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Welcome everyone, to another installment of the CH Times!!! I hope you all enjoy this!!
 
~The CH News~ by @Thumbelina16
For the news today, we first have the news of a CH gathering on the East Coast that @DMC88 is organizing. The topic for that is in the Members forum. https://www.catholicharbor.com/topic/23980-ch-gathering-on-the-east-coast/
We have a new milestone as a total of 1,500,000 posts was recently reached for Catholic Harbor. 
The newest challenge for the "A challenge with everything" topic is #Dreamroom where you post a picture of your dream room created from legos. The time limit is two weeks to complete this challenge anf the the link to that topic is here. https://www.catholicharbor.com/topic/23614-a-challenge-with-everything/page/4/
@Arx has a challenge for the kids of Catholic Harbor to practice a reasonable sleep schedule for the next month. They should go to bed between 9-10 pm and wake up between 6-7 am. The challenge began 9/14 but it's never too late to practice good habits! https://www.catholicharbor.com/topic/24213-the-reasonable-sleep-schedule-challenge/
There is a new debate training exercise entitled "convince Beowulf". Those who enter will be trying to convince a neutral person of their opinion while competing against a team of the opposite point of view. Sign ups are in Members. https://www.catholicharbor.com/topic/24210-convince-beowulf-debate-training-exercise-sign-up/
Rather noteworthy for Catholic Harbor is that the popular topic Non CH Memes has been locked due to violations of Catholic Harbor rules this past week. The mod team has decided to lock in permanently but other topics of this nature are not forbidden, do ling as they comply with the basic rules of CH.
Current popular debates of late are "R: Convertibles are literally the most masculine form of transportation" with 2 pages, 3 pro votes, 14 cons, and 4 abstains. "R: Evolution is unscientific" has 10 pages with 9 pros, 17 cons and 4 abstains. Finally, "R: Global warming is a problem" has gotten 3 pages with 11 pro, 13 con, and 2 abstains.
@RoseMH has created an anonymous song writing contest for the members if Catholic Harbor. The deadline is September 20th and there are already many participants! Full details of the contest are in the following link. https://www.catholicharbor.com/topic/24049-anonymous-song-writing-contest/
Stats for this week include a total post count of 1,506,436 and a total topic count of 23,029. There have been 41 new members since the beginning of September with 9 of whom already have a post count. 
Thank you, Thumbelina!
Dragon’s Call by @Dais
Chapter 3!
Hasuma leaps from roof to roof as she tries to leave the area as fast as possible. "Sooo, a dog tried to chase you when ya got here eh? Gotta warn ya, the dogs here belong to one grumpy old guy who leads a band of thieves... and the dogs are EXTREMELY smart.. yikes" Jin chirps as he hangs onto Hasuma's back. Hasuma rolls her eyes, sliding underneath roof decorations "great, even more troubles... I hope you don't mind the turbulence, because I'm about to take a leap of faith!".
She leaps down onto the ground, panting as she hears a low, deep-throated growl "I hate creatures that run.. they take me aback by how... alive they are. I prefer em when they're nice and quiet.. in other words... DEAD". What stands before them is a tall, wolf-like dog. His eyes are bloodshot and red, scars covering his face. Jin leaps off of the goddess, pulling out his violin as he backs into a corner "I'll be here playing background music! You fight the dog!". Hasuma just glares at him in disappointment. "I guess you aren't really powerful, so you get a pass.."
