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(via 13 Comics Only Book Lovers Will Understand)

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But I thought religion and science were incompatible!  ;)  I guess Bill Nye the Dumb Guy is wrong yet again....

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I understand that this is a film that often finds itself on many of those "movies you must see before you die" lists. I agree. This was probably one of the most unique films noir I have ever seen. The best way to describe it is as "The Odyssey" meets "Weekend at Bernies." LOL! Seriously! It is about an IRA gang leader (played by the great James Mason) who is shot while heisting a bank that can only be a few blocks away from his safe house. Due to treachery and incompetence, he is left behind and must stagger his way back home. But due to his injury he quickly becomes delirious, something that makes what should have been a quick hike home an epic journey reminiscent of the Odyssey. The audience gets to watch (with much frustration!) as Mason constantly gets sidetracked by bouts of delirium, something that lands him in the hands of various strangers, many of whom use him for their own purposes (such as a crazy artist who wants to paint a dying man and a hobo who wants to turn him in for the reward). Even though the story takes place over a period of about 18 hours, director Carol Reed makes it seem to take as long as Odysseus' homeward journey by the very clever use of weather where the audience watches as sun gives way to rain, and rain to snow (symbolic of the passing seasons). All in all, this is a brilliant piece of filmmaking that transcends its noir roots. Highly recommended. Score: A

An example of Reed’s use of weather:

The movie begins in the sun:

Gets cloudy with a hint of menace:

Moves to a heavy downpour for the bulk of the midsection:

And has a snowstorm for the denouement: 

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Film noir in a nutshell.

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Poor little college snowflakes....

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Classic Marxism:

“’I don’t believe in charities,’ said Mayor Sanders, bringing a shocked silence to a packed hotel banquet room. The Mayor, who is a Socialist, went on to question the ‘fundamental concepts on which charities are based’ and contended that government, rather than charity organizations, should take over responsibility for social programs.”

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They hypocrisy of the European left in a nutshell.  LOL!

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9In0Xf8HH4k)

These two, along with Hillary, make for a sad commentary on contemporary “rock the vote” American politics.

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10 posts!

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF8mgwgIKGE)

“Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.”

-- Gaudium et Spes

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(via The Father of the Big Bang? A Catholic Priest | Intellectual Takeout)

“According to the Big Bang theory, the expansion of the observable universe began with the explosion of a single particle at a definite point in time. This startling idea first appeared in scientific form in 1931, in a paper by Georges Lemaître, a Belgian cosmologist and Catholic priest. The theory, accepted by nearly all astronomers today, was a radical departure from scientific orthodoxy in the 1930s. Many astronomers at the time were still uncomfortable with the idea that the universe is expanding. That the entire observable universe of galaxies began with a bang seemed preposterous.”

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Thomas F. Madden and the new school of medieval scholarship has led the charge in debunking some of these revisionist myths put forth by anti-Catholic, anti-West secularists over the decades.  

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Space Engine: Fisher of Men

I seem to dimly recall working with a telescope.  Perhaps it was another lifetime.  I remember being frustrated that one prey eluded me: the supposedly beginner “deep sky” target that is M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy.  No matter what I did, including the use of a light pollution filter, this ancient mariner would not yield his secrets to me.

I apparently have a long memory.  

Time to dive into the whirlpool.

I call to it.  Ah, there you are, you old foe.

I set sail and arrive simultaneously.  How is such a thing possible?  No time for that.  I begin drifting within the dusty clouds, eventually deciding to visit one star in particular, one I know no...man...has ever visited before.

I arrive and am greeted with a warm welcome, my host decked out with jewelry.

Five planets, many more moons.  I select a warm, watery world.

If nothing else, it is a world that appreciates symmetry.  

I cautiously approach and discover blanketed with a heavy coat of oxygen, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide.

I settle down on the dark side.  Beautiful aurorae await me.

With sunrise, a limitless green oceans astounds!

It is so peaceful, that I contentedly soak in the scenery.  Late afternoon:

Dusk:

Oranges give way to blue as sunlight is refracted through the planet’s - which I have now dubbed Fisher or Men - unique atmosphere.  

With darkness, I fly to one of Fisher’s four “warm asteroid” moons (top right glowing speck):

As I arrive, use the asteroid’s bulk to occlude the primary, revealing a beautiful scene of diamonds against black velvet.

The asteroid has a solemn majesty to it.

I land and reflect.

Memories

On the ocean:

On the shore:

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While I enjoy all types of music, I do believe everything after the Baroque period was trending downward.

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Things going through my mind as I listen to Obama give his SotU.