Nail Buffing Powder

Used in conjunction with a Nail Buffer, it's fabulous for buffing away those scratches on one's iPod! Whee!

More Manglish

Amusing, but where on earth did they find an English dictionary that translates 陽部 as pudenda? I'm not even going to be picky and point out it should be pudendum...

Funniest Chinese Menu Ever

This is funny enough if one is unable to read the Chinese and can only read the English, but if one is able to read Chinese, it's triply funny, as one can then see how the appalling translations happened.

ΟΙΔΙΠΟΥΣ - ŒDIPUS

The Story of Œdipus. In 8 Minutes. Performed by Vegetables.

Incidentally, here's a really bad Œdipus joke:

He Killed His Father.
He Married His Mother.
He's Plagued By The Gods.
He's Back.

ŒDIPUS

in

THE KING AND EYE!

======

UPDATE: i showed the URL for the film, http://www.oedipusthemovie.com/ to a chap I know, and he revealed himself culturally illiterate by asking "shouldn't that be spelled opus dei?". Dan Brown has a LOT to answer for.... *grumble grumble grumble*

More Quizzical Quizzes

Your Seduction Style: Sweet Talker

Your seduction technique can be summed up with "charm" You know that if you have the chance to talk to someone... Well, you won't be talking for long! ;-) You're great at telling potential lovers what they want to hear. Partially, because you're a great reflective listener and good at complementing. The other part of your formula? Focusing your conversation completely on the other person. Your "sweet talking" ways have taken you far in romance - and in life. You can finess your way through any difficult situation, with a smile on your face. Speeding tickets, job interviews... bring it on! You truly live a *charmed life*

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Cult Classic

Quirky, offbeat, and even a little campy - your life appeals to a select few. But if someone's obsessed with you, look out! Your fans are downright freaky. Your best movie matches: Office Space, Showgirls, The Big Lebowski

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 8/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Hello from Hagarene Land!

Must be brief.

Am in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, for a fencing competition - the Selangor Open 2006. Will get creamed, but it's all good fun anyway. My event is Sunday afternoon - that's about 4 a.m. GMT onwards - wish me luck!

Went shopping today - bought an old-fashioned straight razor. Yes, also known as a cut-thoat razor. This should be fun =)

Moloch!

Was watching a documentary on how the Mahometans of the Middle East (and indeed, elsewhere) rejoice when a child of theirs becomes a suicide bomber, how they teach their children that to die for Allah is the supreme good, how they dress up their children and encourage them to grow up to be shaheed (usually translated as martyr, even though murder is not martyrdom).

It just occured to me this is the Old Testament phenomenon of sacrificing live children and babies to Moloch all over again! See Wikipedia if you haven't a clue about who Moloch was.

It's a very disturbing state of affairs, to put it mildly. Anyone want to pray for the victory of Christ over Mahomet in our time?


O Lord our God, be mindful of our suffering Christian brothers living under bitter tyranny and break the power of the fierce Hagarenes, restoring the rule of Orthodox Christian kings and that the glory of the Life-giving Cross of Christ thy Son may shine brighter than before throughout the entire world and that we may all glorify Thine honourable and majestic Name, of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Incidentally, that picture shows a sort of cross very common atop churches in the Slavic lands. It shows the cross victorious over the crescent of the Mahometans. May this picture inspire us all!

From My Wise Духовник/Dukhovnik

We have also just been told off by someone asserting that Jesus doesn't care in the least whether we open and close the Royal Doors as prescribed or not. But it strikes me that people who claim to adopt that position are nevertheless remarkably uncomfortable and upset when some priest does, in fact, open and close the Royal Doors as prescribed. If Jesus doesn't care, why does the critic care?

Quite so! The same argument can be applied to those who oppose the Latin Mass, or to the Latinisers who oppose the full authentic Byzantine Liturgy with all its glorious ceremonial!

If Jesus doesn't care whether we use Gregorian Chant, the Antidoron, the leavened Eucharistic Bread, unabbreviated services.... why should the critics get all apoplectic when we love and wish to preserve them?

