Dear Dad,

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see that his bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then he saw an envelope propped up prominently on the pillow that was addressed to "Dad". With the worst premonition he opened the envelope with trembling hands and read the letter.

Dear Dad,

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you.

I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice. But I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercings, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. But it's not only the passion...Dad, she's pregnant.

Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves and trading it with the other people that live nearby for cocaine and ecstasy.

In the meantime we will pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Stacy can get better. She deserves it. Don't worry Dad. I'm 15 and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure that we will be back to visit so that you can get to know your grandchildren.

Love,
Your Son John

P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the report card that's in my center desk drawer. I love you. Call me when it's safe to come home.

More Google Products

From the Oct. 16 Time magazine. Click the pic to see the larger version.

Cards vs. Mets

So, last week we talked briefly about the Catholic signifigance of Cards vs. Padres, this week it's Cards vs. Mets.

"So what" you ask.

Well, Mets is short for Metropolitans, and while we're sure the team isn't named for them (pretty sure anyway), Metropolitans, in the Catholic Church, are basically what we know as archbishops. Recall that the bird cardinal is named because it is the same color as the garb Catholic Cardinals wear. And to further confuse thing, many cardinals are also metropolitans!

So, Cards




vs. Mets - again, who do you root for?

Sacramental Techno-Gadgets

A conversation at the end of class at Aquinas tonight. Jack, seeing me check my email on my Treo asked if I could get sports scores too. I quickly showed him the Detroit-Oakland game score. In awe, Jack said:

Jack: That thing's cool. [pause] Almost sacramental.
Orin: You can't download grace.
Jack: [with a twinkle in his eye] Have you tried?
Orin: [pondering new possibilities] Hm...

"One of the great ironies..."

"One of the great ironies of the [post Vatican II] era is that those who fashion themselves as being most faithful to church law are often the most negligent of the laws and directives regulating the liturgy."

John Huels, Preparing and Celebrating the Paschal Feasts, Chronicle, Jan. 1989

A Busy Weekend

On Saturday night, Orin and I traveled to South St. Louis to provide entertainment for the TEC Founder's Dinner. In the St. Louis-area there used to be three TEC centers. They have now combined into one: Spirit of St. Louis TEC. This dinner was one of their first activities as a newly formed center. For the event, they brought in the founders of the National Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) Movement, Fr. Matt Fedewa and Dorothy Gerke, to give talks. It was a fun and inspirational night. Thanks to Ron Reiter and the TEC staff for inviting us in.

Sunday morning brought Noah's Baptism. Orin and I led music at Mass. The sacrament was administered during Mass (which we loved) and everything went very well. Madeleine, however, provided some comic relief. I was holding her during the Baptism, itself. After Dan (my father-in-law who is a Deacon) poured water on Noah's head, Madeleine threw her hands up in the air and said "Noah...CLEAN!" This is something she says when she is done with her bath. It was very funny, but also theologically profound. Orin and his wife Erin were proud Godparents.

We rounded out the weekend by celebrating Madeleine's birthday last night. Her actual birthday is on Monday, October 16th, but we needed to take advantage of the fact that Erin's family was in town. The party was a lot of fun. We decided to do a lot of things that Madeleine likes, so the house was filled with Cinderella decorations and balloons, and we ate the things Madeleine really likes. Our party food included: Pizza, McDonalds french fries, rice, manderin oranges, chips and vegetables with "dip, dip, dip!" and cupcakes.

It proved to be a crazy, but a very blessed weekend. For more on the family, go to cerneka.blogspot.com

-Shannon

A journey through God's creation

A flash-based jourey that starts 10 million light years away from earth and takes you from there all the way to the building blocks of individual atoms.

"And it was good."

We almost have a full album's-worth now

Click above to find out a little more info on NCYC 2006, Discover the Way / Decubre el Camino. Perhaps the biggest but most expected update: once again, Shannon, Orin, and Oddwalk have not written the theme song. But congratulations to Nick Cardilino and David Smith. No, really.

Seriously. Stop looking at us like that.

Fine.

