Postings from The Coloured Lands

Rare stuff, go look.

Chesterton on the Olympics

I just received a new book, Twelve Types and immediately paged to the chapter on St. Francis. Inside, I found this Olympian quote:

"If ever it should happen that the system of English athletes should vanish from the public schools and universities, if science should supply some new and non-competitive manner of perfecting the physique, if public ethics swung around to an attitude of absolute contempt and indifference towards the feeling called sport, then it is easy to see what would happen.

Future historians would simply state that in the dark days of Queen Victoria [or George W. Bush and Tony Blair] young men [and women] at Oxford and Cambridge were subjected to a horrible sort of religious torture.

They were forbidden, by fantastic monastic rules, to indulge in wine or tobacco during certain arbitrarily fixed periods in time, before certain brutal fights and festivals [think Olympics]. Bigots insisted on their rising at unearthly house and running violently around fields for no object.

Many men ruined their health in these dens of superstition, many died there. All this is perfectly true and irrefutable. Athleticism in England is an asceticism, as much as the monastic rules. Men have overstrained themselves and killed themselves through English athleticism. There is one difference and one only; we do feel the love of sport; we do not feel the love of religious offices. We see only the prices in the one case and only the purchase in the other." GKC Twelve Types, pg. 35.

Cheney

OK, we haven't talked about this here.
He already said it was the worst day of his life. And he proved he was human by making a mistake.

I think there was an editorial that said it best: wars are happening, mudslides are taking the lives of thousands, countries are building nuclear weapons, and what does the media focus on?

Our media. Unbiased. Impartial. Focused on being neutral. Uh-huh. Yeah.

The only difference between Cheney and every other human on this planet is that most of us do dumb stuff and there is no reporter on our tail to let the whole world know about it.

I could tell you stories about the stuff I've done....but I better not say. Someday, I may want to run for alderman, and that kind of stuff would get public, and then where would I be?

One Man Dramatic Presentation of Orthodoxy

"In November, Nathan Gibson, a senior at Kentucky Mountain Bible College, performed a one-man dramatic interpretation of Chesterton's Orthodoxy. The title of the show was The Man in the Yacht.

This from the very first pages of Gilbert, an announcement in the Tremendous Trifles column by editor Sean Dailey.

I can only assume that Nathan wrote this production himself, and that it must have been based on the first section, the story of the man who travels all around the world to discover a new land, and then, of course, discovers it is actually his homeland.

I wonder what it was like? I would have liked to have attended. And it particularly excites me that at the conference this June, the Chesteron Society has announced a production of Chesterton's play The Surprise which should be very interesting. I suppose I ought to read it between now and then, since I never have, and then it would be a complete Surprise!

The Song

On page 34 in the latest Gilbert is a story called "The Song" by James G. Bruen, Jr. It has been mentioned in the comments below that this story is very Chestertonian. So, what makes it so Chestertonian? I liked it because of the romance aspect, and Chesterton was very romantic, too, so I supposed that's one aspect. What else? Did you like The Song?

Somehow I forgot to mention this here

Chesterton and Friends reminded me of my own recently published study guide. It's just a little thing, to help high school students, or Chesterton groups who want to take it upon themselves to delve a little deeper into Chesterton's first Father Brown mystery, called The Blue Cross. It contains the entire text of the original story in its original form, unabridged, as well as a bunch of questions and ideas for getting more out of it. The discussion on reason alone is wonderful for the high school level student, and there are ties to the catechism. If you are interested, click on the title link. Thanks.

Christmas Quiz

One thing I've not heard mentioned from the Christmas Gilbert is the Christmas Quiz. I thought it was very clever and fun. It also was informational, as there were many answers I admit I admit I did not know. I think my answer gets me into a pub with the editor, according to his scoring system.

I'm so ignorant, I didn't even know we used to celebrate "Adam and Eve's Day." I like the sound of that. I picture plays or skits, lots of fruit for the snacks of course, bobbing for apples, etc. Sounds like a great children's celebration day.

Were there any "Christmas Facts" you didn't know? Were suprised to hear about? Thought Sean was making up? :-)

What about "The Flying Tomato?"

Because my own blog is called Flying Stars I was intrigued by the "Flying Tomato" name, as well as the person. In fact, today the Flying Tomato *IS* a Flying Star!

What have the Olympics to do with everything? The pageantry, the songs, the slogans, the fight to win, the race to win, the pursuit of excellence....it all ties in with things I am familiar with, and it seems so, well, symbolic of all of life.

Your impressions of the Olympics?

Quote of the Day

I have been informed (thanks to reader Jonathan that one of Google's quotes of the day is from Heretics by Chesterton.

There are no wise few. Every aristocracy that has ever existed has behaved, in all essential points, exactly like a small mob.
G. K. Chesterton, "Heretics", 1905
English author & mystery novelist (1874 - 1936)

Thanks Jonathan.

More than Meets the Eye

is the title of this month's All is Grist article, written by Joe Campbell. It is a marvelous article on "watching paint dry" from a new perspective.

