Reading on Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

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January 21, 2010

Lectionary: 314 Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Reading 2 Gospel

Reading I
1 Sm 18:6-9; 19:1-7
When David and Saul approached
(on David’s return after slaying the Philistine),
women came out from each of the cities of Israel to meet King Saul,
singing and dancing, with tambourines, joyful songs, and sistrums.
The women played and sang: “Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”
Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought:
“They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me.
All that remains for him is the kingship.”
And from that day on, Saul was jealous of David.
Saul discussed his intention of killing David
with his son Jonathan and with all his servants.
But Saul’s son Jonathan, who was very fond of David, told him:
“My father Saul is trying to kill you.
Therefore, please be on your guard tomorrow morning;
get out of sight and remain in hiding.
I, however, will go out and stand beside my father
in the countryside where you are, and will speak to him about you.
If I learn anything, I will let you know.”
Jonathan then spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him:
“Let not your majesty sin against his servant David,
for he has committed no offense against you,
but has helped you very much by his deeds.
When he took his life in his hands and slew the Philistine,
and the LORD brought about a great victory
for all Israel through him,
you were glad to see it.
Why, then, should you become guilty of shedding innocent blood
by killing David without cause?”
Saul heeded Jonathan’s plea and swore,
“As the LORD lives, he shall not be killed.”
So Jonathan summoned David and repeated the whole conversation to him.
Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and David served him as before.

Responsorial Psalm
56:2-3, 9-10a, 10b-11, 12-13
R.  (5b)  In God I trust; I shall not fear.
Have mercy on me, O God, for men trample upon me;

all the day they press their attack against me.
My adversaries trample upon me all the day;
yes, many fight against me.
R.        In God I trust; I shall not fear.
My wanderings you have counted;
my tears are stored in your flask;
are they not recorded in your book?
Then do my enemies turn back,
when I call upon you.
R.        In God I trust; I shall not fear.
Now I know that God is with me.
In God, in whose promise I glory,
in God I trust without fear;
what can flesh do against me?
R.        In God I trust; I shall not fear.
I am bound, O God, by vows to you;
your thank offerings I will fulfill.
For you have rescued me from death,
my feet, too, from stumbling;
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
R.        In God I trust; I shall not fear.

Responsorial Psalm
Mk 3:7-12
Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples.
A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.
Hearing what he was doing,
a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem,
from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan,
and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.
He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd,
so that they would not crush him.

He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.
And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him
and shout, “You are the Son of God.”
He warned them sternly not to make him known.

NYT: Snack Time Never Ends

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January 20, 2010

De Gustibus

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER

OF the many horrors that lurk in the e-mail in-box of a working parent — dental reminders, Facebook invitations involving some weird farm, “thoughts” from the boss — nothing quite rivals the snack request.
Not a month goes by without someone somewhere asking me to serve up some snack for an event that one of my children will attend and that, generally speaking, will not last more than 90 minutes.
During a single week in December, I was pinged with requests to bring a little food for one play rehearsal, three religious-school events, a school administrative meeting, two soccer games and two multicultural festivals. (O.K., so multicultural day is one of my favorite events of the school year. Step away from the Sichuan dumplings, kids, Hannah’s mom is moving in! Still.)
The obligations to bring a little something to eat extend to the adult world, too — I’ve baked for PTA meetings and child-rearing seminars that I didn’t even attend. But when it comes to American boys and girls, snacks seem both mandatory and constant. Apparently, we have collectively decided as a culture that it is impossible for children to take part in any activity without simultaneously shoving something into their pie holes.
“Children used to come home, change into play clothes and go outside and play with other children,” said Joanne Ikeda, a nutritionist emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. “There were not snack machines, and the gas stations only sold gas. Now there are just so many more opportunities to snack and so many activities after school to have snacks.”
Between 1977 and 2002, the percent of the American population eating three or more snacks a day increased to 42 percent from 11 percent, according to a large study of American nutritional habits conducted by the Agriculture Department with the Department of Health and Human Services.
Further, researchers found, the percent of children surveyed who said they had eaten three meals on the previous day went down, while those who had had a snack went up more than 40 percent.
“None of this trend has reversed,” said Rhonda Sebastian, a nutritionist with the Agricultural Research Service, the unit of the Agriculture Department that participated in the survey. (The data for 2008 exists but the snacking component has not yet been analyzed.) “Food is everywhere now. It is part of everything.” I began to wonder how other parents see all this extracurricular eating, so I asked around a bit. Apparently, I am not the only one being driven crazy.
“It has all just gotten out of hand,” said Sean O’Neill, an illustrator and father of two in Chicago. Mr. O’Neill wonders why snacks must be served at every sporting event, even those taking place at 10 a.m. or an hour before lunch.
“The kids are playing baseball, they are covered in Chicago Park District dirt and then they eat a handful of fruit bites,” he said. “It’s pretty disgusting.”
Some of the moms I see around the school corridors and the soccer field told me they felt backed into a corner by the omnipresence of snacks.
Once a week, Vivian Zachary’s 6-year-old son, Joel, goes dashing for the vending machine at the gym after his gymnastics class ends at 5 p.m. “Last week it was a Fruit Roll-Up and a can of 7Up,” Ms. Zachary wrote in an e-mail message. “I’m not sure why I let this go on, and I often think that if I were a better parent, or at least more able to tolerate incessant complaining, I would let him buy the snacks but not actually consume them until after dinner. But I have already established the pattern (the ‘rule’ in Joel’s mind), so there’s no going back now.”
The spread of snacking has been abetted by parental guilt, the much-lamented death of the family dinner, over-scheduled children. Kara Nielsen, a “trendologist” at the Center for Culinary Development, a brand development company in San Francisco, cites the proliferation of activities, from soccer to chess club to tutoring sessions, that now fill children’s afternoons.
“You’ve got this desire for parents to control their kid’s diet,” Ms. Nielsen added, “and add this with this increase in activities, so it has become up to the parents to provide the snacks. And the marketers have picked up on this.”
Indeed, this nation consumed $68.1 billion in packaged snack foods in 2008, up from $60 billion in 2004, according to Packaged Facts, a consumer research group. One of the newest concepts — and among the best sellers, Ms. Nielsen said — are 100-calorie packs of cookies and other junk foods. They are targeted at parents, who are always looking for something to toss into the backpack for after-school time.
Fast-food restaurants are in on the act, and over the last two years have begun to introduce their own mini-meals, like the McDonald’s Snack Wrap. According to the Agriculture Department, American children get 40 percent of their calories from food of poor nutritional quality.
What is especially baffling where I live, in Los Angeles, is how often the kind of parental paranoia that obsesses about school ratings, vaccines and myriad imagined plagues is matched by utter disregard for the nutritional downsides of mowing down Fruit by the Foot every afternoon at 4. Rarely do I see a parent show up on the soccer field with a homemade snack, or even a bag of carrots. Oreos are the post-game snack of choice, even in sports leagues dominated by upper-income parents.
“There is definitely a big disconnect,” said Dr. Howard Taras, a pediatrics professor at the University of California, San Diego, who specializes in community and school health policies. “I think there is this natural tendency among parents to not want their child to go hungry. It is more difficult for them to think about the long-term outlook for the child.”
Ellyn Satter, a dietitian and family therapist, thinks there is little point in worrying too much about what children are eating — unless it is “pure sugar,” like juice, she said — or how much, because children self-regulate portions. The key, she said, is to end grazing. “The parents’ job is to do the what, when and where of feeding,” she said, “and it is up to the children to do the how much and whether of eating. In order to have successful family meals, you have to structure the snacks.”
Carolynne Dyner sees the purpose of snacks for her children, Quinn, who is 7, and Sadie, 5, through a fairly simple prism. “To stave off tantrums, of course,” she said. From their days caring for infants, she said, parents are conditioned to be prepared for a sudden attack of hunger. And so she keeps her car and purse amply packed with pretzels, baggies of Cinnamon Life cereal, Goldfish crackers and Clif bars.
For her children, little bites between meals have in some ways supplanted the meals themselves. “They usually need a snack midmorning and midafternoon,” explained Ms. Dyner, who lives in Beverly Hills, Calif. “There may be a third snack, and this is usually due to the fact that our kids didn’t care much for what we provided for dinner, so now it is 7:30 and they are hungry. At this point we may give them a yogurt.”
Parents who give in too many times may find that snacks are the culinary equivalent of letting your 2-year-old sleep in your bed. “People get themselves into these habits, which they later regret tremendously,” said Ms. Ikeda, the nutritionist. “We do, as parents, make mistakes and then we either have to live with them or suffer the consequences in fixing them. It gets exhausting saying ‘no’ all the time.”
On the other hand, saying ‘yes’ can be tiring, too. I am happy to serve on any refreshment committee there is. I like to bake, and am far more efficient at that than at any other classroom obligation. Just ask the parent liaison for my younger child’s classroom, whose response to my failure to properly manage a canned goods drive was only slightly less frosty than that of a rogue nation asked to cease nuclear development.
But a person can’t just bake whole-wheat banana bread and call it a day. Here was the memo I received concerning my recent snack obligation for a play practice. “Please note, we have the following allergies in mini players: Peanuts, cashews, nuts, wheat, dairy, strawberries, milk, egg whites.”
Food allergies are a real problem. But did no one ponder the idea that perhaps the solution is for children to bring their own snacks?
Or to eat no snacks at all?

