Buon Vigilia di Natale!

Happy day of "fasting" everyone! Buon Vigilia di Natale (Christmas eve)! The day before any feast day there is a traditional day of abstinance from gluttony and Vigil Mass (note the connection to Vigilia de Natale). Nowadays this is really only for Christmas eve (which makes sense because every other day is a feast day in the Catholic calendar depending on which saints you like). The 1983 Code of Canon Law eliminated true fasting, but traditional Catholics still keep the fast in spirit by eating seafood, noodles, other forms of pasta, etc. for the Christmas Eve Supper (so no "meat"). Many Italian households always prepare a certain number of fish dishes (mostly a central/southern trdaition) . Seven is most common and this usually represents the seven sacraments (but may also represent the days in a week, the seven pilgrimage churches in Rome, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, or just about any religious-y thingy that is a multiple of seven). We don't usually trouble with that many fishes though (baccala, shrimp, and pasta with fish sugo are the staples), I think we're doing good enough just observing the fish thing. Traditions are fun.

A note on goodies: Most Italian Christmas goodies like panettone (italian version of fruitcake) or torrone (nougat) are made with nuts (especially almonds) and honey. According to folklore, to eat nuts favors the fertility of the earth and aids in the increase of wealth and prosperty (i.e. more children and animals running around=good). The honey thing goes back to ancient Rome where it was offered at this time of year so that the new year might be sweet. Those wacky peasants and their tasty theories.

And now by popular demand...The Simpsons w Polska

Oh those Polish, how they love their Simpsons. Good times! It turns out that most of The Simpsons episodes, have been "lectored" but not fully dubbed. Lectored means that it was translated entirely by one (usually male) actor instead of a cast of characters. Apparently this is very common in Poland and most Russian speaking countries. It's also called a Gavrilov translation. Neat. I tried to find a lectored clip but I have no idea if the following clip is partially legit interspersed with crazy music clips are just all crazy.

[This clip has been removed because it turns out it is highly offensive. Who knew?!]


So then I found this clip but it is confusing, it sounds like there is Polish but I can't tell what is going on. I think I'm supposed to assassinate someone now but I'm not sure whom...


Oh, but The Simpsons Movie was fully dubbed into Polish. Unfortunately I couldn't find a clip of that either but here are some guys talking about the movie:

It seems that my first escapade into Polish Simpsons has been a moderately hilarious failure. Oh well, I'll keep looking. I did find the self-proclaimed "biggest Polish Simpsons website" here.



CP sez "increase your Polish-ness", fun words to learn and know that will help to navigate the website:

Napisy = Subtitles
Obrazki = Images
Inne Obrazki = Other Images
Fan Art = Fan Art
Programy = Software
Audio = Audio
Wygaszacze = Screen Savers
Tapety = Wallpapers
Themes = Desktop Themes
Skiny = Winamp Skins
Gry = Games
Wideo = Video
Ineraktywne = Interactive

p.s. Actually I have no idea if any of this is really Polish. They said it was but I don't know. K is this actually the spider pig song: "Swinski pajak, Swinski pajak. Robi to co kazdy swinski pajak. Uwaga, to swinski pajak" ? The online translator wouldn't tell me but at least some of the words are right aren't they?
p.p.s.You know what?! I don't even believe in Poland! It's all a lie! A lie I tell you!

We're all going to archaeology hell!

That's right! Because we all forgot to celebrate the feast of Pope Saint Damasus I patron saint of archaeologists on December 11th. I'm not sure what sort of penance should be done to make up for it...40 lashes? no beer for a month? no deer for a month? feel really guilty? recant on the deathbed? Wait...some of those things are for different things. Dang what was I talking about again? Oh well. Hey, did you know that December 19th is a big day for Vietnamese saints? There are 12 saints with today as their feast day and 5 of them are Vietnamese martyrs. Curiously, all of them were strangled.
St. Augustine Moi
St. Thomas De & Companions
St. Dominic Uy
Bl. Francis Man
St. Francis Xavier Mau
Of the many other interesting saints of the day (and several uninteresting ones), I think my favorite is St.Manirus. He was a Bishop and an apostle to Scotland and he evangelized the Highlanders in the northern regions. He was revered for his kindness and goodwill. Awww. I like him because he was nice to kittens (note: may or may not be true) and he wasn't martyred (note: usually a prerequisite for sainthood).

Authors sidebar: I find delving into the lives of various saints interesting (and often comical, I know that's politically incorrect but it's true) - see my first post about saints from March. So much intrigue, violence, sacrifice, heroism, and lunacy - everything you'd want really. And while I often make light of the irony (can we say euphemism boys and girls?) inherent in many facets of religion, it is also sobering to think of the violent aspects of religious clashes through history, especially when it is brought to new lands. All the more reason to never forget the past...

And now for no reason a Simpsons clip from the Czech Republic...


p.s. there are over 100 Vietnamese martyrs (collectively known as the Martyrs of Vietnam) who were recognized by Pope John Paul II in 1988 and there are over 50 Vietnamese saints with known causes and backgrounds. Not all of them were strangled. Some were beheaded.

Deleted scenes from The Simpsons Movie...

I think it's important to barrage everyone with various Simpson-y-ness between serious (well relatively serious) posts. It makes me giggle and it takes little to no effort.

Crazy commercials for the Simpsons game...

I like this one the best:

The Chickens concert series #10: Grady and pals

An evening of blues-rock-country fun. All the better for the myriad of buddies visiting. Good times (really late times though, that's the thing I don't like about the Roxy). I liked Grady although a lot of their songs were very similar and tended to bleed into eachother. Here's Grady's website. I found a video on YouTube of the concert, not the best quality but you get the gist:

Murder City Sparrows were interesting. Almost had a little punk flavouring to it but that could just be the high pitched vocals (or the emo hair?). The base player plays a 5-string which is cool but he struck me as a bit of a tool (that could just be his schtick though). The guitar player had Guy Fawkes facial hair which you just couldn't stop looking at. He turned out to be super nice though. I bought their CD 'cause I felt a little bad for them hanging out at the merch table alone. The drummer and singer had food poisoning from the Subway across the street so they had gone back to their hotel. What troopers, playing a whole set with food poisoning! Their CD isn't half bad even. Here's the website: Murder City Sparrows. A few of their music videos are on YouTube too, here's one of them:

The Sheepdogs are a local band that I had heard of but never seen before. I liked them, they are pretty mellow but in a good way. They were probably the favorite of the evening for the group but that's probably due to the fact that they went on first and everyone was awake still. The were the most country of the three bands I think (that's why Kim like them so much). Here's a video of the Sheepdogs when they played at Louis' (I couldn't find one from this concert):

A response to "Yes I watch Bad TV"

at Procrastinating etc. Girl. That Funny or Die website is pretty amusing. I especially liked these two David Blaine parodies. Hilarious if you've ever watched any of his real street magic stuff. The guys who did it are a group called ThoseLilRabbits.
David Blaine Street Magic #1
"Quit putting stuff on our bodies!"

David Blaine Street Magic #2
"Quit putting orange soda in our mouths!"