The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

The Dave Brubeck Quartet, "Blue Rondo a la Turk" from Time Out: 50th Anniversary Legacy Edition (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Operation ÖSTERREICH: End o' Lent Edition

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 339.2 lbs (Wednesday, 17 February)
This weigh-in: 338.4 lbs.
Difference: -0.8 lbs.

I have not achieved the goal of losing two pounds per week (2 lbs./week), but I also have not gained weight over the course of Lent. Onward!

Bonus! Lied von ÖSTERREICH
"Weird Al" Yankovic, "Fat" from Even Worse (Mike Papa Watercress)

Saints + Scripture: Holy Week — Please Stand By

The Popish Plot
"Catholic T-Shirt Club Unboxing: Saint Monica"

The Explorers' Club, № DCCCVII

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars—The German Revolution, Epilogue
17 March-1 April 1921: The March Action—A year after the Ruhr Uprising was crushed by Freikorps, the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands called for a general strike in central Germany; more radical leftists stoked this into armed insurrection: banks were robbed, trains were derailed, policemen were murdered; the fiercest open combat was at the Leunawerke, where the workers built their own tank.

Lest we forget.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Everybody's Better" from A Jackknife to a Swan (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"Everybody's better than I am,
I think everybody's better than me,
And everybody's swell, I guess,
They're doing well, more or less,
Everybody's better than I am…"

Saints + Scripture: Holy Week — Please Stand By

Bonus! Song o' the Day

Less Than Jake, "Dopeman (Remix)" from Goodbye Blue & White (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Less Than Jake, "We, the Uninspired" from the Absolution for Idiots and Addicts E.P. (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"The world is for the living not the dead,
But we're still the uninspired…"

Saints + Scripture: Holy Week — Please Stand By

The Popish Plot
"Women's History Month: Blessed Maria Corsini-Beltrame Quattrocchi: Leading People to Heaven & Campsites"

Saints + Scripture: Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

The R.B.D. Song o' the Lord's Day: Palm Sunday

Melanie Rea, "You Are My King (Amazing Love)" from Mercy: Songs for Holy Week (Sinner Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Song o' the Day

Me First and the Gimmes Gimmes, "End of the Road" from Me First and the Gimmes Gimmes Take a Break (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: After a three-month experiment with Instagram that was nearly the death of me, I finally took the long overdue step of deleting the app from my mobile. I still have an Instagram account, but I will only use it from my desktop.

I want a commemorative T-shirt: "I survived the girls of Instagram." But just barely & only then by the grace of God.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Less Than Jake, "Does the Lion City Still Roar?" from GNV FLA (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Today was "Play in Traffic Day," the twice annual M.I. Drive, a Knights of Columbus initiative to raise funds to support persons with intellectual disabilities: We stand at a busy intersection & collect free will donations, distributing specially packaged Tootsie Rolls as a gesture of good will. (We do not sell Tootsie Rolls, that would be covered by an entirely different section of our Byzantine tax codes.)

During my six hours at the corner of South Saginaw Street & Bristol Road, I saw several ambulances in great haste with the sirens blaring & lights flashing. I prayed for each in turn, "Godspeed."

"Lion City sirens sing the night away, night away,
Lion City sirens sing the night away!
There's an overdoes on 8th,
And he does the cocaine shake,
As the Lion City sirens sing the night away!

"The city seems like it's trapped
Between it's future and it's past,
Life or death for the city not coming back!
The city feels like a cage,
Feels like a powder keg,
And now it's gonna explode!

"Lion City sirens sing the night away, night away,
Lion City sirens sing the night away!
There's an overdoes on 8th,
And he's wearing a blue face,
'Cause the Lion City sirens sing the night away!
Sing the night away!
Sing the night away!
And I won't be long."

Saints + Scripture: Quadragesima — Please Stand By

The Explorers' Club, № DCCCVI

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 60th Anniversary of Mercury-Redstone B.D.
24 March 1961: Mercury-Restone Booster Development—After the anomalous overperformance of the Redstone rocket during Mercury 2 (Ham the Astro Chimp), an additional test flight was ordered; astronaut Alan Shepard, et al., argued that the Mercury 2 Redstone's problems had been identified & corrected; rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, et al., argued that a perfect test flight was necessary.