De Gustibus is an occasional forum for writers to employ opinion, argument or provocation in reflections on food or drink.

Reading on Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

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January 20, 2010

Lectionary: 313 Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Reading 2 Gospel

Reading I
1 Sm 17:32-33, 37, 40-51
David spoke to Saul:
“Let your majesty not lose courage.
I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine.”
But Saul answered David,
“You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him,
for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.” David continued:
“The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear,
will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine.”
Saul answered David, “Go! the LORD will be with you.”
Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi
and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag.
With his sling also ready to hand, he approached the Philistine.
With his shield bearer marching before him,
the Philistine also advanced closer and closer to David.
When he had sized David up,
and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance,
the Philistine held David in contempt.
The Philistine said to David,
“Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?”
Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods
and said to him, “Come here to me,
and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field.”
David answered him:
“You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted.
Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand;
I will strike you down and cut off your head.
This very day I will leave your corpse
and the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the air
and the beasts of the field;
thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God.
All this multitude, too,
shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves.
For the battle is the LORD’s and he shall deliver you into our hands.”
The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters,
while David ran quickly toward the battle line
in the direction of the Philistine.
David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone,
hurled it with the sling,
and struck the Philistine on the forehead.
The stone embedded itself in his brow,
and he fell prostrate on the ground.
Thus David overcame the Philistine with sling and stone;
he struck the Philistine mortally, and did it without a sword.
Then David ran and stood over him;
with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath
he dispatched him and cut off his head.

Responsorial Psalm
144:1b, 2, 9-10
R.  (1)  Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.
R.        Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
My refuge and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust,
who subdues my people under me.
R.        Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
O God, I will sing a new song to you;
with a ten-stringed lyre I will chant your praise,
You who give victory to kings,
and deliver David, your servant from the evil sword.
R.        Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
Gospel
Mk 3:1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.

Reading on Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

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January 19, 2010

Lectionary: 312 Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Reading 2 Gospel

Reading I
1 Sm 16:1-13
The LORD said to Samuel:
“How long will you grieve for Saul,
whom I have rejected as king of Israel?
Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way.
I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem,
for I have chosen my king from among his sons.”
But Samuel replied:
“How can I go?
Saul will hear of it and kill me.”
To this the LORD answered:
“Take a heifer along and say,
‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’
Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do;
you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you.”
Samuel did as the LORD had commanded him.
When he entered Bethlehem,
the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and inquired,
“Is your visit peaceful, O seer?”
He replied:
“Yes!  I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.
So cleanse yourselves and join me today for the banquet.”
He also had Jesse and his sons cleanse themselves
and invited them to the sacrifice.
As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought,
“Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.”
But the LORD said to Samuel:
“Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature,
because I have rejected him.
Not as man sees does God see,
because he sees the appearance
but the LORD looks into the heart.”
Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel,
who said, “The LORD has not chosen him.”
Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said,
“The LORD has not chosen this one either.”
In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel,
but Samuel said to Jesse,
“The LORD has not chosen any one of these.”
Then Samuel asked Jesse,
“Are these all the sons you have?”
Jesse replied,
“There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said to Jesse,
“Send for him;
we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.”
Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them.
He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold
and making a splendid appearance.
The LORD said,
“There–anoint him, for this is he!” 
Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
anointed him in the midst of his brothers;
and from that day on, the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.
When Samuel took his leave, he went to Ramah.

Responsorial Psalm
89:20, 21-22, 27-28
R.  (21a)  I  have found David, my servant.
Once you spoke in a vision,
and to your faithful ones you said:
“On a champion I have placed a crown;
over the people I have set a youth.”
R.        I  have found David, my servant.
“I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
That my hand may be always with him,
and that my arm may make him strong.”
R.        I  have found David, my servant.
“He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior.’
And I will make him the first-born,
highest of the kings of the earth.”
R.        I  have found David, my servant.
Gospel
Mk 2:23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,
“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
He said to them,
“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”
Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

Reading on Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

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January 18, 2010

Lectionary: 311 Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Reading 2 Gospel

Reading I
1 Sm 15:16-23
Samuel said to Saul:
“Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”
Saul replied, “Speak!”
Samuel then said: “Though little in your own esteem,
are you not leader of the tribes of Israel?
The LORD anointed you king of Israel and sent you on a mission, saying,
‘Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction.
Fight against them until you have exterminated them.’
Why then have you disobeyed the LORD?
You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD.”
Saul answered Samuel:  “I did indeed obey the LORD
and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me.
I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban.
But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen,
the best of what had been banned,
to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal.”
But Samuel said:
“Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the command of the LORD?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission than the fat of rams.
For a sin like divination is rebellion,
and presumption is the crime of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”

Responsorial Psalm
50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23
R.  (23b)  To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R.        To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R.        To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R.        To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Gospel
Mk 2:18-22
The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

NYT: 36 Hours in Whistler, British Columbia

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January 17, 2010

By CHRISTOPHER SOLOMON

THERE are good reasons that much of the Winter Olympics is taking place in Whistler next month. Sure, North America’s biggest ski resort looms overhead. But this steep mountain valley is home to something else that makes it particularly welcoming to Olympic athletes: a global citizenry. Walk down the main promenade and see everyone from rich urban castaways and old-school hippies to French-babbling Québécois and weathered dropouts shouldering skis the size of ironing boards. It makes Whistler feel worldly and cosmopolitan, even when gold medals aren’t being handed out.

