>>My participation in those thread is aimed towards those who make very blunt, unnuanced and uninformed statements about europe, by only looking in the context of the US. I find that very annoying, and anyone doing that could expect a sharp reply from me.
>>
>>Walter,
>
>
http://www.apostles.com/>
>Hmm, no Saint Walther as far as i can see....
>
Have you seen the movie "Millions" by any chance? It didn't make much of a box office splash when it was released last year but I watched it on DVD with my daughters and we were all charmed. It's a sweet movie. The main characters are two young brothers in the UK. The younger brother, Damian, knows everything there is to know about the saints and frequently "talks" with them. (Stand-ins for his dead mother, I think -- who he finally "meets" in the movie's emotional payoff). One of the things I liked is the saints are always doing unsaintly things like swearing and smoking cigarettes.
I normally don't go for sappy movies but this one is worth checking out. Actually the writing is good enough to deal with potentially sappy or sentimental themes without being sappy or sentimental. Not too much, anyway.