Caffeinated Gonzo!

Historic San Felipe de Neri church, originally uploaded by caffeinatedgonzo.

The historic San Felipe de Neri church is the standard by which I measure all historic churches that I visit. This 300 (plus) year old Catholic parish is located in the Old Town section of Albuquerque, my old home town.

Long before I became Catholic myself, San Felipe represented to me what a Catholic church was meant to be… old, yet dignified… somber, yet uplifting… close to God, yet the closeness and color of earth.

There are a lot of places I want to take my family to see here in Albuquerque while we visit, and some we just won’t have time to get to, but visiting the San Felipe was something I hoped to share ~ more importantly had to do for myself. I am glad that we made it here.

Dust to Dusk.

[New Mexico Cemetary Bokeh With Magic Hour Light]

The San Ysidro cemetery in Corrales, New Mexico shot at sunset by David Teter and posted to Flickr.

BBC News Online marks the fortieth anniversary of the installation of the world’s first ATM machine this week. The automated teller machine was invented by Englishman John Shepherd-Barron and was installed in Enfield, north London. Bank patrons the world over have learned to both love and hate the contraption (often simultaneously) as it has evolved over time. As for Mr Shepherd-Barron, he is 82 years old now and still out there inventing.

Lamy of Santa Fe

by Paul Horgan

Growing up in New Mexico in the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s three things were extremely evident: the historical confluence of the Mexican and native cultures about the place and the layered influence of the Catholic Church on top of it all. Not growing up Catholic, much of this culture was a mystery to me at the time. Now being older, much more mindful of historical influences and a convert to Catholicism, the influence of the Catholic Church in my native state of New Mexico is of great interest to me personally.

Imagine my feeling of good fortune then when I discover a copy of Lamy of Santa Fe by Paul Horgan, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History in the bargain bin at the college bookstore of my neighboring university. Much better than the implied dust covered status of my find, Horgan wrote brings to life in biographical form the historical life of Bishop Lamy. Lamy was not only the first Bishop of Santa Fe, he was one of the most important, influential, and civilizing figures of late 19th Century western expansion of our country. Adding to his significance is that fact that his presence can still be felt all over historical and modern day New Mexico.

This well written book isn’t just for people interested in the historical influence of the Catholic Church; it has something to say to anyone interested in the history of the United States in general and the Southwest in particular. Mr. Horgan did a sympathetic and masterful job of bring this man’s life into focus for his readers.

See more about Lamy of Santa Fe

Reality Isn't What It Used to Be : Theatrical Politics, Ready-to-Wear Religion, Global Myths, Primitive Chic, and O

by Walter Truet Anderson

Have you ever found a book just laying about, free for the taking, and actually read it? Such was the circumstance in which I stumbled across this book. Now I am beginning to wonder if my finding the book wasn’t as much an accident as some sort of experiment in postmodernism in itself. After all, ”Reality isn’t what it used to be.” My priest left this book in a box, in the tent where we hold Mass. On the box, with a handful of other books in it was a sign that said “free to take.” Was it really?

That is the question.

This was the last lonely book in the box when I found it. Was my priest trying to tell his flock something, something about the state of the world or did he really just want to make room on his bookshelf?

It’s an open question.

Aptly titled, the book Reality Isn’t What It Used to Be by Walter Truet Anderson, is very much like I suspect the circumstance in which I obtained my now dog-eared copy an exercise in social constructed reality. If you are open to the ideas it presents you will enjoy the read, as did I. If you aren’t into its premise you might find the ideas presented disturbing—Disturbing enough to contemplate using the book’s pages as a less than satisfying substitute for two-ply.

See more about Reality Isn't What It Used to Be …

In my opinion, one of the most important functions the Internet should aspire in the fast changing and wispy world the web currently represents is to strive to provide free, open, and permanent access to certain information of a historical nature.

One such resource I believe must be preserved for the longest of long term access is the web site created by the US Government Printing Office to disseminate the
Congressional 9-11 Commission Final report.

Whatever your personal feelings of the impact of this report, it is one of the most important documents published by our government in recent times.

See also “The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States” (also known as the 9-11 Commission) website.

For other related information this index of government maintained sites related to terrorism has also proved useful.

In recent days I have revisited many of the web sites related to the tragic events leading World Trade Center collapse on September 11th, 2001. One of the best from a technical standpoint is the NIST WTC Report.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has made available to the public an incredible wealth of data published related to their investigation of the collapse of the World Trade Center’s buildings following the attacks on 9/11/2001.

Quoting from the site:

The collapse of New York City’s World Trade Center structures following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was the worst building disaster in recorded history, killing some 2,800 people. More than 350 fire and emergency responders were among those killed, the largest loss of life for this group in a single incident.

In response to the WTC tragedy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology conducted a 3-year building and fire safety investigation to study the factors contributing to the probable cause (or causes) of post-impact collapse of the WTC Towers (WTC 1 and 2) and WTC 7.”

Complete reports and supporting materials can be found at wtc.nist.gov.

In a somewhat random fit of Googling I came across a site containing material on history I first ran across on the Internet over ten years ago. It’s called the Historical Text Archive. Getting its start on the old BITNET and later on other listservs, the current incarnation of the HTA is a web site. This site was created with the help of the former Director of the Institute for the Humanities at Mississippi State University. Run by Donald J. Mabry, not quite as new and sexy as Wikipedia and its ilk, there are some decent articles to be found. As of today’s date there are 684 articles in 41 sections and an additional 70 e-books.

For a list of other digital library projects check out this wikipedia article as well.