Phoebe Kate

We acknowledge it to be a dying breed, but as a society we have done little or nothing to preserve it for future generations.  Ergo, in the noble company of bighorn sheep, Asian elephants, humpback and blue whales, jaguars, gray wolves, pumas, ocelots, giraffes and giant anteaters, Sesquipedalian Homo sapiens join the ranks of the imminently extinct.

Though the estimated number remaining in the United States is difficult to ascertain, it is obviously insufficient to replenish the dwindling population and prevent the species from dying out in the next couple of generations.  Researchers hypothesize that lack of public interest in erudition, the epidemic level of cultural ennui and a rampant national obsession with the nugacious and the salacious are the causes for Sesquipedalian Homo sapiens coming to the brink of extinction.      

However, some perspicacious observers postulate that, lacking of any evidence to the contrary, the species may have already become extinct with the demise earlier this year of William F. Buckley, Jr.     

–phoebe kate

I’m afraid there’s bad news about the Brazilian priest who floated off into the sky attached to giant helium party balloons on April 20. The purpose of this stunt was to raise money for a worthy cause.  Although the veteran of several such flights for similar fund-raising endeavors, this trip didn’t turn out so well.  His body was found yesterday by tugboat workers in the ocean, after having been missing over 3 months.

Well, back in April when I read about the stunt, I found it bizarrely humorous and of course blogged about it.  It was “The Flying Nun” and Danny Deckchair rolled up into one and re-packaged for the real world (and if you haven’t seen the film, you owe it to yourself to do so immediately) and about as crazy as it gets.  Does art imitate life or life imitate art?  You tell me.

Anyway, I am sorry that the good padre’s trip for good causes ended tragically.  It is obvious that Rev. deCarli had a lot of spunk, a sense of humor and a heart for humanity.  Godspeed, Flying Father, and an eternity of happy sailing in the peaceful skies of the Great Beyond.

–phoebe kate     

Magic realism, a 20th century movement in visual art, is a broad term encompassing quite a range of work.  Sometimes, elements of the fantastical, magical or miraculous are incorporated into a mundane or unexpected setting.  An intriguing variation of this style features extremely realistic paintings of innocuous subjects that appear “normal” at first but become stranger and more disturbing the longer you look at it.  You can enjoy some outstanding examples at http://www.tendreams.org/ammagic.htm.  Click on each work to see it full-screen.

As you study them, the works take on a nightmarish, almost surrealistic quality that in some cases is quite inexplicable.  Why is that person’s face so frightening?  What’s wrong with that room?  What makes that plant so sinister or that ballerina seem like an apparition from the pit of hell?  Why is that light, bright, HGTV designer-perfect stairway and hall a place you’d never want to find yourself?  How can a kid’s face looking out a window at birds cause you to want to scream or cry or turn away and forget you ever saw it?

What one sees in these works is as unique as the individual viewing them.  You may not see what I see or feel what I feel, but that’s what great art is all about.  It is transcendent, universal, mysterious, ineffable, highly personal and sacred.   

–phoebe kate

How people worship and what they believe is a ceaselessly fascinating subject for me.  Here is a sampling for your spiritual reading du jour:

ST. JOSEPH WILL SELL YOUR HOUSE

In these tough financial times when the real estate market is going to hell and taking homeowners with it, there is a solution.  I first heard about it a few years ago when I was trying to unload an historic (read: old and falling apart but ineffably charming) mini-mansion in upstate New York.  After several months had elapsed with no takers, my realtor looked me dead in the eye and said with a straight face, “Bury a statue of Saint Joseph upside down in your front yard by the For Sale sign.  Your house will sell in a month.  Guaranteed.”  (I assure you this conversation did not occur after a three-martini lunch with the realtor in which we mutually tried to drown our house-selling sorrows.) 

