Mass For Beginners

Today's - well, yesterday's - sung mass was great. It was Latin again, but followed the new liturgy, so I wasn't totally lost. And the singing was beautiful.

Strangely, everybody who went to communion brought their bags with them. Marlisa asked me why this was, and I guessed that it was force of habit. A couple of minutes later my jaw dropped as I saw one fella returning to his seat, carrying a colossal bag, barely supported by one strap, a huge red and grey monstrosity straining to break from his shoulder, swinging to either side and threatening to hit the people nearby. He can't have been carrying that from force of habit. I hope.

While there I was reminded of a story Tony Curtis used to always tell whenever he was on the Late, Late Show back home. He used to be a regular guest at one point, a bit like Billy Connolly, I suppose. Apparently, when he was a child, in New York for argument's sake, a Catholic friend brought him to mass. I think Tony Curtis is (was? is he dead?) Jewish. In mass, T.C. simply imitated his friend, in an attempt to fit in. At one stage they were both kneeling, praying silently, or at least seeming to. The friend leaned over to T.C. and whispered reproachingly 'Did you fart?' T.C. paused. 'No,' he said. 'Was I supposed to?'

I think he told that story every time he was on the show.

In other news today, Shaw drew my attention to this article from today's Guardian. The thing that amazed me was the fact that Western European approval for the US has dropped so little over the last couple of years. I would have thought that Kiato, The ICC, steel tariffs, and everything else over the last year would have hit relations much harder.

Finally, a strange thought occured to me while chatting to Marlisa, Francesco, Oscar, Nabil, and Roberto this evening.

To wit, if you were stood up, would you be let down?