The Swiss Guard......

Scanning around some other blogs and news sites has brought to my attention the tradition of the Swiss Guard. Ive had mixed feelings about them for some time. I greatly admire the tradition, honor, and high vocation to which they are called.............However, as I watched the funeral of Pope John Paul II the Great, I was aghast at the honor guard. Im sure that anyone with any military background saw the same things I did......poor drill and ceremony with continuous out of step marching. I hate to be a stickler, but I think the sloppiness was evident to anybody who has been through any sort of regimented military training........as I result, I get to my point.
Some of my musings about on here are about Martial Arts. I currently do some private grappling training with some different local police officers. These are guys who are looking to learn defenses against chokes and locks applied by a skilled person. Ive got officers from 3 different departments that Im working with. Could almost incorporate as a side business, and I should, just so...............I can drop a cover letter and proposal to whoever is the Swiss Guards training officer. I would love to get one of those Euro-sissies on the mat and have him crying "*sniff sniff*mamma mia!" That slovenly display of basic D&C in front of the whole world put these guys on my list. That being said, it is because of the tradition, the honor, and the heroism of the past that Im on their case. If this doesnt draw a comment, I think I must only be writing to myself.

My favorite present this Christmas was......

The Phantom of the Opera DVD......Wow, this is what movies should be like. Powerful voices, terrific costumes and sets. Im sure Im opening myself up to debate when I say that if St. Augustine were to write a musical, this would be it. The Phantom is a creature of genius and great power, only to be shown to truly be a tragic, broken, and rather pathetic figure. Phantom is very Augustinian in its portrayal of evil. New Years resolution is to see if GK Chesterton ever wrote anything about the Phantom of the Opera, at least to level that the different versions of it existed in his time.

Marcus Grodi

The popular EWTN host was just in my home parish. We have a lecture series entitled, "The Call to Be Catholic"(Im on the cmte), and we try to reach out and find individuals of calibre and notoriety to come as guest speakers......2 things about Marcus: He is a far bigger fellow than you would think from seeing him on TV, and he is also a very endearing man in person. His speaking style is very compassionate, and he comes across as a man of deep love and true spirituality.

Wow Time Flies

Ive really been neglecting this blog. I apologize to anybody who stumbles across here by accident. So much going on in the world that I would like to place some thoughts on.

My biggest Pet Peeve......

Religion is the cause of all wars!! This seems to be an underlying assumption of radical secularists and a cornerstone of "enlightenment" thinking. Chesterton dealt well with this using his line "We must not fight on holy ground" as being the most likely peacekeeper among primordial man........as a greatly shorten to paraphrase.

If this were true, how would one explain the Hundred Years War? France vs. Britain while both were still Catholic. Has anybody ever watched Lawrence of Arabia? That was a Moslem vs. Moslem conflict. What about the US Civil War? Simple math would show that Stalin and Mao have spilled more blood for irreligion than probably all "religious wars" put together. Rational thinking would tell us that data judges theories, theories dont judge data. The data does not support this......it was thinking about this that really got me to see the dogma behind the "high priests" of the left........

Ive meant to start this blog for quite some time. I consider myself a Renaissance man with a Baroquen heart. I am a veteran, a PSYOP NCO. I have served in former Yugoslavia and Iraq. I love literature : fan of G. K. Chesterton, Hillaire Belloc, as well as Tom Clancy and James Clavell.

Art is something that I appreciate to a high level......Gustav Dore, Albrecht Durer, and the Pre-Raphaelites catch my fancy, although I understand what the impressionists and others were trying to achieve. I also must mention my affinity for Icons and their related spirituality.

I love Martial Arts - East and West........Hsing-I/Tai Chi/Bagua from China as well as western boxing, submission grappling, and the classical texts of the European fencing masters - Agrippa, Fabris, Capo Ferro, and many genius' whom I cant mention here

I have to do something for a living........I work helping families plan their financial future...Insurance, IRA's, ROTH's, College saving plans, estate planning.

I am thoroughly Catholic.....would be labeled as conservative or orthodox, but I would note that Catholic means 'universal'......the universal Church that is the only thing large enough to hold together a St. Francis, a St. Dominic, a Matteo Ricci, a Bartolomeo de las Casas, a John Paul II the Great, and a JRR Tolkien.

Welcome to the ride!!!