Category: Uncategorized

It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Michael Dubruiel, the husband of Amy Welborn and father of two.

On the left is a picture of him and one of their children in the Colosseum.

Michael collapsed suddenly at the gym and could not be revived.

I would like to extend condolences to Amy and her whole family, as well as prayers for Michael and all of them.

I know what it is like to lose a spouse suddenly and at an unnaturally young age, and it is a place you really don't want to be.

I invite everyone to pray for Michael, Amy, and their whole family.

LINK.

SDG here. I wish I had time to post something substantial, but I no sooner recover from the usual January year-end movie crunch — I vote in three critics’ awards as well as putting together my own top 10 list — than February brings something very exciting (and time-consuming!).

I’ll be posting more on that later, but for now, some movie lists worth checking out:

The Christianity Today Movies 2008 Critics Choice Awards have just been posted. Not a bad list at all, though of course I don’t necessarily agree with every film. Don’t miss the “ones that got away,” selected by individual voters including yours truly.

Last week, CTMovies posted the Christianity Today Movies Most Redeeming Films of 2008, also with “ones that got away.”

For those who haven’t seen it yet, here’s my own round-up of the best films of last year. (Movies I hope to review sooner rather than later: Doubt, Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Coming this week: Coraline.

I’d like to thank Tim J for letting people know about the recent passing of my father. 

This is obviously a difficult time, but I have a great deal of peace about the situation. God allowed me to do what I needed to do to care for my father’s spiritual and physical needs, and that is a source of enormous consolation, and for which I am enormously greatful to Our Lord.

I’ll be flying to Texas for the funeral, but I wanted to say thank you to all who have kept my father and my family in their thoughts and prayers–not just at this time but for the last couple of months, because my father is the close relative to whom I referred when I asked for prayers about a family situation back in December.

Thank you all!

As you can probably guess, that’s my dad in the picture on the left. As you may also be able to guess, that’s me he’s holding.

If I recognize the background correctly, this picture was taken on the family ranch in Deep East Texas, where I’ll be heading, and just a couple of miles from where Dad will be buried next to Mom.

But the picture is of other times–other ages.

Happy times. 

Let’s treasure them always.

Next . . . a post on something completely different (by whoever of the three co-bloggers wants to post it!).

A number of you may be already aware, but in case you didn't know, Jimmy's father passed away Sunday. I expect he is more occupied with family and travel arrangements than blogging right now, so I wanted to ask you all for prayers on his behalf.

He wrote in a personal e-mail;

Last week I covered a story concerning a rumored document on apparitions and I pointed out that the rumor was poorly sourced, that there wasn't the kind of multi-source rumor groundswell that one would want before concluding that a Vatican rumor was likely true.

And, sure enough, within a few days there were indications leaking out of the CDF that the rumor was not true.

Now, it may be true or not. Time will tell. But right now things don't look promising for that rumor in the short run.

This is completely different than the situation regarding a different rumor.

Specifically: The rumor is that Pope Benedict has signed a document "removing" the excommunication that applies to the four Lefebvrist bishops (and possibly to the late Archbishop Lefebvre and his late collaborator, Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer).

The rumor is also that this document will be released very soon, possibly as soon as Friday or this weekend.

Unlike the previous rumor, this rumor presently seems very well sourced, with apparent confirmation from multiple avenues, including respected Vatican-watchers, so it's much weightier, as far as Vatican rumors go.

It also fits in with the known desire of B16 to reconcile the SSPX and the fact that they have long insisted on this step as part of a reconciliation program.

If the fundamental rumor–that there is such a document–is true then (whenever it is released), I'll be very interested to see who it applies to (just the four living bishops, the other two also, anybody else), what reasons will be given for the removal of the excommunication, what canonical category this action will be placed in, and what the response of the SSPX will be.

One thing that is unlikely to happen immediately, if such a document comes out, is a simultaneous full reconciliation of the SSPX with the Church and a regularization of its status as a priestly fraternity.

That's going to take more time.

But if the news is true then it means that Pope Benedict has concluded that this is a worthwhile step toward the hoped-for reconciliation of the SSPX.

MORE FROM RORATE-CAELI.

Okay, this one is pretty good . . .

CHT: Instapundit.

Notice at First Things.

Ratzinger Fan Club has an archive of his works (HT: Phat Catholic Apologetics).

And First Things reposts an essay on death by Fr. Neuhaus.

Over at Arts & Faith my friend Nick Alexander writes:

When I first converted to Catholicism, my old Episcopal priest (in NYC) told me I had to have lunch with this Catholic priest, a good friend of his. He would set it up.

It was Fr. Richard Neuhaus. He was very gracious, and we had a very interesting conversation about the nature of conversion, and what we had discovered in Catholicism (he, too, was a convert from Lutheranism, but he was committed to ecumenical thought throughout his life).

I had witnessed him preside over the liturgy once or twice soon after, and was very impressed at his oratory skills, even as his erudite writing became a little bit more easier to understand to the mixed congregation on East 14th Street.

