Sugar for swallowing exceptions

gistfile1.rb

# Suppose we're going to have a bunch of code like the following
# boilerplate (ignore the unfortunate nil propagation)
@city = begin
          GizmoStore::Thingy.get(123)
        rescue GizmoStore::NotFound
          nil
        end

# I can't decide if this is useful boilerplate elimination or
# saccharine ivory tower abstraction.
@language = swallow(GizmoStore::NotFound) do
  GizmoStore::Thingy.get(123)
end

def swallow(ex, &block)
  begin
    block.call
  rescue => exception
    if exception.is_a?(ex)
      nil
    else
      raise ex
    end
  end
end