I don’t even remember how Forbes.com’s Richard Hyfler and I came to be correspondents but his email friendship is one of those joyful fringe benefits of being a blogger. He’s a very smart fellow with a good heart, a free mind and terrific sense of humor. A while back, having stumbled over one of my old posts wherein I ranted unto madness about The Vagina Monologues (I rarely write like that anymore; I told you prayer has slowly changed my... Read more
Matt Emerson, who has recently served up some excellent, challenging and provocative reads for us in the Catholic portal (and will soon be launching his own column with us) considers Stephen Colbert’s sly, “cloak and dagger catechesis” and why it makes him a cheerful ambassador for the church, and perhaps the “best thing going” in American Catholicism. Colbert is a practicing Catholic and so is his character, and sometimes something apostolic appears to break through. Consider the confetti of Catholic... Read more
Sorry for the video, but I’m in the middle of working on a project in anticipation of the weekend. But check this out. If you’re a fan of Tarantino, and especially of Kill Bill (both volumes — you know I do love my blades) then this is great fun: Read more
Something new, something exciting… And I’ll tell you about it in a bit! But while you’re waiting, check this out. Very thoughtful and oddly moving. Read more
It’s quiet over here so I decided to flip on the tv. It opened to CNN and a report on shrimp and treadmills. After about 45 seconds, I had to turn the thing off. I have no idea who the reporter was, but she was doing that “loud woman reporter sing-song” thing, the broadening of words and Louisville Slugger overemphasis of certain words and syllables that comes off like a half-bellowed-half-swallowed hectoring. Why do female broadcasters — both on radio... Read more
Today is the memorial of my dear patron, teacher and friend, St. Philip Neri, whose chapel in Santa Maria in Vallicella (also called Chiesa Nuova) in Rome feels like a very natural and welcoming second home, for me — where I was able to participate, daily, in the mass on my last visit. In her column, “A Word in Season” Pat Gohn takes a really wonderful look at this very great saint, whose “mission” was to the people of Rome;... Read more
Over at National Review they’re running a Symposium exploring whether Oprah Winfrey’s long-running talk show has been a net-positive or negative for the nation. I participated in the symposium, along with Charlotte Allen, Cal Thomas, Suzanne Venker, Danielle Bean, Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, Pia de Solenni and many others. It makes for a very interesting round-up of opinions My own response was quickly dashed-off and had I taken more time, I believe I would have stricken the too-easy joke at the... Read more
Taking a break from his lengthy vacation Greg Kandra — who during his long career at CBS spent some time toiling on behalf of Katie Couric — argues that, despite charges of sexism, or Gail Collins’ weirdly bar-lowering, denial-laden praise (which declared that as long as Couric didn’t make it “worse” for women, she’d been a “total success”) Couric was simply a bad fit for the anchor’s desk, and that everyone seemed to know it but Couric herself, and Les... Read more
A few days ago on Facebook, Fr. James Martin mentioned attending the Christopher Awards, which honored his most recent book, along with The King’s Speech, Toy Story 3 and many other great books, films and tv shows. He wrote, “Back from the Christopher Awards. The screenwriter and director of ‘The King’s Speech’ accepted their awards in person: very classy. If I ever send a publicist to collect an award, punch me.” I agree. If an organization is taking the trouble... Read more
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