The 4th degree honor guard joins us before the start of the festival:
We will see them again next year, if you have a Catholic or Civic event and wish the Knights to march to add pageantry contact your local council.
Author Archive
The Knights of Columbus Honor Guard at Madonna Della Cava
Posted: August 21, 2010 by datechguy in catholic, special eventsTags: catholic, Knights of Columbus, madonna della cava, st. anthony's church
In appreciation of William Hartnell: the first Doctor.
Posted: August 21, 2010 by datechguy in doctor who, hobbiesTags: 1st doctor, history, nostalgia, tv, William Hartnell
When you see polls of the most popular doctors William Hartnell seem to be often forgotten, very few of his episodes survive as a whole and although we have seen glimpses of him in the current series he remains largely ignored as the generation that watched his episodes are in their late 50’s or above.
As I discovered the series with Tom Baker I had not seen him period, my first glimpse was an image in The Brain of Morbius, the Five Doctors featured a different actor in the role. It wasn’t until I saw the three doctors on WENH 11 that I actually saw him perform in a limited role.
Every other actor who has been on the show has had the burden of living up to an iconic role, but each one of them also had the advantage of an established franchise. An actor who is cast as a companion of the Doctor has a ready source of income for their entire life, the actors who play the doctor even more so. Doctor Who is a multi million dollar worldwide industry that supports and entertains millions upon millions of people.
None of that would be true without the performance of Hartnell. He had none of the history to carry him nor the existing fan base. Like any actor with a new series it was up to him as the primary star to carry the show. A show totally unique in the history of Television. He needed to carry off the role of an almost all knowing and commanding presence while still being appealing to young children. And all of this is done without the special effects and CGI of the modern days.
The combination of knowledge and courage combined with a fatherly figure made him iconic. It is very true that excellent writing and the creation of the Daleks made a huge difference, but if Hartnell failed this would be at best just another set of $1 DVD in a bin if the episodes were saved at all.
Get your hands on an episode or two if you can. Ignore the limited special effects and lack of CGI look at the performances, and let yourself appreciate the grand bequest given first to the British people and then the world
There are two things I aspire to in writing, the first is employment
Posted: August 20, 2010 by datechguy in mediaTags: honor killings, irony, media
and the second is to be able to write something like this:
… nothing says “closed-minded conservative bubble” like a right-wing racist sexist loon worrying about the murders of brown women. Mark Steyn
Don’t worry Mark the left will catch on as soon as Gays are discovered in Iran.
Long memories for the oppressed
Posted: August 20, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speechTags: cuba, fidel castro
It is fortunate for the world that people like this exist:
I think that I would be too selfish and disloyal to my core values if I limited my magnanimity to my immediate family. You see, I treat all oppressed Cubans as my immediate relatives. When a political prisoner like Orlando Zapata Tamayo goes on a hunger strike and dies to protest the prison conditions, I grieve for him. When Tamayo’s mother tries to visit her son’s grave and is harassed by government-sponsored mobs, I get angry. When college students launch a march on the steps of the University of Havana to protest the state-sponsored apartheid system that is prevalent in Cuba and they are imprisoned, I realize that things will never change for the better as long as a Castro is in power. When I think back to the time when HIV+ gay and lesbian Cubans were forcibly quarantined until 1989 to treatment centers, I pray for the dawning of a more civil and tolerant society. When I see the courage displayed by political prisoners like Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet who has defied the Cuban authorities repeatedly and demanded the restoration of civil rights and liberties to his homeland, I thank God that there are still people left in this world who will stand up to oppression and are willing to die to bring back a Free Cuba. It makes me proud that we have our Frederick Douglas, our Martin Luther Kings, Jr., and our Malcolm X – but with a Cuban flavor.
We may ignore it, we may pretend that it isn’t happening but Cuba remains a prison camp for its population and will be as long as Castro and his cronies are in charge.
It’s important that stories like this aren’t burred amid the rest of the news.
