Further Lessons...

The Sensible Bond has been casting aspersions: he had the temerity to suggest that I was missing the Scotney Blognic in order to stay home and follow the cricket... the cad!

After Benediction, a couple of the servers decided to further my cricketing education. One of them started humming what he claimed was the theme to The Third Man... a reference which was totally lost on me, because I don't have a clue who "Harry Lime" is.

I was then taken through first, second and third slips... the position of the third man, and the fact that Australia tend to put a man in mid slips (I think that was what David said...) I was also pleased to find that I remembered Trott was the chap who'd been "run out."

I'm now just waiting for play to resume after lunch...

Oh, and Joe... one of the first things I was told was that, if the umpire says you're out, then you're out... added to which, not having TV coverage, I haven't a clue about controversial dismissals!

UPDATE: It wasn't "mid" slips, but "fly" slips. And I've been sent a diagram showing all the fielding positions... Tomorrow should prove interesting, but I'm completely at a loss as to why England declared before the end of the day's play... I mean, surely two days are sufficient to bowl Australia out? As it is, they now have 80 without loss...

This Made Me Smile...

The mental picture, conjured up by Steve Skojec, of two would-be feministas totally wrong-footed by a trad Mass made me smile - and it emphasises the fact that the Mass is being offered on our behalf, and it doesn't matter what we do to participate, as participation is more internal than external (as Bishop Hopes reminded us.)

Mantilla-twitch to Fr. Gonzales.

The "New" Mass...

...It is no such thing, of course. The Latin is still totally the same as the current Roman Missal (Second Edition) - the only thing to have changed is the translation.

This will require hard work - the responses are, after all, pretty automatic after all these years. However, the improved accuracy will make it worth the effort...

I'm delighted to see that "brethren" (rather than the clumsy "brothers and sisters," or the even more cringe-making "sisters and brothers") is back in favour. This will probably have the Tabletistas up in arms about "going backwards."

Anyway, the USCCB have the translation changes up on this website...

Yet Another Cricket Post...

Yes, another one. Still, the Ashes Series will be over by Monday at the latest... and, the way things have gone so far today, it might be over well before then.

England were all out after half an hour's play - I missed this because of some stuff I had to do after Mass... yes, I realise that means I'm not a real cricket buff... a real one would have moved heaven and earth to ensure being present at the start of play. I arrived home at 1pm to find that the Great British Summer had intervened, and everyone had stopped for an early lunch, with Australia at 61 runs without any losses - I don't know what the correct term for that is.

Luckily, the rain didn't last, and play resumed at 2:30pm. The first wicket fell within ten minutes (woo-hoo) followed by seven more in pretty quick succession. By teatime Australia had just averted the follow-on...

...but the remaining two wickets went down pretty quickly after play had resumed, leaving England in the lead by 172 runs...

...unfortunately, England's first wicket has just gone down. The pitch is deteriorating (Lord only knows what that means!) Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some cricket to listen to...

Day One Of The Last Test...

OK, I'll warn you up front... Just in case you haven't noticed a few of my previous posts, (first one here, then here, and here... as well as a couple of comments on the weather) I have become interested in Cricket. I know very little, but make up for this in enthusiasm. If you are not a cricket enthusiast, or find amateur wittering tedious, feel free to look away now...

I arrived home later than intended after Mass, as I was persuaded to stop for a cup of tea with some of the ladies of the UCM (they clean the church on Thursday mornings.) As soon as I arrived home, I turned on the computer and logged on to the BBC's Test Match Special coverage.

I listened for about fifteen minutes, heard Strauss get his half-century, just about managed to figure out that England seemed to be doing ok, and then everything stopped for lunch, with England at 108 for 1. Delighted that I appeared to understand some of the gobbledegook emanating from my computer, I went and made some lunch, and settled down to listen to the afternoon session...

Unfortunately, my interest coincided with a downturn in England's performance... a few minutes after play resumed, Strauss was out. Then I curled up on the sofa, still listening to the coverage, until I drifted off. I still find myself having to stop for a brief nap in the afternoon, though it's getting shorter as my haemoglobin levels increase.

I resurfaced about the time that Bell was bowled out, and continued listening for the rest of the afternoon, though quite a lot of the commentary went straight over my head; I haven't yet figured out what all the fielding positions are, and I assume that half of the terms used give an idea as to where the ball was headed after it was whacked (or not) by the batsman.

Hearing that Trott was run out by Katich made me sit up and listen: I was able to relate some of my tuition on batsmen starting to run and then having to get back behind the crease before being stumped... I think I got those terms right...

The day ended just after 6:30pm - this included an extra thirty minutes' play, but I'm not sure what the rules (oops, sorry, laws) are on extra time... four and a half overs short of the 90 I was expecting (I thought there had to be a minimum of 90 in the day... Jonathan will probably be able to explain when he gets back from his sailing holiday.) England were 307 for 8. Only two more wickets to go.

