Lucky

I'm trying to stir up some interest in that book review on the Council of Trent. The reviewer has some interesting observations upon which you might like to comment!

"As for Lucky's offer: thank you. I'll accept Zander in my bed. But, does that require a contract stating I won't go on a nutty adventure?" YES! I do like the last rule, though: The don't come if you are a wimp rule Sometimes people get the wrong idea and find themselves with slightly browned pants and a furious rage on when they discover the Rickshaw Run is not a Thompson beach holiday. This is boring for us to deal with, so do think about the reality of putting your life in danger and being smelly and uncomfortable for two weeks. Bliss for some, less so for others.

I really did think this might be of interest to someone here. The Council of Trent determined so much of what we were taught as young Catholics. Now we get to learn how that came about. There are those of us who think our Catholic education, while good in so many ways, was also an abuse of innocent young minds on such topics as sex. And yet these very guys weren't so innocent themselves. The reviewer writes: On the humbler clerical level, the council debated, and eventually tabled, the issue of whether priests should be allowed to marry. In many places, they already lived openly with a mistress or wife. But what about the popes? During the 16th century, forceful Italian aristocrats connived to be elected to the chair of Peter, made cardinals out of teenage nephews, and fathered children by concubines before and during their papacies. He prefaces the entire review with a very good question on the value of history today. Is he right? Please discuss! "History overflows with conflicts, treaties, personalities, religious and political ­controversies and all sorts of paradigm-shifting events that are, for many of us, just names. What happened at the Battle of Manzikert? Why do we care about the Edict of Nantes — and its Revocation? How does a Whig differ from a Tory? What is Pelagianism? Who was Michael Bakunin? Yes, we can now type in these names and Wikipedia will supply us with quick answers. Yet once, people worked hard to possess the past, to absorb the main currents and facts of history: Such knowledge provided a ground to understanding the present. No more. These days we don’t bother to remember that “old stuff,” i.e., everything that took place before our own birth: Our search engines will do that for us."

Totally Oz is without a doubt one of the most adventurous posters here, but we owe it to ourselves if not to him to save him from something so dangerous. Maybe we should take donations to get that guy Zander from the Phillipines over to stop Oz from any risky activity. Assuming that Zander himself is not dangerous!

The opening and several more shows of Barry Manilow at the St. James Theater have been postponed as the singer is ill. He apparently has a bad case of bronchitis and cannot sing. He was, however, able to attend a street-naming event wherein 44th Street, the home of the St. James, was named Barry Manilow Way. It is an honorary designation and will not affect mailing addresses. Manilow has tacked on the postponed shows to the end of the run. Hopes now are that the first show will be on Tuesday. New York has suffered a rash of flu and other illnesses, along with a bitter cold ever since Lucky left town earlier this month. Even gay former mayor Ed Koch was hospitalized. Manilow himself is a resident of Palm Springs, where temperatures have recently been rather balmy since Lucky returned to the area.

We don't know that anyone did hit him. It could just be his latest effort to extend his 15 minutes. Arguments would be made that if she did hit him, a man of his size could have easily defended himself. But, she is his wife, and he may not have wanted to take any action that would hurt her. Thus we await more information.

The National Enquirer is not a citation? But it's true that I did not read the Enquirer report, only a summary in the NY Post. Even serious subjects have their elements of humor, Bud. And to date the assault on Levi is not substantiated.

Now, I guess thanks to Google, my web pages have ads for this novel. Or is the devil behind it? I can tell you one thing, Nick Tosches is a fierce writer, and this novel is something to be savored rather than gulped down. (That explains why I have only read 20 pages so far!)

The book itself may not interest you, but the book review does such a good job of summarizing what sounds like an interesting book that I recommend it to all who have any interest in religious history. It's a book by a Jesuit historian on the Council of Trent, which established back in the 1500's much of the doctrine I was taught in Catholic school. Many of the things we think came from Christ were actually political decisions made at this council of warring interests. Rather than a group of holy men accepting wisdom from God, these guys were interested much more in their finances and girlfriends. It's an interesting read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/trent-what-happened-at-the-council-by-john-w-omalley/2013/01/23/85f29658-618f-11e2-a389-ee565c81c565_story.html?hpid=z11

Hey, he's the victim here.

