Which of These Four Items Strikes You as Obscene by the Definitions Given Below?

There are no right or wrong answers. It could be any one, any two, any three. all four, or none. This is about your character and disposition as revealed through your personal tastes and predilections. Please discuss each item, and tell us why 
you think as you do.

OBSCENE

Offensive to accepted standards of decency or modesty

Inciting lustful feelings; lewd. Repulsive; disgusting

So large in size or amount as to be objectionable 

Offensive or outrageous to accepted standards of decency

Having a tendency to deprave or corrupt

Relating to sex in an indecent or offensive way

Very offensive usually in a shocking way

So large an amount or size as to be very shocking or unfair

Disgusting to the senses - repulsive

Abhorrent to morality or virtue; 

Designed to incite to lust or depravity

Containing language regarded as taboo in polite usage 

Repulsive by reason of crass disregard of moral or ethical principles An obscene misuse of power so excessive as to be offensive 

WHO SERVES JESUS BEST?

On Listening to Leopold Stokowski Conduct the Good Friday Spell from Wagner's Parsifal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwsYlv8M4CE

Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977)

Wagner was so capable of building and sustaining the highest degree of serious musical contemplation imaginable it challenges credibility. I still have never experienced Parsifal in its entirety, and after all the time already elapsed realize it may never happen, but I place Wagner among the greatest of the greats and revere him for his passion, devotion to the fullest possible realization of his genius, and for his unquestionable sincerity. Only God, Himself in the person of Christ Jesus gave the world more than the finest and noblest creative artists have given humanity.

And, even as dwindling numbers bother to pay lip service to His Sacrifice for our sake, so does the great bulk of the world's population fail to take proper notice and express appropriate gratitude for the glorious achievements of the small handful of men like the anonymous artists who painted the inside of caves in France aeons ago, those who designed and built the temple at Karnak, those who designed and built the Acropolis, Pericles, Plato, Aristotle, Phidias, Praxiteles, Socrates, Sophocles, those who conceived and built the great cathedrals, Giotto, Gutenberg, Palladio, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Michelangelo, Bernini, Christopher Wren, Shakespeare, and on and on.

Christ sacrificed Himself so that men of that high a quality could continue to develop and flourish, despite all the proud ignorance, arrant stupidity, and brutal hostility militating against them in every era, and thus bring light and joy to all with eyes to see, ears to hear, and minds filled with curiosity.

Rarely is this point of view articulated, but the true artists are always in the avant garde –– far ahead of the crowd –– and it is THEY who function as the greatest missionaries –– the greatest bearers of Holy Writ, –– because it is they who best shed light on the true nature of God-Christ who IS Life, Truth Love, Principle, Light, Beauty, Spirit, Joy, Understanding, Compassion, Creativity and Intelligence.

"Be not conformed to the uses of this world, but be ye transformed through the renewing of your mind ..." (Romans 2:12)

Great Music, Art, Literature and Architecture speak directly to our souls, and reveal more of God's Essence than all the fear based teaching, preaching, admonition and pretensions to piety we've ever inflicted on each other, and somehow managed to endure. 

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

REJOICE!

Christ is Risen!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Outburst of Joy

Olivier Messiaen 
Jean Claude Raynaud, organist 
Organ by Cavaillé-Coll (1888) 
Basilica of Saint Serin, Toulouse, France

Et Resurrexit 

Johann Sebastian Bach 
30th Festival Resurrexit, 2012, April 9, 2012 , The Cathedral of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Siauliai, Lithuania 
Siauliai State Chamber Orchestra
 Sauliai Sondeckis Conductor, 

The Passion According to Saint John

by Johann Sebastian Bach

English Baroque Soloists & Monteverdi Choir
Sir John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Mark Padmore, tenor, Evangelist; Peter Harvey, bass, Christus; Katherine Fuge, soprano; Robin Blaze, counter-tenor; Nicholas Mulroy, tenor; Jeremy Budd, tenor; 

Matthew Brook bass

GOOD FRIDAY 2014

I like a look of Agony,
Because I know it's true—
Men do not sham Convulsion,
Nor simulate, a Throe—

The Eyes glaze once—and that is Death—
Impossible to feign
The Beads upon the Forehead
By homely Anguish strung. 

~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

From ENGLAND’S GREEN and PLEASANT LAND

A healthy dose of bucolic serenity. Listening to these selections at leisure may give balm to your soul. They make superb 
background music.

FREDERICK DELIUS

Walk to the Paradise Garden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVeaAhYluOc

A Song of Summer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUgfHSINV7Y

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Fantasy on a Theme by Thomas Tallis 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAtx578yaZ8

The Lark Ascending 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR2JlDnT2l8&feature=kp

SIR EDWARD ELGAR

The Enigma Variations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLWCVknP4T4

Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

THE PLANETS

Gustav Holst

Herbert Von Karajan, conductor

The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Mars, the Bringer of War, 00:26
- Venus, the Bringer of Peace, 07:20
- Mercury, the Winged Messenger, 15:23
- Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity, 19:36
- Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age, 27:57
- Uranus, the Magician, 36:27
- Neptune, the Mystic, 41:55

Whenever I think of the wonder of celestial spheres revolving independently-yet interdependently in the apparent blackness of Space, the one piece of music I want most to hear is The Planets by Gustav Holst . Try it. Our minuscule-but-essential place in the Cosmos will soon become more apparent. A splendid evocation of Awe and Wonder if ever there was one. It never fails to give me goose bumps, make my hair stand on end, while it bolsters my faith in almighty  God, maker of all things great and small

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83J68Y7Z1nk

http://www.gustavholst.info/compositi...

