Kenrick-Glennon Seminary Lions Soccer Schedule

I'm very sorry I haven't put this online sooner, but I've been a bit preoccupied lately... The Kenrick-Glennon Lions have begun their Fall 2008 soccer season with both a victory and a defeat; one game we beat the opponent 2-1, and the other game, well, we lost. Don't ask the score.

You can find the schedule for the rest of our season on this CYC web page, but it basically says we have a game every Sunday from now until November 30 at 2:45 p.m. on the Seminary's soccer field. There is no bye week this year, so you're bound to see a game if you come out on any given Sunday.

Converting HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs for Mac or PC Viewing

I just posted an article on this site concerning the insanity known as converting high-definition movies from HD-DVD or Blu-Ray to Quicktime compatible files. The most annoying thing about the process of doing this conversion is the immensity of the data involved. Typically the process will gobble up 40-60 GB of hard drive space per movie, until you're finished. You can compress down to about an 8 GB file if you want, keeping the surround sound and very good quality video, but I've decided to keep the original video tracks so I can re-convert them in the future, if need be, to a better format.

I'm still working on the end result, though. I want to be able to playback the uncompressed source files in Quicktime, but so far the best I can do is a stuttering playback using Perian—it will try playing the VC-1 encoded video, but do a fairly poor job at it. The best program I've found for doing this is Plex (a media player/interface, like Front Row), but Plex isn't the perfect solution for what I want to do...

I've yet to buy any Blu-Ray movies, simply because the movies and players for them are too expensive; $25 for a movie that I could get for $5-10 on DVD doesn't work for me, and there aren't that many that I'd be interested in anyways. I bought the Bourne Trilogy, Planet Earth, the Mission: Impossible Trilogy and a few other HD-DVDs for a bargain-basement price, and bought an Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive (uses USB 2.0 and plays nice with Mac/PC) for less than 1/10 of it's original price, and I have to say, once you go High-Def, you cringe every time you look closely at DVD playback!

Pictures from Solemn High Mass at the "Old Kenrick" Seminary

I have posted pictures from the Solemn High Mass held during a day-long workshop on the Extraordinary Form of the Holy Mass, which was celebrated in the "Old Kenrick" St. Vincent De Paul Chapel. Now the Cardinal Rigali Center (housing the Archdiocesan offices), the chapel used to serve the students and faculty of the Kenrick School of Theology, the Archdiocese's major seminary. The chapel is built using choir stalls, and is ornately decorated with wood carvings and beautiful stained glass. Click here to see all the pictures.

Papal Honors ("Monsignor") Bestowed on 28 St. Louis Priests

A list of 28 priests of the Saint Louis Archdiocese was released today, indicating those who were given papal honors. A more detailed explanation of what all this means is given on the Archdiocesan Website. Here's a replication of the list on that website of those receiving the different honors:

Protonotrary Apostolic Supernumerary

• Monsignor James R. Hartnett
• Monsignor Louis F. Meyer
• Monsignor Charles J. Forst
• Monsignor Richard J. Lubeley

Prelate of Honor to His Holiness

• Reverend William L. Leach
• Reverend Patrick J. O'Laughlin
• Monsignor John J. Leykam
• Reverend Timothy P. Cronin

Chaplain to His Holiness

• Reverend Joseph M. Simon
• Reverend John M. Costello
• Reverend James P. Callahan
• Reverend Michael E. Dieckmann
• Reverend A. John Schuler
• Reverend Gregory R. Mikesch
• Reverend John J. Borcic
• Reverend Richard E. Hanneke
• Reverend Vincent R. Bommarito
• Reverend Daniel E. Mosley
• Reverend Dennis R. Stehly
• Reverend John J. Brennell
• Reverend Mark C. Ullrich
• Reverend Matthew M. Mitas
• Reverend William W. McCumber
• Reverend James J. Ramacciotti
• Reverend Edward M. Rice
• Reverend Jeffrey N. Knight
• Reverend Michael T. Butler
• Reverend C. Eugene Morris

Congratulations, Monsignors!

The First Pitch at the Cards vs. Cubs Game [UPDATED]

[UPDATE: I've added the above pictures... special thanks to Mark Kempf (the St. Louis Review photographer)!]

I just returned from the Cards vs. Cubs ball game (a good game, but an unfortunate loss) at which I had the privilege of throwing out the first pitch. The Serra Club (a huge supporter of vocations in St. Louis, The US, and around the world) wanted to have a seminarian throw out the first pitch at their annual 'Serra Club Night at the Ballpark,' and I was picked in a random drawing about a month ago. I had to practice a bit to get my pitch back 'in the zone,' and was lucky to have a pitching coach (Zach Edgar) here at the seminary, who also graciously took a few pictures for me.

I threw the pitch to Brian Barton, a Cardinals outfielder who happened to make a nice catch in the bottom of the eighth inning. I was very nervous when I headed out to the field, as I thought someone would be telling me where exactly to go (which didn't happen). Well, I pitched from the stretch (I was always more comfortable pitching from the stretch anyways!), and threw it on the inside bottom corner (for a right-handed batter). Fredbird called it an out, but I was just glad I didn't go a little wild and nail Fredbird in the head!

