"Christopher Stasheff - St Vidicon to the Rescue" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stasheff Christopher)

"Yes, that was right after the Black Death, wasn't it? And the population of the world's grown a bit
since then. I hate to be a naysayer, Brother Anson, but we've only a tenth as many of the faithful as we
had in 1960. And from the attraction Reverend Sun is showing, we'll be lucky if we have a tenth of that
by the end of the year."

"We've a crisis in cameras at the moment," the Monsignor reminded. "Could you refrain from
discussing the Crisis of Faith until they're fixed?"

"Oh, they're workingтАФnow." Father Vidicon threw the capping switch and shoved himself away
from the camera control unit "They'll work excellently for you now, Monsignor, until you start
recording."

The Monsignor reddened. "And why should they break down then?"

"Because that's when you'll need them most." Father Vidicon grinned. 'Television equipment is
subject to Murphy's Law, Monsignor."

"I wish you were a bit less concerned with Murphy's Law and a bit more with Christ's!"

Father Vidicon shrugged. "If it suits the Lord's purpose to give authority over entropy into the
hands of the Imp of the Perverse, who am I to question Him?"

"For the sake of Heaven, Father Vidicon, what has the Imp of the Perverse to do with Murphy's
Law?" the Monsignor cried.

Father Vidicon shrugged again. "Entropy is the loss of energy within a system, which is self-
defeating; that's perversity. And Murphy's Law is perverse. Therefore, both of them, and the Imp, are
corollary to Finagle's General Statement: 'The perversity of the universe tends toward maximum.'"

"Father Vidicon," Monsignor said severely, "you'll burn as a heretic some day."

"Oh, not in this day and age. If the Church condemns me, I can simply join Reverend Sun's church,
like so many of our erstwhile flock." Seeing the Monsignor turn purple, he turned to the door, adding
quickly, "Nonetheless, Monsignor, if I were you, I'd not forget the Litany of the Cameras before I called
'roll and record.'"

"That piece of blasphemy!" the Monsignor exploded. "Father Vidicon, could St. Clare care enough
about television to be its patron?"

"She did see St. Francis die, though she was twenty miles away at the timeтАФthe first Catholic
instance of 'television,' 'seeing-at-a-distance.'" Father Vidicon wagged a forefinger. "And St. Genesius is
officially the patron of showfolk."



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"Of actors, I'll remind youтАФand we've none of those here!"