Inside 3P (Let me out!). PART II

 1970

Let's look at the official photo of the 1970 St. Patrick's College Sacristans.

These guys were in charge of looking after the school chapel and its sacred contents.

Okay, a fine bunch of young Catholic men who were obviously picked because they were pure, could probably take a bit of priestly cock and didn't steal things or run Cosa Nostra style rackets.

You may ask, "Is anybody missing?"

Unfortunately, yes. P. J. McDonald.

Okay, study this photo closely. Take your time.

Did you find your way to the happy young chap racketeer at the far right of the middle row?

P. J. McDonald!

McDonald was a disgrace to the Catholic faith who was selling off blessed communion hosts to boys to supplement their morning tea. Hey, what was the tuck shop for?  

It took our very blessed Father Minto to step forward and remove him from his racketeering. This duty probably meant that a few other boys missed out on Father Minto's personal touch.

Shame on you, P. J. McDonald!

The End

Inside 3P (Let me out!). PART I

 In classrooms at St. Patrick's College, in the second half of the 1960s, every boy was known by his surname.

A lot of the school was very old and tired because there was talk of putting a motorway through the site. There seemed little point in an upgrade. In spite of this, a new block had been built. It had two science labs upstairs and below were two classrooms. Both1966's 3P class and 3G were housed in this block. There was little fuss made about the 3G boys, but, after having achieved their place by a written test, all 3P boys were put into numbered seats that showed their test success level. 

McDonald sat in desk number seven, a few seats ahead of Cotterall. Clear sat in front of them both. Pezyinski was back in seat number twenty two. Kidson sat right behind him. It was a great honour for them all to be in this class. 

The priest who stood before them was in his late forties. He said, "Get out your Latin books. It is expected that a lot of you boys will enter the seminary, so keep well away from those St. Catherine's girls and those Sacred Heart girls on the bus to school. They'll lead you astray." McDonald knew that he was a bit too shy to ever get a girlfriend. Maybe the seminary was the way for him to go? He'd talk to Fr. Bliss when he had an opportunity. Maybe he could get a job as one of those guys who looked after the altar in the school chapel? At the end of the lesson the priest said, "Is that clear?" The funny little boy in seat five put up his hand and called out, "I'm Clear father!"

Prowse sat next door trying to do his bookkeeping. He figured he had a bit of a way with the ladies. He'd already eyed up a Sacred Heart girl from the bus and was working on finding out her name. He had talked to two girls (his neighbours) before so he thought, "How hard can it be?"

St. Pat's boys liked going to sporting events.

They had a Haka and liked singing their school song Sectare Fidem. Only the boys in the P classes knew what the Latin words meant. The boys in the R classes thought it was something about a dog and some of them sang, "Sectare Fido." or "Second time feed him." Boy, those kids were dumb!

To be continued...

Peter lets the memory of 3P down.

 Okay, let's go back to 1966. St. Patrick's College graded third form students (now called 'year 9') into four classes - 3P, 3G, 3M and 3R.

Everybody knew that 3P stood for 3 Professional and 3G stood for 3 General. Most suspected that 3M stood for something like 3 Moderate. Most referred to 3R as 3 Retarded. Though, it might have meant 3 Remedial. A little later the powers that be changed the names of those last two classes to 3 Com. (3 Commercial), and 3R became 3M. 3M was then often referred to as 3 Moron. 

Anyway, a young boy named Peter easily made it into 3P. 

In 3P students learnt the 'smart' subjects. They studied things like Open Heart Surgery, Rocket Propulsion and Neuroscience.

The 3G boys studied more general things like English Grammar, French (in case there was another war) and Bookkeeping.

The 3M (later called 3 Com.) boys learnt things like Typewriter Maintenance, How To Make Bicycle Deliveries and How To Converse With A Plumber.

The boys in 3R studied subjects like How To Put Your Trousers On Correctly, Trolley Bus Fares and Jobs You Must Do For Yourself In An Asylum.