(incidentally, Духовник/Dukhovnik means Spiritual Father, and my Духовник is a priest of the greatest erudition and holiness)

Polyphony & Crossing-Over

Those of you who know me well will know I am very fond of the Tallis Scholars, an English vocal ensemble that specialises in sacred polyphony of the Renaissance period. If you haven't heard them, RUN AND DO SO!

I was reading some thoughts of their conductor Peter Phillips on his website, about their bringing sacred polyphony into secular spaces:

We have taken music which was expressly conceived for church services and turned it into something unapologetically secular. We have taken music which was written to form one element in a complex act of worship, part of a highly stylised ceremony of significant words, gestures, smells, icons, costumes and music, deracinated it and put it up in lights by itself for our pleasure and financial gain. Everything has been changed: the words are put into the background; the gestures, smells and icons are banished altogether; the cassock and surplice of the choirman has been replaced, for our men at least - our women are beyond the original pale - with posh Victorian dinner wear; the church is often replaced with a concert hall for access to which people must pay. How can this be justified, and how can the music survive the upheaval?

All along my intention was to put the spotlight squarely on the music, with no distractions... For me the logical end-point to this argument was to present our music in as neutral a place as possible, where people can hear it to best advantage...

Our crossover from sacred to secular and from church to concert hall, in my opinion has brought real benefits to the music, if not always to the performers. Not only can it now be heard without interruption from priests, but it can be heard in comfort... And the sound can be much better in a concert hall than in a church... Many people still think that bathroom acoustics are the only ones for church music, the singing coming at them in a romantic wash from the far, far distance. They have heard too many backing tracks on Disney cartoons. Renaissance music is made up of tiny interlocking details, like the details in string quartet writing, which need to be heard in complete clarity. For this style of chamber music the best spaces are those which have been planned and built according to the most modern specifications, where the reverberation patterns can be controlled... Few churches can rival them...

But it had to be done. There is little future in the church for polyphony, especially not in the Catholic communion, for which almost all the music we sing was written, where the vast majority of priests seem to want either guitars and unison folk-style singing or, if they do have a sense of tradition, plainchant. Left to them this great repertoire would die. Full text here.

Does anyone go 'ouch' when reading that last bit? Especially since we know it's true.

Ouch, et iterum Ouch dico vobis! (Translated from a comment by Bernard Brandt)

WOO HOO

Two video clips of Wafa Sultan, an L.A.-based Arab-American psychologist, taking apart the Mahometan fundies. GOOD STUFF:


Wafa Sultan: There Is No Clash of Civilizations but a Clash between the Mentality of the Middle Ages and That of the 21st Century - transcript here. There's something incredibly satisfying seeing an Imam being totally bitchslapped by a woman. He's obviously furious.


Wafa Sultan Clashes with Algerian Islamist Ahmad bin Muhammad over Islamic Teachings and Terrorism - transcript here.

Both clips courtesy of Al-Jazeera. This is one plucky woman - I imagine she's got several fatwas on her head thanks to her courage. Notice the Imam taking notes while she spoke...

Make Your Own Personal Jesus Toast!

Try it here!

Green Lantern!

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern 90% Iron Man 80% Spider-Man 80% Wonder Woman 70% Supergirl 70% The Flash 65% Hulk 60% Catwoman 50% Superman 45% Robin 40% Batman 30%

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

===

Phew. It would've been so embarrassing had I turned out Wonder Woman or Supergirl. Heh.

τί δέ τις;

ἐπάμεροι· τί δέ τις; τί δ’ ού τις; σκιᾶς ὄναρ
ἄνθρωπος. ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν αἴγλα διὀσδοτος ἔλθῃ,
λαμπρὸν φέγγος ἔπεστιν ἀνδρῶν καὶ μείλιχος αἰών.

Creatures of a day:
What is he? What is he not?
A shadow in a dream is man.
But when the gods shed a brightness,
Shining life is on earth
And life is sweet as honey.

- from Pindar Pythian Ode VII.96-98.

Great Lent has begun.

Old-Ritualist Ordination on Cheese-Fare Sunday

Please remember in your prayers the servant of God Vasili Vasilievich, ordained to the rank of deacon on Cheese-Fare Sunday at the Old Rite Church of the Ascension of Our Lord, Gervais, Oregon.

