Daily Office: Thursday

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Morning

¶ Condi: You may recall that, during the hours in which she did not pine after a foregone career as a concert pianist, Condoleezza Rice was supposed to be an expert in Soviet containment. Evidently, that doesn’t have anything to do with Russia, as HuffPost writer Chris Kelly observes.

¶ Medals: Because watching television is against my religion, I’m forced to get my Olympics coverage from other sources. Happily, RomanHans is doing a prize-winning job.

Noon

¶ When, O When?: Why don’t we have gap years? Breaks between high school and college that give young people a taste of real life for a change? You’d think it would be an American specialty. Instead, it’s another example of lost mojo.

Night

¶ Dear Fr Tony: Father Tony has an advice column — and who better? If this opening Q & A is any indication, black and white will be giving way to living color.

Oremus…

Morning, cont’d

§ Condi. And what a laff riot it was to read the Times editorial this morning that included the following one-liner in its laundry list of oughts:

Ms. Rice should also go to Moscow and deliver the message that this war is seriously straining relations.

Even the editors can’t make that prospect sound effective or important.

§ Medals. Guy Trebay, by the way, thinks that athletes used to be more fetching. He makes the rippling musculature of today sound like the outmoded shoulder pads of tomorrow.

Noon, cont’d

§ When? I’m sure that students would be all for it. What looks like a hurry to get off to college may just be a hurry to get out of the house.

Night, cont’d

§ Dear Tony. Sometimes — usually — the best advice is the one word that you don’t want to hear: “Think!”