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Pro's and Con's of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

PROS:

Great ticket system. If you have a will-call ticket, you can go to any ticket venue at the site and when the venue is 2 1/5 miles around this is a life saver. There they take your info and print out your ticket in a few seconds--excellent service.

Good parking. I consistently am able to park within a 1/4 mile of one of the entrances and pay $10, compare that to parking about 3/4 of a mile from Daytona and paying $40.

Easy in and Easy out. Again I encountered no traffic coming in or leaving--but then I am not a sheep and do not park or drive where everyone else does. But again in contrast to Daytona (where the shortcuts I used to know, now are apparently known by everyone) it took close to two hours to even begin to move.

Civilized Crowd. This is Indiana and apart from the three idiots--two women who did rebel yells as loud as they could toward each other throughout the race, and the fat 30+ year old guy who didn't know anything about NASCAR but kept yelling all the lines from Talladega Nights that he learned-- for the most part you're dealing with a classier crowd than you are at Michigan or Daytona (I've had a similar experience at Atlanta--classier crowd--but it could be that it was 35 degrees on the day of the race).

Great Soundsystem. Indy is about the only track I've ever been to where you can actually hear the announcer during the race.

CONS

Lousy Concession Stands. Usual crap food, long lines and stragegically place about an 1/8 of mile between stands. If want a grilled chicken sandwich, you are out of luck. I did get an excellent cob of sweet corn though in the infield (with no line). This actually is something that most NASCAR tracks have in common, I'm trying hard to think of any track I've been to that had anything like what you can find at most baseball stadiums now.

Lousy Racing. The thing about Indy is once the race starts the show is over. I used to think that the Indy 500 was boring because no one passed--but if NASCAR only raced at tracks like Indy and not at Daytona, Talladega and Bristol it would soon have very few fans. Watching one lap of racing followed by 90 laps of follow the leader is not all that exciting to watch in 90 degree, sun in your face with the rebel yell screaming broads behind you. Here's my take--bank the turns like Daytona--then you can build stands all the way around the track because then you'll actually have a competitive race.

Archaeologist's work may make case for 'Georgia martyrs'

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Are these the relics of a prospective saint, or just the bones of another
sinner? Time — along with some forensic investigation, a little DNA analysis and some luck — may tell.

A half-century after the skull was unearthed at the site of a former Spanish mission near Darien, and 20 years after the Diocese of Savannah proposed beatification for the "Georgia martyrs," science and religion have found a common bond in their curiosity about the weathered remains.

"Without any living relatives, there is little chance of being very definitive about the identity," says Stojanowski. "But there are some tests that can narrow the possibilities."

That prospect has persuaded Harkins, historian at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, and the official "vice postulator" for the Cause of the Georgia Martyrs, to spend a little of the faithful's money on a scientific long shot.

"The case for beatification of the Georgia martyrs is a historical one, and it will be accepted or rejected by the Vatican on the basis of the historical record," Harkins says.

The Transfiguration

From Pope Benedict's Angelus:

“On the transfigured face of Jesus shone a ray of the divine light that He guarded within. This very light radiates on the face of Christ on the day of the Resurrection. Thus, the Transfiguration is like an anticipation of the Paschal mystery... The... Resurrection overcame once and for all the power of the shadow of evil. With the risen Christ, truth and love triumph over deceit and sin. In Him, the light of God now illuminates the life of men and the path of history permanently. ‘I am the light of the world,’ He says in the Gospel. ‘Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’ (Jn 8:12).”

Talladega Nights Makes Fun of NASCAR but Blasphemes Jesus

I'm a big NASCAR fan--will be at the Brickyard tomorrow and have already been to Daytona and Michigan races earlier this year. So I went to see Talladega Nights like a lot of other people last night in a sold out showing.
On the face of it the movie is mildly funny with long stretches in between laughs. The plot is very similar to Anchorman where the hot shot dumb guy is replaced with someone who is marginalized but more talented and the former star ends up in the gutter until he has a miraculous comeback. Much of the humor is based on Ricky Bobby's stupidity and no doubt based on Hollywood's stereotype of the Southern U.S. But the character of Ricky Bobby is inconsistent and perhaps the longest stick in the movie centers on him saying grace to "baby Jesus" with a great discourse that as I said in the headline borders on blasphemy.
Now first of all southern Baptist don't pray to the baby Jesus, in fact Catholics are the only organized group that has this devotion. Mother Angelica's Monastery in Alabama is dedicated to the baby Jesus (and I wondered if that wasn't the source of this bit) and is not too far from Talladega where some parts of the movie were filmed on location.
I'm sick of something sacred to those who believe, like I do, that Jesus is the Son of God, being used as a vehicle of ridicule. You won't see Hollywood ridicule Arabs and their faith in Allah or see Mohammad being mocked. Why? Because radical Moslem fundamentalist would blow up the theaters and the studios.
Christians have been taught to turn the other cheek, by Jesus. That has to make the movie makers happy. But Christian's who believe that Jesus is their savior shouldn't waste a dime on Talladega Nights.

Theologian Found Dead

From All Africa.com:

A Catholic theologian was found dead in unclear circumstances at the Catholic University of Central Africa last Saturday.

Father Patrick Adeso was professor at the university and a consultant of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People. He was also the national chaplain of the Charismatic Renewal Movement in Cameroon.

His body was found in his room at the campus of the university in the eastern suburbs of the Cameroonian capital, according to media reports. MISNA reported that the door of his office was locked from inside and there was no sign that there had been violence.

The 55-year-old priest of Kumo Diocese was buried on Tuesday.

Catholic Relief Rejects Openly Gay Priest Volunteer

I know the priest. When a good friend of mine was a seminarian for Syracuse, Fr. Daley was the vocation director.

From Syracuse.Com:

A priest of the Syracuse Diocese says Catholic Relief Services has dismissed him from its volunteer program in Africa because he is gay.

"They said I was an openly gay priest with a high profile. They said a controversial figure would not be in their best interests," said the Rev. Fred Daley, 58.

Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Costello said he was disappointed by the decision.