Music: https://youtu.be/rYnkRXulE6k
The dog smiles, his scars going into a deeper red as an aura of shadow encompasses him "I am Oburo, third leader of the Yinsune clan! Don't think I didn't see your arrival come, Goddess! Master saw to it that you would go down along with anyone who follows you!" He bares his teeth, leaping at her as dark vines sprout from the ground. Hasuma skillfully dodges them, landing on her feet "so you can control plants now? Wooooow". Oburo snickers as dogs leap from nearby buildings, surrounding them and leaping at Hasuma with their teeth bared. The goddess slashes at one with her claws, making him recoil in pain as Oburo stands there watching them "Get her. Master will dispose of you if you dare lose!". Hasuma takes his monologuing as a chance to leap at him, but her leap is interrupted by dark vines. She slashes them aside, hissing as she takes another leap, this time landing a slash right across Oburo's face. He curses at her as blood drips down his face "I SAID GET HER! OR ELSE I WILL TEAR YOU APART ONE BY ONE AND MAKE YOU ALL WATCH!". The dogs all leap in at once, growling. By this time, people are looking out their windows to see what the commotion is, looking concerned for the one cat being attacked by a band of dogs. Some try approaching, but are quickly drawn back by growling dogs. 
Hasuma tries slashing blindly at the dogs, but they are too overwhelming for her. Jin sees this, dropping his violin as he hops in, crawling into the dogs' ears and chirping as loudly as he could, making them recoil back in pain. For any dogs which are still attacking, he stuffs sharp stones deep within their ears, making sure to make it hurt. Hasuma gets up, mildly hurt but still in shape to fight. Jin hops onto her head, smiling "not so useless now, am I?". Hasuma chuckles "we make a great team, that's for sure. How about we beat up the shadow canine now?"
Oburo looks at them with a sigh, turning to his dog underlings who look like they've been through intense pain, muttering about their ears hurting like heck. Oburo sighs "Master is going to kill me after this..." the shadow aura disappears as he runs, barking orders to his troops. They all begrudgingly follow him, tired of fighting. Hasuma reaches out for them, a lotus petal landing near her. Jin hops excitedly on her head "Wait, you said those restore your power, right? What if he found it and used your power against you?"
Hasuma nods "That's why he was summoning vines, because I don't think dogs do that normally". She touches the petal as it disappears, sending a wave of energy through the goddess. She concentrates as vines ensnare the last few dogs, tossing them into the rest. She chuckles before turning back to face the crowd which had gathered. She does her best bow, Jin following her lead as the crowd cheers for them. 
"The goddess was not weak in terms of reflexes and fighting skill. She had proven to the other gods how easily she could take down opponents much stronger than herself through strategy, and they respected her for her skills."
Thank you, Dais!
Now here is a little bit about the 
Seton Chess Club: Written By @Mr. Rock
The Seton Chess Club is getting the gears rolling for the new school year after slowing down over the summer! Currently the  activity for September, a competition to play the most Fast Chess games, is going on now. There are many avid Fast Chess players in the club so it will be very interesting to see who comes up on top. A tournament will also be created soon to herald in the fall and back-to-school. In addition, we would like to give a warm welcome to the many new members who have joined over the summer and we are excited to welcome into the club.
If you are interested in joining the vibrant and active Seton Chess Club, with the chess stuff done over at ChessKid.com (your account will be created for you and you will be joined into the Seton Chess Club on ChessKid) and the chatting done on here in the Seton Chess Club, ask to join in the topic "How to Join" in the Seton Chess Club.
 
CH Story by @Raelee
Part Five
@Margaret Marie is that you?” Rose asked uncertainly.
“Yup, although my real name is Adelaide Johnson, but you can call me Adalia. And this is John Paul Dennison, who you all know as @Arthur,” the teenage girl replied.
“Nice to meet you John-Paul. This is Dais and his dog Rosie, Rose, Audrey, Faith, Mar, Elizabeth, and Sen. I’m Nick,” Nick said and shook John-Paul’s hand and then Adalia’s.
“Nice to meet you too, but please call me John, all my friends do,” John said and smiled; hiis voice had a strong English accent.
After the Cher’s walked back to the path and then sat down, Adalia explained how she and John were signing on to Catholic Harbor, at their separate houses, and had been transported to this new dimension. She went to talk about how then a pretty woman named Ella had aprad and explained to them why they were here. “Me and John Paul accepted the quest right away, no questions asked, and that's how we earned our first medals.” Adalia finished.