Commentary: Had the Shepard faction prevailed over the von Braun faction, & the manned Mercury-Redstone 3 mission been flown instead of the Mercury-Redstone B.D., American astronaut Alan Shepard would have become the first man in space, beating the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the actual first man in space, by nearly three weeks.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Mercury-Redstone B.D.
The Phenomenauts, "Rocket Roll" from Re-Entry (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

Saints + Scripture: Quadragesima — Please Stand By

The Rebel Black Dot Fish Fry Song o' the Day!

The Aquabats!, "The Shark Fighter!" from Hi-Five Soup! (Captain Thumbs Up!)

Saints + Scripture: Annunciation of the Lord / Stand By

The Popish Plot
"The Final Four 2021: Heaven—'When I Get Where I'm Going' by Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Smash Mouth, "Pet Names" from Fush Yu Mang (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Today

Mittwoch, 24. März
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" from Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Take a Break (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Yesterday

Dienstag, 23. März
New Found Glory, "Boy Crazy" from New Found Glory (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Saints + Scripture: Quadragesima — Please Stand By

The Explorers' Club, № DCCCV

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—In Memoriam Valentin Bondarenko
23 March 1961: Senior Lieutenant Valentin Bondarenko, V.V.S. (1937-1961) died of shock, having suffered third-degree burns over most of his body; at the time of the fire, Bondarenko has been in a 50% oxygen environment for ten days, an endurance experiment for the Soviet space program; the truth about his death wouldn't be revealed until 1980 in the West & not until 1986 in the Soviet Union.

Commentary: After his death, Bondarenko was airbrushed out of official photographs of the first Soviet cosmonaut class, Air Force Group 1.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: In Memoriam
Public Service Broadcasting, "Fire in the Cockpit" from The Race for Space (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Semper exploro.

Saints + Scripture: Quadragesima

Better Late than Never, Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent (meaning "Spring;" the Latin name is Quadragesima, meaning "fortieth"): Quadragesima-link & Wikipedia-link Quadragesima.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Numbers, chapter twenty-one, verses four thru nine;
Psalm One Hundred Two (R/. two), verses two & three; sixteen, seventeen, & eighteen; & nineteen, twenty, & twenty-one;
The Gospel according to John, chapter eight, verses twenty-one thru thirty.

Commentary: Lenten Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus prophesies his Crucifixion and his Father’s role in his coming death. What enabled the first Christians to hold up the cross, to sing its praises, to wear it as a decoration is the fact that God raised up and ratified precisely this crucified Jesus. “You killed him, but God raised him up.” Therefore, God was involved in this terrible thing; God was there, working out his salvific purposes.

But what does this mean? There have been numerous attempts throughout the Christian centuries to name the salvific nature of the cross. Let me offer just one take on it. It became clear to the first Christians that somehow, on that terrible cross, sin had been dealt with. The curse of sin had been removed, taken care of. On that terrible cross, Jesus functioned as the “Lamb of God,” sacrificed for sin.

Does this mean God the Father is a cruel taskmaster demanding a bloody sacrifice so that his anger might be appeased? No, Jesus’ Crucifixion was the opening up of the divine heart so that we could see that no sin of ours could finally separate us from the love of God.

Reflect: Do you acknowledge and accept that the penalty of sin is death? Given your perspective, then, how do you understand the death of Jesus on the cross?