Friday

4 p.m.
1) CULTURAL POWDER

Before you hit the snow, pay homage to the ground underneath: for thousands of years, Whistler Valley was the hunting and berry-picking grounds of the Squamish and Lil’wat First Nations. Explore the rich history of the land you’re skiing at the shiny new Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Center (4584 Blackcomb Way; 866-441-7522; www.slcc.ca; 18 Canadian dollars, about the same in U.S. dollars). While the hand-carved canoes, baskets and smoked-salmon bannocks (a kind of local panini) are diverting, what really makes this 30,000-square-foot museum shine is the friendly aboriginal “youth ambassadors,” who welcome visitors with native songs and totem-carving exhibitions.

8 p.m.
2) CARBO LOAD

It’s easy to spend money in Whistler — and not just this Olympic year. Those watching their loonies should follow the local ski bums to Pasta Lupino (4368 Main Street in Whistler Village North; 604-905-0400; www.pastalupino.com). Tucked between a 7-Eleven and a Domino’s Pizza at the edge of the resort, the small, cheery restaurant serves fantastic fresh pastas with homemade Bolognese and Alfredo sauces; the prices for pastas, soup or salad and freshly baked focaccia can’t be beat. Dinner combos start at 15.50 Canadian dollars.

10 p.m.
3) PRE-SKI COCKTAILS

Maybe it’s all the snow, but Whistler doesn’t skimp when it comes to watering holes. They run the spectrum from hockey sports bars, to “ice” bars where you can chill your drink between sips. For the latter, head to the august Bearfoot Bistro (4121 Village Green; 604-932-3433; www.bearfootbistro.com). There you can have your flute of B.C. bubbly (from 14 Canadian dollars) with a side of tinkling piano music and appetizers by Melissa Craig, who won the 2008 gold medal as Canada’s best chef at the Canadian Culinary Championships. Or, for a more boisterous setting, stomp your Sorels over to Crystal Lounge (4154 Village Green; 604-938-1081), a basement bar in the village center festooned with TVs and hockey sweaters. It’s packed with local skiers and boarders eating 35-cent wings and drinking pitchers of Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale (16.50 dollars).

Saturday

8 a.m.
4) WHERE TO SCHUSS

Whistler or Blackcomb? Before, skiers had to pick one, but thanks to the year-old Peak 2 Peak Gondola, all 8,171 acres of this behemoth resort are within easy reach. If the snow’s good, Whistler will be packed, so here’s a plan: in the morning, avoid the crowded Village Gondola at Whistler and go to Blackcomb’s base area to ride the Wizard Express and Solar Coaster Express lifts. The lines are shorter, and they get you right up Blackcomb Mountain. Warm up on the gentle Jersey Cream run and check the lighted boards to see which mountaintop lifts are open. When you reach the top, take your pick of ego powder runs like Showcase or the mettle-testing Couloir Extreme. When you’re ready, swoop across to Whistler on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, which is an event in itself: the cabins, which fit 28, dangle up to 1,427 feet high over a span of almost three miles.

Noon
5) BELGIAN WAFFLES AND BBQ

Come lunchtime, the huge lodges can feel like rush hour. Instead, seek out the lesser-known on-mountain restaurants. On Blackcomb, the Crystal Hut (www.whistlerblackcomb.com/todo/MountainDining) is a small log cabin near the top of the Crystal Chair that serves Belgian waffles all day and lunch specialties from a wood oven. On Whistler, the Chic Pea near the top of the Garbanzo Express lift serves toasted sandwiches, pizza and barbecued items on its outdoor deck.

2 p.m.
6) HEAVEN ON SKIS

If the sun’s smiling, head over to Blackcomb’s 7th Heaven area, which has great views and is warmed by the afternoon’s rays. It also has something for everyone: long, bumpy runs like Sunburn and Angel Dust, harder-to-reach powder stashes like Lakeside Bowl and lingering intermediate groomers like Hugh’s Heaven and Cloud Nine, which seem to meander to the valley floor.

4 p.m.
7) BOARDS AT THE SOURCE

Independent ski and snowboard makers like Igneous Skis and Never Summer Snowboards have sprung up all over in recent years. One of the oldest is Prior Snowboards and Skis (104-1410 Alpha Lake Road, 604-935-1923, www.priorskis.com), founded 20 years ago in Whistler. Every Wednesday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m., the company offers free one-hour tours of the factory floor. See how fiberglass layers are glued with epoxy and pressed together under enormous heat and pressure to create a springy, responsive snow toy.

6:30 p.m.
8) PLAYTIME FOR ALL

A ski resort can be tricky for parents. At day’s end the kids are still wound up, but the adults are ready for a cocktail. Before you push off for a good pour, drop the kids off for more vertical fun at the Core (4010 Whistler Conference Centre; 604-905-7625; www.whistlercore.com), a new climbing gym and fitness center in the middle of the village with an indoor wall. Try the nightly Climb & Dine program for kids — three hours of supervised rock climbing, as well as a pizza dinner. Cost: 70 Canadian dollars (excludes taxes) per child ages 6 and up (10 percent off for additional siblings). Reservations required.

7 p.m.
9) ALPINE CUISINE

Despite its proximity to Vancouver’s world-class dining, Whistler doesn’t have many culinary highs or well-mixed cocktails. One restaurant that tries to do both is the Mountain Club (40-4314 Main Street, Whistler Town Plaza; 604-932-6009; www.themountainclub.ca). Sister restaurant to Vancouver’s Ocean Club, the sleek-looking restaurant is softened by white banquettes and birch branches. Start with the Goggle Tan cocktail (Grey Goose, Giffard Ginger of the Indies liqueur, cilantro, aloe juice, fresh lime, a rim dusted with cayenne pepper). Chase that with slightly fussed-up Pacific Northwest cuisine like black cod with salsify, baby leeks and sunchoke purée (28 Canadian dollars). Order another Goggle Tan and you’ll forget about your sunburn.

9:30 p.m.
10) WHAT WIPEOUT?

Everyone from weary locals to visiting ski-film royalty ends up at the Garibaldi Lift Company, or GLC (4165 Springs Lane; 604-905-2220), an airy lounge upstairs from the base of the Whistler Gondola. The crowd is big and rowdy. A pitcher of Kokanee beer will set you back 18.50 Canadian dollars. Count on a band or D.J. playing, a fire roaring and (more) hockey on the flat screen. With its floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the slopes, the GLC is the kind of place to embellish the day’s stories and make outsize promises for tomorrow.

Sunday

11 a.m.
11) NORDIC DREAMS

Yesterday you barreled down Whistler Mountain pretending to be Lindsey Vonn. Now, go for the Walter Mitty experience: About 12 miles southwest of the resort, in the Callaghan Valley, is the Whistler Olympic Park (5 Callaghan Valley Road; 877-764-2455; www.whistlerolympicpark.com), a sprawling Nordic playground with day passes for 20 Canadian dollars. In a non-Olympic year, you can strap on a pair of cross-country skis, toss a firearm over your shoulder and become a biathlete for an hour. Those trails are closed this winter, but there are still 45 miles of groomed and open snow fields among towering, moss-draped hemlocks — plenty of room to race your partner and fulfill your Nordic gold-medal fantasies.

