The people at the Vatican just may be smarter than me

I just occured to me that I have no idea how to how to make smoke turn colors. Sure, I could just start burning a bunch of stuff and see what color it smokes. But I don't think that's how they do it over there.

Also, I learned a new word today from visiting the vatican site. Actually, it's an old word, according to the OED it's obsolete. At first I was confused because the term was "Vacant See." Surely, I thought, they can't mean vacancy. The Vatican has more quality control than that. And it turns out, they do!

See
-- A seat of dignity or authority; esp. a royal seat, throne. Hence the rank or position symbolized by a throne. Obs.
--c. transf. and fig. (One's) place of abode; esp. the dwelling-place of a monarch, a god, or the like. Obs.
-- 2. Ecclesiastical uses. a. The seat, chair, or throne of a bishop in his church; = CATHEDRA 1. Now only arch.
-- b. The office or position indicated by sitting in a particular episcopal chair; the position of being bishop of a particular diocese.
-- c. spec. Chiefly with defining word, the Apostolic, Holy, Papal, Roman See, the See of Rome (rarely the See): the office or position of Pope; the Papacy; the authority or jurisdiction belonging to the Pope; occas. the Pope in his official capacity.

Am I the only one who doesn't know this definition?

I guess by not being catholic you miss out on a lot of stuff. Chatting with my co-worker who grew up catholic in poland and went to college steps from the vatican, this whole pope thing actually makes a difference to her, and more importantly, makes more sense to her. All of this "shrouded in mystery crap" that the American news keeps forcing down our throats is just normal for her.

Have you guys heard the one about the pope?

It seems the Pope died. St. Peter told him, "You've been such good Pope, I've been authorized to give you whatever you want." The Pope said, "I want a room, and a copy of all the original manuscripts of the Bible and the early church." Because an original doesn't exist on earth. A bit later Peter and the angels heard a great commotion coming from the Pope's room. They rushed in to see if he was okay, but he was not okay. He was clearly upset. "What's wrong?" Peter asked. "It's an `r', it's an `r,' it's an `r'!" said the Pope, pointing to one of the manuscripts lying open on the table. "It was supposed to be `celebrate!'