Speak for yourself!

I would support a forum for art movies that are not gay related.

Reports are that internet sensation and male celebrity hunk Levi Johnston, formerly Mr. Bristol Palin, has been assaulted by his new wife, who thinks that Levi does not hold her beauty in the esteem to which she thinks he should. Johnston's attorney says that Levi's wife beat him "mercilessly" recently. The story recently appeared in the esteemed newspaper The National Enquirer, but the lawyer insists that neither he nor Johnston spoke to the Enquirer. Other sources must be talking. Should there be any damage to Levi's genitals, a lawsuit in the trillions of dollars could be filed.

Ruth Rendell, for one. She has written so many books, and has already been "outed" as Barbara Vine, so why bother? Even her latest says Ruth Rendel, writing as Barbara Vine. In the beginning she may have wanted to write in a different style that would not confuse her readers, so she adopted a pseudonym, but now there seems to be no reason for it. s/ Lucky, writing as FiveAces

As much as I have read about this case, I had not seen that story? So much is being said after the fact. Even when the MIT president was explaining his shock and sadness at the suicide he didn't make that point. The university’s president, L. Rafael Reif, said last week, “It pains me to think that M.I.T. played any role in a series of events that have ended in tragedy.” I have since tried to verify your claim, and I cannot. Finding activity from China is not unusual. But it doesn't mean that they are behind the theft. In fact, the Chinese activity found here was brief- not enough to finger them as the culprits.

Someone must have told the NY Times about this thread, because today they covered the topic themselves: http://travel.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/travel/how-to-get-a-seat-out-of-your-award-miles.html?hpw

LOL! Yes, much more of Clark's today look.

At least she will be acting. Barry Manilow is going to Broadway too, but for concerts, not theater.

It is a very intriguing picture. Not so sure if it is warm and inviting or cold and threatening, but I tend to go with cold and threatening. Are those trees dead or dying?

Or are they hard up for visitors?

My library hold came up today for the novel Me and The Devil, by Nick Tosches. Read these blurbs and tell me if they interest you as much as they do me: Review Me and the Devil "This is the best, from one of the best writers around. Nick Tosches knows the devil as well as any man has."--Keith Richards "Words and wisdom that I shall carry with me into the fucking dirt."--Johnny Depp "If there was ever any doubt that Nick Tosches is the Dark Prince of literary fiction, Me and the Devil should settle the matter. The single, most brain-searingly dangerous man of letters. Read him at your peril."--Anthony Bourdain "A dark narrative that cleverly blurs the lines between reality and fantasy....Tosches takes readers on an unpredictable journey through disturbing and erotic desires ....excellent."--Booklist "By turns profane, obscene, perhaps even blasphemous, Tosches's fictional account of 'the most diabolically fucked-up year of my life' is like a cross between William S. Burroughs and J.K. Huysmans."--Ron Hogan, Shelf Awareness Pro "Tosches has created an erotic asphalt odyssey that takes him on a subcutaneous awakening, drifting through a world of hallucinations, dark secrets and dangerous desires."--Peter Wolf "During his long career, Toshces has earned a reputation as a writer who doesn't mess around....Me and the Devil is Tosches touching his outer limits. It's a compulsively readable tale of sadomasochistic obsession and Faustian misbehavior: a meta-rumination on aging, sex, and the nature of art."--Tony O'Neill, BlackBook "Another chapter in Tosches's unflinchingly perverse literary output."--The New Yorker

It would be nice to see the Arts forum thrive, but even at the other site there were three days with nothing posted, and that forum has been around for a while. (PS: I note that I have posted a lot tonight. Sorry about that, but I guess I am looking for something to do because my novel is not holding my interest.)

I would hate to think that anyone would be offended if a post ended up in a forum where it might not fit best. That would be taking things a bit far. What I welcome is the information in the post. For me, the Arts forum should be about art, but the definition varies as we well know. So as long as the post shows a general respect for the intent of the forum, I would prefer to see it posted rather than not.

MsGuy, do you really live in a mobile home? Here's mine:

Kevin Zegers was so cute in that movie. All across America gay guys were drooling. And it was a good movie, too!