THE BASICS

Most visitors fly to Vancouver, and then take a shuttle 70 miles north. From New York City, nonstop flights to Vancouver in mid-January were $486 on Continental, according to a recent online search. Another tip: book through Whistler’s reservations center (888-403-4727, www.whistlerblackcomb.com), which often has fares 15 to 20 percent lower than published prices (in addition, most fares are refundable, minus a cancellation fee).

From the airport, shuttle transfers are available to Whistler from Pacific Coach Lines for 29 to 57 Canadian dollars (about the same in U.S. dollars); (800) 661-1725, www.pacificcoach.com. A car isn’t needed at Whistler; free buses circulate the resort.

Opened in January 2008, Nita Lake Lodge (2131 Lake Placid Road; 888-755-6482; www.nitalakelodge.com) is a timber-and-stone lodge with 77 suites starting at 299 Canadian dollars a night. It offers views of Nita Lake, and has a high-end restaurant, Jordan’s Crossing.

Aava Whistler Hotel (4005 Whistler Way; 800-663-5644; www.aavawhistlerhotel.com) has 191 rooms starting at 259 Canadian dollars. The hotel, formerly the Coast Whistler Hotel, is right next to Whistler village and a five-minute walk to the lifts.

Reading on Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

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January 16, 2010


Lectionary: 310

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Reading I
1 Sm 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1
There was a stalwart man from Benjamin named Kish,
who was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror,
son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite.
He had a son named Saul, who was a handsome young man.
There was no other child of Israel more handsome than Saul;
he stood head and shoulders above the people.

Now the asses of Saul’s father, Kish, had wandered off.
Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you
and go out and hunt for the asses.”
Accordingly they went through the hill country of Ephraim,
and through the land of Shalishah.
Not finding them there,
they continued through the land of Shaalim without success.
They also went through the land of Benjamin,
but they failed to find the animals.

When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD assured him,
“This is the man of whom I told you; he is to govern my people.”

Saul met Samuel in the gateway and said,
“Please tell me where the seer lives.”
Samuel answered Saul: “I am the seer.
Go up ahead of me to the high place and eat with me today.
In the morning, before dismissing you,
I will tell you whatever you wish.”

Then, from a flask he had with him, Samuel poured oil on Saul’s head;
he also kissed him, saying:
“The LORD anoints you commander over his heritage.
You are to govern the LORD’s people Israel,
and to save them from the grasp of their enemies roundabout.

“This will be the sign for you
that the LORD has anointed you commander over his heritage.”

Responsorial Psalm
21:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (2a) Lord, in your strength the king is glad.
O LORD, in your strength the king is glad;
in your victory how greatly he rejoices!
You have granted him his heart’s desire;
you refused not the wish of his lips.
R. Lord, in your strength the king is glad.
For you welcomed him with goodly blessings,
you placed on his head a crown of pure gold.
He asked life of you: you gave him
length of days forever and ever.
R. Lord, in your strength the king is glad.
Great is his glory in your victory;
majesty and splendor you conferred upon him.
For you made him a blessing forever;
you gladdened him with the joy of your face.
R. Lord, in your strength the king is glad.

Gospel
Mk 2:13-17
Jesus went out along the sea.
All the crowd came to him and he taught them.
As he passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus,
sitting at the customs post.
Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed Jesus.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples;
for there were many who followed him.
Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners
and tax collectors and said to his disciples,
“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus heard this and said to them,
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

In Spain, a Delicacy Rooted in Earth and Tradition

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January 17, 2010
Journeys

By PAOLA SINGER

AS we sauntered up the steep, narrow cobblestone streets of Cáceres in western Spain, it wasn’t hard to imagine life there in the Middle Ages. Night was falling, and before us were Gothic churches, Roman arches and Moorish towers, glowing in the soft light of lanterns. It was an arresting sight, but our thoughts soon veered elsewhere — to food and the sumptuous meal we were anticipating.

Most people travel to this ancient city for its architectural treasures; my friends and I had come to eat pork.

Minutes later, we faced an encyclopedic list of traditional dishes at El Figón de Eustaquio, a family restaurant with jacketed waiters and white tablecloths. For starters, we had a plate of jamón Ibérico de bellota — cured ham made from acorn-fed pigs, which is the regional specialty — plus a round torta del casar, a creamy sheep’s milk cheese enveloped in a hard curd, and giant locally grown white asparagus.

Though I considered the herbed pork sirloin as an entree, my friend Joan insisted we order the esoteric-sounding secreto Ibérico, or Iberian secret. This simply presented pork filet, we later learned, comes from a special cut near the front leg that’s interspersed with very thin layers of fat. After making all sorts of silly jokes about the curious name of this dish, we ate in complete silence. It was incredibly tender, subtly seasoned and simply delicious.

Cáceres, in the Extremadura region, is in the heart of Spain’s pig country. I had traveled there in search of the world’s best ham, a recent food obsession instigated by Spanish friends. Along the way, I discovered a variety of mouthwatering specialties, learned about unique traditions and met locals with a contagious passion for their culinary heritage.

As people’s knowledge and love of Spanish cuisine grow, delicacies like jamón Ibérico de bellota are entering the international spotlight. This time-honored ham arrived in the United States in 2008 to much fanfare. Sold for about $200 a pound at specialty stores like LaTienda.com, it became the most expensive cold cut in the country. Discerning consumers seem eager to pay this lofty price. This summer, the powerhouse brand 5J (Cinco Jotas) plans to enter the American market, joining the U.S.D.A.-certified producer Embutidos Fermín.

“Iberian pork meat is extraordinary,” Ferran Adrià, the acclaimed chef at El Bulli, a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Catalonia, said in a phone interview. “There’s nothing like it elsewhere in the world. There’s a great difference between a superior ham and all the rest.”

The secret of this superiority rests in the thousands of acres of dehesas — mountainous meadows populated by oak trees — where the indigenous black Iberian pigs have roamed since ancient times. They feed on grass, fruit and, most importantly, acorns that fall every autumn from holm and cork oaks. This gives their meat a unique nutty flavor and a high level of oleic acids, considered a healthy fat.

Spaniards take this food tradition seriously. More than 40 million cured hams were sold last year in Spain, and those derived from Iberian pigs are a particular source of national pride. Local residents started curing meats more than a thousand years ago, eventually turning the craft into an art.

Our sybaritic journey started in Salamanca, 130 miles west of Madrid. This lively city marks the unofficial beginning of the Iberian ham trail, which stretches roughly 300 miles down to Seville. My travel companions — María, an effusive Madrileña who drove expertly over cliff-hanging roads, and Joan, an adventurous Catalan who helped us discover the Iberian secret — were old friends and fellow carnivores.

After a brisk tour of Salamanca’s historic center and its lovely Plaza Mayor, we defied the custom of savoring one’s meals and ordered a few appetizers to go. We had an important appointment 30 miles south, in Guijuelo, a small town of dowdy, low-rise buildings and old-fashioned ham shops. I had arranged to visit several ham producers on our pilgrimage, and this was a required stop: the headquarters of Joselito, considered the Dom Pérignon of hams.

Joselito’s owner, José Gómez, on first impression a laconic man, spoke long and fervently about the 100-year-old empire founded by his great-grandfather. “My customers are not concerned with price; they ask for the best,” he said. “The three key elements are breed, diet and curing.”