“Wow, that is really cool!” Mar exclaimed.
        “I agree, but we should continue down the path now. The clouds are getting darker,” Dais said looking up worriedly at the sky. “Hopefully it won’t rain.”
        “But if it does, then won’t we not get wet like the beach’s waves?” Audrey asked as they stood up and walked over to the stone path.
        “Perhaps, but we should keep traveling and maybe we will find our new mission,” Dais explained as the group of Chers walked down the stone path.
        “So how did you get your medals?” John asked the group.
        “We saved Faith from dying, and she didn’t give up on us rescuing her, and held onto the tree branch very tightly, and even when her hands were starting to slip she didn't lose courage,” Elizabeth explained.
        “I’m glad that you are all safe and didn’t get hurt,” John Paul replied seriously. “You could have all been very badly hurt, and might have even died.”
        “But we didn't, and now we're on our way to fulfill our next mission, whatever it might be,” Mar said swinging her arms happily. “I wonder what it will be.” She and the other Cher’s thought over this for a bit as they traveled down the stone path.
        “Hey, all of you look!” Dais exclaimed and pointed in front of him. A snowy forest, with many pine trees covered in snow, lay in front of them. The crazy part was that where they were standing was separated from where it was actively snowing as if a straight line had been drawn across the two different areas.
        “Snow!” Elizabeth exclaimed. She ran forward and picking up some of the snow, she abruptly dropped it. “Hey, the snow isn’t wet or cold!”
“What? I got to see this,” John ran up to where Elizabeth stood. He picked up some of the snow and rolled it in his hands till it turned into the shape of a ball. “It feels just like sand, only it stays together just like play clay.”
After exchanging quick glances the rest of the Cher’s rushed into the wintry area and felt the snow for themselves. “Elizabeth and John are right! It's like it's not even snow!” Nick exclaimed.
“Aw man, I really wanted to experience snow,” Sen said disappointedly, as he picked up some of the snow and made it into a ball. “But I guess this is okay.” he smiled mischievously and threw the ball at Mar, hitting her in the face.
“Oh, I’m gonna make you pay,” Mar smiled and made a snowball she threw at Sen, just barely skimming his arm.
Sen laughed as he dodged another snowball Mar threw, “You’ll have to have better aim if you hope to make me pay.” He and Mar continued throwing and dodging snowballs at each other, while still trying to keep up with the other Chers who were walking down the path.
“It's amazing how two different seasons are going on at the same time!” Audrey exclaimed. “I think the last season we were in was spring, and now we are in the season of winter.”
“You know, your right! I bet the beach and ocean were in the summer season since it was so hot out. I wonder if there are any other seasons,” Faith thought out loud.
Rose skipped down the stone path, which oddly enough had no layer of snow on it. “I like winter the best so far because the snow is not cold or wet, and since we are dressed warmly, the cold breeze doesn't bother me.”
Walking down the path curiously, Rosie was trying to figure out what the white stuff falling from the sky and covering the ground was.
Dais bent down and gave Rosie a dog biscuit he always kept handy in his bag. “At least we now have an endless supply of water.”
“Actually, we don't know for sure that this is snow. What if it is contaminated? Or if it is made up of different molecules and materials than normal snow?” Nick countered. “We should try and make the water bottles that came with our backpacks last as long as possible, or at least until we find a good clean water source.”
Elizabeth dodged a flying snowball that almost hit her face, and was meant for Sen. “That was close. You almost hit me Mar..” She was interrupted by a snowball from Mar hitting her in the face and getting in her mouth. Spitting out the snow, she looked at the others. “Hay it tastes like sweet snow!”
Another flying snowball hit Elizabeth on her cheek. She looked to where it had been thrown from and saw Mar laughing at her. “Hey! You did that on purpose!”
“Yup, and you should've seen your face!” Mar laughed and quickly dodged a snowball Sen threw at her.
