I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge my wife, Diana, for her help with Mater Dei Television. No, I'm not online yet, but as I work to get the signal up and going, Diana is very busy not only as a photographer but also as a stay-at-home-mom as we raise our three and a half young children. All of our children are under four years old. I don't know how she does it, but does it she does it and she does it well. Sometimes, while I'm working on a server or updating this blog or something, she handles the children by herself. This is no easy task, and thus I just wanted to take the time and say that I love her and appreciate all she does.
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Save St. Stephen's
A few months ago, I got onto the Una Voce website to get caught up on recent news when I came across a link to The Bernadette Fund, which was started to help defray the funeral costs of a little girl from St. Stephen's parish in Syracuse, NY who died suddenly from leukemia. I decided to follow this story for some unbeknownst reason and keep checking back to see what was going on. Last night, while finishing up some projects, I decided to do a search on St. Stephen's to see whether or not it was an Indult parish or a SSPX chapel.
It was an Indult parish, and it will soon be closing.
I started thinking that here is a family who is suffering so much; they just lost their daughter, the wife and mother is battling cancer herself, and now they get word that they'll be losing their parish and and the place they can go to the Traditional Latin Mass because the diocese has decided to close the parish altogether.
What gives?
I know bishops have a hard job to do; they basically are running a non-profit organization when they have to run a diocese of any size. But surely the bishop knows that when you see a Traditional Latin Mass community, you normally see a very, very tight-knit group of people. To just pull the rug out from underneath them and tell them they have to go somewhere else for the Traditional Latin Mass without giving them a place to go isn't even pastoral. There are some options, according to the commentary in the link above, but these people who are St. Stephen's parishioners are at St. Stephen's and not the "SSPX chapel across the street" for a reason...
It's their parish. It's their family. It's their home.
I'm sure some of them will wind up at a Novus Ordo, some of them may go to the Traditional Latin Mass down the road in Utica, and some might wind up over at the SSPX chapel across the street. But it won't be the same. It won't be St. Stephen's.
If some of these bishops were truly concerned about Traditional Catholics going to SSPX chapels and whatnot, they'd make it easier to go to the Traditional Latin Mass and not more difficult. Yes, I know there are always going to be times where it's not going to matter how often an Indult is offered and that you're not going to please everyone, and some people are just itching to have a reason to avoid an Indult Mass and go to a non-diocesan chapel to attend the Traditional Latin Mass, but to say that's the case across the board is just wrong. And if you're going to close a parish where there is an Indult Mass being offered, at least move it to another parish so the faithful to which Pope John Paul II was referring to in Ecclesia Dei would have a place to go. I think our beloved Holy Father of happy memory said "wide and generous" support for the Traditional Latin Mass.
In any case, they have started a Yahoo Group to join. If you have been able to save their Traditional Latin Mass from diocesan extinction in your neck-of-the-woods, sign up and give them some insight. Myself, I'm just a sympathizer, as I can only get to the Traditional Latin Mass once in awhile myself due to family commitments, and while I don't believe the Indult Mass in Indianapolis is going away anytime soon, I miss it so when I can't go. I'd go every day if I could (and during Lent in 2006, I went to Low Mass anywhere from three to five times a week - I miss it so).
And to have that opportunity taken away altogether would be devastating.
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
It was an Indult parish, and it will soon be closing.
I started thinking that here is a family who is suffering so much; they just lost their daughter, the wife and mother is battling cancer herself, and now they get word that they'll be losing their parish and and the place they can go to the Traditional Latin Mass because the diocese has decided to close the parish altogether.
What gives?
I know bishops have a hard job to do; they basically are running a non-profit organization when they have to run a diocese of any size. But surely the bishop knows that when you see a Traditional Latin Mass community, you normally see a very, very tight-knit group of people. To just pull the rug out from underneath them and tell them they have to go somewhere else for the Traditional Latin Mass without giving them a place to go isn't even pastoral. There are some options, according to the commentary in the link above, but these people who are St. Stephen's parishioners are at St. Stephen's and not the "SSPX chapel across the street" for a reason...
It's their parish. It's their family. It's their home.
I'm sure some of them will wind up at a Novus Ordo, some of them may go to the Traditional Latin Mass down the road in Utica, and some might wind up over at the SSPX chapel across the street. But it won't be the same. It won't be St. Stephen's.
