The great Jewish feast of Pesach (or Passover) continues, which started last evening at sundown. Today is the Optional Memorial of Saint George, Martyr (died about 304) and the Optional Memorial of Saint Adalbert of Prague, Bishop and Martyr (died 997). Today is the Second Day of the two-day Lyrid Meteor Shower, and today is also World Book and Copyright Day.
In Israel Passover lasts for seven days with the first and last days being major Jewish holidays. In Orthodox and Conservative communities no work is performed on those days, with most of the rules relating to the observances of Shabbat being applied, and a seder is held on the first day. Outside Israel, in Orthodox and Conservative communities, the holiday lasts for eight days with the first two days and last two days being major holidays; a seder is conducted twice, on both the first and second days. In the intermediate days necessary work can be performed. Reform Judaism observes Passover over seven days, with the first and last days being a major holidays, and the first day being when the Seder is held. Like the holiday of Sukkot, the intermediary days of Passover are known as Chol HaMoed (festival weekdays) and are imbued with a semi-festive status. It is a time for family outings and picnic lunches of matzo, hard boiled eggs, fruits and vegetables, and Passover treats such as macaroons and homemade candies. All that is known for sure of Saint George, Martyr (died about 304) is that he was a soldier and a martyr, who died about 304; the rest is legend. The best known story of him is from the Golden Legend (1260), which relates that a dragon lived in a lake near Silena, Libya. Whole armies had gone up against this fierce creature, and had gone down in painful defeat. The monster ate two sheep each day; when mutton was scarce, lots were drawn in local villages, and maidens were substituted for sheep. Into this country came Saint George. Hearing the story on a day when a princess was to be eaten, he crossed himself, rode to battle against the serpent, and killed it with a single blow with his lance. George then held forth with a magnificent sermon, and converted the locals. Given a large reward by the king, George distributed it to the poor, then rode away. Due to his chivalrous behavior (protecting women, fighting evil, dependence on faith and might of arms, largesse to the poor, and not being eaten by dragons), devotion to Saint George became popular in Europe after the 10th century. In the 15th century his feast day was as popular and as important as Christmas. He is the Patron Saint of England; the celebrated Knights of the Garter are actually Knights of the Order of Saint George. The shrine built for his relics at Lydda, Palestine was a popular point of pilgrimage for centuries. We also honor Saint Adalbert of Prague, Bishop and Martyr (died 997). Born about 957 in Libice nad Cidlinou, Bohemia (part of modern Czech Republic) with the name of Vojtěch, he was of the Bohemian nobility. Going into religion, he took the name of Saint Adalbert of Magdeburg, the archbishop who had educated and converted him, after his mentor’s death. He was made Bishop of Prague (in the modern Czech Republic in 982. A friend of Emperor Otto III, the new bishop encouraged the evangelization of the Magyars. Opposed by the nobility in Prague and unpopular in the area, he withdrew to Rome, Italy and became a Benedictine monk, making his vows in 990; Pope John XV sent him back to Prague, where he met more opposition from the nobility, and returned to Rome. There being no hope of his working in Prague, he was allowed to (unsuccessfully) evangelize in Pomerania, Poland, Prussia, Hungary, and Russia. He and his fellow missionaries were martyred by Prussians near Koenigsberg (Danzig) at the instigation of a pagan priest. He is the Patron Saint of Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, and Prussia. The Lyrid Meteor Shower (its radiant located in the constellation Lyra) normally peaks on this date, with, under optimal conditions, five to ten meteors of magnitude +2 per hour, not counting the occasional “Lyrid fireballs”, which can cast shadows for a split second and leave behind smoky debris trails that last for minutes. A strong Lyrid shower was observed by the Chinese in 687 BCE. Today is also World Book and Copyright Day, a yearly event organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright. The date had been used by Catalonian booksellers since 1923 to celebrate the works of the author Miguel de Cervantes, who died on this date in 1616 according to the Gregorian Calendar (the one we now use). In 1995 UNESCO decided that World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on this date because of the Catalonian festival and because the date is also the anniversary of the birth and death of William Shakespeare. (However, because during the lifetime of Shakespeare England was still using the Julian calendar, he actually died ten days after Cervantes.)
Last night I finished reading The Cat Who Smelled a Rat by Lilian Jackson Braun (Ebook).
Richard fed the cats, went to drink coffee, and came home. I woke up at 9:00 am, posted to Facebook that today was the Second Day of the two-day Lyrid Meteor Shower, and posted to Facebook that today was World Book and Copyright Day. I did my Book Devotional Reading, and did my Book Review for this Weblog and for my Goodread and Facebook accounts for The Cat Who Smelled a Rat by Lilian Jackson Braun (Ebook). I addressed, signed, and put out for the mail a Birthday Card for Richard’s sister Susan in Iowa, and ate my breakfast toast and read the Acadiana Advocate out on the porch. I did my Internet Devotional Reading, and Richard watered and showered the butterfly garden and the porch plants. I leaf blowed the porch, watered and showered the porch plants, and sat on the porch and continued reading Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel. I then did several Advance Daily Update Drafts for this weblog. I watched Jeopardy! and News, and Richard and I ate red beans and rice with cornbread and watched The Great Ziegfeld (1936), which won Best Picture, Best Actress (Luise Rainer, playing Anna Held), and Best Dance Direction; it also featured Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, and Fanny Brice. Meanwhile, the Full Moon arrived at 6:48 pm. In sports, our #6 LSU Lady Tigers lost their Away College Softball game with the #25 University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin Cajuns by the score of 4 to 9; our #6 LSU Lady Tigers (35-11, 11-10) will be playing the first game of a three-game three-day Home SEC College Softball series with the #15 Arkansas Razorbacks (32-12, 11-17) on Friday, April 26th. And our LSU Tigers won their Home College Baseball game with the Nicholls State Colonels by the score of 9 to 0; our LSU Tigers (26-16, 5-13) will be playing the first game of a three-game three-day Home SEC College Baseball series with the Auburn Tigers (20-20, 2-16) on Friday, April 26th. And I will now finish this Daily Update, do some reading, and go to bed.
