Sit, Stand, or Kneel?

A Loss in Cardinal Nation

Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals and indeed all of the baseball world, mourn the loss of Josh Hancock today. Hancock was a relief pitcher with the Cardinals who helped them win their tenth World Championship last year. Josh was killed in a car accident early this morning in St. Louis.

Here is the story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Please join us in praying for Josh, his family, and his teammates.

Happy Birthday Mike!

Hey! It's Mike Patin's Birthday today! We believe (though we could be wrong) that he turns 29 today.

(That's him, between Shrine-type friends Donna and Kate.)

Mike is one of the nicest people around, a great speaker, a wealth of knowledge on youth ministry and the human condition in general.

His website does have a contact page, if anyone wanted to drop a note of well-wishes...

Sidebar Mania

If you haven't noticed (and we wouldn't blame you), there are a number a new items in our Oddblog sidebar over there on the left worth checking out:

- our pOddcast of exciting audio
- a link to our videos on YouTube
- other links and contact info
- the archive of this blog
- a handful of enjoyable posts from other' blogs
- the mass readings of the day (text and audio) and a link to a brief reflection
- news items pulled from searching Google News for 'Catholic'

...and other minor tidbits too. Happy blogging!

Vanity Fair - Germany

Seriously, we didn't make this up.

Whether or not you can read German, click here!

Is the Holy Father starting a new fashion trend? We're not sure white is Oddwalk's color.

Separated at Birth?

Shannon of Oddwalk . . . . . . and . . . . . . Al from "Toy Story 2"?



















Thanks to Eric and Marianne over on Facebook for the notion!

pOddcast - "Share"

New today on the pOddcast:

An alternative recording of Share (also recorded by Oddwalk on "Let Us Go...") from "Songs of Healing and Hope" - the OLS Shrine Choir, © 2002.

You can find it in the usual places. Enjoy!

My math says it's one every less-than-four minutes

...In the end, 13-year-old Morgan Pozgar faced off against Michael "Cheeser" Nguyen in the east coast final, with Pozgar slipping past her challenger to face west coast champion Tirosh, a law student from Los Angeles.

"I just wasn't fast enough," said Nguyen, a 23-year-old engineer from Pennsylvania. Asked how it felt to take second place, he was clearly disappointed: "I just got beaten by a teenage girl, but, you know."

Tirosh, who said she practiced with her friend and trainer Amy, who threw out random words or symbols and even motivational Buddhist quotes, admitted to feeling a certain pressure due to the home side advantage.

Wearing a satin boxing robe before her championship bout against Pozgar, she said success would come down to who could marry lightning speed and accuracy.

"It's all about the thumbwork," she said. "It's about balance." She added that she owed her success to relaxation and deep breathing.

So dedicated is she to the art of the text message that Tirosh apparently unwittingly uses initials such as BTW (by the way), TTYL (talk to you later) and LOL (laughing out loud) in her normal speech.

Pozgar said she trained by sending on average 8,000 text messages a month to her friends - an astonishing rate of one every five and a half minutes. She pays US$10 a month for an unlimited text package on her cell phone....

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Orin's math:
8,000/30days/16hours-awake = 16.67 text messages an hour, or an average of one every 3.6 minutes.

Sheesh.

A Keytar Reborn!

Well, not really. But Oddwalk did today buy (for sub-eBay pricing - yay!) a new-old keytar, just like the first Orin played with Oddwalk.

Oddwalk (well, Orin, really) now owns 3 keytars. The world is a bizarre place, and I think this proves it.

Which keytar will show up at our various appearances? You never know! Whichever one matches our outfits? Whichever one fits in the car or on the plane? Maybe both (all three?!)... Hmm... An array of keytars... We may need a keytar technician to come along on gigs now...

Okay, that's enough. Hey - look at that picture of Orin's dogs down there - how cute...

Worth at least 6G

In honor of Orin and Erin's dogs, Gracie and Penny, we bring you this little treat from indexed:

You can get a $3,000 dog for free from the shelter.

I caught you a delicious bass.

In honor of this Sunday's gospel passage, John 21:1-19, which includes this passage:

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”
So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.

oddwalk brings you this fun website:

icaughtyouadeliciousbass.com

enjoy!

Word to the Wise

You can find the fabulous youth program "Young Neighbors in Action" on the web at http://youngneighbors.org.

You will not however find them at http://ynia.org - instead you wil find a "Young Nigerian Interested in Advancement."

Word to the wise.

Hallelujah Chorus - with flash cards

Now sure how to get back into our usual fare really, but we'll try this:



Thanks to Gina in Orin's choir at the Shrine for the tip!

Now and Always

Hoppy Birdy!

Hoppy Birdy two ewe!
Hoppy birdy two ewe!
Hoppy birdy, Pope Benedict!
Hoppy 80th birdy two ewe!

Send him your own greeting here!

I do believe it's time for another caption contest

These toilets: Smokin'!

TOKYO (Reuters) - Twenty-six smoking toilets, and three more on fire, put a Japanese toilet maker in the hot seat on Monday.

Toto Ltd., known for its high-tech toilets with bidets that have blow-drying, air purification and seat-warming functions, apologized to consumers and offered free checks and repairs after some of its toilets with bidets and heated seats sent up smoke and three caught fire.

---

Strangely, there were no pictures accompanying the article...

We should own one of these soon

The keytar pictured is Orin's first, the Yamaha SHS-10. I know you all wanted to know.

More cool shirts here.

Thanks to Mike for the tip!

Good for the Soul Music

On the left (horribly photographed) is David Kaufman, a friend of Oddwalk's, who gave a concert a couple nights ago at St. Teresa's in Belleville, IL. He has his own music company, Good for the Soul Music, inc. Please check him and his music out!