Video reflection by Deacon Arthur L. Miller (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Because all are entrusted with the vast area of charity & material assistance, I invite you to give generously. Give for the maintenance & support of seminarians; for the formation of the laity, in particular for catechists; for the construction of churches, schools, hospitals, & social work."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1890-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)

Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day

"We must never think any of us is indispensable. God has His ways & means. God may allow everything to go upside down in the hands of a very talented & capable person. Unless the work is interwoven with love, it is useless."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)

Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day

"Crucified with Jesus were two thieves or revolutionaries. Why thieves? Because we are all thieves. We have all, as the prophet Malachi said, cheated God. We cheat Him in our lives; we cheat Him in our worship; we cheat Him in our relationships with fellow man. So He is reputed with the wicked. And this is the symbol of the Last Judgment, because when the Lord comes on the last day, they will be separated & divided, the wheat & the tares, the sheep & the goats, the good fish & the bad."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Today

Montag, 22. März
The Coral, "Dreaming of You" from Cheap Date (Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day before Yesterday

Samstag, 20. März
The Toasters, "Big Red" from Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Saints + Scripture: Quadragesima

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Popish Plot
"Women's History Month: Saint Gianna Beretta Molla: A Saint for More Reasons Than How She Died"

'Tis the Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent (meaning "Spring;" the Latin name is Quadragesima, meaning "fortieth"): Quadragesima-link & Wikipedia-link Quadragesima.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
The Book of Daniel, chapter thirteen, verses one thru nine, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, nineteen thru thirty, & thirty-three thru sixty-two;
or, the Book of Daniel, chapter thirteen, verses forty-one(c) thru sixty-two;
Psalm Twenty-three (R/. four[a/b]), verses one, two, & three(a); three(b) & four; five; & six;
The Gospel according to John, chapter eight, verses one thru eleven.

Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, today’s Gospel presents the story of the woman caught in adultery, which is one of the clearest demonstrations of what René Girard called the scapegoat mechanism.

The scribes and Pharisees bring to Jesus a woman who had been caught in adultery. The novelty of the Gospel is revealed in Jesus’ refusal to contribute to the energy of the gathering storm: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Jesus directs the energy of scapegoating violence back toward the accusers. He unveils the dangerous secret that the unstable order of the society has been predicated upon scapegoating. The Church Fathers emphasized this point with a neat interpretive move: they imagined that Jesus was writing in the sand none other than the sins of those who were threatening the woman.

Then we see, at least in seminal form, the new order: “Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” The connection between Jesus and the woman is not the consequence of condemnation but rather the fruit of forgiveness offered and accepted.

Reflect: Reflect on the prevalence of scapegoating in contemporary culture. Think especially about the times when you have been guilty of singling out an individual or some group as a scapegoat

Video reflection by Monsignor James Vlaun (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Video reflection by Curtis Mitch (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Daily Reflection.

Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day

"Lenten practices of giving up pleasures are a good reminder that the purpose of life is not pleasure. The purpose of life is to attain a perfect life, all truth & undying ecstatic love—which is the definition of God. In pursuing that happiness, we find happiness."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

Saints + Scripture: V Sunday of Lent / Please Stand By

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Lord's Day: V Lent

Fifth Sunday of Lent
The Ataris, "The Hero Dies In This One" from So Long, Astoria (Sinner Mike Papa Whiskey)

Saints + Scripture: Quadragesima — Please Stand By

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Saint Joseph's Day

Daniel Schmit, "Joseph's Song" from Christmas Hope (Sinner Mike Papa Whiskey)

Saints + Scripture: Solemnity of St. Joseph / Stand By

The Popish Plot
"Feast of Saint Joseph"

Bonus! Fish Fry Song o' the Day

Barnes & Barnes, "Fish Heads" from the Fish Heads single (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Saints + Scripture: Quadragesima — Please Stand By

The Popish Plot
"The Final Four 2021: Hell—'Hell' by Squirrel Nut Zippers"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day

Jimmy Eat World, "The Middle" from Bleed American (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Hey, don't write yourself off yet,
It's only in your head you feel left out and looked down on,
Just try your best, try everything you can,
And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away…"

Bonus! Song o' Saint Patrick's Day

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Riot on Broad Street" from Pay Attention (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: Gemini VIII

Monkey, "Lost at Sea" from Lost at Sea (Space Cadet Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Gemini VIII prime crew Neil Armstrong & Dave Scott (seated) pictured with their backup crew—& Gemini XI prime crew—Pete Conrad & Dick Gordon (standing).