.

If you look on Obama's www.change.gov website, you can find such pricey new programs as this one under 'Homeland Security:'

"Barack Obama will establish a $2 billion Global Education Fund to work to eliminate the global education deficit and offer an alternative to extremist schools"

There goes my little 401-k.

There are lots of things that will be done, and many of them include a dollar amount.

Then there is this little bit of information:

"Barack Obama will pay for his $50 - $65 billion health care reform effort by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year and retaining the estate tax at its 2009 level."

Actually, Obama will not pay for this program; we shall, and I do mean all of us.

As I explained it to my children, our expenses consist of the basic necessities(food, shelter, clothing) and those things known as 'luxuries,' which would include things, such as Christmas gifts, birthday presents, new clothing, a newer and faster computer, a new car, a vacation, dining out, new beanie baby scorpions, etc.

If our new president is going to tax us more than we are already, the pool of money left over for necessities and luxuries will get smaller. We shall always provide for the necessities for our children, so the things that we go without will be the luxuries.

Please do not weep for the luxuries that my children will not receive; that is not my point!

My point is that with less money to spend on more luxuries, we will put less money into the economy. For example, we enjoy eating Mexican food, and we are blessed with a good local family-run Mexican restaurant. If we stop eating out, this restaurant will take a small hit on its income; if everyone around here stops eating there, this restaurant could go out of business.

This scenario is just an example of what would happen in an economy where more money goes to the government rather than to the people.

Then there are the unborn who will never see the light of day- and the majority of them are in the same ethnic group as our president-elect:

"Thirty-seven percent of abortions occur to black women, 34% to non-Hispanic white women, 22% to Hispanic women and 8% to women of other races."


For a lot of reasons, I think many who voted for Obama will one day be uttering the last line said by Sir Alec Guinness in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai:




"What have I done?"

I Drank the Kool-Aid

Yes, I went out and bought an iMac. The world is changing. Don't worry, I am still in communion with the Catholic Church.