While I have kept myself busy with silly tasks such as shoveling, the good sisters of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary over at the Monastery of Georgetown were out playing in the snow.  Click on the pics to enlarge and go to their site for a full report.

h/t to Jeff Miller

So, there was this great episode of The Office where the staff played Office Olympics while Michael, the boss, was away.

Now, The Office is a rather popular TV series that, like everything else on NBC, is about to be wipe-out by the Winter Olympics that are being held, seemingly, in Clay Imoo’s backyard.

All of which is to serve as an intro to this video which I tripped across  recently.  It’s awesome.

St. Joseph Life Teen in Modesto, CA along with their Director of Youth and Family Ministries, Carlos Gonzales, deserves kudos in putting together this promotional video for a (September) parish event.

Somewhere out there, Dwight Schrute is pleased.

Last Saturday, I ran a full review of some of my favorite shows.

Turns out, I have not been alone in sending a little love towards tv shows.

Recently, the Vatican’s newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano  congratulated The Simpsons on its 20th anniversary, praising its philosophical leanings as well as its stinging and often irreverent take on religion.

The paper identified Homer’s religious confusion and ignorance as “a mirror of the indifference and the need that modern man feels toward faith,” the paper said.

It commented on several religion-themed episodes, including one in which Homer calls for divine intervention by crying: “I’m not normally a religious man, but if you’re up there, save me, Superman!” “Homer finds in God his last refuge, even though he sometimes gets His name sensationally wrong,” L’Osservatore said. “But these are just minor mistakes, after all, the two know each other well.” More from the Associated Press article.

Here is my DVR confessional.

I still will watch reruns of West Wing without any excuse and will double check the story-line of a Star Trek: The Next Generation before deleting it. There you have it… the “comfort food” on my media library.

Tomorrow, I (or my DVR) will be there as Season 8 of 24 kicks in. Same thing for the Lost season premier on  Feb. 2 (Groundhog Day?  Seriously? Someone tell me that’s not a nod to the Bill Murray movie and the “present” story-line!)

And, I like the reality competitions where we watch folks improve week after week.

Everyone of these shows are about passion and passionate folks living out their lives and dreams. All of which is to indicate why I can not resist Glee !

Every now and then there comes an anthem for a generation that speaks a truth…

> Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are a-Changin‘

> Wang Chung’s Everybody Have Fun Tonight

> and now…

From this week’s American Idol search in Atlanta comes 62-year-old  General Larry Platt’s new musical rant against baggy-trousered B-boys, the instant classic “Pants On The Ground.”

Of course, this will lead to inevitable imitations such as when Neil Young allegedly  
appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to sing his own version.

“Call yourself a cool cat, lookin’ like a fool walkin’ downtown with your pants on the ground.”

What can I say . . . I do enjoy pop music.

Here is DJ Earworm’s (one imagines that this was not his baptismal name) masterful mix and mashup of the Top 25 Hits of 2009, according to Billboard.

Everyone get up and dance!

Often folks will tie in greetings of good luck as we enter into the New Year.

Well, if you want greetings of luck in the new year, I can do no more than wish you the luck of Taylor on his 19th birthday.

Enter the new year with a positive attitude. Count on winning.

oh,

and

Good Luck!

After having learned how to replace the banner atop the site, I promptly lost the connection.  Christmas break allowed for some serious deciphering and last night, I broke the logjam.  With the new year, we have a new banner and the promise of frequent updating of the same

I found the image for the new banner from Thomas Peter’s American Papist site and he credits Reuters as the source.  Peters suggests that the unknown cardinal is texting… maybe.

It’s a different church, ain’t it?

Two years ago, an angry Italian priest got Red Bull to pull the enclosed commercial on the grounds it is disrespectful to Christianity.

Father Marco Damanti, from Sicily, described the commercial as “a blasphemous act.” He complained that “The image of the sacred family has been represented in a sacrilegious way” and that “Whatever the ironic intentions of Red Bull, the advert pokes fun at the nativity, and at Christian sensitivity”.

As for me, I actually think it is intriguing to actually see the Christmas story reflected amidst the onslaught of Christmas advertising. And, not really understanding a word, I sorta enjoy this version.  But, if you want, here’s the English version as well.