Commemoration of Thomas Aquinas

Yeah, I know.  A day late and a thaler short.  But to make up for it, we have this link.

Whether St. Thomas is boring.

The Late Modern Age, which has substituted the locution "I feel that..." for "I think that..." undoubtedly finds the Dumb Ox boring.  Logic has that effect on the video-game mentality. 

Previously on the TOF Spot...

Random Thoughts on the White Room

One of the critiques often leveled at SF from the 50s and 40s is that it envisioned the future as the 40s and 50s on steroids.  But when we look back today at the 50s, we blink and say, "we're not like that any more," even those of us who were there (when our memories are not failing us).  There were things we took for granted -- little kids running around the neighborhood unsupervised; going out of the house without locking the doors, and so on -- that are unimaginable today for most people today, when play has become play-dates and helicopter parents supervise the child's downtime. 

And those are just minor changes of culture and setting.  I had the fortune as a management consultant to visit all parts of the country and a fair number of other countries, and so had the opportunity to view people who did not behave like the people on the TV shows. 

The Shipwrecks of Time -- Preview

Carole Harris, having left the convent, is being introduced to secular life by her new roommate, Vivian, in The Short Farewell of Sr. Mary Barbara

Headlines of the Week

Culled from the WSJ "Best of the Web"

Group Snags Trout.  Now That Would be News!

"Mike Trout snags 550-pound grouper at Key West"--headline, Yahoo! Sports, Jan. 15

Unclear on the Concept

"Traditional Wood Antiques Are Beginning to Get Old"--headline, Journal News (White Plains, N.Y.), Jan. 13

What is Wrong With This Metaphor?

"The Bears took a swing for the fences by choosing Marc Trestman to be the 14th head coach in team history, an NFL source told the Tribune early Wednesday."--Chicago Tribune website, Jan. 16

Thank Goodness for Arab Spring

"An earlier version of this article misstated the timing of some of Mr. Morsi's comments. The television interview in which he referred to Zionists as "these bloodsuckers who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs" was made in September of 2010, not early that year."
-- correction run in New York Times, Jan. 15

Contest: Imagine the Context

"Morsi Says His Slurs of Jews Were Taken Out of Context"--headline, New York Times, Jan. 17

Unclear on the Concept

"Obama Declares War on Violence"--headline, New York Post, Jan. 16

No Wonder She Turned Teacher

"Calif. Porn Actress-Turned Teacher Loses Appeal"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 15

News of the Oxymoronic

"Returning Zing to Dutch Cooking"--headline, New York Times, Jan. 16

A Long Time Ago...

 ...there was a bunch of kids who formed a club, called The Adventure Club!  There were seven of them, and they had their own proud flag.  The club was formed for the purpose of having adventures, the which Persistent Reader has already no doubt winkled out on his own.  

The flag of the Adventure Club.  Seven stripes for seven members.

Novel Excerpt

A new excerpt had been posted on The Other Page, namely, the introduction of Carole Harris in the WIP, THE SHIPWRECKS OF TIME, from Chapter 2: "The Short Farewell of Sister Mary Barbara."

     Sister Mary Barbara, SSM, paid the cabby and ran from the parking apron up the stairs to the Motherhouse, fearful that she would be late.  Behind her, the cab waited as agreed, a faint tick-tick-tick warning of engine problems soon to come.  He ought to have that looked at, Sr. Barbara thought irrelevantly.  Her rosary, dangling at her left side, flapped comically and she wondered what a sight she must present to the cabby.  Black habit, white wimple enclosing forehead, ears, neck – only her face peeked out, small and fine, almost a child’s face.  It was a legend among the children that the knotted cincture was used to whip the unruly into shape. 
     But she must not think of the children.  

Continues here

Talking Statistics

There is an amusing video posted on TOF's Auld Blogge here:
http://m-francis.livejournal.com/266310.html