I was happy to see not only my family and best friend, but also a ton of people I haven't seen in a while, including a high school physics teacher and some other faculty from De Smet Jesuit High School. I hope to get a few more pictures from the field soon (the St. Louis Review Staff Photographer, Mark Kempf), but for now, this picture will do:

I was also fortunate to get Barton to sign the ball I pitched, as well as receiving a vintage Cardinals hat with autographs from Red Schoendienst and Stan Musial from the Serra Club! It was a night I'll remember for quite some time! Now, I think it's time to go to bed. I have some pictures from the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition reveal earlier today, but I haven't had time to sort through them...

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Pictures and Observations from St. Louis, MO

At long last, I have found some time to post my photos of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition St. Louis house build. Located in the heart of Shrewsbury, the Martirez family's home (see their story here) was completely torn down and rebuilt in six days! I have pictures from most of the major exterior portions of the project, and I'll post them with my observations on the project.

On September 3 (last Wednesday), the Seminarians received an email about Extreme Makeover coming to the Shrewsbury area, and the first signs of their presence were all the barricades and police patrols around the streets of our relatively small town. Luckily the main thoroughfares between the Seminary and main roads were still passable, so we haven't had too much trouble getting around in our cars.

Well, the house was destroyed quite quickly on the 5th (Friday) at noon. I, unfortunately, had prior obligations. From other seminarians, I learned that the demolition was quite a sight, and the house was gone within a very short time. I was able to visit the site later in the evening Friday, and all I saw was a large pit in the ground, and a couple bulldozers taking away tons of dirt. Dump trucks were lined up and ready to receive the dirt in a very efficient manner. Within an hour or so of taking this picture, the hole was mostly done, and preparations for pouring the foundation were begun.

Well, I visited again Saturday night, and I was amazed by what I saw—the walls of the house were already in place, and the roof was just being put on as I arrived. Within 40 minutes, all the structure of the roof was in place! You can see in the above picture one of the main trusses being put on the house; the crane operator was quite efficent at his task, as he was lifting two pre-fabbed trusses over the power lines at a time. I'm sure a few safety violations occurred... but it's all in the name of charity, right?

The next day I returned, and the house's main structure was practically complete. As you can see, work on the interior was already beginning in earnest.

I think this picture (from Sunday night, I think) illustrates the kind of cooperation and efficiency under which this project was completed. These bricklayers (along with their support team, mixing mortar and delivering more stones) went from the bottom to the top of the side wall in less than two hours!

Throughout the whole project, a time-lapse camera (it might've even been recording every frame to a hard drive, for all I know) was sitting on the roof of a man's house across the street. This camera and another mounted on the telephone pole in front of the house were omnipresent, capturing everything that happened on the jobsite. I'd hate to have to be the one managing all the media this project requires—it's probably all done in HD, too! They were using Canon and Panasonic cameras, for the most part, with some 'Wexler' wireless equipment.

Yesterday (Tuesday the 3rd), the windows had been installed by early afternoon, and the exterior of the house was practically finished, with minor touch-ups and decorative detail remaining to be done. The house has a unique style, but, fortunately for the neighborhood, it isn't wildly different than the rest of the houses in size or style. I'm sure the interior will be quite a bit more roomy, though!

The home is now complete, with only the smallest details remaining. Rooms are finished, furniture is in, and people are already bringing signs and snacks, camping out for the ~1:00 p.m. "Move that bus!" reveal. It's been a crazy week on that block, but I'm sure things will turn out wonderfully for the Martinerez family. It's been awesome talking to a lot of the Shrewsbury residents who I would otherwise never have known. So many people volunteered for this project—a fact that is typically lost to the viewers—and I've never seen this kind of community involvement in any other project.

It's definitely an experience I won't forget, and I hope you've enjoyed my pictures. You can view the full set of pictures (from all the times I visited) by visiting my Extreme Makeover pictures page or clicking on any of the pictures in this blog post. I have heard that the episode featuring the Martinerez family will air in late October or early November (although I could be wrong) - make sure to watch the show on ABC on Sundays at 6 p.m. (central)!

T.S. Eliot's Words—Echoing through the 20th Century...

In some of my reading this evening, I chanced upon this quotable from T.S. Eliot (page 77, Christianity and Culture):

"Any machinery, however beautiful to look at and however wonderful a product of brains and skill, can be used for bad purposes as well as good: and this is as true of social machinery as of constructions of steel. I think that, more important than the invention of a new machine, is the creation of a temper of mind in people such that they can learn to use a new machine rightly. More important still at the moment would be the diffusion of knowledge of what is wrong—morally wrong—and of why it is wrong."

In some ways, his writings seem out of date, but in other ways, he seems to be able to hit the nail on the head. The Church in the Vatican II Council basically says the same thing, only about modern communications networks, in the decree Inter Mirifica.

There and Back Again - A MacBook Pro's Tale

Well, after almost two weeks, my MacBook Pro is back. Had a little video processor trouble—the laptop wouldn't even boot! Now that it's back, I can resume blogging, emailing, etc... not that I was out of the loop, but it's just a little harder not using your own computer to do all these things.

Well, since my last post, the school year has gotten further underway, and I'm very excited about this semester's classes—especially Catholic Apologetics! Also, just down the street from the Seminary, ABC decided they'd remodel a house for their Extreme Makeover: Home Edition television show. You can follow along with their progress on the official Extreme Makeover St. Louis site, and also via occasional updates in my Twitter feed on the blog's sidebar.

Tomorrow will be my first Sunday at St. James the Greater parish in Dogtown, St. Louis—wish me luck!