If some of these bishops were truly concerned about Traditional Catholics going to SSPX chapels and whatnot, they'd make it easier to go to the Traditional Latin Mass and not more difficult. Yes, I know there are always going to be times where it's not going to matter how often an Indult is offered and that you're not going to please everyone, and some people are just itching to have a reason to avoid an Indult Mass and go to a non-diocesan chapel to attend the Traditional Latin Mass, but to say that's the case across the board is just wrong. And if you're going to close a parish where there is an Indult Mass being offered, at least move it to another parish so the faithful to which Pope John Paul II was referring to in Ecclesia Dei would have a place to go. I think our beloved Holy Father of happy memory said "wide and generous" support for the Traditional Latin Mass.
In any case, they have started a Yahoo Group to join. If you have been able to save their Traditional Latin Mass from diocesan extinction in your neck-of-the-woods, sign up and give them some insight. Myself, I'm just a sympathizer, as I can only get to the Traditional Latin Mass once in awhile myself due to family commitments, and while I don't believe the Indult Mass in Indianapolis is going away anytime soon, I miss it so when I can't go. I'd go every day if I could (and during Lent in 2006, I went to Low Mass anywhere from three to five times a week - I miss it so).
And to have that opportunity taken away altogether would be devastating.
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
Monday, May 28, 2007
It's Been Awhile...
Sorry it's been so long since an actual update. I got swamped with film transfer work. I'm working on the last little bit of it right now; the Russian guy at my day job who gave me a couple of reels to transfer a few weeks ago found three more fairly large reels to do, so add that to the 56 reels I did for a former colleague of mine, and that turns into a lot of work! That's OK...we need the money...
In any case, after one more job that I need to call someone on, I get to start getting this office/basement straightened up, swap my old desk for my new desk, and then I can bring the NEC server in here to start making the playlist server for Mater Dei Television.
Finally.
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
In any case, after one more job that I need to call someone on, I get to start getting this office/basement straightened up, swap my old desk for my new desk, and then I can bring the NEC server in here to start making the playlist server for Mater Dei Television.
Finally.
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Latest...
Good day! Just thought I'd touch base with anyone who's reading...
I got another batch of films to transfer the other day. This ought to be good, since there are a bunch of them and the friend I'm transferring them for is Catholic. I've not been able to actually view any of them yet, but they are all very well marked (which I'm finding out is quite rare into and of itself). Still, I'm going to ask him if I can use some of this footage for Mater Dei Television. The one that intrigued me was an ordination film of a relative. In any case, this will be a good gig. He works at a production company himself, and will be lending me a DVCAM deck to transfer all these films to so he can edit them himself. No editing. No authoring. Just transferring them and sending them to DVCAM tape. Nice!
I'm slowly but surely working on the garage now too. I got some things moved out of there today when I got somewhat mad about the fact that I can't seem to find anything in the garage anymore, and I know for a fact that we kind of need to get this converted to the new office space before the baby comes anyway. I found some sweet new connectors on eBay yesterday from a company called RapidRun. The cool thing about it is that I can run one particular kind of cable and connect up whichever connectors will be needed. For instance, if I decide after running the cable and hooking it up to BNC that I want component video instead, I change each end to component video, plug them into where I had the BNC connectors were before, and I'm good to go. This was exactly what I was looking for!
The idea is to actually have Mater Dei Television and DCA Multimedia working in the same space, albeit separately, to start with. Ideally, there'll also be a separate place to work on computers as well, plus my wife's workstation will be there too. The cool thing is that my wife also picked up a Mary statue for outside, and after some minor gardening (and renovation to the house), that statue will be just outside the door to the business! It doesn't get any better than that.
Gotta get that garage cleaned out first, though. Stay tuned!
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
I got another batch of films to transfer the other day. This ought to be good, since there are a bunch of them and the friend I'm transferring them for is Catholic. I've not been able to actually view any of them yet, but they are all very well marked (which I'm finding out is quite rare into and of itself). Still, I'm going to ask him if I can use some of this footage for Mater Dei Television. The one that intrigued me was an ordination film of a relative. In any case, this will be a good gig. He works at a production company himself, and will be lending me a DVCAM deck to transfer all these films to so he can edit them himself. No editing. No authoring. Just transferring them and sending them to DVCAM tape. Nice!
