Category: Blog

A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days in Rome. I explored the ancient ruins of the Palatine Hill, the Circus Maximus, the Pantheon, the Spanish steps and of course the Vatican, home of Pope Benedict XVI, the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church. I joined two tours and both times had a wonderful guide who showed me around the city. She had a great knowledge of history from the early days of Romulus and Remus to Brutus killing Caesar, Nero setting the city on fire and of course the Vatican History. She even knew a lot of details about Popes and Catholic History that made the tour a lot more interesting than being there just on my own.

The tour ended at the gates of St. Peters Basilica, but since it was such a nice day, our guide – a young lady from Texas – decided to climb the 520 stairs to the top of the dome with the group. It was on the very roof of St. Peters Basilica, within sight of the Papal flat and maybe 60 meter above the grave of St. Peter that this young lady did something completely unexpected.

She reached in her purse and took out a little something that I instantly recognised as a pill package. I am not talking about any pill package, it was THE pill package. Within a few seconds it was all over, before I even realised what just had happened the package had disappeared in her purse again. Minutes went by with no Swiss guard showing up to confiscate the Corpus Delicti, neither was she thrown into the Vatican Prison. Well, I don’t know if there is one… Not even the windows of the papal flat opened, with an angry Benedict yelling across the Vatican Yard at the young lady to get of his roof. I don’t know if St. Peter himself turned over in his grave, but when I later visited the tomb, there was nothing suspicious going on.

Still that girl clearly had just broken one of the best know church rules, written down in an encyclical by Pope Paul VI knows as “Humanae Vitae”, right in the center of the Catholic world. In short words: “You shall not use contraceptives”.

Would I call the young lady insensitive? Maybe – but four o’ clock is probably just her “pill time” and even if she is on the roof of a church, she still has to take it if she dose not want to fulfil her catholic duties when “making love”. But wait, she wasn’t married either, so another church law broken! You know… no exchange of bodily fluids if a priest has not given his consent.

Could it be that this young lady dose not care about “church laws” at all, even on holy ground? Is there any difference in taking the pill in a church (or on a church in our case) or at home, on the bus or at work? What is the power of the pope and the Catholic Church, if rules are not followed or even respected within the walls of the Vatican? Will that young lady go straight to hell?

Well, so many questions and no real answer to them. I know that I should have at least around three to five kids if I followed Catholic protocol. But on the other hand, I have a dim feeling that the Catholic Church should seriously starts re-thinking what is important and start addressing real problems of today in a way we can understand them. Right now that is what I am missing the most.

A while ago I got the first season of Greys Anatomy on DVD. You know why I did so? Because it’s a must have in a guys DVD collection. Especially the first season, hardly anyone has seen the pilot, most have missed out the first season entirely (Its only nine episodes anyway). Women are much easier seduced into your flat if you have Dr. Meredith Grey’s first adventure at hand than to see Leonardo Di Caprio die one more time. Yes, the pilot – where she has a one night stand with a guy, who turns out to be her new boss (some call him McDreamy). So far, I have watched it with three different woman and rented it out to two. Throw in a clean flat and a nicely cooked meal, and leave the rest to a bottle of red wine…

In the beginning I did not care much about this new serial, a mixture between ER and Friends I only started watching it way into the second season because a friend of mine (of course female) convinced me to try it out. I soon realised that this is a perfect door-opener to conversations with most woman. They either watch it every week, try to watch it ever week or regret to have missed out on so many episodes. Since I am the one who knows the story arc, the characters and the latest gossip, I find myself frequently surrounded by women who can’t get enough of Grey’s Anatomy (and of course me).

A few things you – as a guy and perfect gentleman – should know about the staff of Seattle Grace Hospital:

First of all – you don’t care about Dr. Preston Burke and Dr. Derek Shepherd (McDreamy) – leave the worshiping to their female groupies. You should know that Isaiah Washington (Burke) had an on-set fight with Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy) during which he referred to T.R. Knight (O’Malley) as a fa***t. Do some research on the recent development – such as the Golden Globe incident and pick a side – should Burke be killed of or turn gay or should they go on as if nothing happened. Most girls I know still crave for Preston Burke, so to be on his side is probably a save bet.

The one you can care about is Katherine Heigl – Izzie” Stevens – because women hate her!
She is the enemy – a nightmare come true for every insecure woman who’s boyfriend thinks about Izzie when making love. But as we all know – girls like “MEN” who have their own opinion and are not afraid to defend it. So don’t be a wimp by joining the female side and bitching about Isobel. I’ve always liked Katherine Heigl – I even dragged myself through the first two seasons of Roswell just to see her. And yes, she should definitely earn as much as her fellow cast members!

While whole serial is centred on Meredith. She has a mother with Alzheimer (SPOILER not beyond season three), so if you don’t like her, at least pity her! Will she really end up with McDreamy? Again, do research on recent development and pick a side. If the serial really runs for seven years there will be more drama and more break ups between Meredith and Derek. Point that out to prove that you are realistic and down to earth! After all, Grey’s Anatomy is not for real and the studios are trying to make a buck or two.

There are a few more characters and actors to know about such as Sandra Oh (Christina Yang), Justin Chambers (Dr. Alex Karev) T.R. Knight ( Dr. George O’Malley) and of course Kate Walsh (Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd) – who has just been given her yet untitled spin-off serial – but I leave that for part two.

Finally –for part one of my guide– more trivia to prove that you are a Greyie(just made that up): The title is a reference to a famous anatomy book “Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body” by Henry Gray – its not just referring to Meredith Grey. If a woman dose not believe you – bet on a nice dinner at her flat 😉 and show her this!