Some Straight Men Are Too Straight

Your Aussie a bit rusty? Here's an Australian TV mob reacting to one of their number's trying to tell a joke to the Dalai Lama:



Thanks to Carl McColman via Jim Graf:

http://anamchara.com/2011/06/14/what-not-to-say-to-the-dalai-lama/

One Smart, Determined Lady

Usually Ph.D.s in neuroscience spend their lives chasing federal grants and finding Darwinian explanations for common sense or replacing the truths of revelation with the law of the jungle.  Michelle Nihei took the analytical mind of a scientist and the stick-to-it-ivity of a successful scholar and channeled them into her passion: horses.

Dr. Nehei left an academic job at Johns Hopkins to go back to Kentucky seeking work exercising horses, a sure fire path to poverty.   Bill Finley in the New York Times tells us, "She could have had a long career as a scientist. Instead, she chose to take her diplomas, her training and her background and virtually dump them in the trash."

Why?


“'I just knew I’d be happiest doing this,'” she said."  So much for stereotypes!

She is now that rare soul, an increasingly successful woman trainer in a man's world of racing.

How did she do it?

"In 2003 she joined trainer Todd Pletcher as an assistant and soon was handling strings in Kentucky, Florida, and Delaware. During this time she rode and helped train champions Ashado and English Channel in addition to many other stakes winners." Jacqueline Duke is writing about her on BloodHorse.com, the web site for Blood Horse magazine a trade publication in the thoroughbred horse industry. Todd Pletcher might be thought of as the IBM of horse training, commanding many of the best as well as many of the less classy horses. To manage horses in various parts of the country requires management skills as well as hands-on horse training.  Duke tells us, Nihei "learned important lessons about organization and consistency."  There's more to being a trainer than just handling the horses.

When it comes to determination, do not underestimate this lady. Remember that riding three quarters of a ton horses in not quite a safe profession.  As an exercise rider for Pletcher, a filly filliped over on her, breaking "her tibia and tore all the supporting structures in a knee."

Duke tells us, "As paramedics loaded her into the ambulance, one of them told her, 'You’ll be lucky if you ever walk again. You will never ride again.'"

Did that daunt her?  Heck no! She told them, "'Watch me. Even if you cut this thing off, I will ride again.'”

Leigh Hornbeck, a writer for the Saratoga Times Union, puts it in perspective after she interviewed Nihei: "She’s an exceptional person – if she wasn’t so gracious you might hate her – smart, pretty, incredibly fit."

What Really Happened When They Reformed the Liturgy?

Nicola Giampietro: "They have all the best intentions, but with this mentality they have only been able to demolish and not to restore." (192)

The Rev. Dr Alcuin Reid, one of the most sensible liturgists in the Catholic world, reviews  Nicola Giampietro, The Development of the Liturgical Reform: As Seen by Cardinal Ferdinando Antonelli from 1948-197 (Fort Collins CO: Roman Catholic Books, 2009 xx + 347 pages. Paperback. $33.75 in Antiphon, the journal of liturgical renewal.


Giampietro was there when it all happened.  He was heavily involved in the liturgical Movement.  He was the secretary to the second Vatican council's work on Sacrosanctum Consilium, its constitution on the liturgy.  You can read his review on the New Liturgical Movement.

From The Australian via News.com.au, enjoy this fair dinkum video in which Aussie Tim Winton reads from his book Land's Edge, A Coastal Memoir. The images are by Narelle Autio. Winton is from West australia (Perth maybe?)

Dancing

Dancing has been frowned upon by some denominations at various times. Generally speaking, the Catholic church has consider dancing a good thing until proven otherwise. Certainly David danced into Jerusalem before the Ark of the Covenant. Nevertheless, liturgical dance is not something I am convinced has a place in the mass.

Dancing is an activity that allows the more "mature" in age (if not necessarily in wisdom) to get physical exercise and help the romance in our marriages.

YouTube has a wealth of instruction:

You will find following some examples:

Beginners Waltz - Left Foot Closed Change

Now Andy and Wendy do the Beginner's Waltz - Reverse Turn

And Andy and Wendy do the Beginner's Waltz - The Hesitation

And Andy and Wendy do the Bronze 1 Waltz - Whisk and Chasse:

And Andy and Wendy do the Bronze 1 Standard Routines - Waltz

And Andy and Wendy do the Bronze 2 Waltz - Basic Weave

I suspect the Hiltons are British and they are doing International style:

Beautiful Basics - Marcus and Karen Hilton

Visit VNDANCE.INFO - Marcus and Karen Hilton - Beautiful Basics

Slow Waltz Part 2 - Group 2 - Running Chasse & Oversway

Marcus &  Karen Hilton - Simply The Best