I'm slowly but surely working on the garage now too. I got some things moved out of there today when I got somewhat mad about the fact that I can't seem to find anything in the garage anymore, and I know for a fact that we kind of need to get this converted to the new office space before the baby comes anyway. I found some sweet new connectors on eBay yesterday from a company called RapidRun. The cool thing about it is that I can run one particular kind of cable and connect up whichever connectors will be needed. For instance, if I decide after running the cable and hooking it up to BNC that I want component video instead, I change each end to component video, plug them into where I had the BNC connectors were before, and I'm good to go. This was exactly what I was looking for!
The idea is to actually have Mater Dei Television and DCA Multimedia working in the same space, albeit separately, to start with. Ideally, there'll also be a separate place to work on computers as well, plus my wife's workstation will be there too. The cool thing is that my wife also picked up a Mary statue for outside, and after some minor gardening (and renovation to the house), that statue will be just outside the door to the business! It doesn't get any better than that.
Gotta get that garage cleaned out first, though. Stay tuned!
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
Thursday, May 10, 2007
New Clips!
I've been transferring a lot of film and a few videotapes over the last week. Much of this was to catch up after taking some classes on whatnot. In any case, after dubbing the U-Matic of my friend's pastor's ordination in 1975 (which had the upside of seeing this happen in a beautiful old cathedral but had the downside of realizing that guitar Mass was beginning to happen that early), I did some films for a guy on the southside of town, and two more films for a Russian friend of mine at my day job. Interesting stuff...
But then I got to delve into a project that I've been dying to do for quite awhile: The old family films of my dad's cousin. These have my dad on there at a very young age, and I believe there are some on there that have my great grandfather on them, too. Well worth it for this alone.
But the first one that I transferred from this group, I believe, had my great aunt on it. Sr. Petrona was a nun in the Congregation of St. Agnes, and she passed away in 2001. There were so many qualities about her that reminded me of my grandmother, but equally as important, she was always an excellent example for me in my faith. I've told people on more than one occasion, that while I listen to a lot of harder music, my "main influences" were my parents, both grandmothers, Sr. Petrona, Msgr. Tim Doody, and Fr. Joseph Hammes (and to a lesser extent, Fr. Matthew Spebar - I was about seven or eight when he passed away). These were the people who formed me in my faith, and helped me become the person I am today. Don't get me wrong; I love bands like Motorhead, but Lemmy (bassist/vocalist) never once gave me good advice. Granted I didn't actually know him, but still, the other people I listed really helped me to become the person I am today.
But I digress...
In any case, I found some footage of Sr. Petrona, and I hope to be able to work in into a clip or two. I mean, it's going to be transferred either way, but why not use it for something more?
The other thing that I found were a bunch of commercially made films. I haven't went through all of them, but I did go through the Castle Films Newsreel from 1946. There's some nice footage of Venerable Pius XII holding a consistory to elevate 32 archbishops to Cardinal. Among them, I believe, was Cardinal Spellman of New York, a man for whom I hold in high regard with much admiration. There's not much film of it, but enough to make a small clip to play in between shows. There are a few other of these commercial films I need to go through, and not all of them will be worthwhile I'm sure, but whatever else I can find I will transfer and edit into something useful for Mater Dei Television.
Until next time...
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
But then I got to delve into a project that I've been dying to do for quite awhile: The old family films of my dad's cousin. These have my dad on there at a very young age, and I believe there are some on there that have my great grandfather on them, too. Well worth it for this alone.
But the first one that I transferred from this group, I believe, had my great aunt on it. Sr. Petrona was a nun in the Congregation of St. Agnes, and she passed away in 2001. There were so many qualities about her that reminded me of my grandmother, but equally as important, she was always an excellent example for me in my faith. I've told people on more than one occasion, that while I listen to a lot of harder music, my "main influences" were my parents, both grandmothers, Sr. Petrona, Msgr. Tim Doody, and Fr. Joseph Hammes (and to a lesser extent, Fr. Matthew Spebar - I was about seven or eight when he passed away). These were the people who formed me in my faith, and helped me become the person I am today. Don't get me wrong; I love bands like Motorhead, but Lemmy (bassist/vocalist) never once gave me good advice. Granted I didn't actually know him, but still, the other people I listed really helped me to become the person I am today.
