Seven Quick Takes around the Interwebs

Linking up with Jen.

Power Hungry: The Ultimate Energy Bar Cookbook looks amazing and I must get my hands on it. It looks like a lifesaver for moms with little kids. (via food in jars)

Clearly the best April Fools' Prank of the year: Dominicana stages a hostile takeover of The Jesuit Post, but not without retaliation. Jesuit jokes ensue.

This amazing video of Benedict Cumberbatch photobombing Bono set to the Jaws theme. (photo here).

Thirty Most Unnecessary Uses of Quotation Marks. Set down your drink before you read this one.

This sign is actually pretty accurate

Holly sent over the link to these amazing posters of great Catholic thinkers. If I had a school room (or, you know, kids who could read), I'd be all over these. I just love it when Catholic media actually has good design and high production values.

Italian nuns make sure brides have the dress of their dreams.I just want to hug them all.

And, saving the longer read for last, "Saving Catholic Culture from Destruction":

The second departure has been an unfortunate reduction of our understanding of the parish church and associated buildings—that is, the physical nucleus from which the very life of the parish is nurtured and reinforced—to that of a simple collection of utilitarian assets and liabilities that are always up for potential negotiation. A common justification for such an undermining of the importance of sacred place in Catholic life is the assertion, ad nauseam, that the Church is the people of God and not a building. 

This, of course, is entirely true, but was there ever really a time when faithful Catholics thought otherwise? This straw man argument has been used in recent decades to such an extent, that many have come to think the worship environment is a place no different than any other. In a short two or three generations, the “just a building” mantra has enabled the infliction of so extensive a devastation upon the physical fabric of the Catholic world—through careless loss, senseless disfigurement, and introduction of novel forms of banality—that it would cause any outside enemy of Christendom to simply sit back with folded hands and smile.

Five Favorite Songs for Kids (that won't drive you crazy)

I don't have a huge tolerance for kid's music, and even less so when you add a healthy dose of cabin fever. Add the fact that three-year-olds have to listen to every favorite song ad nauseam (did a toddler invent the "Repeat 1" function?), and it's just best for sanity if we stick to a playlist we can all agree on. Here's what's on our speakers at the moment.

1) Louis Prima
"Jump, Jive, an' Wail" is a perpetual favorite, of course, but his novelty songs are the real hit with kids. "Banana Split for My Baby" and "Whistle Stop" are favorites here. (Fair warning: "Beep! Beep! Beep!" might actually drive you crazy. Listen to it yourself before you're getting demands to play it twenty times in a row.)


Also: Glenn Miller. Because he sings about choo-choos, of course!

2) Django Reinhardt
Old-school "gypsy guitar" jazz that feels like the soundtrack for a one of those '30s black-and-white cartoons where the background characters are dancing all the time. Sure to put a little spring in your step.


Also: "Time Out" (and "Time Further Out" by Dave Brubeck. This album will either make warp your kids' sense of rhythm for life, or make them musical geniuses. I'm not sure which, but it sure is fun.

3)The Four Seasons by Vivaldi
This was one of the Bean's very favorite YouTube videos for a long time. Besides, couldn't we all use a little more spring and summer right now?


Also: Holst's Planets. If you're in the mood for classical, but a bit more intense. This is probably where John Williams got a bunch of his ideas for the "Star Wars" soundtrack.

4) American Graffiti Soundtrack
The Bean has an old alarm clock among his toys, and he has to grab it every time this song comes on. Maybe this will be the song that teaches him to read numbers?


Also: The Lion Sleeps Tonight, to teach them to sing in parts. :-)

5) The Beach Boys
Do you wanna dance? You know you do.

Also: The Beatles, of course. I've got a playlist of about 50 songs the Bean likes. "1"has a pretty good mix of early stuff, though it's missing "When I'm Sixty-Four" and "Here Comes the Sun," alas.