Death, Blood, Sex, Corruption

There, now that I have your attention with that headline, time to disappoint you, because I am just seriously sick and tired and fed up. I'm sick and tired of the incompetence of President (sic) Obama and his incompetent Democratic Party cronies. I'm sick and tired of all the blood and gore and sex on television, in music, and in movies. I'm sick and tired of all the negativity constantly bombarding my home via the mass media.

For too long, I've even been a part of the problem in some ways. This little blog of mine has talked politics, society, religion, education, philosophy and other topics in the news or of general interest, and has often taken on it's own cynical or negative tones. Hell, it's right there in the first paragraph. Go back and re-read in case you missed it.

Well, it's over. I's done had me all's I can take, and I can't takes me no more. This whining and bitching and moaning and crying over negativity and the disturbing, disgusting, revolting, lying hate-mongers that push it constantly is over and done with as of the end of this article.

From now on, this blog is going to be all sunshine and light and happiness. That's right, and if you can't stand it, go turn on your TV and tune in to CNN, or surf your web browser out to Huffington's Post, or Google a speech by Al Gore or Obama, or buy a copy of the New York Times. Plenty of places for you to find bad news and get your fix.

But this blog of mine is changing it's tone and tenor, knowingly, willingly and intentionally. From now on, you can turn here when all the rest of the crap is just too much. When the market is down, the pols are lying to you, the pseudo-stars are self-destructing, wars are raging, crime is running rampant, the blood is spilling, and the talking heads are blah-blah-blahing about it all, and you need a refuge, this is where to turn.

After this entry, I am going to begin regularly posting stories of a generally positive nature. There will be human interest. There will be comedy. There will be food, fun and frivolity. There will be heroism and simple neighborliness. And most of all, there will be the two things without which there is no reason to live: family and faith.

There will still be the occasional political commentary when that is most appropriate, right around election times. But that commentary will be to the positive regarding individuals and ideas that I feel are important and uplifting, and will be presented in that light. No attacking, no mocking, no sabre-rattling here any longer. Just real ideas and real opinions and honest evaluation presented for the hoped-for betterment of our neighborhoods, our town, our nation.

The stories that I present here at the blog will not always be my own. Whenever I find something of interest out on the web and it fits the new theme of positivity, then I will share it as much in it's entirety as fits comfortably on this blog, with a link to any continuation at the original site, and with an appropriate acknowledgement of the original writer.

If there is anyone out there who decides to write something of their own that fits this positive, uplifting spirit, something involving family or faith or culture or humor or life, and who wishes to share it with others, feel free to submit the item to me here at the blog, and I will consider it for print. If anyone wishes to contribute regularly, let me know that too. My work and family time don't always enable me to come up with original postings as regularly as I would like.

Don't worry about murders, rapes, assaults, drug overdoses, celebrity misbehavior, political scandal, divorce, disaster, destruction, and death. They'll still be going on, and everyone from the local news to Entertainment Tonight will keep you informed if that is what you are looking for at any point.

But when you want to smile, to laugh, to learn, to be uplifted, come here to this blog and replenish your soul and your spirit. We need a place like that, a place that guarantees it on a daily basis. Hell, I need it, and so I am going to provide it to myself, for myself, and for anyone else who feels the same and who could use something good in their lives.

As I type this, the sun is shining. It's one of the most beautiful days around here in the past few weeks. Temperatures are moderate for early summer, humidity is low, a light breeze floats through the air. There is a sense of peace and serenity around me at this particular moment, and of refreshment and renewal. A lightness of being and a song in my heart. All that, and God is in His heaven. And that's just how we're going to keep it, at least around here.

Can I get an 'Amen'?

Summer time fun..............

I love public parks! It's the only place in America, other than your house, where you can hang out WITHOUT being a consumer.

Love Those Wildwood Days !