While touring the company’s building, I received a master class. Each leg of ham spends about nine days covered in salt; it hangs for weeks in winter temperatures, so the salt penetrates deeply, then for months in summer heat, prompting a “sweating” process by which the fat further permeates the muscle fibers. This happens in cavernous chambers devoid of machinery, where windows are opened or shut depending on winds and humidity. When summer ends, the hams are moved to a dark cellar where they age for two or more years, intensifying their aroma and flavor, much like a fine wine.

Joselito uses only hogs that are 100 percent Iberian. A whole leg, aged three years, starts at $1,000 in Spain, about $50 a pound. (Not all hams called Ibérico are acorn-fed. The label must include the word bellota.) In spite of so much tantalizing talk amid mesmerizing rows of sweet-smelling hams, no amuse-bouche was offered, and we left with empty stomachs. It was only later, savoring our memorable dinner in Cáceres, that we quelled our cravings.

After a good night’s rest at the NH Palacio de Oquendo, a renovated 16th-century palace in the old quarter, we had breakfast alfresco on the edge of the main plaza. Nothing beats a good cortado, the strong Spanish coffee, before a long drive.

The curvy, oak-lined southern roads led us to Jabugo, a village of plain white houses that lives and breathes jamón. There I met Maximiliano Portes, who in 2002 created the online brand Maximiliano Jabugo. His customers, he said, are everyday people who order airtight, pre-sliced cold cuts. Modern marketing notwithstanding, the only way to achieve high quality is through a slow, artisanal curing process. Mr. Portes’s hams hang in a thick-walled cellar, where meat has been cured since 1900. In fact, Jabugo’s quiet cobblestone streets, dotted with modest bars where local workers meet for afternoon drinks, showed no signs of modernity.

As we headed back north to Badajoz, a heavy rain slowed us. By the time we reached Rocamador, a rural hotel and restaurant in a 500-year-old former monastery, it was 11 p.m. and our stomachs were growling. Thanks to the Spanish custom of late dining, the kitchen was still open.

Though I was tempted by pork cheeks in a creamy vegetable sauce, for a change of pace I ordered thyme-seasoned suckling lamb with roasted potatoes. A glass of hearty Extremadura red was the perfect complement. Back in my country-chic room, aided by a lullaby of rattling leaves, I fell into a deep sleep.

In the morning I met Carlos Tristancho, owner of the hotel and surrounding land. He is a partner at País de Quercus, a company that sells organic meats to distinguished restaurants like Mugaritz and El Celler de Can Roca. A former actor, director and producer, Mr. Tristancho is an irrepressible, middle-age character who talks about love, sex and the soul the way most people discuss the weather.

During a rambling and wildly entertaining conversation, he spoke passionately of the importance of preserving Spain’s estimated seven million acres of dehesa. “This is an example of sustainability; some of the oaks here are 1,000 years old,” he said. Ideally, each animal needs six acres to roam, he said; if this balance is not respected, the ecosystem could be in danger

Soon we were headed to Madrid, laughing about how we had blushed at Mr. Tristancho’s bawdy comments. But while our road trip was ending, my food quest persisted. For various reasons, I had not yet sampled a Joselito ham; I knew I could not leave Spain until I had.

A few hours before my flight to New York, I walked to a gourmet shop on upscale Serrano Street. The man behind the counter carefully carved a few slices with a long knife and handed me a bite. He raised his eyebrows inquisitively. A pungent, slightly sweet and nutty flavor filled my mouth as the fat immediately melted away, revealing sea-salted, tender strings of meat. I can still taste it if I close my eyes.

BENEATH THE OAKS

GETTING THERE

Iberia, Continental Airlines, Air Europa and other carriers have nonstop flights from New York to Madrid. A recent Web search found fares starting at about $550 for February flights. The best way to see the area is by car; rental companies like Hertz and Avis have branches at the airport and at Madrid locations.

WHERE TO STAY

In Salamanca, Room Mate Vega (Plaza del Mercado 16; 34-92-327-2250; www.room-matehotels.com) is a stylish, moderately priced hotel just steps from the Plaza Mayor. Doubles from 60 euros (about $85 at $1.40 to the euro).

In Cáceres, the centrally located NH Palacio de Oquendo (Plaza San Juan 11; 34-92-721-5800; www.nh-hotels.com) faces a small square with specialty food shops and casual restaurants. Doubles from 65 euros.

In Badajoz, the Hotel Monasterio de Rocamador (Carretera Nacional Badajoz-Huelva, kilometer 41.100, Almendral; 34-92-448-9000; www.rocamador.com) offers quiet relaxation inside an old monastery surrounded by countryside. Rooms are spacious and decorated with handmade wood furniture. Doubles from about 100 euros.

WHERE TO EAT

In Cáceres, El Figón de Eustaquio (Plaza San Juan, 12-14; 34-92-724-4362; www.elfigondeeustaquio.com) is a cozy restaurant frequented by local families. Indulge in traditional specialties like secreto Ibérico and torta del casar.

At the Rocamador hotel’s restaurant in Badajoz, a seductive rock-walled space with large arched windows, order the thyme-perfumed suckling lamb.

For a taste of the southwest in Madrid, book a table at Sula (Jorge Juan 33; 34-91-781-6197; www.sula.es), a sleek haute cuisine restaurant that serves Joselito meats, including Iberian pork shoulder carpaccio.

Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

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January 14, 2010


Lectionary: 308

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Reading I
1 Sm 4:1-11
The Philistines gathered for an attack on Israel.
Israel went out to engage them in battle and camped at Ebenezer,
while the Philistines camped at Aphek.
The Philistines then drew up in battle formation against Israel.
After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the Philistines,
who slew about four thousand men on the battlefield.
When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said,
“Why has the LORD permitted us to be defeated today
by the Philistines?
Let us fetch the ark of the Lord from Shiloh
that it may go into battle among us
and save us from the grasp of our enemies.”

So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there
the ark of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned upon the cherubim.
The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of God.
When the ark of the LORD arrived in the camp,
all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth resounded.
The Philistines, hearing the noise of shouting, asked,
“What can this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?”
On learning that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp,
the Philistines were frightened.
They said, “Gods have come to their camp.”
They said also, “Woe to us! This has never happened before. Woe to us!
Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods?
These are the gods that struck the Egyptians
with various plagues and with pestilence.
Take courage and be manly, Philistines;
otherwise you will become slaves to the Hebrews,
as they were your slaves.
So fight manfully!”
The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated;
every man fled to his own tent.
It was a disastrous defeat,
in which Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.
The ark of God was captured,
and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the dead.

Responsorial Psalm
44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25
R. (27b) Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Yet now you have cast us off and put us in disgrace,
and you go not forth with our armies.
You have let us be driven back by our foes;
those who hated us plundered us at will.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
You made us the reproach of our neighbors,
the mockery and the scorn of those around us.
You made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Why do you hide your face,
forgetting our woe and our oppression?
For our souls are bowed down to the dust,
our bodies are pressed to the earth.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.