Archbishop Sophronii (jurisdiction: Belokrinitsa Hierarchy of Old Ritualists) ordained him first to the deaconate, then in due time (sometime during Lent) will, God willing, ordain him to the priesthood, and he will serve in Riga or Daugavpils, Latvia.

This is history in the making, since there are approximately 85 to 100 parishes of priestless Old Ritualists in the Baltic states (since the 1700s), but until now there have been no parishes who have returned to the fullness of the Church with the priesthood and sacramental life. A whole new diocese will be created within the next few months, and a temple will be consecrated. It is not known if a pre-existing church will be used, or if a new church will have to be built, but apparently a significant number of young priestless Old Ritualists are preparing to make their exodus back to the fullness of Orthodoxy. This has been contemplated for the past generation, but is only now beginning to happen. Please pray that many souls will eventually make this journey.

Somewhat Machiavellian

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You're not going to mow over everyone to get ahead... But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place. You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

How Machiavellian Are You?

1000 Souls from Purgatory!

Someone sent me a prayer today, allegedly revealed by Our Lord to St Gertrude the Great.

Apparently this prayer is so powerful, it releases 1000 souls from Purgatory each time one says it.

*snigger snigger snigger*

A Consignment of Geriatric Shoemakers, no doubt - i.e. a load of old cobblers.

Oboe!

You scored as Oboe. Oboe. You're an oboe. yup. trombone 100% Oboe 100% Cello 92% Violin 83% Bassoon 83% Trumpet 83% French Horn 83% Tuba 75% Flute 67% String Bass 58% Viola 33% Clarinet 33% Percussion 33% If you were in an orchestra, what instrument would match your personality? created with QuizFarm.com

Lent is Coming

That's why I'm having a deliciously indulgent late supper of cheese and crackers. Good French Camembert and English Stilton, with Carr's Table Water crackers. Washed down with a large glass of Banyuls. YUM.

Words That Used to be Obscene

Fascinating! Link via Dappled Things.

Papal boost for study of Latin

Pope Benedict XVI encouraged the study of the Latin language during his public audience on February 22. At the conclusion of his prepared remarks, the Pope followed his usual pattern by greeting different groups that were in attendance at the Wednesday audience.

Switching into Latin-- a language which, he noted, is not generally used in these sessions-- the Pontiff welcomed the faculty of the Classics department in Rome’s Salesian University. - full story here. Link via Dappled Things.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, for those of you in Singapore, Latin lessons are still available at rock-bottom prices!

Nil significat nisi oscillat. Du vap. Du vap. Du vap.

- anybody wanna try translating that? =)

Mohammeddance.Com!

This is hilarious!

This, on the other hand, is not funny at all:

16 muslims Gang Rape a 12-year-old Christian Girl, and attempt to "persuade" her to convert to their evil cult of death! When Tabasum regained consciousness she found herself in Bibis house, where three men reportedly including Babar Bibi, raped her.

Tabasum was reportedly told that by Perveen Bibi that she could be "saved" if she embraced Islam and married one of Perveens Muslim brothers.

According to APMA, "On refusing, Sara was beaten badly during captivity and shifted to another house ... where five persons raped her. She was repeatedly asked by Perveen and other men to embrace Islam and recite (the) Islamic creed to save herself from the misery. Perveens husband Babar even told her that they (had) killed her brother Suleman, and her mother (had) also embraced Islam. (With that in mind), it would be better for her to become (a) Muslim now, otherwise she could be killed or made (a) ‘prostitute."

Tabasum refused to renounce her faith and embrace Islam, APMA reported. She was subsequently taken to another house, where she was reportedly assaulted by seven people... Full story here.

Hardly surprising, since their 'prophet' Mahomet/Mohammad/Muhammad (pig piss be upon him) was a paedophile, murderer, rapist and liar.

This 15th century fresco Giovanni da Modena in San Petronio basilica in Bologna, central Italy, depicts Mohammed in the lowest level of hell:



I want a Mohammed in Hell fresco, for my living room, damnit!