Christmas Eve Brunch

Today we all drove down to my brother John's house for Christmas Eve brunch. It was really great to see everyone. The hardest part of the day was seeing my father, who has been dealing with Parkinson's disease. He knew who we were, but he halucinates a lot and he struggles knowing reality from non-reality. I was prepared for seeing the disease bind my father's personality, cloak his true self behind the illness, but I was not prepared for the struggle with a grip on reality.

It saddened me deeply. It worried me.

It also made me worry about my mother, as well, who is his caretaker and who bears the brunt of his illness. Having struggled with Crohns disease for years, I know the toll it can take on my wife when she must assist me getting through a normal day. I can only imagine the struggle my mother is going through.

She will not actively offer up that pain, so I can only hope that she will find strength in my prayers for her and my father and that, if things got too unbearable, she would seek out assistance in some way.

We left the brunch so we could attend the 4:00 p.m. Mass, where my daughter was one of the lectures. Almost all of our friends with kids around the ages of our own were there. It was nice to wish everyone a merry and blessed Christmas.

Tonight my son waits anxiously in bed, trying with earnest to sleep as he waits for Santa's arrival.

Tomorrow should be a good day.

Predictor Pete - Week 16

The Bucs got beat up by the Pats, but come home this week for a critical divisional game against the Atlanta Falcons. The Bucs can clinch a playoff spot this week with a win and some help. But, they have to just focus on winning out the last two games and they will defintely get a playoff spot.

The Bucs need to get back to what they did to succeed previously... run the ball, convert third downs, win the turnover battle. Atlanta is in desparation mode, so the Bucs need to be up to the challenge.

My Heart: Bucs 24-18.
My Mind: Bucs 17-16.
My Colon: Falcons 27-24.

My Pick: Bucs 21-17...

The Falcons are less successful in outdoor stadiums than in a dome, so that may be an advantage. In the end, the winning team will be the one that wants it more and executes their game plan better. Mistakes and field position should be key drivers as well.

My Record: 8-6

Sometimes It Turns Out Badly

I got an email from a gentleman who had issue that I reviewed his film for a website when it was in competition with my own. It was a valid concern as a conflict of interest so I requested the review be removed. I tried to explain the timing of it all and so on and the email chain got very heated. No matter how hard I tried to explain myself it just came out badly.

Sometimes, best intentions just get trampled. I asked for forgiveness and left it at that.

Oh well... live and learn.

A Win For The Good Guys...

From World Net Daily...

A U.S. appeals court today upheld the decision of a lower court in allowing the inclusion of the Ten Commandments in a courthouse display, hammering the American Civil Liberties Union and declaring, "The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state."

The article goes on to say...

Writing for the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Richard Suhrheinrich said the ACLU's "repeated reference 'to the separation of church and state' ... has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state."

Suhrheinrich wrote: "The ACLU, an organization whose mission is 'to ensure that ... the government [is kept] out of the religion business,' does not embody the reasonable person."

The court said a reasonable observer of Mercer County's display appreciates "the role religion has played in our governmental institutions, and finds it historically appropriate and traditionally acceptable for a state to include religious influences, even in the form of sacred texts, in honoring American traditions."

You can read the entire article HERE.

Creationism... 180 Degrees Later

Isn't it odd how Creationism has made an about face? Centuries ago Creationism, the belief that God created the Universe, was standard teaching. When scientists offered theories that could challenge or even adjust that belief, they were punished and ridiculed.

Now, in our infinite wisdom, our society has turned the other cheek. Now, Darwinism is the standard teaching and those who would teach Creationism are punished and ridiculed. Even though Darwinism is just a theory and Creationism is just another theory, our fine publicly-funded educators have deemed Creationism an inappropriate subject for our youth.

Yes, it certainly is dangerous that the Universe was created by something bigger than us, better than us and more intelligent than us. That makes us... well, human. So, let's not teach that. Let's teach how the Universe is a completely random fluke and it's only by happenstance that we are living, breathing and now dismissing the possibilty that God had something to do with our presence on this planet.

Boy, how times have changed.

Damnation vs. Salvation, Hollywood Style

The one thing I've noticed is that Hollywood loves to cling onto the damnation aspects of Christianity, especially Catholicism, as story devices, but never link the path to salvation as defined by Catholicism and other Christian faiths.

The movie Constatine is a film about a man who can see demons and the struggle between God and Satan over the souls of mankind. These visions, which nobody believes are true, eventually leads him to attempt suicide. Under Catholicism, he is now damned to hell, as suicide is a complete loss of faith. He spends the bulk of the movie expelling demons back to hell in an attempt to "buy" his way back into heaven.

In Angel Heart, Robert Deniro plays Lucifer (Louis Cypher) in disguise and Mickey Rourke plays a 1950s New Orleans private detective hired by Deniro to find a man... this man, we come to find out, has sold his soul to Satan and has used black magic to temporarily escape damnation. The film takes place in the heavily Catholic New Orleans area and has strong Catholic symbolism as well, along with a touch of Voo Doo.