Gospel
Mk 1:40-45
A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

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January 13, 2010


Lectionary: 307

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Reading I
1 Sm 3:1-10, 19-20
During the time young Samuel was minister to the LORD under Eli,
a revelation of the LORD was uncommon and vision infrequent.
One day Eli was asleep in his usual place.
His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see.
The lamp of God was not yet extinguished,
and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD
where the ark of God was.
The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”

Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I did not call you,” Eli said. “Go back to sleep.”
So he went back to sleep.
Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli.
“Here I am,” he said. “You called me.”
But Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”
At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD,
because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.
The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time.
Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am.
You called me.”
Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.
So Eli said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’”
When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him,
not permitting any word of his to be without effect.
Thus all Israel from Dan to Beersheba
came to know that Samuel was an accredited prophet of the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm
40:2 and 5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
R. (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust;
who turns not to idolatry
or to those who stray after falsehood.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.”
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me.
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!”
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

Gospel
Mk 1:29-39
On leaving the synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn,
he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.

For this purpose have I come.”
So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons
throughout the whole of Galilee.

NYT-AP: Fed Adopts New Rules to Protect Credit Card Users

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January 12, 2010

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 4:30 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve on Tuesday issued sweeping new rules to better protect Americans from sudden hikes in interest rates on credit cards.

The new rules, which take effect on Feb. 22, generally bar rate increases during the first year after an account is opened. After the first year, companies must provide customers with a 45-day notice before bumping up rates.

Some lenders have pushed through rate increases ahead of the new rules. That irked lawmakers in Congress who had wanted to speed up implementation of the Fed's rules.

The new rules also will ban -- with a few exceptions -- increasing the rate on existing credit card balances. For instance, if a customer is behind more than 60 days on a payment, the rate on the existing balance can be boosted.

Credit card companies also will be required to obtain a customer's consent before charging fees on transactions that exceed their credit limits and will forbid companies from issuing credit cards to people under the age of 21 unless they -- or a parent or other co-signer -- have the ability to make the required payments.

''These rules -- the most comprehensive ever seen -- herald a new era for America's credit card customers,'' said Kenneth Clayton, the American Bankers Association's point person on the matter. ''It really does put consumers in the driver's seat,'' he said.

Payments will be applied to highest interest-rate balances first, helping customers pay off their balances faster and more cheaply, he said. And, due dates will be the same every month, eliminating confusing cut-off times for payments, he added.

The Fed wrote the rules to carry out provisions of legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama last year. Other provisions of that law are slated to go into effect later this year.

Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time-reading

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January 12, 2010


Lectionary: 306

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Reading I
1 Sm 1:9-20
Hannah rose after a meal at Shiloh,
and presented herself before the LORD;
at the time, Eli the priest was sitting on a chair
near the doorpost of the LORD’s temple.
In her bitterness she prayed to the LORD, weeping copiously,
and she made a vow, promising: “O LORD of hosts,
if you look with pity on the misery of your handmaid,
if you remember me and do not forget me,
if you give your handmaid a male child,
I will give him to the LORD for as long as he lives;
neither wine nor liquor shall he drink,
and no razor shall ever touch his head.”
As she remained long at prayer before the LORD,
Eli watched her mouth, for Hannah was praying silently;
though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard.
Eli, thinking her drunk, said to her,
“How long will you make a drunken show of yourself?
Sober up from your wine!”
“It isn’t that, my lord,” Hannah answered.
“I am an unhappy woman.
I have had neither wine nor liquor;
I was only pouring out my troubles to the LORD.
Do not think your handmaid a ne’er-do-well;
my prayer has been prompted by my deep sorrow and misery.”
Eli said, “Go in peace,
and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”
She replied, “Think kindly of your maidservant,” and left.
She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband,
and no longer appeared downcast.
Early the next morning they worshiped before the LORD,
and then returned to their home in Ramah.

When Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah,
the LORD remembered her.
She conceived, and at the end of her term bore a son
whom she called Samuel, since she had asked the LORD for him.

Responsorial Psalm
1 Samuel 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd
R. (see 1) My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“My heart exults in the LORD,
my horn is exalted in my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;

I rejoice in my victory.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry batten on spoil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while the mother of many languishes.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“The LORD puts to death and gives life;
he casts down to the nether world;
he raises up again.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
he humbles, he also exalts.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“He raises the needy from the dust;
from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

Gospel
Mk 1:21-28
Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers,
and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.

All were amazed and asked one another,
“What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

BBC: Free laptop scheme is rolled out

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A scheme to give free laptops to pupils from poor backgrounds is being rolled out to 270,000 families in England.

The £300m Home Access scheme, first announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2008, has been piloted in two local areas.

It will allow some of the most in need children, those in care and from the poorest homes, to apply for a grant for a free laptop and broadband connection.

It aims to help bridge the achievement gap between rich and poor pupils.

A recent study from the Institute of Fiscal Studies suggested having a laptop at home could lead to a two grade improvement in one subject at GCSE.

Computer lease

But the free laptop scheme has been a long time coming with the first hint families would be provided with computers coming from Mr Brown when he was Chancellor back in 1999.

This first scheme, which formed part of the Home Computing Initiative, involved firms leasing out free computers to their employees in return to tax breaks.

It eventually gained the support of about 60 companies but was wound up after seven years.

Under this new scheme, which was due to go nationwide last autumn and was championed by former education minister Jim Knight, the family gets the laptop to keep, but the broadband connection is funded for one year.

After that they can decide whether to keep funding the connection themselves.

Not all children on free school meals, the government's benchmark for poor children, will get computers under the scheme.

But children in council care and with specific educational needs will be prioritised.

The announcement comes as new research involving 200 schools and colleges suggested 80% were seeing cuts to their IT budgets.

The poll for the technology solutions provider the Stone Group also suggested just 14% of schools offered out of hours technical support to staff.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/education/8449485.stm

Published: 2010/01/11 11:00:59 GMT

Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time - Daily Reading

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January 11, 2010


Lectionary: 305

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Reading I
1 Sm 1:1-8
There was a certain man from Ramathaim, Elkanah by name,
a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim.
He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu,
son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
He had two wives, one named Hannah, the other Peninnah;
Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.
This man regularly went on pilgrimage from his city
to worship the LORD of hosts and to sacrifice to him at Shiloh,
where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas,
were ministering as priests of the LORD.
When the day came for Elkanah to offer sacrifice,
he used to give a portion each to his wife Peninnah
and to all her sons and daughters,
but a double portion to Hannah because he loved her,
though the LORD had made her barren.
Her rival, to upset her, turned it into a constant reproach to her
that the LORD had left her barren.
This went on year after year;
each time they made their pilgrimage to the sanctuary of the LORD,
Peninnah would approach her,
and Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.
Her husband Elkanah used to ask her:
“Hannah, why do you weep, and why do you refuse to eat?
Why do you grieve?
Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

Responsorial Psalm
116:12-13, 14-17, 18-19
R. (17a) To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

or:
R. Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel
Mk 1:14-20
After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.

They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.

The Baptism of the Lord

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January 10, 2010


Lectionary: 21

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Reading I
Is 42:1-4, 6-7 or Is 40:1-5, 9-11
Thus says the LORD:
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased,
upon whom I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

or

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
the rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Go up on to a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by a strong arm;
here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10.
(11b) The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
adore the LORD in holy attire.
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as king forever.
The Lord will bless his people with peace.

Reading II
Acts 10:34-38 or Ti 2:11-14; 3:4-7
Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered
in the house of Cornelius, saying:
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.
You know the word that he sent to the Israelites
as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all,
what has happened all over Judea,
beginning in Galilee after the baptism
that John preached,
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Spirit and power.
He went about doing good
and healing all those oppressed by the devil,
for God was with him.”

or

Beloved:
The grace of God has appeared, saving all
and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires
and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,
as we await the blessed hope,
the appearance of the glory of our great God
and savior Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness
and to cleanse for himself a people as his own,
eager to do what is good.