I think when people normally think of "watching paint dry" they are referring to something like the side of a building (all being painted white) or the side of a wall (all being painted ecru). However, after reading Joe's article, I think I could even be interested in watching ecru dry.

What in this world isn't interesting? That's what I thought after reading this article. How about you? What'd you think?

Welcome (Again)

I know we were mentioned in the latest Gilbert Magazine and that has brought some new blog commenters here, welcome everyone. In addition, we are finally officially linked from the ACS web page (although not on the main page, ah-hem!, which I think we should be, however that is a quibble I have with certain web page handlers or whatever they call themselves). At least we are here on the Links page.

If you ever need the main American Chesterton Society page, there is a permanent link over there <-- on the left. Also, if you need translations into German, Italian, Spanish or French, the buttons over there do translate the whole blog, tell your foreign Chesterton buddied about it and have them come here. We have had a fellow from Buenos Aires drop by here, which was very fun.

Let's see, also if you ever need to e-mail me, I'm listed there, too, on the left. I moderate this whole thing, but I also have a family, homeschool my kids, and am artist assistant to my artist husband, so I can't be here every minute of the day. If something funny is going on (or there's spam I haven't noticed) please let me know.

In addition, we keep the Lord's Day a family day at our house by not using our computer, so that is the explanation of Sean's "six days a week" comment in Gilbert. You all can still talk here, there just won't be a new post on Sunday.

I subscribe to the "Welborn" blog protocol, that if you comment or e-mail me, your comments or e-mail may show up in a post unless you tell me specifically not to.

Again, welcome to the conversation, it's great you are here. Let's talk Chesterton!

Portrait of Chesterton I've Never Seen Before

Link above, via Chesterton and Friends Blog. I love seeing new pictures of Chesterton!

Four Men Feasts

I suspect Ted's "Four Men Feast" is probably a one-of-a-kind as of right now. But I think part of his success is that in this world, there are very few places for men to gather together without women, and be men. Smoke cigars if they want, and talk Belloc and ideas, recite poetry or sing songs, where else is this happening?

My husband recently joined the Knights of Columbus. The Knights were formed in part as a reaction against things like Masonic Lodges with their secret entrance rites. But basically, they are both mens groups, where men do things together. The Knights have secret rites (one of which I know: they say the rosary) and they have a meal and play cards together, and meanwhile, they are always thinking of ways to help our parish. If anyone needs a ride, it's a Knight picking them up. Clean up after an event? The Knights are there. Help with parking? Knights. Delivering food pantry to the homebound? Knights. Etc. But I believe it is because of the bond of comaradarie that these guys stick together and help out.

Anyway, men, do you have a place to go with other guys to do guy stuff? Would you consider having a "Four Men Feast" as Ted described in the latest Gilbert?

From the combox: Big box stores and Distributism

I'll admit that I am not the expert on economic systems, so I hope you that are will help with this discussion.

Tom said:
"Can Distributism survive in a world of Home Depots? I certainly hope and believe so. I think Chesterton would argue that I should be more concerned with the welfare of my local hardware merchant than the dividend of Home Depot stock."

David Beresford also used this GKC quote at the top of his distributism article:

"I think the big shop is a bad shop. I think that it is bad not only in a moral but a mercantile sense: that is, I think shopping there is not only a bad action but a bad bargain." GKC "The Bluff of the Big Shops," The Outline of Sanity.

All I can say is as much as I didn't want to, we shop at Walmart once they put one in one mile away. Mostly, we buy our food there. The clothes are cheap, but cheaply made. A pair of pajamas that were very inexpensive already have a hole after about one month of wear. That does make a bad bargain. However, I still shop there. I just don't buy the clothes. Is shopping at Walmart a bad action AND a bad bargain?

Gilberts, anyone?

Let me know if your Gilbert arrived so we can start talking. And also let me know if there is a particular article you'd like to talk over.

Journalism 101-Final Edition

Chesterton:
"The scene now changes to the newspaper office. The writer of the article has discovered his mistake and wants to correct it by the next day: but the next day is Sunday. He cannot post a letter, so he rings up the paper and dictates a letter by telephone.

He leaves the title to his friends at the other end; he knows that they can spell "Gray," as no doubt they can: but the letter is put down by journalistic custom in a pencil scribble and the vowel may well be doubtful. The friend
writes at the top of the letter " 'G.K.C.' Explains," putting the initials in quotation marks.

The next man passing it for press is bored with these initials (I am with him there) and crosses them out, substituting
with austere civility, "Mr. Chesterton Explains." But - and now he hears the iron laughter of the Fates, for the blind bolt is about to fall - but he neglects to cross out the second "quote" (as we call it) and it goes up to press with a "quote" between the last words.

Another quotation mark at the end of "explains" was the work of one merry moment for the printers upstairs. So the inverted commas were lifted entirely off one word on to the other and a totally innocent title suddenly turned into a blasting sneer.

