Milestones

According to our SiteMeter, the Oddblog recently had its 5,000th visitor, and this week will climb over 10,000 page views.

Thanks to our loyal readers for helping us reach a minor milestone!

Feedback

From their website:

"You will get ears, big ears. Because FEEDBACK understand themselves on the rock´n´roll of the hard school equally as on rather contemplative tones. . . . [One of the band's members is] arch abbott Notker wolf, who resides since September 2000 as abbot primate, the highest representative of the world-wide 24000 benedictine nons and monks, on the Aventin in Rome. He has the same enthusiasm for rock music in the spirit of AC/DC, Rolling Stones, ZZ Top up to Jethro Tull and status Quo and plays since that time guitar and his trueful rockin´ flute."

Yep, they're German — check out Feedback. Especially their guitarist (and, apparently, flautist) Archabbott Notker Wolf, head of the 24,000 Benedictine monks around the world.

Be prepared though, for big ears, and a little "trueful" (?) rockin' flute - way beyond anything Ron Burgandy could put together:



* Thanks to Orin's AI classmate Mike Miller, Jr. for the lead!

pOddcast - Mexican Café

Now on the pOddcast: "Mexican Café" - as recorded on the CD "Shannon Cerneka" released in 2001. This is perhaps the first ancestral Oddwalk moment, and certainly the first recorded one.

If you need help with the complicated lyrics, click here.

You can find the podcast on all our various websites, look for the pOddcast link or the Gcast player - enjoy!

Miriam Nina Furao Xiu Taff

Congratulations to Jason and Corinne, friends of Orin and Erin's, who have finally met and "taken custody" (not sure in what leagal sense yet) of their new daughter, adopted from China. You might remember we had a post or two about her and the process a while back.

Please keep this newly-50% larger family in prayer!

KFC asks Pope to bless new fish sandwich

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For years, anything produced by KFC had to meet the standards of Colonel Harlan Sanders.

For its new product, the fried chicken chain is seeking a higher endorsement. KFC has asked Pope Benedict XVI to bless the Fish Snacker Sandwich, a Lenten addition to the chain’s Snacker sandwich line.

KFC sent the Pope a letter earlier this month, asking him to bestow a blessing on the sandwich. [Read more]

---

Unfortunately, KFC's letter arrived on February 11, and the Pope could not be distracted from his usual staring contest with Our Lady of Lourdes:

A Master of Balance

Erin reports that my son Noah sat up by himself for the first time on Tuesday. Here's the proof:



That's all...I'm just a proud father.

-Shannon

Turn Away From Sin

...and be faithful to the Gospel.

Or, put another way, give up what separates you from God, and put your trust in your Christian community, Jesus' cross, and his new creation.

As we all hopefully are aware, the penitential season of Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday, this year February 21.

The season of Lent is closely connected with the transition from Winter to Spring, the name itself coming from an Anglo-Saxon word lecten meaning springtime. Lent is also a period of preparation for Baptism (and other initiation sacraments) in the Catholic Church, celebrated at the Easter Vigil liturgy. It has a length of 40 days, modeling Jesus' fast in the desert as well as other prominent old testament 40's (Moses, Elijah, and others).

We'd like to take a moment to offer a few suggestions on ways to celebrate (yes, celebrate, albeit in a somber way) Lent as a time of transition and preparation in our own lives.

Prayer, almsgiving, and fasting and abstinence from meat (on Fridays) have long been traditions in the Church. Self-denial promotes self-discipline in one's faith. It also allows one to give to the poor and hungry what one has denied to self. Perhaps take some time during Lent, especially on days of abstinence to make donations to food pantries or homeless shelters.

Many of us come from a tradition too of "giving up" something for lent, another form of self denial, be it chocolates, TV, soda, or the like. Perhaps consider giving up something a little less tangible, and something that doing away with will improve your life: give away your angers, your judgmental attitudes, or your fears and anxieties. Perhaps even give away some of your security, as any sort of growth is difficult in a place of comfort.

One last, important, suggestion: take some time to explore what your church or (secular) community has to offer over the next six weeks. Being a part of one's community, however it is defined, is vital to an understanding of faith and our place in God's creation.

Welcome Lent this year with an attitude of progress and change, and the season will become for you that very time of growth. Let this be our common prayer for one another this coming season.

In Christ,
Shannon and Orin


PS - some of the info in this post came from a book titled "Catholic
Customs and Traditions" by Greg Dues, published by Twenty-Third
Publications, (c) 1992

[originally posted here last year, March 1, 2006, and slightly adapted this year]

Happy Mardi Gras!

Visit americancatholic.org for a bit more on the roots of Mardi Gras, or to send a Mardi Gras e-card!

Have fun today - Lent starts tomorrow!

Facebook

So, we're on Facebook now too.

Facebook us!

pOddcasting!