When the kindness and generous love
of God our savior appeared,
not because of any righteous deeds we had done
but because of his mercy,
He saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he richly poured out on us
through Jesus Christ our savior,
so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in hope of eternal life.

Gospel
Lk 3:15-16, 21-22
The people were filled with expectation,
and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying,
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

After all the people had been baptized
and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,
heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him
in bodily form like a dove.
And a voice came from heaven,
“You are my beloved Son;
with you I am well pleased.”

Christmas weekday reading on Jan. 9, 2009

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January 9, 2010

Christmas Weekday
Lectionary: 217

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Reading I
1 Jn 5:14-21
Beloved:
We have this confidence in him
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,
we know that what we have asked him for is ours.
If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,
he should pray to God and he will give him life.
This is only for those whose sin is not deadly.
There is such a thing as deadly sin,
about which I do not say that you should pray.
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

We know that anyone begotten by God does not sin;
but the one begotten by God he protects,
and the Evil One cannot touch him.
We know that we belong to God,
and the whole world is under the power of the Evil One.
We also know that the Son of God has come
and has given us discernment to know the one who is true.
And we are in the one who is true,
in his Son Jesus Christ.
He is the true God and eternal life.
Children, be on your guard against idols.

Responsorial Psalm
149:1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b
R. (see 4a) The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel
Jn 3:22-30
Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea,
where he spent some time with them baptizing.
John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim,
because there was an abundance of water there,
and people came to be baptized,
for John had not yet been imprisoned.
Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew
about ceremonial washings.
So they came to John and said to him,
“Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan,
to whom you testified,
here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.”
John answered and said,
“No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.
You yourselves can testify that I said that I am not the Christ,
but that I was sent before him.
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom;
the best man, who stands and listens for him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.
So this joy of mine has been made complete.
He must increase; I must decrease.”

NYT: In Winter Gardens, a Marriage of Botany and Stark Beauty

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January 8, 2010

By PAULA DEITZ

UNLIKE the tragic hero of Franz Schubert’s song cycle “Winter Journey” (“Tearless I must face the cold/Through the bitter weather”), multitudes of New Yorkers joyously headed for Central Park to experience in bright sunlight the season’s first pristine snowfall on a preholiday Sunday. And in late-afternoon dusk, under the glow of lamplight, the glistening field of white seemed etched by circuitous paths marked in the distance by streams of brightly clad walkers and the shadowy silhouettes of fences. “Invigorating crisp, clean air” was the motto of the day.

For me the winter walk, with or without snow, offers visual pleasures akin to an appreciation of sculpture with the gnarly shapes of trees unadorned and with myriad bare branches like delicate abstract drawings. But more important, with the new year begun, January ushers in an introspective period best indulged on solitary walks without the usual distractions of colorful palettes and lush foliage.

Yet, there is much to see in the subtleties, especially in the variety of plants in local botanic gardens across the country. Since their earliest days in Europe, attached to universities, botanic gardens have thrived in urban centers; their beauty derives from scientific displays required for the orderly study and conservation of plants. But like local parks, they also play an important role as social and community environments.

For a brisk winter stroll I selected the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which this year is celebrating the centennial of its founding in 1910. Within its compact 52 acres surrounded by city streets, the visitor experiences several individual spaces pioneered there, like the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden and the bonsai collection, begun in 1925. In a microcosm of the winter landscape the bonsai curator Julian S. Velasco has arranged several maples, one 115 years old, so that their leafless, outstretched miniature canopies blend through the glass wall with the haze of layered bare branches outside in the main garden. In contrast, a deep rose bonsai camellia echoes one in the Japanese garden by a rustic shelter. Here also, near the orange torii gate, an ever-blooming cherry tree of the palest pink was in blossom, a fragile mate to a bright green pine pruned into traditional cloud formations.

“In winter,” said Scot Medbury, the garden’s president, “one learns to recalibrate observations to detect the slow evolution of nature, the unfolding of witch hazel or the first snow drops. And in discovering the human scale of closed and open spaces here, one achieves an inner calm.”

Still, standing in front of the massive outstretched boughs of the bare yellowwood tree provides a majestic moment, and the deep purple or white clusters of beauty berries from the verbena family are shockingly beautiful against the fresh snow. Elsewhere, one notices the mottled trunks of lace-bark pines, the gray velvet wraps around magnolia buds, the conifers’ deep range of blues and greens and the stubborn scarlet oak that refuses to lose its copper leaves. Yes, there are luxuriant tropical houses, but outside is the place for stark beauty.

Though botanic gardens exist to harbor native and exotic plants in pleasing habitats, the grounds also offer opportunities for landscape designs that can create an atmosphere of enchantment. With its 60 acres of lakes surrounding 9 islands connected by bridges, the Chicago Botanic Garden harks back to the famous 18th-century Garden of Perfect Brightness, the Qianlong emperor’s pleasure-garden complex of lakes at the Old Summer Palace outside Beijing. In a frozen landscape, the high arched bridge to Chicago’s Japanese stroll garden resembles the “Nihon Bridge Seen in the Snow,” one of Hiroshige’s enticing views.

Visitors either tramp along trails in 100 acres of woodland, snowshoe around the garden’s perimeter or ice skate on the broad esplanade originally designed by Dan Kiley with pools and fountains. While the garden’s prominent Midwest prairies are burned off in spring and fall, remaining dried grasses persist as waving figurative elements against the snow like the yellowed weeping willows at the water’s edge.

“Botanic gardens give a freedom of movement outdoors missing on wintry city streets,” says the garden’s president, Sophia Siskel, who is often seen out walking, hat pulled over her ears. “It’s like swimming underwater thinking about myself inside myself in a way I don’t do on a hot summer day.”

Winter is something else in the mild climate of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in California, dedicated to preserving native flora of the region and maintaining a seed collection of local endangered species. The garden is one of the places associated with the prolific landscape gardener Beatrix Farrand. Last May, though, 60 of its 78 acres were destroyed, including thickly treed hillsides, when the rampaging Jesusita fire blew down Mission Canyon.

Fortunately the garden’s meadow was preserved, and, nature being resilient, young green shoots are appearing around burnt stumps, and seasonal blooms of baja snapdragons, California poppies and frothy verbena are as plentiful as ever on a winter walk. The unexpected consequences of this disaster are the newly opened vistas of the Santa Ynez Mountains and views of the Pacific Ocean out to the Channel Islands. Seeing a garden in recovery mode with new prospects is surely an inspiration in the early days of a new year.

The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Fla., suffered from nature’s brutality when Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992 and uprooted its valuable collection of palms and ancient cycads. Designed as a stroll garden by William Lyman Phillips in the Olmsted tradition, and now totally regenerated, the Fairchild features paths that lead visitors through an allée of flowering trees into an infinity of exuberant tropical foliage and cascades of bougainvillea vines. With its active rain forest and lakeside mangrove glades the garden may appear to offer visitors a contrast to the spare wintry adventures in the North, and yet the sense of isolation amid so much botanical profusion may promote an equal amount of introspection.