One of the most important subjects taught in 3P was Latin. For years the boys were able to impress their friends by using phrases like 'Mea Culpa'.

However, their English suffered. One thing Peter struggled with throughout his life was the use of commas.

His friend Richard (of RBB) was in 3G and, subsequently, has had to help Peter over the years with his English grammar.

Here is a recent example...

Can you guess where a comma could have gone?

At least then we would be clear about what Peter was trying to say.

Which of these did Peter mean to say?

• Robert would interpret that sarcasm you used as being irony.
• Robert would interpret your remark as being sarcastic, but you used irony.

This would be a good time for Peter to say, "Mea culpa." but he'll probably say, "Sheesh!"

Ciao tutti.

What if there were a blogging world cup?

 

Obviously, this blog would the favourite because it is always number one in our little blogging world. 

The Religious Curmudgeon would be stood down for 'too many high tackles' (always having to have too many music clips).

Robert the ASS,TC, T of ED, MS and S is a bit predictable in his play and probably wouldn't make the play offs.

Maybe we need more competition around here before we can really have a world cup of blogging?

* * *

Back to reality.

Oops! The All Blacks are trailing the Springboks 21 - 0. 50 minutes gone.

Oh dear.

I forgot the game was on. That makes me a bad All Blacks supporter and I blame myself for the potential loss.

It's 35 - 0 now! What!

And it's all my fault!

35 - 7. 

6 minutes to go.

I guess I'd better go.

Ciao tutti.

Is there a reason why there is suffering in this world?

Seems a Hutt Valley church might have found it. Read HERE.

Okay, I'll try to summarise, like TC does.

IS THERE A REASON FOR SUFFERING?

• It is a harsh reality of this world. There are lots of examples, including poor families, sick people, babies born sick, etc. How can an all-loving god allow this?
• This makes us aware that something has gone wrong and needs to be remedied. A god gets the blame but really it is caused by free will. Human decisions cause most of this suffering. Can an all-powerful god not stop things like earthquakes and disasters?
• Some suffering just happens. We have to learn to accept what cannot be explained. Maybe the world is designed to fail to demonstrate what is lacking so that we will appreciate Heaven when we get there?*
• John says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (16:33) Hey, you basically have to trust god. Look at the character of Jesus - there's your example. The last sentence is a bit hard to understand. "There is a reason for the suffering until there is not, but there always is."

So, I hope that makes things clear for you. It didn't for me.

Ciao tutti.

* Though Richard and Peter are already booked into Hell. 

It's all about science, and havin' a laugh.

 It appears, from the little bit I've read, that these guys are going to prove Christian religion has it all sorted and correct by using science. Maybe dinosaurs feature too?

A non-believer left a comment saying, "I almost want to turn up just to point out the things they get wrong or make up, but debating science and logic with a Christian is like trying to debate rocket science with a cat."

This got a response (from another reader), "Phil [not his real name] how unfortunate for you. That you sit there and tell the whole how broke and lost you are. A person who seeks to suck hope and joy out of rhe lives of others. Things they make up.... huh, funny how you use that statement. Yet regardless of the information presented to a Christian, they always find a way to prove you wrong. Tell me. If god is made up. Why is it then that it would take more years that life on earth and more power than any super computer to replicate one second seen by the human eye. Or that bees know from birth to seek out honey, or that all the planets in our solar system turn in the same direction, except for two. The evidence to prove the exsistance of a god is endless. The problem is, far too many people live in arrogance, refusing to surrender their lives or accept a higer power, out of fear that they maybe wrong. The day of reckoning is coming dude. The signs are already there, when the time comes, you will either be where you are meant to be, or you won't" [I haven't fixed grammatical or spelling errors]

I left a little 'joke' comment saying, "Well, he got you there Phil! It was the bees bit that won me over. And all the planets in our solar system turning in the same direction. Oh, except for two."

Poor old Phil got confused and thought I was on their side.