Anyway, the general opinion from the commentators was that this was not looking that good. They had started off by saying that a score of 400 or so would be an acceptable one, and then part of the way through the afternoon, changed it down to 350...

I was then keen to stop off at the Parish club after Rosary and Benediction, as I was pretty sure that Sky Sports would be showing the Test match highlights. I wasn't disappointed, and got to see Trott do a desperate U-turn as he vainly tried to get his bat down behind the crease...

Maybe if I start to support Australia, England's chances will improve...

Stop The Abortion Mandate...

An excellent campaign video - the final shot brought quite a lump to my throat.

I wish that there was some way of controlling what our taxes are spent on over here in the UK. You can find out more HERE. Mantilla-twitch to American Papist.

Big Brother Is Watching You... (And Checking Your Pizza Preferences...)

Here in the UK, we've got the highest number of CCTV cameras watching our every move, and the Government has been doing its level best to bring in ID cards and detention for 48 days without charges under anti-terrorism legislation.

The USA seems to be going the same way... at least, that is the opinion of the American Civil Liberties Union, who want to repeal the 2005 Real ID Act, and are asking people to sign their petition. I have no idea how recent the petition is, as there doesn't seem to be a date mentioned anywhere.

The UCLU have an Orwellian view of where things are headed. Click on THIS to see what they believe the future might hold. It's very amusing... in a spine-chilling sort of way...

Twitch of the mantilla to the very talented Anna Arco, who put the link up on Facebook.

Do You Think The Message Will Sink In...?

Pax Christi 3 from Temple Cleansers has drawn attention to the following report in California Catholic Daily: it seems that embryonic stem cells are not producing the treatment breakthroughs expected from them.

As the article in California Catholic Daily states:

Those who opposed the destruction of human embryos for research, including the Catholic Church, were derided as being “anti-science.” But as advances in the treatment of diseases and medical conditions using adult stem cells multiply daily and the technical limitations of embryonic stem cells remain, it appears that the Church’s morally correct position was scientifically correct. These advances, well known to scientists, have not been given the attention in the mainstream media, although they are having to sit up and take notice.

Furthermore, an article in the San Francisco Weekly raised serious concerns about the side effects resulting from the use of embryonic stem cells, citing the case of

...a teenage boy who had traveled from Israel to Russia... for an implant of neural stem cells to treat a rare degenerative disease. Four years after the procedure, according to the study, the therapy hadn't worked, and the transplanted stem cells had morphed into a brain tumor.

The article continued:

As Kriegstein shuffled through his papers, looking for the report, he explained his fear that current efforts in California to create stem-cell–based cures, which he views as premature, could have similar results.

"The likelihood of something going wrong is pretty high," he said. "Something like tumors are probably going to happen. This is an area where the risks are great. The public has to be prepared."

Arnold Kriegstein is in charge of the Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of California, San Francisco. Kriegstein's research facility is one of the biggest of its kind in the world.

Other scientists report that their understanding of stem cells has failed to yield the benefits promised for severe degenerative diseases. Although this is widely ignored by the mainstream media, human embryonic stem cells have been described as a substance akin to poison when they are not tightly controlled. Their potential for developing into any tissue type is also their greatest potential danger. Embryonic stem cells, implanted in mice, have often been seen to create teratomas (potentially cancerous tumors that can sprout hair and teeth), as the cells mutate and multiply into the various organs they can create.

So, given this lack of progress, why are there so many calls for more money to be spent on embryonic stem cell research, along with the ever-increasing drive to use so-called "spare" embryos from IVF treatments?

The California Catholic Daily has a chilling answer:

In a November 20, 2007 article in First Things, Joseph Bottum opined: "I have long suspected that science, in the context of the editorial page of the New York Times, was simply a stalking-horse for something else. In fact, for two something-elses: a chance to discredit America’s religious believers and an opportunity to put yet another hedge around the legalization of abortion. After all, if our very health depends on the death of embryos, and we live in a culture that routinely destroys early human life in the laboratory, no grounds could exist for objecting to abortion."

Anyone care to lay bets on how long it will be before the mainstream media and our politicians catch on?

Time For A Cat Post...

I've mentioned before that Sylvester has my next-door neighbour wrapped around his paw. She usually feeds him in the morning and the evening if I'm away, staying with him while he eats, and making a general fuss of him, in case he's lonely.

It seems that, while I was away the other week, Sylvester not only slept under my duvet (I already knew he did that), but my neighbour actually had to go in to the bedroom in the morning and wake the cat up for his breakfast!

Even more disturbingly, on one morning, he yawned, looked at my neighbour, rolled over and went back to sleep!

He's obviously picking up my bad habits...