“Oh, that's it, watch out Mar!” Elizabeth smiled and ran to where Sen and Mar were throwing snow off of the stone path, she picked up some snow and ran behind Mar, who was aiming at Sen, she stuffed it down the back of her sweatshirt.
Turing, Mar who was startled, threw the snow at Elizabeth’s face.
Ducking, Elizabeth smiled as Sen snuck from behind Mar’s back and dumped a lot of snow on top of Mar, covering her hair and shoulders.
“Hey no fair! Two against one!” Mar squealed and brushing the snow off of her shoulders and head, she ran to where the other amused Cher’s were watching from the stone path, and hid behind Faith. “Save me Faith!” she implored hiding behind Faith as Sen and Elizabeth walked over, their arms full of snowballs.
“What? Why are you getting me caught up in this?” Faith asked, confused as Elizabeth and Sen drew closer.
Suddenly multiple snowballs hit Faith, and she put up her hands to cover her face. “Hey! I’m not playing.”
“Now you are,” Elizabeth smiled and threw  another snowball which hit Faith in the shoulder.
Sighing, Faith smiled and then looked at their others. “Why not? Let's all play. Who knows the next time we will ever see snow like this.”
As soon as she had said those words, Audrey, Nick, Dais, and Rose joined in and snowballs flew everywhere. Even Rosie got caught up in the excitement, and ran around the Cher’s legs, barking excitedly.
After a while, the Chers stopped throwing snowballs and sat down on the stone path exhausted. “That was epic!” Nick panted, trying to catch his breath.
“I quite agree,” John replied and then took a sip of water from his water bottle.
“We should probably walk on and find some shelter. It's probably already almost night time,” Audrey said pointing at the darkening sky, which had started snowing harder.
All the Chers stood up agreeing with Audrey and after brushing all the snow off of their clothes, they went over to the stone path, and began walking down it.
After strolling down the path for a couple of minutes they saw smoke rising up into the air from around a bend in the path. “Look smoke, let's hurry and see where the fire is coming from. The wind is getting colder, and the snow is thicker,” Rose said, shivering as the cold bitter wind blew in her face.
Now running down the path, the Cher’s stopped in front of a small dirt path, which led off the stone path and  to a wooden cottage, where the smoke they had seen was rising from a chimney.
“Lets try knocking on the door and asking if the person is willing to share shelter with us,” Sen suggested as they approached the door.
“Good idea, I’ll try,” Nick lifted his hand and knocked on the door a couple of times.
A few seconds passed, and just as Nick was about to knock again the door swung open and a young teenage girl stood in the doorway. She smiled, and all of the Cher’s knew at that moment that they had seen this girl somewhere before, but where?
Thanks, Rae!
Next up is......
Welcome Our Newest Members! by @SmartKitty16
This is the part where I welcome all our new members since the last CH Times entry. Please note I mention members who I know who are activated. (Basically those who have posted.) That lets me know their accounts are activated. I'm super sorry if I missed you, I was doing this in a bit of a rush.  Please Welcome…
@Arwen Evenstar
@Ghostwhale14 @Daysi
@Vivian
@Seashell
@Emmiek
@Crafty4Life
@Maria the book nerd
@Lemon
@The Catholic Lass
@ClaireBear
@itsmejenv
@Isabella Van
@Nachos99
@MusicalBallerina
@Lilyflower
WELCOME TO CH!!! Please don't be afraid to reach out, we're all pretty friendly here. (: 
CH Movie Review by @DMC88
Well, Friends:
I'm back.
After a hiatus of reviewing (I needed a break but I missed more publications than I wanted to), it’s time we take a look at a cinematic masterpiece. (Even though there are so few nowadays....Mulan 2020 anyone? This was my reaction to the trailer [all of them], followed by screaming in horror for 10 mins straight)

So, today, we’re going to turn back the clock to Hollywood’s Golden Age (not the one you’re thinking of), and take a look at a film that shattered records, astounded the world, and saved a studio from bankruptcy.
