The Ability to Break Hearts

"Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron. Here is a book which will break your heart."

Commenting on Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis said the above.

It does. Aragorn, Frodo, Sam, Faramir, the two princeling hobbit in their return to the shire and how they have grown. The numerous times that hope seems lost and on the brink , some good news comes. The Lord of the Rings, breaks my heart. In a very happy way. If theatre and poetry and prose is to help us to train our emotions, then Tolkien is a supercoach. Drink of his riches.

Lewis spoke these words after reading The Two Towers.

Ankle Sprain - Ouch

sorefoot

Here is my ankle, 3 days after injuring it by twisting it in a hole at touch football. Ouch. The doctor suspects it is just ligament damage - perhaps out for 3 weeks. Hope it's not longer than that.

Anyway, it means that I miss my touch team's grand final this Thursday!

Heal foot, heal.

Not painful, and I can hobble around the house without crutches.

About me - Archived Sun 17th Aug 2008

Sometimes I like thinking 'bout the middle ages and chivalry and other times I think it's strange that George III thought it too opulent to have carpet in his bedroom. Eh? I know a man who laughs because the grass is green and the sky is blue, the water wet and the good God good. I long to be that man. Currently I am occasionally fixated by the works and lives of Chesterton, St Thomas Aquinas and Our Lady and trying a little harder to live the seven virtues, to wit, Faith, Hope, Charity, Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice. Still thinking that "Something ere the end may yet be done not unbecoming men that strove with gods... and though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are, one equal temper of heroic hearts made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." --Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Ulysses"

Cheap Simple Phone

Can you get a cheap phone? Pay as you go from the carphone warehouse £30 with £10 credit for the Sony Ericssson T250i. Not too much special functionality, but it looks great and it works.

 

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Da Vinci Code Publisher Kills “anti-Muslim” Book

 

August 8th, 2008 by Catholic League ·Print ·ShareThis

According to an article in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, Random House has reneged on an agreement to publish a novel about Aisha, Muhammad’s young wife. The Jewel of Medina, written by Sherry Jones, allegedly has some racy material, enough to provoke one of the writers who vetted the book, Denise Spellberg, to warn the publisher that it could inspire violence. Random House decided not to publish the book for “fear of a possible terrorist threat from extremist Muslims” and concern for “the safety and security of the Random House building and employees.”

Addressing this today is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:

“There are several issues here. First, where is the outcry from the academic community about the scare tactics of Denise Spellberg, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin? She was the one who sounded the alarms and even got her lawyer to warn Random House that her name was not to be associated with her demagoguery. Second, it is known that the woman whom Jones is writing about, Aisha, was, in fact, six years old when Muhammad wrote the marriage contract; she was nine when the marriage was consummated. So now no one can write a historical novel about his perversions? Third, Doubleday published Dan Brown’s anti-Catholic novel, The Da Vinci Code, and Doubleday is owned by Random House. So what does it take for Random House not to offend religious sensibilities? Threats of violence? Great message.

“The Catholic League will continue to speak out against anti-Catholic books, movies, artwork, music, plays and the like, and we will continue to do so by exercising our First Amendment right to freedom of speech. And we will continue to blast all those phony ‘free speech’ advocates who remain silent about matters like this. Next time they accuse us of censorship for merely voicing our objections about anti-Catholicism, we will be sure to throw this one in their face.”

[via Catholic Exchange]

The future of Housing - Dome houses

AKA Build your own hobbit house!

08 Aug 2008

Styrofoam dome house --
Styrofoam dome houses at Aso Farm Land (Photo by: Erika Snyder)

 

Styrofoam dome house --

 

Styrofoam dome house --
Dome House interior

[Via PinkTentacle]

My ride from Tooting Broadway to Canary Wharf

Time stops for no man

I have come to the end of my working visa, so I can still travel, but will have no money. What to do? I plan to go back to Australia to get my Tier 1 visa ( new name for Highly Skilled ). I will to do this asap that I get back. On the way home, I will

- Cycle round london

- Drive round England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland

- Drive round France, Spain

- Fly and tour Egypt and America maybe.

Top 5 Websites I use

http://lifehacker.com/

bloglines.com

facebook.com

London is about Pubs - The frog and Forget me not

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Lovely little pub that I visited near Clapham Common the other day with Jen and Luke.