An Historic Event FEDS FORCED to SURRENDER  to AMERICAN CITIZENS!

Resistance for beleaguered Cliven Bundy pays off––for now.

A-R-M-A-G-E-D-D-O-N

Could This Be The Start?

YOUR OPINION is DESIRED on 

THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE

Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy

Please read the headlines below and at least one of the articles before commenting. 

BOILERPLATE, personal remarks, and any other stray, irrelevant commentary will be summarily REMOVED.

HEAVILY-ARMED FEDS SURROUND NEVADA RANCH..

.

County Commissioner Says Bundy Supporters 'Better Have Funeral Plans'...

Lawmaker: Cattle Roundup 'Reminded Me Of Tiananmen Square'...

Family: 'Wake up America...they are taking everything from us'...

Militia Members Arrive: We're not 'afraid to shoot'...

Supporters gather outside LVPD headquarters...

Rangers Brought in From Out of State...

Charlie Daniels: First test of military against citizens?

Feds Refuse to Say If They've Euthanized Cattle...

BREAK: Sen. Reid/Chinese gov't takeover of ranch for solar farm?

TAKING SEVERAL DAYS OFF

April 11 is my 

SEVENTY-THIRD

Birthday

Having Visitors for the Weekend

See You Monday

Meanwhile, please continue to enjoy

The Unicorn, 

the Gorgon, 

and the 

Manticore

A splendid, highly original, fascinating work 

well worth whatever time it may take you 

to make its acquaintance.

The Unicorn, the Gorgon 

and the 

Manticore

by

Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007)

Madrigal-Ballet per coro, 

10 danzatori e 9 strumenti (1956) 

Coro e gruppo strumentale  diretti da Thomas Schippers

Thomas Schippers (1930-1977)

HELL BEGINS

Yet Another Unholy Trinity

"Whenever a man has cast a longing eye upon [public offices] a rottenness begins 

in his conduct."

~ Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

That applies to women now too.

A Mourning Meditation

When next you must excrete, please take the time

To gaze upon the contents of the bowl.

You will see there the Naked Face of Crime ––

The Devil’s version of The Trinity ––

A monstrous, odious, tri-partite Whole

Whose stench persists into Infinity.

For Evil stalked and plagued us in The Garden

Tempting us to sacrifice our Soul

For the pleasure of the Nether Region’s Warden.

You will, of course, be eager quick to flush

Away the proof that Hell, indeed, exists,

And yet, like an inebriated lush

A self-destructive passion persists:

The false belief Utopia exists.

~ FreeThinke (4/5/14)

The Unholy Trinity

A Mourning Meditation

When next you must excrete, please take the time

To gaze upon the contents of the bowl.

You will see there the Naked Face of Crime ––

The Devil’s version of The Trinity ––

A monstrous, odious, tri-partite Whole

Whose stench persists into Infinity.

For Evil stalked and plagued us in The Garden

Tempting us to sacrifice our Soul

For the pleasure of the Nether Region’s Warden.

You will, of course, be eager quick to flush

Away the proof that Hell, indeed, exists,

And yet, like an inebriated lush

A self-destructive passion persists:

The false belief Utopia exists.

~ FreeThinke (4/5/14)

A Moving Electronic Jigsaw Puzzle

http://www.brl.ntt.co.jp/people/hara/fly.swf

Try it. You'll either love it or hate it. 

I thought it was fun.

It took me three full minutes to put it together. 

See if you can beat my time.

Reports must be made using the Honor System. 

When you put one of the pieces in the correct place, you will hear a sound.

After you've completed the picture it moves.

A fanciful clue

A brief

History of

The Female Form as it once was

In bold relief

writ to amuse

Not to cause

 Grief

But

Just

Relief

Once upon a time a woman’s figure

Voluptuous, yet narrow-waisted

Showed discipline and

Deference to men

Whose tastes

And needs

Required

Sacrifice

From ladies who

Expected that their lives

Would be lived to serve the desires

Of males who at that time happily ruled

The world with unquestioned authority,

But then the suffragettes appeared

To challenge and defy the sex 

Sporting mustache and beard

Phenomena no longer feared

And life became a game

A battle of the sexes

A competition ruled

By petulance and 

So up to this day 

Discord, Divorce

Discontent and

Dismay hold sway.

Which should come 

As no surprise
To tired eyes
Grown      too wise

The Feminine Mystaque

Fully liberated females today

In Honor of the Day

POST MORTEM:

Well, the joke was sure on FT's Blog.

NOT ONE SINGLE RESPONSE!

THAT, my friends is a RECORD.

Thank you for helping us achieve 

that dubious distinction.

Meet Doctor George Lombardi, who, as a young physician just beginning his career, was flown halfway around the world to treat Mother Teresa Please exercise patience. The doctor's style is dry, understated, and undemonstrative. What he has to say, however, should prove highly amusing as well as amazing. It certainly bolstered my faith, and added to my store of wonder, even as it gave a remarkable, intimate glimpse into the power of the Catholic Church and the selfless, devoted support, and intense loyalty given by some of her finest servants.