1. O Sapientia: “O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.” Isaiah had prophesied, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.” (11:2-3), and “Wonderful is His counsel and great is His wisdom.” (28:29).
   
   
2. O Adonai: “O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.” Isaiah had prophesied, “But He shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.” (11:4-5); and “Indeed the Lord will be there with us, majestic; yes the Lord our judge, the Lord our lawgiver, the Lord our king, he it is who will save us.” (33:22).
   
   
3. O Radix Jesse: “O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.” Isaiah had prophesied, “But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” (11:1), and A On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.” (11:10). Remember also that Jesse was the father of King David, and Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David and be born in David’s city, Bethlehem (Micah 5:1).
   
   
4. O Clavis David: “O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of Heaven: Come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.” Isaiah had prophesied, AI will place the Key of the House of David on His shoulder; when he opens, no one will shut, when he shuts, no one will open.” (22:22), and “His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David’s throne, and over His kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever.” (9:6).
   
   
5. O Oriens: “O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.” Isaiah had prophesied, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.” (9:1).
   
   
6. O Rex Gentium: “O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.” Isaiah had prophesied, “For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” (9:5), and “He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” (2:4) .
   
   
7. O Emmanuel: “O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.” Isaiah had prophesied, “The Lord himself will give you this sign: the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” (7:14). Remember “Emmanuel” means “God is with us.”

Together, the whole Church calls upon Jesus by these titles in supplication and worship! May your Advent season continue to be a time of grace and renewal as you await the coming of the Lord!

Unlike a lot of superhero Origin Stories which are bland and uninspiring (yes, I'm talking to you Spider Man), the first Iron Man movie far surpassed my expectations. It treated the source material seriously, yet also refused to take itself too seriously. It had the right combination of larger-than-life characters, old-fashioned comic-book-style plotting, a dash of whimsy, and a cast of actors who were actually good at their craft.

I had little hope that the second movie would be anything more than a motley mash-up of CGI and over-the-top villains crowding the storyline.

Until now!

Years ago, I started a blog entitled, Take Your Place. When I wanted to indulge my love of science fiction, fantasy, and writing, I then created this blog. Eventually, the circumstances of life forced me to focus on this place, combining discussions of faith, fantasy, writing, and just general nuttiness. From a branding perspective, it's a bit of a mess. From a blogging perspective, I am definitely under-utilizing the flexibility and power of the Squarespace Content Management System.

So, I've had vague plans to redesign both sites some day. It appears that someday is getting nearer--on the horizon, at least. And I think I've found my redesigning partner--Tekeme Studios. This small web-design company has a lot of heart, and some phenomenal talent. I encourage you to go to the website and check out the work they do. Unlike most web design companies, Tekeme is priced very affordably!

The fine folks over at Tekeme are also running a contest, with multiple ways to enter and win some free creative design services. Here are the details:

Hello everyone!

So many of you have contacted us about our last contest to see if you could still enter. We have chosen all winners for that contest, but because of the high demand I’ve decided to start another contest. There will be four prizes and you have until 12:00am EST 12-25-2009 to enter. We will choose all winners on Christmas.

CONDITIONS
You may enter in all the ways listed below. For each part of the contest you participate in we will put your name in a random drawing. Your name may be entered an unlimited amount of times. All winners must retrieve their prizes before January 15, 2010 or they will be given to another entrant in a random drawing. Projects are to have a completion date of no later than March 30, 2010.

RULES
Enter your name into the drawing in all or one of the following ways:
1.) Write a blog post about this contest and send us the link.
2.) Refer one person to sign up for our newsletter.
3.) Sponsor a Compassion child and send us a confirmation receipt. http://www.compassion.com
4.) Donate to help a ministry for homeless single moms. Your name will be entered for every $1 you donate. http://blog.tekeme.com/
5.) Send us a picture of yourself making a funny face. Also, funniest face will have their name entered into the drawing an additional 10 times.
6.) Send an email out to your friends with this contest and include us in the email. Also, we will count the recipients and add your name for every person you send it to.
7.) Make a tweet about Tekeme Studios or Compassion International and send us your twitter address.
8.) Send us a reply email back saying Merry Christmas and let us know what you love about Jesus!
9.) Make a video telling us what you love about Christmas. Also, we will choose our favorite video and add your name an additional ten times if you win..
10.) Write a fictional paragraph about anything. Also, we’ll choose our favorite to win an additional 10 names in the drawing.

