WobLog

Sad news today that William F. Buckley, Jr. died at work in his study. In a follow-up post to Kathryn Jean Lopez's announcement on the Corner, Jonah Goldberg puts his grief in the context of his gratitude:

I'm stunned. He will be greatly missed. But we should also remember this was not a life cut tragically short (no matter how much we wish he were still with us). His accomplishments were almost incalculable. As George Will once said, "before there was Ronald Reagan there was Barry Goldwater, before there was Goldwater there was National Review, and before there was National Review there was William F. Buckley." As conservatives — and as Americans — we are all standing on his shoulders.

Moreover, William F. Buckley's life was marked by enormous joy. He had a lust for life as well as for letters and debate. He raised a wonderful and accomplished son, loved and was loved by, a formidable and beautiful wife, had more friends than he could count or, in a sense even know, and will be remembered for generations to come. Sadness is to be expected at times like this, and I certainly feel it. But let's leave room for, if not a celebration, then at least grateful appreciation, of a singularly remarkable life.

I've been reading National Review for probably 25 years. Buckley has been part of my political life since I was a teenager. I've read all of his sailing books. Jonah got it just right: this is a sad day, but also a day to recognize a life well lived.

Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen. (Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. Rest in peace. Amen.)

Posted by Don Roberts at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Over at the "Crunchy Con" blog, Rod Dreher ruminates on the changing nature of romance as one enters middle age. Some excerpts:

I used to get stoked on the idea of taking Julie to the perfect little French cafe, and speaking torridly of romantic matters over candlelight and good wine. I wouldn't mind having the time to do that now (we'll talk about that when Nora quits nursing), but you know, it's hard to describe the fulfillment of opening the front door at day's end, and hearing three little voices scream "Daddy!" in unison, and come running into the front room to give me a hug. God, I love that.

Being middle-aged and in love has its own appropriate pleasures. The world considers them shopworn and modest, perhaps, but I think they're better described as discreet, and as banked against the tumult of life's lengthy days. We don't dance by the light of the moon much anymore, my true love and I, but we do sit on the porch swing by its light, and watch the kids chase fireflies, and contemplate our blessedness together. It's enough. In fact, it's everything. There's nothing quite so reassuring as the conviction that one is standing exactly where one is supposed to be.

Amen.

Posted by Don Roberts at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, March 7th, St. Margaret Mary Church, at 1219 Excelsior Avenue in Oakland, will hold its third All-Night Adoration. Stations of the Cross will be prayed at 6 pm, followed by High Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite and Exposition. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed solemnly until the next morning at 7:00 am. This all-night adoration begins on the feast of the "Doctor Angelicus", St. Thomas Aquinas, and immediately precedes Passion Sunday (March 9th). It is designed to help the faithful prepare even more effectively for the coming celebrations of Holy Week and Easter.

St. Thomas Aquinas, who taught so admirably especially about the mysteries of the Eucharist is another co-patron of the Institute of Christ the King; a plenary indulgence is attached to the attendance of the Mass on the 7th of March, under the usual conditions. For further information please contact Fr. Michael Wiener at (510) 482-2053 or father.wiener@institute-christ-king.org

Posted by Don Roberts at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If your clock radio didn't wake you up to "I Got You Babe," that's a good sign. This is what Jonah Goldberg had to say on our nation's favorite weather forecasting holiday:

Here's a line you'll either recognize or you won't: "This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather." If you don't recognize this little gem, you've either never seen Groundhog Day or you're not a fan of what is, in my opinion, one of the best films of the last 40 years. As the day of the groundhog again approaches, it seems only fitting to celebrate what will almost undoubtedly join It's a Wonderful Life in the pantheon of America's most uplifting, morally serious, enjoyable, and timeless movies.

You can read the rest of Jonah's thoughts here.

By the way, Punxsatawney Phil saw his shadow this morning. Six more weeks of winter.

Posted by Don Roberts at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

1 February 2003: five years ago today, the shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry, killing all seven on board:

The crew of STS-107. Front row, from left to right: Rick D. Husband, Kalpana Chawla, and William C. McCool. Back row, from left to right: David M. Brown, Laurel B. Clark, Michael P. Anderson, and Ilan Ramon.

Coming a little over two years after the 9/11 attacks, my first assumption was that the explosion might have been the work of terrorist sabotage. However, evidence from NASA cameras during the launch quickly indicated that foam falling from the external tank was the culprit. The big disadvantage of the Shuttle's design is that the orbiter sits beside the external tank and solid rocket boosters, instead of on top of the rocket stack, as in the Apollo/Saturn V design. It's very unlikely that any manned spacecraft fielded by NASA in the foreseeable future will use a side-by-side design. In fact, the design for the new Crew Exploration Vehicle (aka "Orion") looks very much like the Apollo/Saturn V design.

Posted by Don Roberts at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)