PS - Check the Gcast audio blog thingy on the left to hear Shannon's submission.

Perhaps we spoke too soon...

Pope Keeps Limbo in Limbo

Pope Abolishes Limbo Dancing

What? Too bad too, we we're just starting to like the guy.








Correction:
Pope Abolishes Limbo - not the dancing. Ah, that's better.


Seriously, I like the quote at the end of this linked article:
[It is] the heartless doctrine the church now realises it cannot maintain. "Is that trembling cry a song?"

Marianne, you're very lucky

(Everyone else, we're not so sure...)

We got this email recently from audioblogger:

Hello,

As of November 1, 2006, Audioblogger will no longer accept phone
calls. MP3s made with the service will continue to be hosted and
served but you will no longer be able to use Audioblogger to post
new audio.

Audioblogger is an independent product, run by Odeo, Inc., a small
startup company in San Francisco, CA. We are not affiliated with
Google or Blogger except that we operate and provide the
Audioblogger service.

Given our limited resources, we have to make tough decisions
about what projects to focus on. And we've come to the difficult
decision that Audioblogger demands too many resources, time, and
money for us to continue its operation.

Thankfully, they have pointed us to some other free alternatives. We'll be testing them soon to make sure they're compatible with our blog and meet our needs...

Audio blogging should return soon - with a vengeance!

---

Update - Check the side bar! Whee!

Slightly New Look

Upgraded to the new Blogger Beta. Think everything's in order. Comment below if you see something missing or have any suggestions!

We're (a little bit) Famous!

As featured in this week's Belleville Messenger, the bi-weekly paper of the Belleville, IL Diocese! Click on the pic to see the larger, more legible size.

We're very excited and grateful to be featured like this. We hope you enjoy the article and maybe can come to our CD release concert or in some other way claim a CD or hear some of our music.

We think though the biggest question on people's minds after reading this article will be, "What the heck is Duck Booya?"

Padres vs. Cardinals

So, I (Orin) just realized: Padres is Spanish for Priests (and "dads" of course, but in this case, seeings as San Diego's mascot is a Franciscan friar, we'll go with Priests), and

The Cardinals, while named for the bird, the bird is named because it's red, just like our Cardinals in Rome.



Padres vs. Cardinals - who would you root for?

Shrine WYD 2006

Here are a couple pics (Thanks, Erin S!):


Oddwalk on Saturday (Orin had to arrive late)


Oddwalk on Sunday, at the Shrine Amphitheater

Read more about Mike Patin's visit to WYD here.

Madeleine Discovers "Knock-Knock" Jokes

This morning, my daughter started telling me "knock-knock" jokes. Erin must have taught them to her yesterday. When she tells them, she never actually gets all the way through the joke, but that makes it even funnier. Here is a real example of the "knock-knock" jokes Madeleine has told us today:

Madeleine: "Knock-knock"
Erin or Shannon: "Who's there"
Madeleine: "Orin"
Erin or Shannon: "Orin who?

Madeleine: "Knock-knock"
Erin or Shannon: "Who's there"
Madeleine: "Orin"
Erin or Shannon: "Orin who?

Madeleine: "Knock-knock"
Erin or Shannon: "Who's there"
Madeleine: "Orin"
Erin or Shannon: "Orin who?

Madeleine: "Knock-knock"
Erin or Shannon: "Who's there"
Madeleine: "Erin"
Erin or Shannon: "Erin who?

Madeleine: "Knock-knock"
Erin or Shannon: "Who's there"
Madeleine: "Orin"
Erin or Shannon: "Orin who?

Madeleine: "Knock-knock"
Erin or Shannon: "Who's there"
Madeleine: "Orin"
Erin or Shannon: "Orin who?

Madeleine: "Knock-knock"
Erin or Shannon: "Who's there"
Madeleine: "Orin"
Erin or Shannon: "Orin who?


When I told Orin today, he finished the joke for me. Here it is:

Orin: "Knock-knock"
Shannon: "Who's there"
Orin: "Orin"
Shannon "Orin who?
Orin: "Orin-ja glad I didn't say banana?"


-Shannon