PRIZES

Grand Prize
1 Free Basic Website Package which includes:
1 Logo Design
1 Website Design
Up to 7 Pages
1 Contact Form
Coordinating Blogger blog design & implementation
Hosting, domain, maintenance, CMS not included.

First Prize
50% off any Website design (not including programming) or 1 Free Pro (or Custom) Blogger Design & Implementation

Second Prize
1 Free Pro (or Custom) Blogger Design & Implementation

Third Prize
$400 coupon for any Web design package. Does not include blog design.

Please let us know if you have any questions. Merry Christmas and happy entering!

So, what are you waiting for. Take a look at the ways you can enter and jump in! 

Well, that probably isn't entirely true. However, one of the best recurring experiences of my life has been settling in with a great book to read. I've mentioned in a post a few years' back why that is, but I thought I'd quote a bit from it (because there is no sense writing the same thing twice):

But isn't reading as a solitary act sort of the point. Books are where I have gone traditionally to take a step back from my own environment and lose myself. There is something about opening up the pages of a book and communing with the author's work which is both recreational and refreshing. You can unplug, unwind, and let the rhythm of each word and sentence carry you beyond the walls of life as you experience it.

Don't get me wrong, I love the visceral, sensual experience of reading: the delicious crackle of an opened binding; the smell of ink and paper, whether freshly imprinted or redolent with must and the rich scent of age; the texture of each leaf or page beneath the fingertips; the way that a single page raises itself almost perpendicular to the binding, balancing ever so slightly, moved by currents of air or the slight trembling of our hands as we open the book.

But, surprisingly, the elimination of these tangible moments is not my main objection to virtual books (although I must confess to being quite loathe to do without them). Rather, its that e-books and their likely virtual descendants will become disruptive technology. They will redefine the act of reading itself (and are, to a certain extent, doing so already), transforming it from a primarily personal (and private) experience to a wired, social networking event, where we are linked and streamed to death.

At the time I wrote that post, e-books were in there "primitive" stages, really nothing more than black text on a grayish-white screen. But literary agent Nathan Bransford recently pointed to a new development in virtual reading that is about to come out from distributor Baker & Taylor. It seems that the company is about to release a high-functioning, multi-platform e-reader, called Blio. According to The Idea Logical blog:

Blio is a software client that can work on “any device with an operating system”, which means computers and iPhones, but not Kindles. Based only on the demo we saw from Baker & Taylor Senior VP Linda Gagnon last week (of course I’d rather be reporting on something I saw on my own computer or iPhone), the presentation is the best I’ve ever seen. The type is crisp and sharp, it has full multiple-media functionality (video, graphics, TTV, links to the web), and it does tricks, my favorite of which is that you can see (on a PC screen) many pages at a time dealt out like a deck of cards. Then you find the ones you want and hone in on them. There are many ways to use that capability, particularly for an illustrated how-to book or a textbook.

The disruptive nature of e-readers and e-books continues apace. Don't get me wrong, I find the effects of e-books on publishing models and the act of reading to be fascinating, and the marketing part of my brain is buzzing with ideas for how to market products and monetize the virtual reading experience. And yet, I can't help but think that cracking open a physical book will soon become one of those quaint customs that you see on "classic" films and in historical re-enactments.

For sure, I will never give up the physical book. However, I literally grew up with books as my companions. The D-Generation, for whom multi-media platforms, streaming content, and social networking are a way of life, may not have the same attachment to printed thins. Is this a crisis of epic proportions? No. Is there something intrinsic to reading a physical book that makes it a more virtuous experience than reading virtually? No.