Tomorrow is the Optional Memorial of Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr (died 1622). Tomorrow is the forty-second Anniversary of when Richard and I first met (1982). I will be doing my Laundry and the Weekly Computer Maintenance and Virus Scan. At the NBA Playoffs – First Round, our New Orleans Pelicans will be playing an Away game with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, April 24th, with the series at 0 and 1 in favor of the Thunder.
Our Parting Quote on this Tuesday evening comes to us from Richard Corliss, American film critic (died 2015). Born in 1944 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he attended St. Joseph’s College, Philadelphia (now Saint Joseph’s University), obtaining a bachelor’s degree, before progressing to Columbia University to earn a master’s degree in film studies. Corliss resided in New York City with his wife, Mary Yushak, formerly a curator in the Film Stills Archive of the Museum of Modern Art. He wrote for many magazines, including the National Review from 1966–1970, The New Times, Maclean’s, and SoHo Weekly News. Corliss had a lengthy association with Film Comment magazine, serving as its editor from 1970 to 1990. Corliss covered movies for the magazine and for time.com simultaneously. He brought Jonathan Rosenbaum to Film Comment as a Paris correspondent. Despite working for the National Review, a conservative magazine, Corliss was a self-described “liberal”. In 1980 he joined Time. Although he started as an associate editor, he was promoted to senior writer by 1985. At Film Comment, Corliss helped draw attention to the screenwriter in the creation of movies. Corliss challenged Andrew Sarris’s idea of the Director as author or auteur of this work. Corliss had been one of Sarris’ students at New York University (NYU); the two remained friends until Sarris’ death. Corliss used to work on the board of the New York Film Festival, but resigned in 1987 after longtime head Richard Roud was fired due to his challenging of editorial direction of the festival. In a 1990 article, Corliss mentioned his mother clipping movie ads with quotes of his and posting them to her refrigerator door. He wrote occasional articles for Time; in a 1993 Time magazine movie review of The Crying Game, Corliss subtly gave away the spoiler of the film, by spelling it out with the first letters of each paragraph of his review. He was an occasional guest on Charlie Rose’s talk show commenting on new releases, mostly during the 1990s with Janet Maslin and David Denby. His last appearance on the show was in December 2005 to talk about the year in film. Corliss also appeared on A&E Biography to talk about the life and work of Jackie Chan, and appeared in Richard Schickel’s documentary about Warner Brothers. Corliss attended the Cannes Film Festival along with Roger Ebert and Todd McCarthy for the longest period of any American journalist. He also attended festivals in Toronto and Venice. Lolita, Corliss’s third book, was a study of Vladimir Nabokov’s book and Stanley Kubrick’s film. Later Corliss wrote an introductory essay for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: A Portrait of the Ang Lee Film. Corliss also admired the Pixar movies, including listing Finding Nemo as one of his and fellow Time critic Richard Schickel’s 100 all-time greatest movies. With recent Pixar releases Cars and Ratatouille Corliss had access into the studio’s inner workings. Corliss along with Schickel made a 100 Greatest movies list, and Corliss alone created lists of the 25 greatest villains, the 25 best horror films, and the 25 most important films on race. In addition he was on the 2001 jury for AFI’s 100 Greatest movies list. Corliss had movies on his top ten lists that Schickel rated the worst of the year. These included 2001’s Moulin Rouge!, 2003’s Cold Mountain and 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In August 2004, Stephen King, criticizing what he saw as a growing trend of leniency towards films by critics, included Corliss among a number of “formerly reliable critics who seem to have gone remarkably soft – not to say softhearted and sometimes softheaded – in their old age.” Despite challenging Siskel and Ebert in his Film Comment article, “all thumbs”, Corliss praised Ebert in a June 23th, 2007 article “Thumbs up for Roger Ebert.” Corliss later appeared in Ebert’s book Awake in the Dark in discussions and debates with Ebert about film criticism where “all thumbs” was reprinted. Corliss appeared in the 2009 documentary film For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism, confessing that he was the film critic who, in the 1970s, coined the term “Paulettes” for the ardent followers of The New Yorker‘s film critic Pauline Kael, a label which stuck (died 2015): “The internet was never designed to be secure. The internet was designed to move pictures of cats. We are very good at moving pictures of cats.We didn’t think you’d be moving trillions of dollars onto this. What are we going to do? And here’s the answer: Some of us got to go out and fix it.”
From The Recamier 