It would be tempting to go along and have a listen. Hey, but that would cut into practice time.

Make of it what you will.

Ciao tutti.

Doesn't look a day over 68!

 

Happy birthday Robert.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Play a special tune on the violin today.

Love from your older brother.

La mamma degli imbecilli...

 

Someone posted on this site...

I removed his name, but his first name was Benjamin.

Sean Anderson and 713 others liked (or loved) his comment.

Actually, when you see this sign...

it actually means that the speed limit on this stretch of road is 100km/h. The important word is 'limit'.

Benjamin doesn't seem to know that, in this country, the speed limit on this road for trucks, or vehicles towing trailers, is actually 90km/h.

This means that, by law, there are a lot of vehicles on the road that should be going 90km/h or slower. 

I see a lot of very big trucks on 100km/h roads going 100km/h or faster. Now, I'm no expert on Physics* but I can guess what would happen, at that speed, if one of these huge vehicles had to stop quickly. Actually, it wouldn't happen.

I assume the level of understanding needed is a lot less than what is needed when dealing with Rocket Science.

I don't think that Benjamin is the sharpest knife in the drawer. Maybe he has a music degree?

I was driving over the Nuova Lazio hill the other day. The speed limit is 80 but I was doing 60. As I came around a corner, I had plenty of time to stop over quite a short distance. There were two cars facing the wrong way in the left hand lane (my lane), a little up from a blue car sitting in the right hand lane that had its bonnet completely squashed. There was hot water and oil pissing out of the car. Okay, I was guilty of going 20km/h under the speed limit (according to Ben) but, in this incidence, it gave me plenty of time to stop. The blue car would have had to be going a lot faster than 80 to acquire that much damage! A lot faster.

In this case Ben and his 714 followers were obviously off the mark.

As we say in Italian, "La mamma degli imbecilli è sempre incinta."

* I do have an Honours Degree in Music, but another blogger around here says that counts for Jack Shit.

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater.

 

I wonder if The Curmudgeon (Peter) has a thing for or against pumpkins?

"They're hard to bite. Look at my lip!"

Peter, Peter, he is a kind,

Who doesn't like chilled red wine.

A restaurant served him some of that stuff

And it made him very gruff.

Although he still ate his main,

Next day he went back to complain.

He hit the maitre d' with a pumpkin shell,

Since that day he hasn't been very well. (le maitre d')

I guess Peter needs to learn that he can't solve all problems with a pumpkin.

Hey, this is another weird post that was made possible when The Curmudgeon decided that it was somehow interesting to post about a computer keyboard lamp.

Ciao tutti.

Thanks Robit.

 I'm not talking about Robert the apathetic sanctimonious sinner, toilet cleaner, threatener of eternal damnation, music snob and sucker.

I'm talking about this guy.

I wonder if Robitussin is a longer form of Robit (or Robert), just like Christopher is a longer form of Chris?

This could potentially be good news for Robert the apathetic sanctimonious sinner, toilet cleaner, threatener of eternal damnation, music snob and sucker because it would be shorter to write.

I wonder if we'll see him change to the name Robitussin?

I don't know what Peter is short for, but I did find this...

I don't quite get that explanation but that's what came up when I searched, "What is Peter short for?"

Maybe Peter and Robitussin can shed more light on this?

Ciao tutti.

Time for a post.

 Well, the exciting news is that my new keyboard lamp arrived.

Hang on! I just checked out The Curmudgeon and he has already done a post on one of these things!

SHIT!

Come on! I'm just havin' a laugh!

I mean, who would write such a silly pointless weirdly boring post?

Oh, that's right...

The Curmudgeon did.

If he is serious, this really opens the gates for all weirdo topics. I'll have a go.

Title: My Pig.

I was very excited today to hear a truck back up our drive. Our pig had finally arrived!