Finally, in the Zen vein of contemplation, the landscape architect Chris Reed has designed a temporary installation not in a botanic garden but in Radcliffe Yard in Cambridge, Mass., that creates a dialogue between natural materials and the passage of time and succeeds in provoking thoughts about the rapidity of change. Commissioned for the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study’s 10th anniversary, the installation, “Stock-Pile,” features a landscape of 10 cone-shaped piles of stone, aggregate, sand and soil on a diamond-shaped grid with two piles of planted ferns in a parking lot.

Exposed to the elements these miniature mountains are allowed to degrade gently, unlike the famous pristine stone pile at the Silver Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan. Now blanketed in snow, these undulating Cambridge piles melting away are a reminder in the new year that time is both of the essence and fleeting.

IF YOU GO

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 900 Washington Avenue (off Eastern Parkway), (718) 623-7200, bbg.org. Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday and holidays, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL,(847) 835-5440, chicagobotanic.org. Open every day, 8 a.m. to sunset.

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, Calif., (805) 682-4726, SantaBarbaraBotanicGarden.org. Open every day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., November through February; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., March through October.

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, Fla., (305) 667-1651, fairchildgarden.org. Open every day, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“Stock-Pile,” Radcliffe Yard, Cambridge, Mass., open all the time.

Christmas weekday reading on Jan. 8, 2009

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January 8, 2010

Christmas Weekday
Lectionary: 216

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Reading I
1 Jn 5:5-13
Beloved:
Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and Blood.
The Spirit is the one who testifies,
and the Spirit is truth.
So there are three who testify,
the Spirit, the water, and the Blood,
and the three are of one accord.
If we accept human testimony,
the testimony of God is surely greater.
Now the testimony of God is this,
that he has testified on behalf of his Son.
Whoever believes in the Son of God
has this testimony within himself.
Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar
by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son.
And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
Whoever possesses the Son has life;
whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you so that you may know
that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God.

Responsorial Psalm
147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel
Lk 5:12-16
It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was;
and when he saw Jesus,
he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
And the leprosy left him immediately.
Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but
“Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing
what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
The report about him spread all the more,
and great crowds assembled to listen to him
and to be cured of their ailments,
but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.

ChristmasWeekday-Reading on Jan. 7, 2009

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January 7, 2010

Christmas Weekday
Lectionary: 215

Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Reading 2
Gospel

Reading I
1 Jn 4:19–5:4
Beloved, we love God because
he first loved us.
If anyone says, “I love God,”
but hates his brother, he is a liar;
for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen
cannot love God whom he has not seen.
This is the commandment we have from him:
Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,
and everyone who loves the Father
loves also the one begotten by him.
In this way we know that we love the children of God
when we love God and obey his commandments.
For the love of God is this,
that we keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome,
for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world.
And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.


Responsorial Psalm
72:1-2, 14 and 15bc, 17
R. (see 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
From fraud and violence he shall redeem them,
and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
May they be prayed for continually;
day by day shall they bless him.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Gospel
Lk 4:14-22
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him

and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.

BBC: Google phone to protect ad empire

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By Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley

Google has said it is defending its online advertising empire with the launch of its own brand mobile phone.

It is the first time Google has designed and sold its own consumer hardware device.

Google said the Nexus One represented the next frontier in the company's $20bn (£12.4bn) core business - selling advertising through search.

"It's all about the mobile web, and advertising is their bread and butter," said analyst Michael Gartenberg.

"It's the latest salvo from Google on the wireless industry. The landmark news here is that Google is now a consumer electronics retail company," added Mr Gartenberg, of Interpret.

“ The Nexus One means this will be the first time Apple has to be reactive ”
Robert Scoble Tech blogger

Google, like many in the industry, recognises that more and more people are accessing the web via their mobile phones rather than through their desktop or personal computers.

In the developing world, the majority of users are going online for the first time using a smartphone.

"The new paradigm is mobile computing and mobility," David B Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School, told the New York Times.

"That has the potential to change the economics of the internet business and to redistribute profits yet again."

Apple 'cool' fading?

Google has called the Nexus One a super phone, no doubt to set the device apart from the other players, including the BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone.

Despite its much anticipated arrival on the scene, many industry watchers do not think the Nexus One is an iPhone killer, though they do believe it will force Apple to step up its game.
NEXUS ONE HANDSET
# 3.7 inch touchscreen
# 1GHz snapdragon processor
# 5 Megapixel camera with LED flash
# GPS and compass
# Accelerometer
# Noise cancellation technology
# Voice recognition can be used with all applications
# Light sensor changes screen brightness to conserve power
# 512MB Flash memory with SD card slot (expandable to 32GB)

"Google is coming at the mobile industry with a lot of horses and I think 2010 is the first time Apple is going to have to chase something," said technology blogger Robert Scoble of Scoblizer.com.

"For the last three years the iPhone has been way out in front in the mobile space in terms of mindshare. The Nexus One means this will be the first time Apple has to be reactive," Mr Scoble told the BBC.

To date, the iPhone has sold about 30 million units and spawned countless imitators, including this new phone.

The technology blog TechCrunch said that the Nexus One looked more like the iPhone than any other phone on the market.

There is no physical keyboard, it has a removable battery, a 5 megapixel camera, touchscreen, and is driven by Google's Android operating system.

Google says the phone is as thin as a number 2 pencil, at 11.5mm, and as light as a Swiss army knife keychain at 130g.

"The Nexus One is an important milestone in the smartphone market," said TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington.

"This is a software company frustrated with making compromises with hardware manufacturers, that has taken the product bull by the horns. When combined with Google Voice, there is no phone on the market today that can touch the Nexus One."

Google has voice-enabled all text boxes on the device, which means that users can put together an e-mail message or tweet by speaking into the phone rather than typing text on the touch screen.

Pricing models

As well as going into the hardware business, Google is also trying out something different by offering the phone to users without being tied to a contract with a mobile phone operator.

It is offering the Nexus One through its online store at $179 (£112) if users sign up to a two-year plan with T-Mobile, or $529 (£332) without a plan.

Some believe Google should have been braver with its pricing options and offered a sweetener by subsidising the phone through its advertising revenue.

"It would have been nice to see them roll out something a bit more unique," Danny Sullivan, editor of SearchEngineLand.com, told BBC News.

"Google has speculated in the past that there one day might be phones that are entirely ad-supported and because Google is this huge ad behemoth, this was a natural opportunity to roll out a phone like that."

The Nexus One was built by Taiwanese electronics manufacturer HTC.

It joins about 20 other devices that already run on the Android operating system.

At the moment, the Nexus One is only available in the US but will be sold in Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore in the spring through Vodafone. Google said it hoped to add other devices and carriers for sale in the future.

Crossover

Google's emergence as a retailer is regarded as an escalation in the budding rivalry between Google and Apple.

But it is not all one way.

Ahead of the launch of the Nexus One, Apple announced a deal to buy mobile advertising service Quattro Wireless. It is seen as an effort to counter Google's planned $750 million acquisition of rival AdMob.

"If there is any doubt that 2010 is the year of Mobile Advertising, Apple just cleared up any speculation," said Paran Johar, chief marketing officer of competing mobile ad network Jumptap.

"For pessimists who thought the Google acquisition of Admob was a fluke, this reinforces that mobile advertising is here to stay," he said.

"Handset manufacturers, software providers, infrastructure vendors, and carriers are all looking to connect the dots and carve out a share of what will be the primary access point of the Internet in five years."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/8442712.stm

Published: 2010/01/06 04:33:45 GMT