The Viking's posting of "Black and Tan" reminded me of this song... the very definition of sarcasm! I love it... Lyrics below the video.
Oh, I'll tell you a tale of peace and love
Whack fol the diddle o the die do day
Of a land that rules all lands above
Whack fol the diddle o the die do day
May peace and plenty be her share
Who kept our homes from want and care
Oh, God bless England is our prayer
Whack fol the diddle o the die do day
Chorus:
Whack fol the diddle o the die do day
So we say 'hip hooray'
Come and listen while we pray (1st chorus only)
Whack fol the diddle o the die do day
Now our fathers oft were naughty boys
For pikes and guns are dangerous toys
At Ballinahabwee and at Peter's Hill
We made poor England cry her fill
But old Brittania loves us still
God bless England so we pray (remaining choruses)
Now, when we were savage, fierce and wild
She came as a mother to her child
She gently raised us from the slime
And kept our hands from hellish crime
And she sent us to heaven in our own good time
Well, now Irish men forget the past
And think of the day that's coming fast
When we shall all be civilized
Neat and clean and well advised
Oh, won't mother England be surprised?
I hopped upon my Vespa today to drive down to a local music school where I was going to interview the lady who runs it, who offered me a place as a piano teacher. It was slightly rainy, and the ground wet. I kept to the speed limits carefully, usually below them, in fact; but as I hummed along, I suddenly hit a slick spot and found myself spinning across the lanes....
By God's grace I didn't hit anyone, or vice versa, and when I disentangled my cloak from the Vespa and picked us both up with the help of the two kind ladies behind me, I discovered I had escaped with two scraped knees, a bruised thumb and a bad shaking. The poor Vespa fared worse, with a badly scratched right side and the handlebar bent to the right, so when I remounted I had to hold the handlebar sideways to keep the front wheel straight. But I made it to the music school, albeit somewhat late, as it's not very well marked and I passed the building three times before finding it with the help of a kind lady (who happens to send her children there, though I didn't find that out till later.)
The directress was very kind about my lateness and my student's mother insisted on my resting and not teaching that day, so I played a piece for little Dylan (who, though hopping up and down with excitement, professed himself willing to wait a long time -- "I can wait three months!"-- for his lesson,) and then gathered my things and climbed into the car of a Webster alum who teaches guitar there and was kind enough to drive me back to the University. The Vespa was parked inside the real-estate office downstairs, whose kind secretary let me keep it there until I can go get it tomorrow.
The long and the short of this is that I owe St. Raphael and my guardian angel a big BIG BIIIIG BIIIIIIIIIIG thank you for keeping me from worse harm and letting everything come out pretty well. I have little doubt I owe it to the prayer taught me by a dear friend, which I pass on to all of you.
Sanctus Ioseph cum Maria,
Sanctus Raphael cum Tobia,
Sanctus Michael cum caeleste herarchia,
Sint nobiscum in via.
Which I translated, with some little freedom, as:
Holy Joseph and his Bride,
Raphael at Tobias' side,
St. Michael and armies heavenly,
On my journey be with me.
Say it. It works. Believe me.
I was born on a Dublin street
Where the royal drums did beat
And the loving English feet walked all over us,
And every single night
When me father'd come home tight
He'd invite the neighbors outside with this chorus:
Oh, come out you black and tans,
Come tell us how you slew
Them ol' Arabs two by two
Chorus
Come let us hear you tell
Chorus
The day is coming fast
And the time is here at last,
When each shoneen will be cast aside before us,
And if there be a need
Sure my kids will sing, "Godspeed!"
With a bar or two of Stephen Behan's chorus.
Hi here are some pictures of my pictures of the ball( actually there the Haughts pics I just took them)
Here I am with Emma, and on the left is Chad (Ladner) and THATgirl
From the left: Chad, Maryanna, Thomas, Emma Haught
Here I am with Emma just before the first waltz, Don't ask about the hand gesture I don't get it either........
see the waltz starts right after the grand march, but I forgot to put my dance shoes on, so I had to go to the side and put them on; at which point Mrs. Haught (Emmas mother) got a picture of us.
Heres me again, actually waltzing. hopefully you won't notice how bad I look. and if thats enough of burning the eyes out of your sockets with my pictures of me. here are some of some pretty people.......... I mean the next ones
This is one of our protestant friends Nathan, and the back of the head is a trad Micheal smith
From the left: Nathan Harris, Micheal
Smith
There's my Cute little brother in the front dancing with the instructor a Mrs. Blackhall-Peters
And here's our beautiful friend, Ali Sentmanat
Here is some of us in our kilts, don't ask about the leg thing I don't get it either, I didn't realize they actually got a picture of that.
Here I would like to end My parade of pictures the same way we ended the ball with a few rounds of what do you do with a drunken sailor, and The mermaid.