BEHOLD:

Review of “Ben-Hur”:
Ok, so...where do I begin....
“Ben-Hur” begins with the audience witnessing the Three Magi come to Bethlehem to present their gifts to the newborn Christ. After a shrill horn blows to signal His arrival, Miklos Roza opens his thundering main theme. After opening credits, we flash forward 30 years as a new Roman legion is passing through Nazareth. A quick dialogue ensues between one of the townsfolk and Joseph, and we get a very quick scene of Jesus walking through the hills. In Jerusalem, the commander of the new legion, Messala (Stephen Boyd) is reunited with his childhood friend, Prince Judah Ben-Hur (played by no-nonsense, all-American, house crashing....I could go on, Charlton Heston). However their friendship begins to stress when Messala attempts to use Judah to gain peace over the Jews, by force if necessary. The conflict culminates in Judah breaking their friendship and being falsely convicted in an assignation attempt on the new Roman governor of Judea. Sentenced to the Roman galleys (their term for Battleship), he along with other prisoners endure a cruel march through the desert, stopping in Nazareth. However, because of his crime and status, Judah is forbidden any water. As he cries to God for help, a shadow comes over him, and a kind hand reaches down to pour water over his face. He looks up at the stranger and begins to drink water (Can you guess who “The Stranger” is?). The Roman guard attempts to force the person away, but suddenly cowers and permits Judah to hydrate. Three years later, that water has kept him alive through bitter agony which would have killed other people long ago. Ben-Hur’s fate begins to change once again, with the arrival of Roman naval commander Quintius Arrius (Jack Hawkins), who has been charged with destroying a rebel Macedonian fleet. He is impressed by Judah’s strength, and offers him a chance to be his personal gladiator. Judah refuses, to which Quintius says that he will be chained to his oar and sink with the ship like all the others. However, when the time for battle draws near, Quintius changes his mind, and orders Judah unchained. In the ensuing battle, the Roman fleet is destroyed and Judah saves Arrius’ life. Arrius begs Judah to let him die, but they then see another Roman ship approaching. Upon boarding, the two learn that Rome had actually won the battle, making Arrius realize that if it had not been for this slave, he would not be able to celebrate the victory. In gratitude, Arrius releases Judah, and upon their return to Rome, shares the glory with the former slave. Eventually, Arrius even makes Judah, Quintius Arrius The Younger. After returning to Judea, Judah begins to plot his revenge against Messala, and finds an ally in an Arabian sheikh, who also seeks Messala’s demise, but in the racing circuit. In the best scene of the whole film, Judah wins the chariot race and kills Messala in the process. Soon after, his life, and that of the Savior of the world, begin to converge for a thrilling and touching finale.
Whew............Well, this description only covers a part of the film. This masterpiece is at least 3hrs long. “Ben-Hur” had always had a troublesome history in terms of filming. During the 1920’s B+W version, the galley scene used full-scale galleys for the battle. However, all the ships caught fire, and the footage was used in the film. People jumping off the decks: because there was an actual fire threatening them. Other problems included location difficulties, script changes, logistics, and financial management. In the version of the film I have reviewed, MGM was on the verge of bankruptcy following the film’s completion. However, “Ben-Hur” was a smash hit, generating astronomical sales, and taking nearly every category at the Oscars. “Ben-Hur” has become so influential, that, in an interview seen in the bonus features of a special edition DVD, George Lucas paid tribute to the chariot race scene, with the podrace scene between Anakin and Sebulba. “Ben-Hur”: a legend that will amaze audiences for all time. 
In conclusion, although Ben-Hur is not for the faint of heart in terms of length, it is the perfect film for families to enjoy.  This film is on my list for films watched during Lent.  Even though there is violence in this, I rate it CH-FG. God Bless Everyone!!!!
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Well that wraps up this entry, I hope you all liked it and will look forward to the next one! God Bless,  Natalie