Hey! We've changed the the title of the sidebar area over our audio posts to "Audio / pOddcast" as it turns out we've been podcasting this whole time. Whee! In retrospect, we should have figured this out sooner, and maybe some of you already have. To subscribe to our podcast, click the (you guessed it) "Get Podcast" button on the Gcast player - make sure your browser supports pop-ups, at least this one time. You'll see a page with several options to get our podcast, including iTunes. Or you can keep checking this blog, our main page, or our myspace page for our randomly-timed updates.

To celebrate this happy day, we've uploaded some oddwalk-antiquity. Predating even the name "Oddwalk," we've put up an early version of "Come To Me" which was originally part of the CD "Songs of Christmas" put out by the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in 2003, and performed by Shannon and Orin. Enjoy!

Shannon and the Inflatable Velcro Wall

Recorded at the Galveston-Houston Junior High Youth Rally, Houston, TX, February 10, 2007:

Happy Birthday Orin's Dad, Part II

Orin's Dad got a surprise call as part of Oddwalk's set at St. Henry's on February 15:

The Cubs Song / Old Irish Blessing

Oddwalk filled a couple requests from the adults at St. Henry's, Belleville IL after our set with the PSR folks. Here's Shannon's "The Cubs Song" and Orin's "Old Irish Blessing" —

ComedySportz - Houston

As part of Oddwalk's recent trip to Houston, TX for their Junior High Youth Rally, our chauffeur and all-around "take care of Oddwalk" guy Paul


<--- that's him







invited us to a night of improv comedy at ComedySportz Houston.

During the evening's fun, Orin was picked as an audience volunteer for one sketch. Whee! Just following the sketch, this other photo was taken (it was a special Valentine's Day "Battle of the Sexes" night).

The next day Paul and some other ComedySportz folks were an entertaining part of the youth rally. Thanks to Paul and everyone at ComedySportz Houston for a night of fun and a lot of laughs!

"Doc" Johnson's Birthday!

Hey! It's Orin's Dad's birthday today! He turns 82 years young. That's him on the giant slide show from NCYC 2005. He goes by Doc to friends, but his given name is Orville.

You might suspect that he has a website, like, say, www.orvillejohnson.com; while that looks like an interesting fellow, that's not him.

If you want to drop a birthday wish - he always appreciates them from random strangers - you could email him at docandeva@frontiernet.net.

Happy birthday Dad!

Happy St. Valentine's Day

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.
For the ends of being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise,
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints---I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

—Elizabeth Barrett Browning

And it is sufficient in our faith as well

From the old tales of the Balem Shem Tov and the Hasidic rabbis:

When the great Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted.

Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magid of Mezritch, had occasion, for the same reason, to say the prayer, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: "Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer." And again, the miracle would be accomplished.

Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say: "I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient."

Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to The Holy One: "I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient." And it was sufficient.

Harvard U. names first female president

Harvard has been around for 371 years... it's about time!

"Drew Gilpin Faust recalls her mother lecturing her that "this is a man's world, sweetie, and the sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be."

It was a lesson, she wrote in a memoir, that she refused to accept.

On Sunday, Harvard University named Faust the first female president in the school's 371-year history."

Read more here.

Creatures of Habit

even at our churches:

But how about malt-o-meal?

Vista: Cancel or Allow

Thinking of installing or (perish the thought!) switching from Mac to Vista? Watch this "I'm a Mac..." ad and you may reconsider!

When Orin went "all rock star"

"My favorite part of the DCYC trip was all of the live music, especially from Oddwalk Ministries. When Orin went all rock star style and when Chris, from Limit 3:16, was bombing on the guitar Jimi Hendrix style!" said Thomas Adams, an 11th grader from Our Lady of Guadalupe.

-- referring to the Diocese of Austin DCYC in January, 2007 in Catholic Spirit

Oddwalk responds: Righteous.

Your Prayers Are Needed

This past Thursday, my half-sister Sherrie passed away in her sleep. Sherrie was one of five children from my dad's marriage to Janie. She is survived by her husband, Tim Aldridge; two sons, Brad (Laura) Cleamer of Belleville, Ill., and Timothy Aldridge of Belleville, Ill.; her daughter, Janelle Aldridge of Belleville, Ill.; four grandchildren, Savhanna, Hailey, Jimmy and Austin.

Please join us in praying for Sherrie and her family during this difficult time.

-Shannon

Snowball's Confession

Warning: Snowball's confession may include the word "poop."

Of course, so does this page now.

Week of Worship

Oddwalk's visit to Columbia, IL (Immaculate Conception Parish) made front page news! Read more about it online here.

Actually, only the picture makes reference to us, and even then spells our name wrong. We're not mentioned at all in the article... But still! Any publicity is good publicity, right?

Key question:
<--- What about that girl!?

Sacred Space?

Super Bowl XLI is finally here! If you aren't a fan of the Indianapolis Colts or the Chicago Bears, it's a chance to watch some clever commercials and hang out with friends. If you are a fan of those two teams, you are probably out of your mind right about now. One pregnant Bears fan is going to extreme measures to try and see the game today in Miami. Click here for the story.