He's a standard looking pig and I've been busy building a pen for him, but we hope that he will spend most of his time inside the house. We've checked and he does fit into both Shelley's and my cars. That means that we can take him for rides. Some of the neighbours looked a bit concerned when they saw we had a pig. Well, a lot of them have big dogs that they seldom walk. They'll be jealous when they see how much we intend to take our pig out.

I've got a lead for him, just in case he tries to chase cats or ducks. We haven't named him yet, but we are referring to him as 'Pig'. The name is starting to stick. Well, after all, he IS a pig. Since he is the only pig in the neighbourhood, if I call out, "Pig! Here Pig." it is very unlikely that other pigs will come running. It pays to think ahead when you have a pig. 

At present I'm teaching him to roll in the mud. This is how pigs clean themselves. I had to give him a few demonstrations, but he seems to be getting the idea. Boy, we seem to have more washing to do since getting this pig. Well, I refuse to roll around naked outside.

Pigs are intelligent animals and make good pets. We don't intend to eventually eat ours because we are vegetarians.

Ciao tutti.

No Covid.

 I feel as sick as a dog,

but the good news is that I haven't got Covid.

I did a RAT test, gosh it was hard catching the rat.

I reckon they need a more scientific test.

Anyway, it appears that I'm free of Covid.

But I still feel lousy.

I've taken another four days off work.

Hence my ability to do this post.

There's a semifinal football match on tonight. That'll take Peter back to the 1960s.

Number 7,"Come on Peter. Get the ball!"
Number 11,"I can't see it!"

I wonder if he wore makeup when he played?

I bet he had makeup on in this picture.
The photo looks air brushed too.

Ah well, everyone to his own.

Ciao tutti.

St. Patrick's College - some time between 1966 & 1970.

 Although all soccer matches were important, this one was particularly important. Peter had been stuck out on the right wing and a younger Polish boy, with a name none of his teachers could get right, had taken over his striker position. This boy only had one leg and needed to attempt to kick goals with his artificial leg, while balancing on a crutch. 

Once a striker,
now a wing!

Okay, I need to explain. St. Pat's was a rugby mad school and, to play soccer (as they called it back then) a boy needed to have a medical certificate from a doctor. Peter was fortunate because he loved soccer and was nearly blind.

Peter before getting glasses.
He thought his haircut looked cool!

The team was full of very overweight boys, boys with parts of their anatomy missing, even a boy with no head. Yet, they'd had a pretty successful year - they'd only lost their last game 17 - 1. Unfortunately, Peter's replacement had scored the goal. The opposition had protested, saying that the boy had used his crutch, but the referee, probably out of kindness, had upheld the goal.

Fast forward to 2023.

A much older Peter is watching the Women's Football World Cup. Bear in mind that Peter is an experienced player who nearly scored one goal.

"They need me out there!
Where are the goalposts?
Sheesh, I just bit my lip with excitement!"

Peter notices that some players are falling over and some are wearing makeup.

Wearing makeup!

Peter is shocked!

Wearing makeup? This probably explains why Peter struggled to get a girlfriend back in his prime. 

Okay, okay, he'll come back and say that Richard (of RBB) was not particularly successful with the young ladies either, but this was because he was getting training advice from a guy named Tony who told him that young ladies preferred a guy who was pissed. Not a fair comparison. Richard (of RBB) is presently in the process of suing Tony.

Now Peter is, what Richard (of RBB)'s mum would have called, "A soccer know all."

Though, one thing is for sure, he doesn't know much about makeup, or women. 

He calls his lovely partner 'The Old Girl'. You see what I mean.

Here is a guy who is very lucky to spend his old age days with a female!

She must be a very tolerant lady. Robert might even call her Saint Lynn.

You can pop over and read his latest post on The Curmudgeon if you have time to waste.

Ciao tutti.

Sunday.

 William hurried down the steps. Soon he was on a landing and stepped onto the platform. There were a few people waiting. Sunday was generally a quiet day down here. Then he noticed a statue that had not been here before. For William there was no mistaking who it was.