I've written before about the Wildwoods, New Jersey, but it's summer time, and you can never get enough of that Jersey shore town once the bug has bitten you. The bride and I drove on down last week and stayed overnight at one of our favorite Wildwood Crest beachfront motels, the Olympic Island Beach Resort, and it was a fantastic little getaway as always. Spent the first afternoon down on the beach for hours, and I can report that the water is really starting to warm up. For me, the ocean water temperature has to be around 70 degrees at a minimum to really enjoy it, and we were actually surprised that it was that warm already. Often up in the northeast section of the country, the air temps can be hot and muggy, but the water temps remain a bit cool well into July. Not anymore, so be ready for wading into the waves if you head down now. We soaked up a very sunny and warm afternoon just hanging on the beach, taking advantage of the umbrella rental joint. The young guy who popped in our umbrella was down for the season, staying with a bunch of friends from his Delaware County neighborhood. Ah, to be young and have nothing to do but work and hang down the shore all summer! After the sun finally burnt us out, we headed back up to the Olympic for a short stint in their nice, warm swimming pool. They have a deep end with a diving board, and it was a chance to get that little kid feeling of diving off a board which doesn't come along often anymore. After a little rest and cleanup, we headed out to dinner at Neil's, the best steakhouse in Wildwood. Neil's is located on Schellenger, between Atlantic & Pacific, and is well worth the stop. Deb had a delicious prime rib, and I had something called the BBQ Special, and man was it special. A loaded plate of ribs, chicken, and pulled pork with a baked potato and corn on the cob. We were so full that we cancelled a boardwalk stroll and headed back to the room for some R&R, it had been a long day that took a lot out of us. We both had a tough time falling asleep on the full moon night, so we spent some time just watching out over the beach before finally going in and zonking out. In the morning, we woke up to yet another sunny, hot one, and so we spent a couple of hours in the pool before we dried off and packed up our car. Before leaving the shore, we headed down to the Olympic's quaint little breakfast-joint restaurant and fueled up. But that wasn't our last food stop. There was the obligatory stop down at 26th & the Boardwalk to pickup a large Sam's Pizza to take home with us, which later became our dinner that night back in Philly. Oh, and before we left, we made reservations for later this summer to go back for a few days with our granddaughter, Elysia. In Wildwood, the four main amusement piers on the boardwalk have more rides than Disney World, and the beach is free here. How can you beat that? It will be yet another chance to enjoy the beach, the boardwalk, the rides, the restaurants. You just cannot beat the Wildwoods, New Jersey, for a relatively close little vacation stop. And if you're from far away, make the long trip. It's well worth it. If you haven't gone, make plans. The title to this blog entry, as always, is a link to more information on the topic. Hope that you and yours have a great, happy, safe summer season.

Sunday or Sabbath?

