Black Friday Link-Oh-Rama

It's not often that picking up dog poop wins out over the alternative, but when the alternative is shopping on Black Friday ... now where did I put that box of disposable gloves?

Here are some stories I found even more interesting:

** Good story about the Minneapolis music scene back in the 1980s. This guy seems slightly annoyed he's not Prince. Andre Cymone, on his new album coming out in February:

Somewhere along the line, something happened to me. I know it sounds crazy, but something just woke up in me and said "What the hell are you doing? You've been given a gift, and you're just sort of kicking back and chilling." I don't want to sound weird or odd or metaphysical or any of that kind of junk, but it really has been a very interesting experience because I've been writing songs that have been writing themselves. I can't even take credit for them; I wish I could. I have no idea how I wrote them, why I wrote them, where they came from, So to answer your question why I came back, there's so many different reasons. The main reason I came back is because music needs me. I know that sounds crazy, but I think music has very few champions.

** The four best beards in the history of Christendom. Go St. Thomas More!

** Maybe instead of listening to out-of-context quotes from Rush Limbaugh and other "experts" on Catholicism, you can read the Pope's words yourself here: His first Apostolic Exhortation: Evangelii Gaudium.

Pope Francis has issued his first Apostolic Exhortation on Tuesday, Evangelii Gaudium, translated into English as The Joy of the Gospel. The 224-page document outlines the Pope’s vision for a missionary Church, whose “doors should always be open”. The Pope speaks on numerous themes, including evangelization, peace, homiletics, social justice, the family, respect for creation, faith and politics, ecumenism, interreligious dialogue, and the role of women and of the laity in the Church. And he repeats his ideal of a Church that is “bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets” rather than a Church that is caught up in a slavish preoccupation with liturgy and doctrine, procedure and prestige. “God save us,” he exclaims, “from a worldly Church with superficial spiritual and pastoral trappings!”

** Well this isn’t going to help the texting-ban fad sweeping our nation: Researchers claim children passengers are far more distracting to drivers than mobile phones.