God Be With U

For whatever reason, all I have to do is remember this story, to start laughing uncontrollably.

Ahead of the World Youth Day conference in Sydney, Australia, comes word that Pope Benedict XVI will be sending out his first ever mobile phone sms to the assembled youth.

It reads:

"Young friend, God and his people expect much from u because u have within you the Fathers supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus - BXVI."

I think it's a combination of imagining the Pope furiously texting with both his thumbs, like any Crackberry addict; his snappy usage of "u" for you; and his casual signoff, "BXVI".

(It's like you almost expect an extra little something after it, like maybe "BXVI Diddy")



Believe me, I am not just being irreverent, so much as pleasantly surprised at how sweet this man is -- how much he tries in his own shy little way, to be relevant, and to engage the youth he so evidently loves to interact with.

Far from being the cold, reactionary, ex-Nazi intellectual ogre he was predicted to be (mainstream media as ever misreading a Conservative for their own ends), he has quietly established himself as his own man with his own endearing qualities, which are human and therefore, excusable.

Today, after 3 years of sometimes seeing a photo of the late John Paul the Great and having to catch myself, as my throat constricts and I suddenly feel a wave of weepiness come over me, a similar phenomenon is occuring with Benedetto the Good.

It's like every time I see him, I just want to hug the guy, you know?

Or in the language of the day:

I luv u 2, BXVI.

Kindle Spiel

I've been thinking of getting Amazon's e-Book reader, the Kindle.

Positives: Portability. Vague likeness to iPods, which I adore. Various newspaper and blog subscriptions, updated instantly. Good power reserve. Bestsellers are only $9.99, no waiting.

Negatives: $400. Often limited whispernet coverage. No colour LCD, backlight. Still 1.0 version. Did I mention it's $400 freaking dollars?

There are some dead zones for the wireless connectivity. Here is the map, to check to see if your area is included.

My question to Sundries readers is the following:

Would you, if you could or would want to, buy the Kindle?

Please note that the 2.0 version is rumoured to be far off, still, though ideally one should always wait for the update. My guess is Christmas '08, though.

Here's a CNET review of the gadget, in case you yourself might be hazy about it (as I was very recently).



I read about this product via Pajamas Media, having gotten my Gadget Queen's immediate attention with the juxtaposition of coffee, eggs, and John Stuart Mills. Yum. I read on:

This morning, I decided to drop down to my local coffee establishment for a breakfast of coffee, eggs, and some morning reading. I had a lot of new things, and pre-coffee I’m not up to making decisions, so I just brought several things to read: Peter Kramer’s Against Depression; Marianne Williamson’s The Age of Miracles; Wayne Dyer’s Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao; and for a little more rigorous reading of Buddhism I brought The Dhammapada, D.T. Suzuki’s Manual on Zen Buddhism, Steve Hagen’s Meditation Now or Never, and Buddhism Is Not What You Think — great title, that — the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe and Mark Twain; Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Musashi’s Book of Five Rings; a couple of novels; some books on Ruby and Python programming; the most recent issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine; Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Second Treatise of Government; John Stuart Mills’ On Liberty; Paradise Lost, Shakespeare’s Sonnets; and some Larry Niven.

“What, in a wheelbarrow?” you’re thinking? No, in my Kindle. Of course, it’s only about 30 percent full."

Please, you had me at Sun Tzu.