See kilts are awesome. And maybe if y'all are in town in may we can all go to the highland games together. ( or November for the Armond Bayou fall festival)
there are about 80 more picture of the ball that other people have but I can't post them all.
and while were talking about scottish stuff I'll close with a Poem I like( though didn't write)
in Gaelic accents deep,
When Jubal in his Oxtar
Squeezed the Blether of a sheep.
Apropos to the recent conversations, here we have some men in skirts from a dance Thomas, I, and many other trads attended on Saturday.
They are very serious about their kilts, especially the young ones.
After enjoying all those deep posts on modesty, though not necessarily because of them, I came up with a sonnet to Our Lady under one of the many wonderful invocations of the Litany of Loretto, which seems apt for the pianists because we play on it all the time.
Turris Eburnea
Thy glory is too great for pen to write,
Thy heart too high for mortal speech to say;
Thy grace too grand, thy soul too shining white
For us to praise, who are too poor to pray.
Our voices dare not sing to thee, whose song
Was the Magnificat; O how can we,
Without a fear of offering some wrong
To such a singer, sing thee worthily?
Nay, wordless is our prayer; on gleaming keys
Of that material made more noble by
The name thou'rt given in the prophecies,
We let our hands, to give thee honor, fly,
And name thee Lady of our minstrelsy,
Queen of our keyboards, Tower of Ivory.
Oct. 19, 2009
Question 168. Modesty as consisting in the outward movements of the body
Article 1. Whether any virtue regards the outward movements of the body?
Objection 1. It would seem that no virtue regards the outward movements of the body. For every virtue pertains to the spiritual beauty of the soul, according to Psalm 44:14, "All the glory of the king's daughter is within," and a gloss adds, "namely, in the conscience." Now the movements of the body are not within, but without. Therefore there can be no virtue about them.
Objection 2. Further, "Virtues are not in us by nature," as the Philosopher states (Ethic. ii, 1). But outward bodily movements are in man by nature, since it is by nature that some are quick, and some slow of movement, and the same applies to other differences of outward movements. Therefore there is no virtue about movements of this kind.
Objection 3. Further, every moral virtue is either about actions directed to another person, as justice, or about passions, as temperance and fortitude. Now outward bodily movements are not directed to another person, nor are they passions. Therefore no virtue is connected with them.
Objection 4. Further, study should be applied to all works of virtue, as stated above (166, 1, Objection 1; 2, ad 1). Now it is censurable to apply study to the ordering of one's outward movements: for Ambrose says (De Offic. i, 18): "A becoming gait is one that reflects the carriage of authority, has the tread of gravity, and the foot-print of tranquillity: yet so that there be neither study nor affectation, but natural and artless movement." Therefore seemingly there is no virtue about the style of outward movements.
On the contrary, The beauty of honesty [Cf. 145, 1] pertains to virtue. Now the style of outward movements pertains to the beauty of honesty. For Ambrose says (De Offic. i, 18): "The sound of the voice and the gesture of the body are distasteful to me, whether they be unduly soft and nerveless, or coarse and boorish. Let nature be our model; her reflection is gracefulness of conduct and beauty of honesty." Therefore there is a virtue about the style of outward movement.
I answer that, Moral virtue consists in the things pertaining to man being directed by his reason. Now it is manifest that the outward movements of man are dirigible by reason, since the outward members are set in motion at the command of reason. Hence it is evident that there is a moral virtue concerned with the direction of these movements.
Now the direction of these movements may be considered from a twofold standpoint. First, in respect of fittingness to the person; secondly, in respect of fittingness to externals, whether persons, business, or place. Hence Ambrose says (De Offic. i, 18): "Beauty of conduct consists in becoming behavior towards others, according to their sex and person," and this regards the first. As to the second, he adds: "This is the best way to order our behavior, this is the polish becoming to every action."
Hence Andronicus [De Affectibus] ascribes two things to these outward movements: namely "taste" [ornatus] which regards what is becoming to the person, wherefore he says that it is the knowledge of what is becoming in movement and behavior; and "methodicalness" [bona ordinatio] which regards what is becoming to the business in hand, and to one's surroundings, wherefore he calls it "the practical knowledge of separation," i.e. of the distinction of "acts."
Reply to Objection 1. Outward movements are signs of the inward disposition, according to Sirach 19:27, "The attire of the body, and the laughter of the teeth, and the gait of the man, show what he is"; and Ambrose says (De Offic. i, 18) that "the habit of mind is seen in the gesture of the body," and that "the body's movement is an index of the soul."
Reply to Objection 2. Although it is from natural disposition that a man is inclined to this or that style of outward movement, nevertheless what is lacking to nature can be supplied by the efforts of reason. Hence Ambrose says (De Offic. i, 18): "Let nature guide the movement: and if nature fail in any respect, surely effort will supply the defect."
