The Quick-Hitting Eudemon
Stay on the sidewalk: A car driven by a hi-tech ghost of laser sensors and computers went on exhibit in London Wednesday, before it competes against other robot cars in the United States in November. I hope this robot driving technology gets developed further. I just hope they don't make any female robots.
Hand me that bag of peanut butter M&Ms: Certain types of chocolate might lower high blood pressure.
Everyone presumably knows that all charges have been dropped against the Duke lacrosse players and the whole thing was painted with fraud, political correctness, and stupidity (the three often overlapping and often not distinguishable--in this case and life generally). Drudge has linked to Jesse Jackson's analysis of the situation back in August 2006. Funny--and fraudulent, p.c., and stupid--stuff. One of the best Jacksonian observations:
The team was notorious for its gross behavior. 15 of the 47 players had been previously charged with misdemeanors ranging from underage drinking to public urination.
Underage drinking and public urination! I didn't realize Durham was racked with such violent crime. And so perverse! Who in the world urinates outside, and what kind of self-respecting 20-year-old man quaffs a few beers before being shipped out to Iraq?
"Sweating Man with Quivering Legs Finally Says 'Screw It!'": Two planes were delayed in the air over Manchester-Boston Regional Airport last Friday when the only certified air traffic controller in the tower had to go to the bathroom.
In response to my request, a reader sends along this page of podcast: Ancient Faith Radio. Looks pretty good.
If you haven't seen it yet, Catholic Exchange has started a new program: Champions of Faith. Baseball players testify to their Catholic faith. The Detroit Tigers have (I believe) the most participants: Sean Casey, Pudge Rodriguez, and Jim Leyland.
Monks in France get reputation for great Gregorian chant. Now, the ugly American (and ugly Germans and Japanese and every other-etiquette challenged breed outside Henry James' England) wants a piece of the experience, but they're being turned away. How long until the EU declares it a human right to participate with contemplative monks while they sing Gregorian chant? Excerpt:
Tourists are restricted to the back of the church, he said, shaking his white hair in mock exasperation. “I tell them: 'You can visit at the offices. You can admire the sculptures in the church.' But the monks say, 'We're not here to receive tourists; we're contemplatives.' ”
The monks, 55 of them, inhabit the monastery that hovers over the village like some great granite mother hen over her chicks. But in recent times the monks have gained a measure of fame for their dedication to Gregorian chant, the simple vocal music whose cadences, in Latin, for centuries adorned the Roman Catholic liturgy.
Now, a constant stream of visitors comes to Solesmes to sit in the monastery church and listen while the monks sing the psalms and prayers, seven times a day, of the sacred liturgy.
“They want their calm,” Mr. Server, 65, a retired schoolteacher, said of the monks. “And after all, the monastery was there before us.”
