Shakespeare - Celebrity Version

These impressions are spot on. "Jim Meskimen performs Clarence's speech from William Shakespeare's Richard III as a number of different celebrities."

I found his Morgan Freeman almost scary it was so good.

World's Steepest Roller Coaster

I was impressed that my 7 year-old rode the biggest coaster at Sea World this summer. But, this thing makes the Steel Eel look like a child's toy.

The name is "Takabisha" and it is the world's steepest coaster. It is in Japan.
I think they should have named it the pukinator.

This is a view from the ground.


This is a view from the ride itself.

Don't Mess With Texas

I have told many people that Texans can be quite obnoxious because we love our state more than anybody else.

But, Texas A&M Aggies are even worse because we love our school more than anyone else.

Yet, Aggie Catholics are even worse because we love our faith more than anyone else.

Aggie Catholics - full of love and sometimes really obnoxious.

Join The Dark Side - Get a Cookie

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What Should Benedict Tweet?

In honor of Pope Benedict's first tweet, I am holding a Papal Tweeting Contest. The winner gets the prize of winning the contest.

The rules are simple. The person who gives us the best Papal tweet wins. Here is video of Benedict tweeting:

JAW MEET GROUND

Wow. This is amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Tip o' the hat to Mark.

Trip to EWTN

John Thorkelson (one of our students) and I had a great time on our trip to EWTN, to appear on the show - Life on the Rock. I thought I might write up a quick synopsis of how the trip went.

Thursday morning I got up much earlier than I normally do, remember, I work with college students. We caught a flight out of College Station to Houston and then another flight into Birmingham. I actually had a nice nap on the second flight, which is very rare for me on an airplane. An EWTN driver picked us up at the airport and took us to one of the guest houses. We then went to the EWTN cafeteria, which has great food cooked by a wonderful cook who knows great Southern cooking (while in Alabama I got to have some of my favorites - pork chops, grits, meatloaf, etc - yum).

Now, before I left, I tried contacting Fr. Mitch Pacwa (a former professor and a friend of mine) to see if he was in town. But Fr. Mitch is terrible with email, so I didn't expect a response. Lucky me, we ran into Fr. Mitch in the cafeteria. We got to eat lunch and then he invited us back to his house, which is next to our guest house, and we had some fun talking about hunting, theology, and cats. I like the first two a lot more than cats. The pic below is of Fr. Mitch teaching the son of one of his friends how to shoot his compound bow.

Around 3pm we left Fr. Mitch's house and I showed John around the grounds. We prayed a Chaplet of Divine Mercy in the chapel and then went back to our house to get ready. We then went to the studio to prep for the show. The studio isn't very big, so they stay very busy shooting shows.

While waiting for Fr. Mark and Doug Barry, the hosts of Life on the Rock, we got makeup put on. As you can imagine, I am not much of a makeup guy. John had a lot less shine to get rid of so he went first and was a good sport when I wanted take a pic.

Random fact - the makeup kit was entitled "St. Clare's Makeup Kit", I still haven't figured out why.

We then prepped for the show with Fr. Mark and Doug, shot the show, and then went back to Mother Angelica's old office for dinner. Jason and Crystalina Evert came in while we were eating, because they shot another show that evening.

We then went back to our guest house. Some other friends of Fr. Mitch's were also in town so Fr. Mitch came over and the five of us watched the show and visited.

This morning, we had breakfast and went to the airport, along with Doug, Jason, and Crystalina. Jason and Crystalina had the same flight to Houston, so we got to visit even more until they left to catch a flight back to California. This was Crystalina's first time, in many years, to not have a baby with her on a trip. So, she was in a good mood after a nice night of sleep.

To cap it all off, we were able to catch an earlier flight back to College Station. So, it ended up being a great trip from start to finish. Thanks for everyone who watched and for all your prayers. Please continue to pray for St. Mary's and other campus ministries, as well as the students we serve and the benefactors who make it all possible.

Peace,
Marcel

Catholic Answers Live Podcast

You can now download last Friday's interview I had on Catholic Answers Live radio program:
Listen in MP3 format here.
Listen in REAL format here.
You can also download it here.

Thanks to Patrick Coffin and the crew at Catholic Answers for having me on.
Also, I will be on Life on The Rock on EWTN TV this Thursday at 9pm. Tune in if you can.

The Boys Are At War

Below is a manifesto from my son Dominic (9), and two of his friends. Combined, the three boys have 9 sisters and only one of them has a little brother. So, they really have bonded as brothers-in-Christ. Maybe after reading this I should say they have bonded as brothers-at-war-with-girls.

The boys have been gathering a army to fight agenst the girls.
We bilt this army and this army only shall stand agenst the forces of evel.
We will fight too the end of this war.
The leaders are gathering clues.
Clues that will put an end to this war.
We shall stand.
We will stand to the end of this war.
We will stand till they have fallen.
We will stand in our darkest hour.
They cant stop us now.
We are strong.

signed by
Jonathan Gulde, Dominic LeJeune and Blaise Rother (in each boy's handwriting)

(misspellings have been retained to prove authenticity)

Thanks to Lauren (Jonathan's mother) for finding this and bringing it to my attention. My reaction was mixed - I don't know whether to laugh, congratulate Dominic, or send my four daughters into hiding.

The Top 25 Changes To The Catholic Church, If It Were Run By The Media:

Go with me for a moment, deep into your imagination, and try to imagine what the Catholic Church would look like if the media was in charge of it...

The Top 25 Changes To The Catholic Church, If It Were Run By The Media:

• 25 - Women priests (but they must always wear approved vestments).
• 24 - Gay Marriage is fine as long as only one bride's mother is involved at a time
• 23 - Abortions are only approved in cases of rape, incest, teenage pregnancy, and if you are a woman who is pregnant
• 22 - Contraception suggested for married couples (and required for non-married couples)
• 21 - The Eucharist now comes in Honey Wheat, Whole Grain, Avocado and Rice flavors
• 20 - No more need to confess your sins just receive counseling to overcome guilt
• 19 - Pope is elected - never mind - no more Pope. But, Bishops are elected by popular vote after the final episode of "So You Think You Can Run An (Arch)Diocese?"
• 18 - Simple majority decides doctrine and all doctrine is optional
• 17 - The Bible is now officially interpreted by the Magisterium of Me
• 16 - No more talk of the fiery abode of demons (i.e. Hell). No more talk of that "bad guy with a pitchfork"
• 15 - The only sin is telling someone they have sinned (oops, I sinned, my bad)
• 14 - Bishops now dress in suits (or pant-suits), priests in Dockers (or skirts), and the congregation can "come as you are - on a beach after sweating all day"
• 13 - Jesus was a super-nice guy, though he bought into some cultural lies of his times, but he ain't God
• 12 - Latin Schmatin
• 11 - Who needs tax exempt status? Not the Catholic Church...
• 10 - All theology professors are now allowed to make it up as they go
• 9 - Justice, however the United Nations defines it, is now the main thrust of the Catholic Church
• 8 - Canon Law will now be called "Canon Advice"
• 7 - In order to make Parishes more welcoming, we will call them "Centers of Loving Care and Hope"
• 6 - The preferred music at "worship services" includes songs from Creedance Clearwater Revival, U2, Billy Joel, and Lady Gaga.
• 5 - Church buildings will now resemble movie theaters and be called "Supplication Stations"
• 4 - Religious Education is to focus on self-esteem, crafts, and the environment. It will now be called "The Art of Being Ready for Encountering That Which May or May Not Be"
• 3 - The Roman Collar is to be replaced with the Butterfly Collar
• 2 - Father, Son, and Spirit are now Parent, Child, and Essence
• 1 - Catholic Schools will now be called "Inclusive Pods of Re-education". They will use the Pelosian-mandated Model of Edumacasion.

What others changes do you see?