But I digress...
In any case, I found some footage of Sr. Petrona, and I hope to be able to work in into a clip or two. I mean, it's going to be transferred either way, but why not use it for something more?
The other thing that I found were a bunch of commercially made films. I haven't went through all of them, but I did go through the Castle Films Newsreel from 1946. There's some nice footage of Venerable Pius XII holding a consistory to elevate 32 archbishops to Cardinal. Among them, I believe, was Cardinal Spellman of New York, a man for whom I hold in high regard with much admiration. There's not much film of it, but enough to make a small clip to play in between shows. There are a few other of these commercial films I need to go through, and not all of them will be worthwhile I'm sure, but whatever else I can find I will transfer and edit into something useful for Mater Dei Television.
Until next time...
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
Friday, May 4, 2007
Jesus said some were born Gay?!?!?!?
Today, after picking up something just south of town from someone on my Freecycle list, I was driving to my job and passed a billboard with a picture of Jesus on it. The message said "Jesus said that some where born Gay" and gave the Scriptural reference of Matthew 19:10-12. That puzzled me, so when I got into work and fired up my laptop, I decided to look it up on VulSearch. Sure enough, someone at the church must have been smoking crack. Here's the verse...
"10 His disciples say unto him: If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry. 11 Who said to them: All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it." (DRV)
How in the hell can someone get that some people were born gay out of this passage? If anything, this clearly backs up Catholic teaching on celibacy more than makes a case for some being "born gay." Let's take a look at some inferior translations...
"10The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry." 11Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage[a]because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." (NIV)
"10 Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If this is the case, it is better not to marry!” 11“Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps. 12 Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry[a] for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
"10 His disciples say unto him: If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry. 11 Who said to them: All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother's womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it." (DRV)
How in the hell can someone get that some people were born gay out of this passage? If anything, this clearly backs up Catholic teaching on celibacy more than makes a case for some being "born gay." Let's take a look at some inferior translations...
"10The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry." 11Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage[a]because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." (NIV)
Footnotes:
- Matthew 19:12 Or have made themselves eunuchs
"10 Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If this is the case, it is better not to marry!” 11
Footnotes:
- Matthew 19:12 Greek and some make themselves eunuchs. (NLV - New Living Version)
"10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. 11 But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. 12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." (KJV)
Even the error-ridden King James Version of the Bible doesn't make this claim. How are they making the jump in between the Church's age-old teaching on celibacy and being born gay? It's not the same!!!
And thus it comes back to my original question: Was someone smoking crack when they made that jump?ICTM,
Chuck, MI
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Finals are over...
...for the old man known as "Chuck, MI." I'm pretty sure that I got an A in my Computer Science course (since I only missed 15 points the entire semester and there were things in the class I did roughly 10 years ago). My Journalism class was a little harder. I'm hoping I got an A on that one. I really enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy school nearly as much the first go around I had at Purdue back in '89 to '94. I felt that learning journalism, even just how to interview people, was well worth the whole semester, and is going to make Mater Dei Television in the long run.
My professor was a guy named Hank Nuwer, and he's a well known expert on hazing. Hank, if you're reading this, thanks for everything.
Now, to get this signal up and online. The decoder card for the playlist server is on the way, along with the capture card for the video streamer. Hopefully, I'm right about that ECS motherboard with the ATI Radeon 9250SE AGP card, and the only reason it's freezing up is because I don't have the apature set correctly in the BIOS. I hope. Still haven't figured out whether the quad-processor server is going to handle the playlist, the Windows Media Encoder, or the MPEG-2 transport stream.
Stay tuned! We're close!
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
My professor was a guy named Hank Nuwer, and he's a well known expert on hazing. Hank, if you're reading this, thanks for everything.
Now, to get this signal up and online. The decoder card for the playlist server is on the way, along with the capture card for the video streamer. Hopefully, I'm right about that ECS motherboard with the ATI Radeon 9250SE AGP card, and the only reason it's freezing up is because I don't have the apature set correctly in the BIOS. I hope. Still haven't figured out whether the quad-processor server is going to handle the playlist, the Windows Media Encoder, or the MPEG-2 transport stream.
Stay tuned! We're close!
ICTM,
Chuck, MI
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