With or Without Floaties?

(This is indeed a real Google maps search!)

Not to be outdone...

Erin Hammond tries to finish off the Marine Hymn, as recorded on Orin's Treo:



No, she didn't know she was being recorded.

A New Sidekick?

From Cerneka Family Adventures:



Even Shannon's children can't escape doing audience participation.

P-O-P-P-L-E: that spells Popple!

Our wacky friends in Popple will be performing a concert in Columbia, MO on Wednesday, April 18th. The concert is open to the public. A free-will offering will be taken, but the show is otherwise free.

We encourage you to check out Popple at their website, http://popple.us. They are a dynamic and funny music ministry that also bring a strong Christian message.

Shannon's parish as well as other surrounding parishes are sponsoring the concert. The show will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish(Flanagan Hall) in Columbia, MO. For more information, contact Shannon.

Will it blend?

Credit cards?
Sugar?
A Baseball?
A Video Camera?
Glowsticks?
An iPod (the horror)?
Find out here!

Christ Is Risen

"Christ has Conquered, Glory fills you!"

Triduum Break

Oddwalk will more than likely be taking the Triduum off from blogging - please celebrate these days solemnly and joyfully. Seek a personal encounter with Christ and his redemptive paschal mystery. Reach out for his suffering, death, and resurrection. Use all your senses to realize it. Make it reality in your mind, heart, and soul, and then make it real in the world around us.

One last joke before we go, see you in a few days!

---

A man suffered a serious heart attack and had open heart bypass surgery. He wakened from the surgery to find himself in the care of nuns at a Catholic hospital As he was recovering, a nun asked him questions regarding how he would like to pay for his treatment. She asked if he had health insurance.

He replied, in a raspy voice, "No health insurance."

The nun asked if he had money in the bank.

He replied, "No money in the bank."

The nun asked, "Do you have a relative who could help you?"

He said, "I only have a spinster sister, who is a nun."

The nun became agitated and announced loudly, "Nuns are not spinsters! Nuns are married to God."

"Well then," the patient replied, "send the bill to my brother in law."

Holy Week from a Mother's View

Pictured on the left is a friend of Oddwalk's, Nanette Munie Norrenberns. She helped us with last year's CD "Let Us Go, Rejoicing" and the CD release concert following.

Last night, some 500 people gathered at the Shrine to pray the biblical stations of the cross given to the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1991. These stations were presented in a unique way: a series of 14 monologues in the voices of people in the Gospel passion accounts. Peter, the Maid Servant, Roman soldiers, Simon of Cyrene, and more are given a chance to share why they were in the crowd that Friday, and what their motivations might have been throughout the passion events. We in turn are urged to find our own place in the passion of Christ.

Nanette has played the role of Mary for 16 years. She married T.J. a few years ago, and shared with the ensemble at our first rehearsal that she is pregnant for the first time, due in October. She described how after all these years of giving a monologue describing how the death of her son on the cross made her feel and and how that death affected her faith, that this time she had a more personal encounter with the experience.

Perhaps this is where our Holy Week prayer should point us - a more personal experience with Jesus, with the divine, with suffering, death, resurrection, and glory.


Congratulations Nanette and T.J.!

Spy Wednesday

We - or Orin at least - have never heard the Wednesday of Holy Week called "Spy Wednesday" before, but apparantly it is by more than just a few. Whaddayaknow. The name refers to the Gospel of the day, the visit Judas pays to the Chief Priests.

pOddcast: "Lord, I Thank You (Ps. 138)"

On the pOddcast: Shannon's setting of Psalm 138 he wrote for Thanksgiving Day last year. As we approach the great Triduum and recall God the Father's gift of redemtion to us through Christ and the Holy Spirit, let us listen, pray, and be grateful for the divine presence in our lives.

Also, thanks to Katie Press for the nifty pic. You can find our pOddcast in the usual places, look for links or the Gcast player.

Way Back When

Killing a few minutes before dinner, digging through some old photos at the Shrine, Orin found this bit of archival material:

Orin and his wife (then girlfriend) Erin at a Shrine World Youth Day

Anyone care to guess the year?

Keytar in Miami?

Orin's friend Ricky Lopez, OMI, sent him a picture mail last night, with the caption "Keytar in Miami" — that's the pic on the left. I guess well just have to take his word for it. Thanks, Ricky!

Erin Saves the World!

Orin's wife Erin (not in a possesive way, there are just way too many Erins running around these days) started a new blog! Why? Well, here are her words:

Hello...

I am forever telling people, "Hey!, I've got an idea!" So it was inevitable that I would start a blog of ideas... Hopefully, instead of being self-indulgent this blog can help you find practical ideas on how to be more earth-friendly without going broke, selling your car, or quitting your job!

Check it out!

PS - For those curious, that is her standing at the base of a giant energy-producing windmill in southwest Minnesota.

Palm Sunday 2007

Several items stand out for Orin from this year's Palm Sunday weekend. Saturday night, during mass, a torrential rain passed over the Shrine and ended just as the communion rite was drawing to a close. Leaving mass, it was still raining a bit even thought the sun had come out from beind the evening clounds, and we all saw the most amazing rainbow any of the folks I talked with had ever seen. This cell-phone picture doesn't do it justice, but here it is:


The rainbow stretched from one horizon to the other, at times you could distinctly see the end of it, as in, "This rainbow begins (or ends) at that tree over there." Most amazing.

The masses at the Shrine, particularly the proclamation of the passion (according to Luke) and the art & environment were all well done and especially evocative - thanks to all who made these elements come to life. Here are a couple pictures for your reflection during Holy Week: