This next semester, I am taking a course in server-side web programming (something I have been doing for over a year now). This course requires me to learn Perl. Trying to get a head-start, I began to search for some references. One thing led to another and I began to wonder how many web-programming languages they are. I know that any programming language, in theory, can be made into one for the web via a CGI compiliation. But I mean how many are that that you write the code, upload, and you are set; and when it shows up on the client’s device, it shows that same file type in the URL. Here are the ones that I know of, if I am forgetting any PLEASE TELL ME.

• HTML
• JavaScript
• PHP
• ColdFusion
• JSP
• ASP (et. al.)
• Python
• Perl
• Ruby on Rails

I would just like to know how many there are (ergo, how many I have to learn).

Santa knows what I like. Under my tree was a twelve-pack of Coors Light and a few boxes of cigars. So, I reiterate, a very Merry Christmas indeed.

Marley was dead to begin with . . . . dead as a doornail

We have all heard those words. But what does it mean to be “dead as a doornail?” And what is the significance of a doornail? And what is a doornail.

I did a quick Google search and I learned that it was an old expression. The doornail refers to a nail on medieval doors that would attach the knocker. Also, some people would take off the hammering part of the nail so it could not be removed; that nail was considered to be dead.

So, case closed.

So, at my high school last Friday, there is an annual mass/party to celebrate Christmas. The presider of the mas was Rev. Daniel Gatti, S.J.. He told a poem that explained how hard it is to celebrate Christmas nowadays, but after he was done, no more mention of it was made.

I WANT CHRISTMAS BACK

Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
See the PC Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people’s feelings, the teachers would say
December 25^th is just a ‘ Holiday ‘.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X-Box, an iPod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe’s the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny’s and Sears
You won’t hear the word Christmas; it won’t touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate ‘Winter Break’ under your ‘Dream Tree’
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS,
not Happy Holiday !
Please, all Christians join together and
wish everyone you meet during the
holidays a
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Christ is ‘The Reason’ for the Christ-mas Season!

Here is my solution to the whole political correctness thing: Chrismahanukwanzakah. Everyone liked Chrismukkah on The O.C.. Why not just add Kwanzaa to the mix and make that the official holiday for this time of year? We’re always told that this is a Judeo-Christian nation (that takes care of Hanukkah and Christmas); and anthropologists tell us that we all have African roots, so we can all celebrate our respective African heritages. By adding the Kwanzaa part, they atheists will be pleased (because they cannot fight science, which proves our ancestry). From there, like each of these holidays, it comes down to the individual family to celebrate it as they see fit (as it is done now), so the conservatives will be pleased. The liberals will be happy because it is politically correct. Not to be mean to the Muslims, but Ramadan is very sporadic in when it takes place and is meant to be a time of reverence, so, in fairness, should be excluded. If I am forgetting any other big one, someone tell me.

But, I have a point, don’t I? Let’s make Chrismahanukwanzakah an official holiday.

For the past few nights, my family has been in a debate of where Upstate New York begins. My mom and I say White Plains. My father says Pulaski (between White Plains and Pulaski is “Central New York”). (Buffalo, according to my old man is Western-Central New York.) Last night we asked my mom’s cousin (who lives in Saratoga) for his views; he said Dutchess/Putnam Counties (and that Pulaski is “way the fuck up there”). Then, this evening, we asked my father’s sister, she agreed with the Dutchess/Putnam County belief (much to my father’s dismay). My mother and I have decided that “Upstate” is north of Poughkeepsie.

But, I ask you all, where does Upstate New York begin?

This morning in AM New York, there was a story about some of the write-in ballots from the past Presidential election by New Yorkers. Some of the votes were interesting.

• Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton -304 votes
• Rep. Ron Paul -193 votes
• Chuck Baldwin -69 votes
• Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg -34 votes
• Rudy Giuliani -9 votes
• Joe the Plumber -1 vote
• Socrates -1 vote ** ***
• Paris Hilton -1 vote *
• Britney Spears -1 vote *
• Vladimir Putin -1 vote ***
• Mickey Mouse **
• Harriet Tubman **
• Oprah Winfrey
• Tina Fey
• Truth and Beauty **
• Katie Couric
• Joe Paterno
• Stephen Colbert
• Jesse Ventura

^* Denotes that the person was ineligible to be President since he/she is not at least the required 35 years old
^** Denotes that the person was ineligible to be President since he/she is not real/alive
^*** Denotes that the person was ineligible to be President since he/she is not American
Note: if no votes were shown, it was not listed in the newspaper

Don’t you all love how much those people care about the democratic process?

I decided today to attend the funeral for Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. today at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The service was chiefly presided over by Edward Cardinal Egan. Some of the co-celebrants were Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, Seán Patrick Cardinal O’Malley, OFM Cap, Fordham President Joseph M. McShane, S.J., Fordham President Emeritus Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., the Papal Nuncios to the United Nations and United States (I believe I received Eucharist from one of them), and New York Society of Jesus Provincial David S. Ciancimino (a man I have known for about seven years now since he was once the headmaster of Xavier High School) (as well as many other priests, bishops, archbishops, and cardinals).

Strangely missing from the batch, from what I saw (I could be wrong), was the Very Rev. David M. O’Connell. (However, to be fair, he could have been in the audience.)

The mass was not that crowded (I cannot accurately say how many people there were becuase of the sheer size of St. Patrick’s, a lot does not seem as so). I actually got a very good seat (about the 15^th row, so about 30 feet from the altar). I saw in the audience, I saw the Law School Dean William M. Treanor.

Egan said that Pope Benedict XVI himself requested for him to perform the mass. (I had not realized how deep a voice Egan had.)

Father C (as we called him) did the Gospel reading. Egan, then, gave the Homily (which, I swear must have been like 30 minutes long), which was an extended obituary. To someone who had not followed Cardinal Dulles’ carear, it would have been interesting; but I have heard it all before. (He also seemed to mess up dates: confusing the 13^{th with the 12th} as the day Dulles died and the 1900s with 1990.) Egan mentioned how Dulles and he (along with McCarrick) were elevated to the College of Cardinals at the same time.

Egan told a story of how this past summer he was invited to a 90^th birthday celebration for Dulles. Egan said he was honored to be asked to go. When it came time for the mass at the Fordham Rose Hill Chapel, there was a question of how the procession would go. The presider asked if Egan would be willing to wheel Dulles down the procession. He agreed. However, Egan, too, had polio as a child and, that day, was having leg troubles. When they reached the end, Egan asked Dulles “did you have a bumpy ride?” Dulles smiled (he had lost his ability to talk some time before as a result of the polio he contracted while in the Navy in the 40s).

Egan went through all of his Dulles’ accomplishments and ended that no American priest has even that well accomplished.

The rest of the mass went on as usual. Father C gave the eulogy. He told Cardinal Egan how Cardinal Dulles truly treasured their friendship and how grateful Dulles was for Egan’s constant visits in his final months. He thanked the Dulles family for giving the Jesuits the gift of Avery. He said how Dulles, for all of his accomplishments, was still a brother Jesuit to them. He did his own laundry, made his own breakfast, and helped the rest of them decorate the Christmas tree. It made one realize that though he was a prince of the Church, he was a regular person.

Leaving, I saw the Ram Van (a shuttle between the Fordham campuses) outside St. Patrick’s. I remembered that on Tuesday, the Ram Van was shuttling the Dulles family. However, there were limousines outside. My guess, it was shuttling the Fordham community. Since I had my Fordham ID on me, I considered for a minute to try to catch it (I do not know if they would have let me on because of some other purpose the Ram Van may have been playing). But, since going to any of the campuses would have hindered me heading home, I did not pursue it further.

This morning, I was unsure if I should attend. I asked a friend and my boss if I should go, they said I should. I did not regret it. I saw a piece of history

So, a New Jersey couple wanted to get a personalized birthday cake at their local ShopRite. Fine, if there was not one little problem -the kid’s name. The two named their kid Adolf Hitler Campbell. ShopRite refused to make a cake saying “Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler.”

As the news has reported, the couple does not see what makes the name such a problem. Are they dumb, retarded, or white supremacists? These are two adults and they never heard of something called the Holocaust or the Nazis? Do they want this kid to be bullied? According to the AP article, they say that they are going to have children mixed races at the birthday party. That is fine, but maybe they did not say if they are are antisemitic.

Oh, and the names of their other kids are JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell. I cannot say anything about the later other than it is unusual. But Aryan Nation as a middle name? Not racist? Oh, and to make matters worse, in the past they have requested cakes with swastikas on them.

They are now getting the cake from Wal-Mart.

You can’t make this stuff up.

We have all seen the video of the shoe-throwing incident with President Bush in Iraq. Knowing that he is an Austin Powers fan, should that shoe have hit, he should have quoted the British spy:

That really hurt! I am gonna have a lump there, you idiot! Who throws his shoe? Honestly! You fight like a woman!

I know that parody YouTube videos and games have been surfacing on the Internet. But here is the original:

As a side-note, today when the MTA voted for the “Doomsday Budget,” one man came up to the podium and asked where MTA Chairman Eliot Sanders was (I assume he was recognized in some way). Then, the man reached down to take off his shoe to throw it. He was taken away before he could even get the shoe off.

Wouldn’t it be easier to just use flip-flops? It’s easy on and easy off. Or does it have to be real shoes to be effective?

Finally CUA has issued a statement on Cardinal Dulles’ death.

There is just one problem, however, Father O’Connell said the funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is today (December 17, 2008), but it is not. There are three funeral masses:

1. Mass of the Holy Name of Jesus, hosted by the New York Province of the
   Society of Jesus (yesterday at Fordham) -the one I attended
2. Mass of the Holy Eucharist, hosted by Fordham University (about 2 and 1/2 hours from now at Fordham)
3. Mass of Christian Burial (tomorrow, December 18 at 2:00 P.M. at St. Patrick’s Cathedral) -the one that O’Connell is referring to

Maybe he just screwed up the dates and I am looking too much into it.