Nederlands - World Cup 2006 Dreams End

The Netherlands (no, I didn't spell the name in the title wrong; that's how they actually spell it...) lost to Portugal today by a score of 1-0 in the World Cup soccer tournament. Celebrating my Dutch heritage, I was cheering them on and hoping for the best (I at least wanted them to make it to the quarterfinals). However, Portugal has squashed my hopes for this year, and having the US and Holland out of the Cup finals, I have no teams left to cheer for but Italy (the country surrounding our beloved Vatican City) and Brazil (the country with the world's largest Catholic population). My prediction for the 2006 champions: Brazil.

Today's game was hard-fought, and it was amazing how sweaty everyone was (including the ref!). It was a humid 88°F, and I think that may have had something to do with the flaring tempers and the four 'almost-fights' in the second half (two men from each side received red cards throughout the game). The Netherlands seemed to dominate most of the game (they had the ball over 60% of the game, and had numerous scoring opportunities), but Portugal capitalized on one great chance, and played an aggressive defensive game during the second half (they had one less player most of the half).

Hopefully the Dutch (and the US, for that matter!) fare better next time. Until then, The KGB Lions soccer team will be working on making it to the CYC men's league finals!

Yikes! Bandwidth Almost Exceeded...

I received in my mailbox this morning:

"Please be aware that you've exceeded 75% of your .Mac data transfer quota for the current period. At the current rate you may exceed your quota, especially if you have received this email towards the start of a two-week monitoring period (the 1st or the 16th of the month)."

So, I've moved the Duel of the Seminarians video file to another server, and I have made the 'Watch the Movie' page a little less bandwidth-intense, by simply putting three links: one for a Google Video version, one for a YouTube version, and one for a direct video download.

It takes quite a bit to keep video files online! I guess that's why most people put them on video-sharing services... but I still don't like the making people go to a place like YouTube very often; there's a lot of bad stuff there.

Christpower 2006 at the Seminary

I am currently at the 'Christpower' retreat at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, and this is my first time. One thing that amazes me is the energy and enthusiasm with which almost two hundred teenagers can go out in the community and help others—and they pay to do it!

There are, of course, fun activities planned during the evenings, but the majority of the teens' time is spent at different locations in the Archdiocese rehabbing houses, helping the mentally disabled, playing with sick children, ministering at different places, and doing maintenance jobs. It is truly inspiring to see so many youth involved in this. We have almost 200 teens this week, 100 next week, and there are similar numbers signed up for a similar event held by the Youth Office!

If you haven't yet seen the 'Duel of the Seminarians,' check it out in the blog posting below, or on the video's website.

UPDATED: "Duel of the Seminarians" - KGD 2006 Video

As promised, I have posted the video I've been working on for the past three weeks. If you can't tell by the title, it is a video involving lightsabers and seminarians (inside the Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, nonetheless!).

You can go to the website for the video by clicking here.

[UPDATE: You can now watch the video directly in the blog posting... Click on the video's 'play' button below:]

At Kenrick-Glennon Days

Being without Internet access for three days has made me think about how much I go online... Perhaps a 3-day retreat from any online activity every month (or, heck, every week!) should be madated; it makes you realize that you have a few more hours of free time on your hands during the day, which is a great blessing (at least, for me).

Since Saturday night, the Internet's been down at the Seminary, after there was a massive line of storms training on the St. Louis area (our power was knocked out around 8 p.m. that night, until Sunday morning, right in time for Mass). The Kenrick-Glennon Days summer camps hosted by the St. Louis Office of Vocations have been a great success so far, as has the video I've worked on for the past two weeks feverishly (I'll be posting it online very soon).

The Office of Vocations is also hosting 'Christpower' in a week's time. Christpower is a service retreat for highschoolers who are interested in not only helping the community, but also getting to know themselves and their own vocation more intimately.

To end, here's a picture I recently snapped of one of the Seminary's hawks (we think there are 4 nesting on our grounds):

New Podcast - Meditations from Carmel

There is a new podcast from the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites and the Nuns at the Carmel of St. Joseph in St. Louis, Missouri, which teaches (through weekly episodes) Carmelite spirituality through short (2-5 minute) meditations from Carmelite saints. The podcasts are great for quick meditations, and I was especially glad to see the website and podcast were made and maintained using iWeb and GarageBand (the site is hosted on .Mac, as this blog is)!

Here is their press release:

Celebrating the greatness of the Holy Spirit on this holy feast day of Pentecost, the Order of Carmel Discalced Secular in St. Louis, Missouri invite you to the launch of their new website and downloadable Podcast!

As part of our new apostolate, we invite you to learn more about Carmelite Spirituality through listening to short meditations we have put together which come directly from the treasury of writings of the great Carmelite Saints including St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, St. Teresa of the Andes, Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, St. Teresa Benedicta and many more.

The audio from these Podcasts can be downloaded onto your computer or MP3 player, and you may store the meditations on an iPod or CD and to enjoy them wherever you go. There will be a new episode listed every week and to help keep you alerted to EVERY new Meditation, we have provided an RSS link so you won't miss a broadcast! Please visit us at:

http://www.stl-ocds.org

Caption Contest

"Crouching Squirrel, Hidden Dragon"

Think you can do better? Post your title in the comments below.

This squirrel puzzles me; first he had his stint as the 'Evil Squirrel' who ate all our birdseed and broke two birdfeeders (we have won for now, though, using some duct tape and a gallon milk carton jug to keep him off the feeder...). But he's now crouching on the ground and 'sneaking' around while doing so. I've never seen this sort of behavior before!

Been a while...

Well, it's been quite a while since my last posting... I haven't had too much time since then to work on many things like my blog, as I am preparing for the Seminary's upcoming Kenrick-Glennon Days summer camp for young men who have some interest in the priesthood. I'm working on a special few videos for the camp that we will be playing for introductions, and these videos have taken a lot of my spare time!

Some quick updates: The Priestie Boyz are wrapping up recording for their album Lost in Ecstasy - the last recording session will be early next week, and I'll have more information once the CD is released. I will be attending both of this year's Steubenville Mid-America events in about a month. The Cardinal Glennon College is holding it's 2nd Annual Trivia Night on July 29th, 2006 (bring all your friends and reserve a table!). My Vista Delay Counter has been posted on Apple's Widgets website (check it out!).

Other than that, I am glad to be able to focus on more than academics, and my year-end retreat a couple weeks ago gave me a lot of spiritual food for though (and prayer!). Please pray for an end to abortion, and for all the innocent lives lost because of cloning and euthenasia.