He had done great things for all of Christendom. His help in writing the Evangelicals and Catholics Together statement; his First Things journal; his wit… he was nuanced, logical, and strongly orthodox.

I will miss him dearly.

More later, maybe.

Now that I've been able to report that my relative is doing better, I thought I'd also talk about something I've been hoping to share with readers for some time.

Long-time readers of JA.O know that one of my hobbies is square dancing. It's something I started doing several years ago as a way of getting exercise, having something to do evenings and weekends, and enjoying the simple pleasure of moving to music that God built into human nature.

I also do other forms of dancing, such as round dancing (ballroom dancing with cued instructions) and a little bit of contra and line dancing, but square dancing is the form I enjoy most. It's dynamic, cooperative, social, and basically just good, wholesome fun.

It's also liquid geometry set to music.

And these days, it goes way beyond its country roots, using a blend of musical styles including rock, jazz, world beat, and others. (Maybe sometime I'll put up some brief, non-copyright-infringing samples so you can hear what I'm talking about.)

What I haven't talked about on the blog up to now is a project I've been working on for some time.

Basically, I've learned to call square dances.

This has been a very difficult skill to acquire. The only thing of comparable difficulty that I've ever tried is studying another language.

In fact, square dance calling is a lot like speaking a language. Depending on what what level you're calling at, you have up to 100-200 (or more) commands that are part of the square dance "vocabulary." You then inflect them by indicating which dancers you want to do them (similar to the way we change the form of nouns and verbs to indicate who or how many). And there is an overall "grammar" governing how the commands are strung together so as to make sense, the same way we have to put words together a certain way for a statement to be intelligible.

Another aspect of modern square dance calling that is language-like is that it is generative, meaning that you make it up as you go. Neither the dancers nor the caller tend to know what is coming next. Callers usually don't plan a sequence of calls rigorously in advance any more than speakers of a language rigorously plan their sentences in advance. Callers and speakers both generate meaningful strings of words in a spontaneous manner.

That spontaneity adds excitement and is part of what makes modern square dancing fun.

On top of the ability to generate meaningful choreography on the fly, square dance calling also involves a number of related skills, including being able to time the choreography to the music, showmanship, humor, and the ability to sing (something I didn't previously know if I'd be able to do; turns out I can).

So . . . learning how to do this has been something of an accomplishment, and I wanted to share it with readers.

To give readers a sense of the task, most people who try calling give it up without ever calling a gig.

A minority end up breaking through to the "working caller" level (meaning: you're doing gigs on a regular basis).

To attain full membership in the main professional association of square dance callers–CALLERLAB–one needs to call at least 12 gigs a year for three years.

I haven't been doing this for three years yet, but in the 2008 I called approximately 50 gigs, so about once a week on average.

I'm scheduled to do at least that number in 2009, because–and this is the reason I decided to talk about calling now–I've just crossed a new threshold as a caller. In addition to being a working caller, I'm also a club caller.

That means that a square dance club has asked me to call for them on a regular basis. I'm now calling the regular Friday dances for the Alpine Squares of Lakeside, California.

Being a club caller is considered the hardest job in square dance calling since you can't just have one "act" that you do. You have to be able to regularly come up with new material to keep the dancers entertained.

It'll be an interesting challenge!

As I've been learning this skill, I've been taught and mentored and given opportunities by some of the best in the business, and I owe them an enormous debt. I can't begin to thank them enough.

If anyone is in the San Diego area (or knows someone who is) who would like to see what square dancing is like, or who would like to see me call, my club is having a series of community dances in January (no experience needed, no partner needed).

LET ME KNOW YOU'RE INTERESTED and I'll get you the pertinent details.

Up next . . . answers to some questions from readers.

SDG here with a quick follow up… I didn't want to risk these links getting lost by appending them to the previous post, and anyway, I'd just as soon start a new combox for relevant and appropriate comments relating to Cardinal Dulles that anyone may have to make, if any. (Inappropriate comments will be subject to zero tolerance.)

• Catholic Culture offers a roundup of tributes
• One that got away: Joseph Bottum's obituary write-up for The Times (HT: First Things blog)
• A collection of articles by Dulles written for First Things (HT to JA.o reader paul f)
• A couple of worthwhile posts from Carl Olson of Ignatius Insight Scoop

SDG here with some Decent Films doings.

I've finally gotten around to posting a piece I wrote a ways back for Our Sunday Visitor, “Hollywood and Religion: Priests, Nuns and the American Silver Screen.”

I've also posted new reviews of the new The Day the Earth Stood Still remake as well as the 1951 original film. The new film is directed by Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), an Evangelical Christian. Since the original 1951 film is noted for the Christological resonances of the alien ambassador Klaatu, I hoped Derrickson's involvement in the remake was a positive sign that the sequel might pick up on those themes. Unfortunately, the opposite is the case — the new Klaatu is considerably less inspirational than the original.

In other news, recent DVD releases include Horton Hears a Who! and The Dark Knight. (Buy 'em through my Amazon.com links and send a few cents my way!)