Reply to Objection 3. As stated (ad 1) outward movements are indications of the inward disposition, and this regards chiefly the passions of the soul. Wherefore Ambrose says (De Offic. i, 18) that "from these things," i.e. the outward movements, "the man that lies hidden in our hearts is esteemed to be either frivolous, or boastful, or impure, or on the other hand sedate, steady, pure, and free from blemish." It is moreover from our outward movements that other men form their judgment about us, according to Sirach 19:26, "A man is known by his look, and a wise man, when thou meetest him, is known by his countenance." Hence moderation of outward movements is directed somewhat to other persons, according to the saying of Augustine in his Rule (Ep. ccxi), "In all your movements, let nothing be done to offend the eye of another, but only that which is becoming to the holiness of your state." Wherefore the moderation of outward movements may be reduced to two virtues, which the Philosopher mentions in Ethic. iv, 6,7. For, in so far as by outward movements we are directed to other persons, the moderation of our outward movements belongs to "friendliness or affability" [Cf. 114, 1]. This regards pleasure or pain which may arise from words or deeds in reference to others with whom a man comes in contact. And, in so far as outward movements are signs of our inward disposition, their moderation belongs to the virtue of truthfulness [Cf. 9], whereby a man, by word and deed, shows himself to be such as he is inwardly.
Reply to Objection 4. It is censurable to study the style of one's outward movements, by having recourse to pretense in them, so that they do not agree with one's inward disposition. Nevertheless it behooves one to study them, so that if they be in any way inordinate, this may be corrected. Hence Ambrose says (De Offic. i, 18): "Let them be without artifice, but not without correction."
Every time a woman puts on a skirt or trousers, she recognizes within herself, consciously or unconsciously, the difference to her psyche between the two. It is women who tell me that. It stands to reason."
Fashion History
Throughout much of Western history, women's clothing has been very different from men's clothing, and society has made strict rules requiring individuals to dress according to their gender. For the most part these rules have defined trousers as men's clothing. For centuries society's disapproval prevented most women from wearing pants. Though in some Eastern cultures, such as those in China or Malaysia, both women and men have long dressed in trousers, most European cultures have only very recently permitted women to wear them. The trend began during the early 1900s, became more widespread during the 1920s and 1930s, and continued to grow, until by the late 1990s a majority of women regularly wore pants, not only for casual wear but also to work.
It was Eastern culture that inspired French designer Paul Poiret (1879–1944) to become one of the first to design pants for women. In 1913 Poiret created loose-fitting, wide-leg trousers for women called harem pants, which were based on the costumes of the popular opera Sheherazade. (Written by Nikola Rimsky-Korsakov [1844–1908] in 1888, Sheherazade was based on a famous collection of legends from the Middle East called 1001 Arabian Nights.)
Trousers have always been the preferred dress of women who had to do physical work. The arrival of World War I (1914–18) gave many women jobs as men went to join the military. Though women who worked with the public still wore skirts, many women wore trousers and overalls to work in factories. After the war ended women were reluctant to give up the freedom of movement their pants had given them. Another French designer, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883–1971), loved wearing pants herself, often dressing in her boyfriend's suits, and she began designing pants for women to wear while doing sports and other activities. Chanel designed horseback riding trousers for women, who had previously ridden sidesaddle in heavy skirts.
During the 1930s pants continued to be stylish, although they were still shocking to many. Audiences were both fascinated and horrified by glamorous actresses of the time, such as Marlene Dietrich (c. 1901–1992) and Katharine Hepburn (1909–2003), who wore trousers regularly. Though some designers created tailored slack suits for women, wearing pants was still not widely accepted. Some conservatives considered women in pants unnatural and masculine. However, by 1939 Vogue, the respected fashion magazine, pictured women in trousers for the first time, and many women wore pants for playing golf or tennis and riding or bicycling.
The 1940s placed more women in wartime jobs as World War II (1939–45) began, and trousers once again got a boost in popularity.
Although the very feminine look of the postwar 1950s discouraged many women from wearing pants, by the 1960s and 1970s extremely casual clothes were the fashion. By the late 1960s pants on women became completely accepted, first for casual wear and finally for the workplace. Fashion leaders such as Yves St. Laurent (1936–) designed dressy pantsuits. By the late 1990s two-thirds of women in the United States wore pants to work several times a week.Codified Common Sense
II,IIae Q43, 1 Whether scandal is fittingly defined as being something less rightly said or done that occasions spiritual downfall?
I answer that, As Jerome observes the Greek skandalon may be rendered offense, downfall, or a stumbling against something. For when a body, while moving along a path, meets with an obstacle, it may happen to stumble against it, and be disposed to fall down: such an obstacle is a skandalon.
In like manner, while going along the spiritual way, a man may be disposed to a spiritual downfall by another's word or deed, in so far, to wit, as one man by his injunction, inducement or example, moves another to sin; and this is scandal properly so called.
Now nothing by its very nature disposes a man to spiritual downfall, except that which has some lack of rectitude, since what is perfectly right, secures man against a fall, instead of conducing to his downfall. Scandal is, therefore, fittingly defined as "something less rightly done or said that occasions another's spiritual downfall."
I believe that all the readers of this blog are of such age that the words below are fitting...if not, then leave now!!!!!!!