But that would have mattered nothing so far, for there was nothing to sneer at. In the same dark hour, however, there was a printer who was (I suppose) so devoted to this Government that he could think of no Gray but Sir Edward Grey. He spelt it "Grey" by a mere misprint, and the whole tale was complete: first blunder, second blunder, and final condemnation.

That is a little tale of journalism as it is; if you call it egotistic and ask what is the use of it I think I could tell you. You might
remember it when next some ordinary young workman is going to be hanged by the neck on circumstantial evidence."

I like the little knife point at the end!
And it seems to me that this essay could easily be called "GKC Explains."

It reminds me of an editing gaff I found once in a book, my own writing, unfortunately had been butchered, and I realized that no book, no article, can ever be perfect, for humans are working on it at every step of the way. A friend who pays attention to such detail recently related how he found two errors in his Bible. Things happen. Letters are overlooked, misprints happen. Remember that when you see spelling errors right here on the 'ole ACS Blogarooba, please.

Journalism 101-part Seven

I can tell that if I were Chesterton, trying to blog this, I'd have to figure out that "Read More" function so that this would have been one long post, and not broken up into bits. Then those who really were interested could read it all at once, and those who weren't would have new things to read.

When I get time next week, I'll investigate that "Read More" feature. Now, on with Chesterton's essay:

"He sits down desperately; the messenger rings at the bell; the children
drum on the door; the servants run up from time to time to say the
messenger is getting bored; and the pencil staggers along, making the
world a present of fifteen hundred unimportant words, and making
Shakespeare a present of a portion of Gray's Elegy; putting
"fantastic roots wreathed high" instead of "antique roots peep out."
Then the journalist sends off his copy and turns his attention to
the enigma of whether a brother should commandeer a sister's
necklace because the sister pinched him at Littlehampton. That is the
first scene; that is how an article is really written."

And that is no doubt, exactly how this particular article of Chesterton's was written (I originally wrote "scritten" a sort of combination of "scribbled" and "written" and I rather like that word!) which gives us a great idea of how his mind works, don't you think?

Journalism 101-part Six

Chesterton:
"Just as he is solving this problem upon principles of the highest
morality, it occurs to him suddenly that he has not written his
Saturday article; and that there is only about an hour to do it in.

He wildly calls to somebody (probably the gardener) to telephone to
somewhere for a messenger, he barricades himself in another room
and tears his hair, wondering what on earth he shall write about.

A drumming of fists on the door outside and a cheerful bellowing
encourage and clarify his thoughts; and he is able to observe some
newspapers and circulars in wrappers lying on the table. One is a
dingy book catalogue; the second is a shiny pamphlet about petrol;
the third is a paper called The Christian Commonwealth.

He opens it anyhow, and sees in the middle of a page a sentence
with which he honestly disagrees. It says that the sense of beauty in
Nature is a new thing, hardly felt before Wordsworth. A stream of
images and pictures pour through his head, like skies chasing each
other or forests running by. "Not felt before Wordsworth!" he thinks.
" Oh, but this won't do . . . bare ruined choirs where late the sweet
birds sang . . . night's candles are burnt out . . . glowed with living
sapphires . . . leaving their moon-loved maze . . . antique roots
fantastic . . . antique roots wreathed high . . . what is it in As You
Like It?"

This is not unlike some Gilbert columnists, who, they will recall, are coming up on a deadline (Feb. 5th) for whom I may remind that the editor is waiting, his hand at the door, ready to pounce, ready to maim any columnist who does not succeed in producing a column of no less that 900 words by Sunday! Sunday! That reminds me of Thursday, which is today. I think I need to go listen to some Mozart to straighten out my thinking so that I can work on my column and have something interesting to say...

Journalism 101-part FIVE

Chesterton:
"And now I will tell you exactly what really happened. It is honestly
rather amusing; it is a story of what journals and journalists really
are.

A monstrously lazy man lives in South Bucks partly by writing a
column in the Saturday Daily News. At the time he usually
writes it (which is always at the last moment) his house is
unexpectedly invaded by infants of all shapes and sizes.

His secretary is called away; and he has to cope with the invading pigmies. Playing
with children is a glorious thing; but the journalist in question has
never understood why it was considered a soothing or idyllic one. It
reminds him, not of watering little budding flowers, but of wrestling
for hours with gigantic angels and devils.

Moral problems of the most monstrous complexity besiege him incessantly. He has to decide
before the awful eyes of innocence, whether, when a sister has
knocked down a brother's bricks, in revenge for the brother
having taken two sweets out of his turn, it is endurable that the
brother should retaliate by scribbling on the sister's picture-book, and
whether such conduct does not justify the sister in blowing out the
brother's unlawfully lighted match."

I love this section! I could write columns like this, too....she took the gymnastics mat away and is using it for a fort! Well SHE said she'd play cards with me and now she won't. Well that's because we were playing chess, and she stopped in the middle because she saw I was winning! I did that because you looked at me like you knew you were going to win. Well, I was! Yeah, but you didn't have to look at me that way.....and on and on....

The Man Who Was Thursday on Audio

And soon, Orthodoxy.
Here's the scoop!

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