Then a train came out of a tunnel and stopped. No one got on but one man got off. He was dressed in a guard's uniform. William knew him well.

It was Father Patrick. He was carrying some croissants and an opened bottle of red wine, some of which he had poured into a glass.

The smiling priest was giving people on the platform a sip of the wine and ripping them off a little bit of croissant, which each person swallowed.

Then William realised what was happening.

TrainSubStation.

"Hell's Bowels" - a new book by John McKenzie.

 Hell's Bowels.

I've had trouble tracking down the availability of this new book by fairly famous writer Dr. John McKenzie. All I can find is the blurb that evidently appears on the back of the book.

In his latest book Dr. John McKenzie opens the can on some interesting topics concerning the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. He asks, "Were the painters of old right about Hell being a place consumed by fire?" In this thrilling investigation he asks where these constant fires would likely do most harm. Do these poor people still have human form? If so, their genitals and bowel would surely be among the things most at risk. "When one considers the credentials for those who wrote The Bible, probably many years after the actual events portrayed occurred, what right do we have to doubt the view offered by the painters of these numerous pictures?" There is also a chapter on transubstantiation. He asks if this is some sort of weird reference to an underground train station. One can only assume that the good doctor was having a little joke there. There is also the question of was this Christian god cleansing these people of genitals and bowels because they were not needed in the afterlife? Think about it - why would this god need a cock?

I'll update you when I can procure a copy of this interesting book.

Ciao tutti.

The Moral Of It All.

 

John McKenzie was born in Jacksonville, Oregon, in 1962. People who remember him say that he was a quiet youngster but very studious. He studied Humanities, Journalism and Mathematics and earned three degrees, including a Ph.D. He worked as a journalist for a couple of reputable Oregon newspapers before becoming a freelance journalist. In 1986 he wrote a book called 'Shut Up and Listen Carefully', which was quite popular in the Oregon area. The book was about how people behave in situations where there are discussions and arguments. Later McKenzie became interested in how people gathered conclusions and defined their thoughts. This led him to study religion and morals. In 2005 he wrote his quite well known book 'The Moral Of It All'. The book was nominated for several awards.

Dr. John McKenzie

He has appeared on quite a few talk shows, particularly in the Oregon area and has even debated Catholicism with Tent Horn. In that debate he evidently quoted the title of his first book.

These days a lot of people are not keen to debate with him because of his particular set of skills.

I can't find much on line about him but it would be worthwhile ordering his book on morality if you are really keen on clearing your mind of all the rubbish that is out there.

Ciao tutti.

It appears that Christians get rewarded for the good things that they do.

It appears that Christians get rewarded for the good things that they do. This reward can be getting into Heaven or simply pleasing God, or it could mean avoiding Purgatory.

An artist's impression of Purgatory.

John McKenzie says in his book 'The Moral Of It All' that these Christians don't have morals and they don't understand how morals work. John McKenzie should know what he is talking about because he has done an awful lot of study and has lots of degrees. He can also win arguments against Catholic Apologists.

McKenzie says that morals develop through what is best for everybody. By definition a moral shouldn't offer a personal reward. 

"A moral serves the greatest number of people that it can by looking at what is best for the greatest number of people." says McKenzie in Chapter Two (page 52).

He explains that Christians are often driven by a personal reward, such a salvation. 

"This totally removes their intention of 'doing it for the team to make the situation better'."  he reasons.

He also says (page 73) that a kind act done for another loses its shine when one strives to please a god.

"Why can't one person help another solely because that person is suffering and needs help? Why does it have to be reported?" (page 75)

In Chapter 7 he talks about stupid beliefs. He talks a lot about Hell and Purgatory.

"These places are often depicted, in paintings, showing people with fire all around them. There are no photos, just paintings. This immediately tells us that the scene was imagined by the artist. That smells of artistic licence." (page 278)

McKenzie tells us that a god who likes to burn people would have trouble explaining himself as a loving god.