A couple of years back, I tried to make each Sunday a chance to post on some topic of Faith, and with this posting I will be going back to that effort. It's appropriate to start here on a summer Sunday with a two-part theme: 1) When should you go to Church in the first place?; and 2) Why do many drift away as summer comes? Let's start with an effort to answer that first question. These days, many churches celebrate their weekly obligation services of the Mass on Saturday evening, then have a full compliment of Sunday morning services, and some even offer a Sunday evening service. There are some religious organizations, including Seventh-Day Adventists, who claim that Christians must worship on Saturdays, not on Sundays, because Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, and they believe that at some point through the years the Church arbitrarily changed things to Sundays. The fact is that Sundays were the day of worship for Christian believers as far back as New Testament times. Many passages of scripture indicate this practice as more desirable, worshiping on 'The Lord's Day', as Sunday was known to them. As just one of many examples, St. Ignatius of Antioch describes in a letter to the Magnesians written in 110 A.D. that: "Those who were brought up in the ancient order of things [the Jews] have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s day, on which also our life has sprung up again by him and by his death." During the first three centuries, the practice and tradition of consecrating Sunday to the worship of God by the hearing of the Mass and by resting from work first took root, and has remained established ever since, with slight modifications over the years. Of course, as all know, the obligation to retain a day to honor the Lord comes directly from God's very Commandments. In the book of Exodus, we see the terms "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy...the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God...in six days the Lord made Heaven and earth...and rested the seventh day." The tradition of the Church developed this as the 3rd Commandment, or "Remember to keep holy the Lord's day." The Church itself began the tradition of a Saturday evening 'Vigil Mass' in order for those who simply could not, due to work or other constraints, make a genuine effort to attend Sunday services. These Saturday evening services are not intended for everyday convenience, or to 'get it out of the way'. People should still be going to Church on Sundays, and setting that day aside as a day of rest as much as is possible. However, again the Vigil on Saturday evenings is there as an outlet for those who simply cannot make the Sunday services. In any event, it is clear that we should all be setting aside a time during our busy week to worship the Lord together as a community, and that includes the summer time. Many people become more spiritual and involved in the Church as Christmas approaches, and then vow to continue this into the new year. They seem to do well in the early months, and are reinspired by the coming of Easter in the spring. But as spring rolls into summer, and the joys of living outside and enjoying more recreational activities takes over, many drift away from regular attendance at Church. This is exactly the time to not drift away. It is when we are most distracted, when we are lured by worldly things away from the Lord and his house, away from one another as a Church community, that we should fight back against this urge. Summer time is a great time indeed, but it is nothing more than an excuse to say that because the weather is nicer you cannot find one hour to give specifically to the Lord each week. All year, through all seasons, attending Mass is a wonderfully refreshing chance to spend an hour in God's house with others directly worshiping Him, receiving Jesus' body and blood in the Eucharist, hearing the Word of God preached, and letting God know that He has a place of importance in our long list of activities in our busy lives. It's summer time right now, and it's also Sunday. Get to Church today.

The Pamplona Encierro

It's that time of year again, time for the famous 'Running of the Bulls' through the streets of Pamplona, Spain. This is the highest profile event of an annual 9-day festival of 'San Fermin', which begins each year at noon on July 6th and runs through midnight on July 14th. Saint Fermin is a Catholic saint who is the patron saint of the city of Pamplona. He was said to have been martyred by having his body drug through the streets by bulls. The current festival has it's roots in a secular festival previously held in June, and later moved to September, known as the Sanfermines. The bull runs began in the area as far back as the 13th century. Cattle merchants would come to town for commercial festivals to celebrate the beginning of summer, and bullfights became central to the celebrations. The runs custom traces it's origins back to the process of transporting bulls from their off-site corrals to the bullring for those bullfights. During this process, youngsters would jump in among the bulls as they were being moved in order to show their bravery. The celebration was finally formally established to the month of July in 1592. In 1926, Ernest Hemingway introduced his famous novel "The Sun Also Rises" based on the event, and it subsequently exploded in popularity around the world. What is now known as the Pamplona Encierro, or The Running of the Bulls, begins at 8am sharp with the firing of a rocket to announce that the bulls have been released from their corral. The narrow streets are blocked off with wood and metal barricades to keep the six bulls and six steers running in a 'chute'-type style towards a predetermined destination. The runners traditionally dress in white shirts & pants with red waistbands & neckerchiefs. There is a tradition that touching one of the bulls during the run brings luck, and many still try this, but it is illegal and the authorities do fine some people. There are various outlets for participants to escape should they find themselves in a dangerous predicament. Since records began being kept in 1924, fifteen people have been killed in the event. The most recent to be gored to death by a bull was a 20-year old American tourist in 1995. You want to run next year? You only need to be 18-years old, pick out a street to run on, and get into the crowd at the appointed time. There are any number of outlets packaging vacations to the Pamplona area during this time. But remember, while it can be exhilarating and is a life-event about which you can brag, the event is inherently dangerous, and foolish or reckless behavior can easily get you hurt. And that's no bull.