Well, I didn’t do it — too weird even for me, a connoisseur of The Strange — and the house eventually sold for the price we wanted.  In today’s rocky economic times, however, the practice of interring of St. Joseph has really caught on, for believers and non-believers alike — so much so, in fact, that it was recently reported on national news.   

DEVOUT JAPANESE DANGLE

In Western Japan, Japanese believers in a certain sect of Buddhism hang off of cliffs as part of austerity training in their particular flavor of faith.  The individual is dangled over an abyss on a rope held by a couple of other initiates until he reaches a state of enlightenment.

Hmmm, it seems to me this practice is more likely to test one’s faith in fellow initiates than in a Supreme Being…

CLOWNS PRAY

Every year, clowns parade through the streets of Mexico City to pray at the Basilica of Guadalupe – a colorful event, to be sure.  I don’t know how you feel about clowns, but there’s a lot of us out there who think they’re scary and awful.  Call me a Doubting Thomas, but all the praying in the world isn’t going to make this bunch seem less sinister.  Just the photos of the event made me nervous. 

THE POPE WEARS PRADA

Okay, now this really has gone too far.  Photos confirm that it’s red Prada loafers under Benedict XVI’s cassock as he schleps around the Vatican and tours the world in his private jet and cruises around cities in his ultra-cool Pope-mobile.  So what’s next?  Will the Pontiff be shopping for designer shoes with Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha in the sequel to the Sex and the City hit movie?  Oh, dear.  This does shake my faith.  The Gospel of Gucci is the version of scripture that everybody seems to live by these days. 

STOCK MARKET MASS

A Roman Catholic priest offered Mass at the Philippine Stock Exchange recently.  His altar was set up in front of the big electronic trading board where worshipers could watch the rise and fall of the market while they prayed.

No comment.  We know what god rules this world, don’t we?

–phoebe kate

Got up this morning and discovered that the Whirlwind of Weird has blown across our land whilst I slept and stirred up all manner of curious things. 

LAWN BOY DIES IN FATAL SHOOTING  

In a fit of rage, Milwaukee WI man pulled a gun on his mower and shot it because it wouldn’t work.  Several charges have been brought against him by police, including “disorderly conduct while armed.”  Is it disorderly conduct to shoot a machine?  As the perpetrator said in a statement to police, “It’s my lawn mower and my yard and I can shoot it if I wish.”  Hmm, whilst I slept, appliances have apparently gained some clout in this world.  I suppose they’ve wearied of being second class citizens.  If animals and forests and historic buildings have rights, why not them?

I warned you the other day that your appliances are plotting against you.  I now tell you that if you try to take action against them, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

VIRGIN MARY IN A DRAIN

 A plumber in Salinas CA discovered the image of the Mother of God in the rust surrounding a restaurant’s floor drain.  The Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey has not commented on the appearance.  As of this evening, Mary is doing well – until the restaurant owner gets a bottle of CLR, that is.    

VOODOO CULTISTS PRAY FOR THE FUTURE

In a remote part of Haiti, Voodoo believers have assembled at a waterfall to pray for lower food prices and more jobs.  As part of their yearly ritual, they sacrificed a cow.  Hmm.  Now there’s an answer to those rising food costs…and did they ever think of starting a new career as a butcher?

VIRGIN MARY IN A SCAR

Well, our favorite Madonna is having a busy time these days making appearances in California.  She’s popped up in the scar on a man’s leg after a motorcycle accident in Monterey.  Maybe she doesn’t think the drain appearance will be enough to get the Diocese of Monterey’s attention…

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE VOWS HIS AID

Senator John McCain has added another very important item to his list of campaign promises.  The good news is that if he’s elected, he’s going to take time from winning the war in Iraq to help Americans quit smoking.  Wow, is that ever good news — you nicotine addicts out there, help is on the way!  Just the very thought of it is enough to make smokers shoot their carton of Marlboros and see the Blessed Virgin Mary in a Nicorette patch. 

–phoebe kate