"Maybe the artists of the time are responsible for the fire thing, but does this god prefer another way of torturing people? Otherwise, he wouldn't have felt the need to create Hell or Purgatory and, by definition, he wouldn't need a Heaven. He could just call it something like Welcome Land or All In Inn." (page 401)

This book is well worth a read.

Ciao Tutti.

Is that old boy Peter learning about blogging?

 Hey, at the time of writing, he has 8 comments on his latest post!

Probably a record for him.

Well, not as good as this!

It's good to see the (very) old boy trying though.

It was a pleasure for us at Richard's Bass Bag* to help him out.

We showed him slowly (it's only eight comments) but hopefully he has got the idea.

There you go, this blog steps in again to help struggling old people.

Ciao tutti.

* the original bass bagging site

FOUND!

 Last Sunday I was helping a singer guitarist sort out a few pitching problems. He was using a capo to change keys on a song, so I reached for mine so that we could work things out together.

Okay, okay, my capo does look a bit like a penguin.

I couldn't find it anywhere.

Okay, for those of you who don't know, a capo is a device that can clip onto a guitar so that the strings are shorter. This means that you can use, for instance, standard open chords to play in lots of keys.

I bought mine quite a long time ago but have never really used it, and I probably won't use it much in the future. Still, last Sunday it would have been handy.

Today I turned my 'music spaces' upside down looking for it. I didn't need it but it annoyed me that I couldn't find it.

I searched everywhere, two or three times! Some even more.

Then I spotted it!

It was hanging on a hook in the bedroom where I keep a few bow ties and two 'in need of rehairing' violin bows. It was inside its little black bag, so hard to spot.

I was so excited that I rang Shelley at work. I told her that I had to tell someone!

I could hear sarcasm in her voice when she replied, "Thanks for choosing me."

I've hung it next to one of my guitars and, in reality, I probably won't think about it again for quite a while. At least I know it is safe.

Good to have you back Mr. Capo.

I guess that, for Peter, knowing that I found my capo will be special because it is on his birthday.

No need for thanks Peter.

Buon compleanno. Tanti auguri a Peter e Signor Capo.

Ciao tutti.

How old is Peter?

 There's a rumour that he was actually born before Jesus!

Let's post a video to find out.

Well, I guess we'd better do the birthday song.

Non ci piove!

 Okay, how do you tell if a blog is really hitting the mark? What makes a top rating blog? Content can be very subjective - depending on your tastes and beliefs.

I certainly wouldn't go with an angle by an angel! For one thing, guardian angels are known to be lazy.

A lazy guardian angel.

No, the only accurate ranking of a blog post is by the number of comments it attracts!

The author has little control over his/her comments section - it really comes down to the readers.

This is where the readers voice their opinion.

Isn't it funny that Richard's Bass Bag* is very often rewarded with lots and lots of comments!

Sort of speaks for itself, I guess.

Ciao tutti.

* the original bass bagging site

Okay, let's try this AI stuff!

 Robert was naked.

I don't like the sound of that!

Peter was fully clothed. He looked into the church shop and saw Robert standing there naked.

This AI stuff isn't working for me.

Peter wore a t-shirt and a big pair of boxers as he walked into the Presbyterian church where Robert was cleaning. He was somewhat surprised to see that Robert had converted from Catholicism and was now a happy Presbyterian.  Robert was naked.

No, sorry, this AI is not working for me.

"Put your clothes on Robert!"

Ciao tutti.

Here's a new post.

Sorry it has to be short but I'm about to speak to Antonio in Monteforte d'Alpone.

Here are a few words / phrases for you to look up.

Traghetto.

Pompa di calore.

Sogni d'oro.

Meglio tardi che mai.

Mai lamentarsi dell'abbondanza.

Non ci piove!

Il sole splende.

Molte parole sagge.

Grazie per la condivisione.

Harrison.

Ciao tutti.

New curtains in the back room and Harrison.

 

Harrison with Dad.