You might well want to tell me to get my mind out of the gutter as a result of this post which has been prompted by a few others I have come across recently.
The rot started with, of all people, the incomparable Diamond Geezer who took advantage of a test event day at the new Olympic Stadium to wander round and take pictures including this gem of a male toilet:
Now, apart from the shiny surfaces and modern styling, this is a badly designed space. Look at those urinals. They'll force guys to stand much too close together in violation of all the proper rules of etiquette. And I'll bet that they weren't designed with the sub 5'6" guy in mind. Public micturition is bad enough without having to "aim" uphill.
The Pope and Stephen Harper are on the same stage in the Maple Leaf Gardens in front of a huge crowd.
The Pope leans towards Mr. Harper and said, "Do you know that with one little wave of my hand, I can make every person in this crowd go wild with joy? This joy will not be a momentary display, but will go deep into their hearts and they'll forever speak of this day and rejoice!"
Harper replied, "I seriously doubt that! With one little wave of your hand....Show me!"
So the Pope backhanded him and knocked him off the stage.
AND THE CROWD ROARED & CHEERED WILDLY and there was happiness throughout the land!
Following on from yesterday's post, Alex Massie has a terrific piece today for the Spectator. Simply put, he calls for Cardinal Brady's resignation in terms that are reasoned and right. The money quotes:
Mealy-mouthed and legalistic apologies are all very well but there is a sense that, despite everything we have learned, the church still does not truly appreciate the extent to which, as a body, it is responsible. If these were rogue priests, they were protected by a rogue institution.
[snip]
...the Irish church still does not appear to appreciate quite how thoroughly it betrayed its flock. Cardinal Brady may be a good and decent man but he is now, however unfortunately, also a symbol of the church's turpitude and his position is now, surely, impossible. His resignation will not put an end to the scandal but it would, however fleetingly, demonstrate that someone in real authority was at last prepared to pay some personal price for the sins of the institution as a whole.
I saved a few links to post something on this topic though there's no great need when Will has written a good account of the new war declared by the Unholy See against the monstrous regiment that they believe to be American nunnery.
In addition to Will, Peterr - a Lutheran pastor - has written a fine piece over at FireDogLake on the Paternalism of Patriarchs. Contrast the standing ovation given to one of their own - on trial currently for allegedly covering up past cases of abuse by the Philadelphia clergy - with the horrors lived by Congolese women.
Former Boston archbishop Bernard Law reportedly behind crackdown on US nuns.
Nothing could demonstrate the depths to which that church has plunged, in my mind, than to imagine this: that the man who allowed priests accused of sexually molesting children to continue serving in parish ministries, is still allowed or able to influence the morals and behaviour of people.
ADDENDUM
I forgot to include this Catholic perspective on the fall of Cardinal Brady written by Rocco Palma whose Whispers in the Loggia blog is must reading for insights on the happenings within the RC church. I think Brady's deluding himself though on this point:
I also accept that I was part of an unhelpful culture of deference and silence in society, and the church, which thankfully is now a thing of the past.
What else is the attack on American nuns but an attempt to renew deference and enforce silence?
Some furry-chested guys that pushed my buttons in recent days:
(via Beep-ers; this is a close-run one - though I'm not one to speak, to keep my buttons pushed he needs to watch that stomach.)
From the recent Sensitif:
I'm fascinated by the fact that this the hair on this guy's head is a lighter shade of ginger than his body fur. Is this common, o experienced readers?
When I was in San Diego, I bought a pair of these:
The salesman hooked me with "Lambskin linings are incredibly soft for a luxurious feel".
Only problem was that I wanted grey. I even paid to have a pair express shipped to SD for me; only the company screwed up.
I've never worn loafers before.
So far, I'm happy with them.
But, now I learn, from fabulous and opinionated fashion guru's Tom and Lorenzo, that my shoes are incomplete. I should have bought tassels. e.g.:
If it's taken me 50 years to buy my first pair of loafers, you can bet it will be more than 50 before I buy these. (The B-store shoes look OK, though.)
It has been said that an effective way to overcome nerves when speaking to a large audience is to imagine that they are naked or in their underwear.
Not everyone agrees with this concept.
While it might work at the level of reducing the audience to the level of the more ridiculous, it does run the risk that they might actually be not all that bad looking.
Teaching a lecture hall of young attractive or virile students might therefore not be the best place to use this technique.
On the other hand, finding out after the fact is quite all right.
As per a previous post, recuperation from surgery is a wonderful excuse for catching up on TV and DVD watching.
But first I need to backtrack a bit. It seems as though it was in 2010 that I bought my first set of Kenneth Branagh Wallander DVDs. I bought the second set in July last year. I'm pretty sure that I didn't watch them though until late last year. They were good, but...
I wasn't totally sold on Branagh's performance. It was possible, though, that I was influenced by the Amazon reviews for the Swedish TV version, so I bought the first set of those last November and watched them over Christmas.
Boy, were they ever good.
I ordered more of the available Swedish DVDs just before my return. A friend, to whom I had given the first set was so taken with them that they ordered all of the rest. I borrowed and watched them all last week.
This is quite simply an outstanding production.
It's subtitled but that will not detract. If anything, it helps as it will force you to watch the screen all the time so that you can appreciate the performances as well as the cinematography of the beautiful Skåne countryside near Ystad.
Krister Henriksson is simply oustanding as Wallander and, in my view, far exceeds Branagh's portayal of the detective. In the Branagh series, the focus is on Branagh; in the Henriksson, the focus is on the stories. Henriksson brings nuance with a simple glance, a thoughtful 'ummm'. His supporting actors are also very good and you watch this series to learn about them as much as about Wallander. In the Branagh series, there are no supporting characters of note, really, other than his father (who does not appear in the Swedish version).
One of the supporting actors was Johanna Sällström who played Linda Wallander, his daughter and also a police detective. She was also superb in her role. In the Swedish series, it was more she rather than Kurt Wallander who had the psychological baggade of her youth to contend with. She also had a sad personal story - one that I learned only after finishing the series. In 2004 she and her three year old daughter narrowly escaped death in the Indonersian tsunami while vacationing in Thailand. She clung desperately to a tree with one arm and to her daughter with her other arm. Sadly, the experience triggered a "final, devastating precipitous psychological decline" in her life-long battle with depression. She took an overdose of sleeping pills in 2007.
If you like watching high quality TV detective dramas, I highly recommend the Swedish Wallander.
Here's a sample (with subtitles) to get you started:
(if it hooks you, you should be able to see the rest of that episode from the youtube site.)
I've been watching Dancing with the Stars though I've not been greatly enthused by this season.
As last night started, and the dancers appeared, I groaned inwardly to myself that it looked like we were about to see "Shirtless Night".
I liked Katherine and Mark's Rumba. It was a brave choice to pair a Bach piece with a latin dance but they executed it brilliantly.
I did not like Jackie Evancho's singing. It spoiled William Levy's Viennese Waltz for me.
I did like Vittorio Grigolo. Haven't heard of him before (that I can recall).
Roshon's attempt to be more masculine failed miserably in his first Argentine Tango which was a great shame because he was brilliant in that regard in his solo in the team dance. His performance starts at the 2:00 mark.
It would be a shame if he goes home after that because that's how he should and needs to dance. As Bruno said, he was a revelation, he killed it.
At last in this season, Derek presented a choreographical marvel. Once again it was a Paso Doble:
Just brilliant.
I want William Levy to make the final three. A Latin-inspired freestyle would be awesome.
Finally...
Derek, you look better with your shirt on than with your shirt off. Look at that Team Tango again and how the guys are dressed. They're in tails and they look spectacular. Now look at this:
