JUST RIGHT

There is something very satisfying about this article.
It presses a lot of the right buttons.

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/01/23/st-james-the-smallest-parish-in-the-diocese-of-west-texas/

WE'VE COME A LONG WAY

Another debate.

And another and another and another.
We remember when the so-called debates, as they exist now, did not exist…and it was not really so long ago.
The pre-now debates took place in smoke-filled rooms and amongst the party power brokers…
Our new, present debate system is part of democratization of the process….in which the 'little guy' gets to have his/her say.

The assumption is that having TV land watch  the candidates of one party attack each other is the best way to win the upcoming national election.
After each transparent debate the pollsters poll the electorate to see who ‘won’.

Yes, this sounds like an enlightened system indeed, much superior to having party and political professionals evaluate the issues and strengths and weaknesses of the contenders.

Yes, we have really improved the process.

Evaluation of debating skills and  personal issues about which the voter cannot possibly relate to a skill set required to run the most powerful nation in the history of the planet now becomes a major factor in candidate selection.

We've come a long way.

VERY SPECIAL

For years I’ve yearned to smoke a pipe

On the moors of England on a foggy night.
A favourite briar, an ounce of shag,
A glass of whisky and an historical lag.

The path was a wide track, perhaps just over the width of a one-lane road. It was late in the afternoon and it was heavily overcast and cool and had recently been misting. The ground was just shy of hard and the water in the several walleye hatchery ponds was lightly frozen over with the reeds and cattails showing up through the ice cover.

I had seen no other walkers or dogs, my only visible company being birds and an unnamed little animal the size of a chubby cat with a long tail which scurried across my path at one point.
I was comfortable with warm clothes and blackthorn walking stick and most flavorful cigar…reconnecting with one of my several fantasy worlds.

And then, in the words of Clement Moore [sp?], What to my wondering eyes should appear..., but a HERD of deer, on the path, just ahead…2/3 of a hatchery pond away.

They were in a group and I counted what I thought were five or six.
And then they began to cross the drained pond, and the six turned into 12 or 13.

The last time Dear Wife and I had seen more than a few deer in one place at the same time was in the ‘90’s on the estate of William Cecil, Lord Burghley.

A good walk had become very special indeed.

WHY?

We watched the analysis of the state of the Presidency speech Tuesday night in The Study's library.
And then we watched the entire response by Mitch  Daniels.
And we were impressed.
Why on earth is Governor Daniels not in the arena with Mitt, Newt, and Rick?

BUMPER STICKER

Noticed this on car yesterday:

YOUR BODY IS A TEMPLE.
MINE IS AN AMUSEMENT PARK

I would have loved to  have gotten a look at the driver....

No such luck.

OF INTEREST

At Church:
Discussions are under way at Church regarding the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith… discussion groups.
Proposed subjects…current issues in the Anglican/Episcopal Church; Holy Communion – what really happens; and making the Church relevant in the modern world.
Stuff like that.

TV:
Outstanding TV shows we set the DVR for: Person of Interest; Bluebloods; Gifted Man; and Masterpiece Theatre [Downtan Abbey].
As possibly noted before, our new TV is proving to be very seductive.

BOOKS:
The John Ford book not quite done…but we did succeed in having an excellent Irish band play some of the music from the Cavalry Trilogy whilst at a superb pub last Saturday night.
Huston Smith’s Why Religion Matters and World Religions are being reread. Really important books for folks with minds.

We are trying to establish that we have minds.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
We at The Study view diplomatic developments in Iraq; Afghanistan; Pakistan; Israel; and iran with concern.
It appears to us that b.o. is not up to the task of running a superpower’s diplomacy with the aplomb and intelligence which are required.

Let the voters beware….
We are of the opinion that the arena of international relations is a jungle.
Those not able to play the game will be consumed by that jungle.

We want the US to be a consumer, not a consumed.

THIS IS THE WEEK THAT WAS

There was once a TV show by the title of this post.
At least I think there was.

And such a week this has been.

Did not watch the debate last night…and heard/saw no news until this morning after grinding and activating a pot of the new Starbucks Blonde coffee.
Good stuff.

Anyway, took a few phone calls…noted that the temp last night was just a bit above zero….and began monitoring news.

Of interest, worth noting:

1 GM is the #1 carmaker on planet. We like that.
2 b.o. has said no to Keystone. Don’t like that.
3 abc began debate questions about the open marriage allegation….Don’t like that.
4 He left the ship…Don’t like that.

We are proud of GM. We are used to it being a behemoth.

Keystone needs to happen. Canada will sell the oil. We need Canada to sell it us…US, that is.
As the experts point out, it will be sold to US or to China.
What do you say, b.o.?

Men and women should be faithful to each other. Some men and some women will be unfaithful. Some of them will see the error of their ways and repent and do a better job.
At The Study, we are willing to forgive a sin of a decade ago which has been dealt with.
Fie on the msm which tries to redramatize the issue right before an important vote.
Fie!!

The skipper fell into a life boat. A drop-dead beauty says he was on board when he apparently was on the phone from a lifeboat.
Whaddia think??

We’ll pick our cruise line and crew carefully before our next voyage.

THE MOVIE...'WAR HORSE'

War Horse....Good entertainment...lots of meaningful insights....but fantasy....
and fantasy is ok....
Especially when it is conditioned by plenty of reality....
But my goodness....the ending is soo syruppy.

Note the two cavalry charges...the one for practice...the other for real.

Good juxtaposition.

But the ending taints the picture... it needed to be a little more....real.

This is not a cartoon.

b.o.

We have postponed the military exercises with Israel so as not to upset iran.

Surein’, we would not want them to dislike us.
And now they are threatening their neighbors.
Say what???
iran, threatening neighboring states????

b.o. is in charge. He will handle it. He has the world well in hand.

Sure he does.

The United States will get the leader it deserves, no matter how bad that leader is.

As the chicago pols say, vote early and vote often. Go b.o.

Let's vote him in again. 
He has done such a memorable job.

DISCLAIMER

Freakin' is not the other word.

POLLS

The political debates are a bore.
Enough!!!

You would think that nothing else is going on in the world.

I wonder if in years gone by the political news was full of   POLLS or if it was full of points of view and arguments and speeches by the candidates.

POLLS are wonderous things....

God save us from freakin' polls!

AND SO IT GOES

You work withi a colleague for 20+ years.
You eat lunch together and argue politics and he coaches a soccer team against your own son.
It is a good game, a life time ago.
And you love every minute with him.
And then he dies.
You attended his wife's funeral.
And now he is gone.
And so are other colleagues.  And their wives.
And your high school teachers are almost all gone.
And even your college teachers.
And now your own professional colleagues.

And you go to an Irish pub in town with 11 friends and you remember and you sing and you request songs.
And you shed a tear.

And life goes on, whether or not we go on in this place.

And so it goes.

BLESSED

We took our Granddaughters to a science center and viewed bats with six-foot wingspans.

We will be going back to view the night sky.

We took them to an art institute and viewed Roman gold.

We bought and ate pizza together.
We go to church together.
We watch movies together.

We support their piano and bass lessons and attend their recitals.
And they spend occasional overnights with us.

And we get to do all these things in our little home town.
We are very, very blessed.

BOOKS AND TV

Currently reading, as possibly reported before, John Ford, Joe McBride. Not quite half through, on page 254.
‘Tis a long book.
December was busy.
The book is big, heavy, and full of all sorts of details about the director; his family; his profession; his private life; etc.
And lots of good pictures.

Another book just made known to me: The Widower’s Tale, Julia Glass.

Haven’t started it yet, but the jacket appeals: [paraphrased] Percy Darling is 70; is settling into retirement quite happily; reads novels and enjoys old movies; and likes to swim naked in his pond.

Now, there is an interesting fella.
I know someone very well who does most of those things.
All  but one.

I would promise to report on my progress but I forget to keep such promises…
As a friend at Church remarked, “It is hard to manage retired guys.”

Regarding TV currently watched: Our purchase of a large flat screen TV has seduced me into trying out a few shows…some of them delightful fantasies…but delightful nonetheless.

Season 2 of Downton Abbey is eagerly anticipated… truly a masterpiece.

And then the other little items: Person of Interest; Gifted Man; Terra Nova; Bluebloods; and Body of Proof.

All of them appeal. All have interesting messages, albeit not new.

Have never watched so much TV since being a youngster.