So, to great effect, Hollywood has used the dogmatic fire and brimstone images of the battle of souls to create wonderfully symbolic and cinematic stories of the ultimate struggle for our immortal souls. However, that's where Hollywood's use of Christianity ends. In neither film is it explained to Constantine or the missing man in Angel Heart that, under these same Catholic Christian rules for which they are damned, that there is an opportunity for salvation... Jesus Christ.

I have always found this frustrating because if the Catholic rules of the universe apply for damnation, do not the same rules apply for salvation? Yet, salvation through the Son of God is never mentioned. It could be because it is cinematically anti-climatic... accepting Jesus and following him is not a very visual experience. However, I feel that they don't use it because they don't understand it... or don't want to acknowledge it.

When God is shown in films he's shown like George Burns in Oh God or Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty... loving, yet vague symbols of the Creator, where our salvation is not through the acceptance of Christ but by our own self discovery of our humanity.

Strong followers of Christ are also misrepresented in film. Priests used to be portrayed by A-Level talent, such as Montgomery Clift in I Confess or Bing Crosby in The Bells of St. Mary’s. Now they are B/C-Level talent, often played by character actors with twisted or distorted features. Many of the most dangerous killers are portrayed as overzealous Christians, such as Deniro's character in Scorcese’s version of Cape Fear. And average people with strong Christian beliefs are also often portrayed as hypocrites, such as in Saved or Footloose.

Hollywood has a long way to go. On occasion, Hollywood gets half of the immortal battle correct... its how to win the battle that they've yet to comprehend.

Growing up, my parents used to pray for the conversion of Russia every week at mass. We should reinstitute that global diligence, but instead pray for the conversion of Hollywood so that one day they can turn their half truths into The Truth when it comes to salvation and damnation.

Mary, The Favored One

In Sunday's gospel, Mary is called by the angel Gabriel, a "favored one."

What a special term.

In the bible, rarely do angels show any respect to humans. One releases Peter from prison, only to leave him alone outside with no further assitance, but with Mary, she is immediately recognized as favored and with respect. How holy she must truly be to deserve such a response from an angel... a being who stands in the presence of the Almighty and who knows just how far from the pure light humanity stands, yet Gabriel treats Mary with dignity and honor.

I hope that, by the time of my death, I have reached some level of respect in the eyes of the Almighty. It's a hec of a long journey from where I am to where I need to be. I guess the trick is to make sure that every step I take is in the right direction.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Johnny Depp is one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood today. He can successfully run the gamut from Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Carribean to Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Tim Burton directs this re-invention of the original classic and Johnny Depp is appropriately odd and funny. The story itself unwinds almost exactly like the original, but Depp's portrayal of Wonka adds enough new energy into the story, along with Burton's twisted view on life, that the entire cinematic experience is funny and refreshing.

A nice addition to Burton's version is the reliance and importance of family to the mix. Charlie, the poorest of the poor, is richer than everyone else because of the love of his family. So, the story not only entails Charlie's exploration of the interior of the chocolate factory, but the need for family above all else.

Batman Begins (2005)

Batman Begins is a nice kick-start to the Batman franchise. Christian Bale makes an intriguing Bruce Wayne as he journeys through his own struggles to face his fears which, in the end, culminate in the Batman persona.

What makes this movie more successful than all of the othe recent Batman flicks is that you understand where Wayne is coming from, you can empathize with his challenges. I remember watching the Tim Burton directed Batman with Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton and thinking, as they tried to kill each other at the end of the film, that I didn't care who won... I had no emotional attachment to either... they were both freaks.

In Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan takes time to get us into Bruce Wayne's head and the world in which Batman exists seems a lot like our current world, not totally alien like in Burton's versions. The end result is that, no matter how fanciful the events may be, they seem to be plausible to really happen.

It'll be interesting to see where this franchise heads next.

Monday Morning QB - 12/19

As stated in an earlier posting, the Bucs got crushed by the Patriots Saturday, 28-0. The young offense showed its inexperienced as they could get nothing going on the ground or in the air. The only good thing that came out of this was that the Cowboys, Falcons and Vikings all lost, which help the Bucs playoff chances.

My prediction: Bucs 17, Patriots 10

Score: Patriots 28, Bucs 0

Offense: D. No running game. No passing game. Seven sacks. No touchdowns. No field goals.

Defense: C. The D Line was dominated by the Pats offense. Bad penalties. 28 points scored against.

Special Teams: C. No points. Punting was okay.

Coaching: D. Bucs got out coached today on both sides of the ball. Bucs looked like a southern team unable to adapt to the cold.

Outstanding Players: None.

Things That Drove Me Nuts: Roughing the kicker penalty on Ryan Nece that led to a 14-0 lead against the Bucs. Early in the game, it was all about field position. The Bucs had held the Pats and were only one score away from tying it up. A roughing the kicker penalty extended the drive. Later, a facemask penalty gave the Pats another 15 yards. A couple of plays later, the Pats score. The game was never in reach again.

Bucs Record: 9-5.

Next Opponent: The Bucs finish out the season against divisional foes at home. Next week they play the Falcons, who lost to the Bears. The Bucs control their destiny and if they win out, should make the playoffs.

Pre-Holiday Blues

I've been dealing with some pre-holiday blues. I'm not really sure of the reason for the malaise, but its been pretty potent. I hope I get over it soon. It's making the holidays a bummer.