Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Pope Ben's Chapeau

PeaceBang is sitting here with her morning coffee positively chortling! Pastor Peters asked her what she thinks of Pope Ben's darling red chapeau,

http://pastorpeters.blogspot.com/2006/09/whats-with-hat.html

and PeaceBang has to say, "Bravo, Bennie! What fun! I'm sure there's some serious ecclesiologicalastical reason behind the choice of that particular sombrero, but PeaceBang doesn't even want to know what it is, she just wants to say, "LOVES it, Your Extreme Holiness!"

Was the hat supposed to make a statement? If so, here's the statement I get:

"Hello, everyone! I'm the most important and powerful religous person in the world, and yet what I want more than anything is to play bocce ball with you, or perhaps to give your children a pony ride on my knee."

I don't know the history of the mitre, that big pointy hat worn by the pontiff on fancy liturgical occasions. However, my imagination has a field day with it. I see a really busy temple from maybe 3500 years ago, and they've got to sacrifice a goat but they don't know which guy's going to do it. So they finally find Schloime the High Priest and it's just about sundown and Schloime says, "You schmucks! You were almost late with this and YHVH will be displeased if we don't get this done by sundown!" And one of the goat wranglers goes, "But Schloime, this place is a madhouse! We couldn't find you!" And his friend, who's holding the goat down on the slab, chimes in, "Exactly! Why don't you get a big hat or something so we can see you through this meshugenah crowd already?"

And thus the mitre was born.
That my idea, anyway.
By the way, you can get one here for $19.95! http://www.berkeleyhat.com/a3359.html

But the cherry red cowboy type hat is so much more kicky and fun, don't you think?

PeaceBang is the granddaughter of a milliner, and she just can't stop loving on that hat. If this Pope can rejuvenate the custom of wearing hats to church, PeaceBang will personally travel to Rome just to blow kisses at the Vatican. She won't even bitterly comment on the many beggars starving in the streets of the holy city, and she promises not to murmur anything about "those god&*%%ed thieves" as she rushes past the stolen treasures in the Vatican museum on the way to viewing the Sistine Chapel. Scout's honor.

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10 Comments:

Blogger BaptizedPagan said...

This hat is technically known as a "saturno", for its resemble to the planet saturn (see Catholic World News for more.) Though not as fun as the large galero (the kind you see hanging in cathedrals over the tombs of cardinals...the somewhat jaded sensus fidelium is that once the hat rots enough to fall to the ground, the cardinal's soul finally springs out of purgatory...), the saturno is kinda cool.

Of course, my question is which hat PeaceBang prefers the pope to be causing interreligious upheaval in, the saturno or the even more exciting camauro?

9:59 AM  
Blogger PeaceBang said...

That camauro is absolutely darling, but it's really for an apres ski situation, n'est ce pas?

10:01 AM  
Blogger Psalmist said...

I dunno, I thought the cool red of the camauro really clashed badly with the warm red of his cape. And gosh, did either one of them do ANYTHING to help improve his ghastly color in that picture?? Those who assist His Holiness with his official wardrobe need to pay heed that the colors coordinate well.

That said, the saturno is quirky and kind of fetching. If he's going to make controversial statements, at least his fashion statements are interesting.

10:16 AM  
Blogger BaptizedPagan said...

Well, yes, some of those pictures seem to do their best to make him look too much like the Emperor Palpatine...

Apres ski would be wonderful, I'm thinking at a Christmas party it would make the holiday-themed sweater competition seem oh-so-trivial...

10:19 AM  
Blogger Psalmist said...

I say, the Pope should visit my Catholic neighbors here in Texas and wear this: Howdy, Yer Holiness!

10:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Peacebang,

I’ve been reading your two blogs and in many ways feel like you are my new best friend. I mean, I have no idea what my sister had for dinner last night!

I’m also feeling sort of guilty about being a lurker do I’ll come out and comment.

I heard an interview on NPR’s Science Friday with the author of a new book called Noise. He had many fascinating things to say including how important it is to keep the volume on I pod earphones as low as possible cause it puts the noise right into your ear canal and can easily cause damage. He also told us - and this what made me think of you - that he sleeps with a machine that makes white noise. Some members of my family do too. They all claim that they sleep ever so much better.

I don’t use one, but I have run away from my home in Somerville where THEY are replacing the sidewalks and repaving the street. The noise bothered me so much that after a few days, I started to cry. I’m now at the Cape where I wake up to birdsong, not jack hammers! I’m getting so much done!

Oh and you absolutely have to get a new TV! Aaron Sorkin’s new show, Studio 60, is brilliant. Did I say that loud enough? BRILLIANT. Be ready by next Monday night at 10 pm.

Keep it up sister!

10:48 AM  
Blogger PeaceBang said...

Arline! BFF!
I do have a white noise machine by Hammacher Schlemmer -- it's so old I've probably had it since college. It, and my old Gund polar bear Iggy, are the most comforting things a girl could have by her side at bedtime (that and a cat who thinks she's your personal bodywarmer).

Thanks for writing, and glad you had the Cape option to escape to!

10:54 AM  
Blogger Pamela said...

Well-- in addition to the fetching red chapeau, the Pope wears Prada!
http://www.somareview.com/redhotpapa.cfm

and Gucci sunglasses!

2:06 PM  
Blogger opinionated said...

I think it's the papal version of blue denim

3:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That hat!

It's a Brokeback thing.

Well, being the Pope, I guess it would be a Bareback thing.

6:46 PM  

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