And still, I think I am living during a technological shift in culture, and I find myself more than a little ambivalent. I'll always have great physical books to curl up with. But how long will these books be around for future generations?

No, I don't think books will ever disappear completely. But the printing press brought a technological shift to culture that made learning, study, and the pursuit of knowledge more egalitarian. No longer did books need to be painstakingly copied and illuminated by master craftsmen. With the advent of e-reading, I can imagine a time when the cost of physically printing a book will be so high, that only the very rich or elite will possess their own personal libraries.

I am standing as a bridge between the digital and analog culture, and the view is a little unsettling. I think I'll disconnect from the web, unplug my computer, and go read a book for a while.

Moreover, Jesus is still as much as ever the fruit of Mary, as heaven and earth repeat thousands of times a day: "Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." It is therefore certain that Jesus is the fruit and gift of Mary for every single man who possesses him, just as truly as he is for all mankind. Consequently, if any of the faithful have Jesus formed in their heart they can boldly say, "It is thanks to Mary that what I possess is Jesus her fruit, and without her I would not have him." We can attribute more truly to her what Saint Paul said of himself, "I am in labour again with all the children of God until Jesus Christ, my Son, is formed in them to the fullness of his age." Saint Augustine, surpassing himself as well as all that I have said so far, affirms that in order to be conformed to the image of the Son of God all the predestinate, while in the world, are hidden in the womb of the Blessed Virgin where they are protected, nourished, cared for and developed by this good Mother, until the day she brings them forth to a life of glory after death, which the Church calls the birthday of the just.

                                                                                  St. Louis de Montfort

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

Kung Fu Monkey

Or, maybe, take a little break.

Today we are enjoying winter at its finest here in the Chicago suburbs--bitter cold with a biting wind that plunges temperatures somewhere in the -20 degree range. I'm home from work trying to keep mild sinus stuffiness from becoming a major infection (like it has threatened to do during the past few weeks). Of course, that game plan is somewhat threatened by the fact that Qila and Orion seem to have an instinctual need to be outside during this hoary day. I've taken them out at least 7 times since they woke up this morning, and each time they caper, cavort, prance, and toss their heads playfully into the snow as the frigid wind blows hard across the field.

I'm frozen.

Which reminds me of a video that I created a few years ago during a time when I was exploring the capabilities of Microsoft's movie applications. I've decided to repost it here. All of the photos in this video are of the area surrounding my townhome and come from Debbie's camera (she really is a phenomenal photographer). Enjoy!

Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most freindship if feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze thou bitter sky,
That does not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As a friend remembered not.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most freindship if feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.

I'm talking, of course, about Fringe, Fox's TV show about science, conspiracies, and just general wackiness. I started to watch this show in its debut season, but I think I may have been distracted by other things, as I didn't really think much of it after two episodes. Something pulled me back to it recently, however, and I rewatched the first four episodes of Season 1.

I'm hooked.

Not only do I enjoy a good conspiracy show mixed with a healthy dose of sci-fi, but I also really enjoy the interplay between the three main characters, FBI Agent Olivia Dunham, brilliant (and kooky) scientist Walter Bishop, and his son, Peter Bishop. These three are part of a larger group investigating a growing number of scientific anomalies which has been dubbed, The Pattern.

This show has just about every crackpot pseudo-scientific claim appearing in some form--from trans-dimensional travel to reading the thoughts of a corpse--with just the right amount of corporate and government menace thrown in. Many people compare it to the X-Files, and I think, in a certain sense, the comparison is fare. However, I see far more connections with another kooky conspiracy show--Millennium. Unlike the impenetrable and confused Lance Henriksen vehicle, Fringe keeps its audience mystification to a controlled pitch, offering just enough mystery to tickle the fancy of conspiracy buffs without drowning you in misdirections and plot twists that make it impossible to join in on the fun.

I'm now on Episode 7 and looking forward to the unveiling of more Pattern-related mischief. If you are a fan of sci-fi tv shows and haven't given Fringe a look-see, you really are missing out on something special. 

                                                                                                 Blessed Miguel Pro