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(Trying out a new low carb flour and seeing what I can do with it.)

Here's the deal: Catholic Answers is currently planning it cruise for May 11-21 of next year.

It's going to go all kinds of interesting places: Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc. There will be a pre-event in Rome, and the trip itself will feature a visit to Fatima.

Now the money part: If you register for the cruise by October 28, I can save you $100 per person. (So if you take two people, I can save you $200; three people, $300; etc.)

Just put the super-secret code “Jimmy” in the “Special Request and Notes” section of your online application.

This exciting, faith-building experience would be a nice Christmas gift for you and your spouse, others in your family, or just yourself!

But remember, there's a time limit on this one, so register by October 28th so I can get you the discount!

More info here: www.CatholicAnswersCruise.com

 

There are several ways you can order Jimmy Akin's best-selling new book, Mass Revision: How the Liturgy Is Changing and What It Means for You. You can:

1. Order a paperback copy 24-hours a day from the Catholic Answers online store by clicking here.
2. Order a paperback copy directly from Catholic Answers by calling toll-free, 888-291-8000 (12-7:45 Eastern, 9-4:45 Pacific).
3. Download it in under a minute for your Kindle by clicking here.
4. Download it in under a minute for your Nook by clicking here.
5. Order a paperback copy from online retailers such as Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com (coming soon).

 

Here's a neat video that was made by fans of the TV show FRINGE. Coordinating the elements of the video through social networking (specifically, Twitter), fans across the world visually asked the question that is on all their minds.

The video gets more impressive as it goes.

One note: Though it goes by quick, you may notice that at the site of a Roman aqueduct in Europe the question is asked in a tile mosaic in Latin. How cool is that?

The producers of the show–Joel Wyman and Jeff Pinker–didn't know about the video until it was done. Here's what they had to say afterwards:

JW: Me personally, I was so floored. And it felt so incredible to see how much the fans love the show and what they’re willing to do and their commitment. It was really moving.

JP: It’s stunning. They played it in a Fox departmental meeting yesterday. That’s not the kind of thing that happens. I’ve never heard of such a thing. And it was a surprise to both of us! Speaking about spoiling, neither one of us had any idea such a thing existed or was in the works until it was presented to us over the weekend. And as I tweeted, at the risk of sounding soft, it choked me up. It was amazing.

And what was kind of amazing about it — or what was additionally amazing about it — is it wasn’t designed as a save the show campaign. It was just a gesture of love, not for us, but for Peter and the actors and the production. It was amazing.

Here's the vid:

 

Since the fourth season of FRINGE starts tonight (that's why all the shots of the number 4 appear in the video), we may soon start getting answers to the question–though in keeping with the rules of good drama, of course, they can't answer it immediately. It'll take a few episodes as we build toward the reveal.

MORE (SPOILERS AHOY!)

One extra note: I didn't know about the video when it was being made, but if I had, I would have suggested–at the end of the video–posing the question in large, 3-D floating letters and then pushing the perspective of the shot through them, just like they do with location-identifiers on the show.

Okay, folks, I think I've gotten the problem with Episode 012 of the podcast ironed out. According to LibSyn there was something weird about the original mp3 file and their system wouldn't recognize all the metadata from it, preventing it from propagating to iTunes, etc.

So I remade the mp3 from the original source file, reapplied the metadata (making sure to run it through a procedure that would strip out any accidental code that could have confused LibSyn), and reuploaded the file.

Now the RSS LibSyn is generating looks correct, and it should propagate to Feedburner and then iTunes in short order.

(If not, I'll be severely annoyed.)

You can also listen to the episode by downloading the file directly, HERE.

Happy listening!

UPDATE! Episode 012 now on iTunes! 

Woke up a little after midnight and realized I had power again.

The nightstand lamp I had turned on beside me as an alert was shining, so I hopped up and turned on the AC. Ahhhh!!!! Getting cooler again. (They'd said on the radio to turn off the AC so it didn't instantly overtax the grid as soon as there was power but to wait until lights were back to turn it on.)

I was -very- lucky. The blackout happened while my plane was on final approach to the San Diego airport, so we were either the first or one of the first planes to land.

They got us off the plane, got us our luggage by hand, and I managed to get a taxi. Because of the downtown streetlights being out, traffic was crazy, but I got home about 2 hours after my plane landed.

For dinner I had some low carb ice cream from the freezer, figuring it would be one of the first things to go. Checked my disaster supplies by candlelight. Listened to some of The Jewish War by Josephus on an iPod.

Eventually got bored, blew out the candles, and went to sleep. Then woke up and found out I had power again! Yippie!

Don't know how Long it will last. Hopefully indefinitely!

The best parts are that I can get the house cool again (I live inland, where it's hotter) and can recharge my phone (I'd been using it heavily as an iPod on my trip back from Reno, so the battery was low when I landed, and I had to shut it off to save power. To my hosts in Reno, I got back okay; everything's fine; thanks for a great visit!).

According to what I'm reading, many, MANY people are still without power. Hoping they get power back soon, and prayers for their safety!

Like much of San Diego, I'm without power. That's the bad news. The good news is that I'm home — I'm off the plane where I was stranded on the tarmac earlier today — and I'm fine, though I'm staying offline as much as possible to save my batteries. I'll keep you posted as warranted and possible. Thanks.