The Daily Dispatch

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:59:57 GMT

Beannachtai na Feile Padraig!

We celebrated a bit early this year, with a trip into the city on Saturday for the parade and then lunch at Miller's Pub.

I'm scheduled for some surgery tomorrow, so there'll be no shepherd's pie nor corned beef and cabbage (nor Guinness, nor Jameson's) for me today. I expect we'll get to some of that over the coming weekend, and perhaps I'll bake some Irish soda bread if I'm feeling up to it.

In the meantime, I'm wishing everyone a happy St. Patrick's Day, and a beautiful Springtime to come. Here's a short video from the Chicago parade.

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:09:48 GMT

Happy Anniversary To Me

Five years ago today I published my first podcast. It was the first episode of what is now the longest running Catholic podcast on the Net, Verbum Domini. That program is now under the auspices of my friends at SQPN, and ably produced by a wonderful team of volunteer lectors.

I'm still producing several other shows, including The Frank Truth (which started shortly afterward on February 19th, 2005).

Although I didn't set out to commemorate this anniversary with anything special, I did manage to release two new podcast episodes today - Episode 65 of The Comedic Genius of Martin and Lewis, and Episode 24 from Studio C.

The 5th anniversary of this weblog, The Daily Dispatch, is also this week. As I mentioned earlier today on Twitter, after these many years, blogging and podcasting are still a wonder to me. The ability to communicate and interact with people all over the world of like mind and interest is an incredible thing.

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:02:34 GMT

Reflections on MLK

As we celebrate the life of Dr. King and reflect on his legacy, I find myself wondering what he might say were he with us today. Certainly he would still be concerned with justice in our land, and with the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. This year, I suspect that he might also have more than a little to say about the climate of conflict and war in which we live.

The following are his words, from a speech given in 1967.

"There are people who have come to see the moral imperative of equality, but who cannot yet see the moral imperative of world brotherhood. I would like to see the fervor of the civil-rights movement imbued into the peace movement to instill it with greater strength. And I believe everyone has a duty to be in both the civil-rights and peace movements. But for those who presently choose but one, I would hope they will finally come to see the moral roots common to both."

I'm spending some time today in contemplation of these words, and offering prayers for peace.

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:06:12 GMT

A Sad Day

Firefighters spent much of last night battling a major fire here in Mattoon, and are still on the scene this morning. The fire started at Villa Pizza, a local establishment that has been nearly synonymous with our town for decades. It appears that there is extensive damage to Villa and perhaps to several nearby concerns as well, including House Brothers Tavern, another irreplaceable local institution.

My prayers go out for all of those directly effected, and especially for my friend John Arena and his family. This is just heartbreaking for our entire community.

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:41:54 GMT

Newspapers In Peril [The Irish Times] - Professor Roy Greenslade imagines a world where there may not be as many newspapers, but there will still be plenty of journalism. It's a dream of the future that could just as well turn into a nightmare.

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:40:44 GMT

No Comment

Since early 2005 when I first started blogging, I've been using the Radio platform. Although it's a bit less feature rich than WordPress, Blogger and such, there is much about it to which I've become accustomed. Also, I am a sentimental cuss. I do use other platforms for other sites, but am loathe to abandon Radio for NOEBIE.NET.

Awhile back Salon and Userland sent notification that they will no longer offer hosting for blogs and comments come 2010. I have this Weblog hosted at GoDaddy, so the site itself is not a problem, but once the Radio Community Server is shut off, the native comments system will no longer work. I've explored alternatives, but haven't found anything so far with the functionality I like. Therefore, I am shutting off comments here for the time being. Comments that have been left over the past five years are in my archives, and perhaps I'll eventually get around to putting them up somewhere so they can still be seen.

I'll continue to look for an appropriate solution. I do enjoy hearing from you, and welcome your comments via email to noebie@gmail.com in the interim.

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:39:53 GMT

Dancing Christmas Morning