Racism on the Telly

Questions in Parliament, Gordon Brown apologises in India, headlines all over the tabloids - just how important is Jade Goody?

Racism is important and should be challenged. But why are we so worried?

Because Jade is a role-model and people will copy her? In that case we should get her off.
Or because she is representative of the typical Brit, prone to casual stereotyping as well as deliberately insulting behaviour? In which case we really should be apologising, in addition to voting her off.

Or is she such a figure of fun that racism will be weakened by her joining into it? (Or are the Great British Public too stupid to realise her lack of actual talent or indeed anything desirable at all? Hmm, tricky one.) We could explain that she has made a whole career out of being thick and we are exposing racism as typical of this? But I guess it didn't work when Johnny Speight wrote Alf Garnett into TV history.

One tabloid headline called Jade "The Dim Reaper". Another pointed out that there still are problems in Iraq and Afghanistan and that these might be more important issues.

There is a lot of racism in Britain. How do we reduce it?

Tuesday's Child: Initial Reactions

There have been those who have asked, those who have clearly wanted to ask but didn't, perhaps not knowing if it was allowed, or boring/cliched, and those who have seemed unconcerned. Some at least seem to have understood. Many have been supportive, and complimentary. None have been unsupportive.

A definite shock to a certain party, perhaps partly because of surrounding circumstances.

So is it?
Provocative?
Fun?
Puzzling?
Counter-Cultural?
Liberating?
All of the above?
Or?
Pretty uninteresting?
A nine-day wonder?
A really bad idea?

You won't know what I'm talking about if you haven't seen me since Tuesday. You might not care. One person will not venture an opinion. Anyway, I like it and I'm pleased with the results.

So, many thanks to Carly, Sarah and Dawn.

New Link

Added a link in the sidebar to my sister-in-law's new blog. She is also candidating to be a minister.

No Plan Survives Contact With the Enemy

Like when you go out for an undisclosed reason, the conduct of which takes longer than anticipated by yourself, and very much longer than anticipated by others, and a vital unexpected call arises causing consternation.

But you do at least get home an hour earlier than expected in the evening.

New Feature

This new version of blogger allows posts to be given labels, so you'll now see some of these in the sidebar. I'm still getting used to it and will have to go back over older posts to see if they warrant one. Hopefully in time the label "worship" will have more posts than the label "Chicken-Little".

Mind Your language

We're back to this again - yes it's liturgy. Don't switch off just yet.

I was going to put this as a comment on this post on Richard's blog but the server or something crashed just before it went - and it was a bit long anyway - and the time's gone by a bit, so it's going to be here now.

It's the Covenant service. This is a very important service, which I value and hate to miss. In fact I've been to two this week, but that's another story.

This time it's not me complaining about liturgy, it's someone else, (actually another Richard).

Richard is a young man, brought up in the faith, and a devout believer. He came up to me after the service last Sunday and tore into the liturgy. When was it last revised? Out-of-date, old-fashioned words, that are not the vocabulary of today. That what should be a joyful act of commitment is ruined. I sent him off to talk to Stuart, as I have no answers (the best I could do is "well it's not as bad as it used to be") and in fact can't disagree with him. So here is my attempt to convey his frustration.

Consider the following language (some of these are Richard's examples, some mine, as I can't remember his exact objections):

"Folly". When did you last use that word?
"Beloved in Christ". Per-lease. To be fair, Stuart didn't use that version (Jonathan did).
"In the fullness of time". It does have meaning, but surely can be updated.
"Yoke". I am not a farmer. What is a yoke? (J, not S)

We used version A of the dedication on Sunday, which is not too bad; consider version B from Wednesday:
" .. put me to suffering .." Now there's a use of the word "suffering" which hasn't existed since the 17th Century.
"Rank me with whom you will .." Not a modern turn of phrase.
" .. let me be empty .." Huh?

and even version A "may the covenant .. be fulfilled in heaven". I do at least understand "ratified" in version B, but it's still difficult.

Anyway, don't tell me I'll grow into it. Tell Richard. Tell him why he needs to. (He wants to.)

For the one time a year we do this, (two is unusual, more is absurd) let's make it accessible to those who want to affirm their faith.

New Friend

Can't say a new blogger, as there isn't a blog, but a link to fellow-student Anne's area has been added in the sidebar. It may be regarded as under construction, but with more visitors she will hopefully be encouraged to expand it and maybe add a blog, hey? There are at any rate some entertaining pictures to look at.

You'll also notice how pink it is ....

Dropping the Pilot

As PLP's navigation course comes to an end, by agreement with the chartmaster, he is looking forward to seeking for treasure all by himself. Ahoy there!

Killer Coke

This is the briefing paper I took to the Methodist Students' Council. Permission is granted for it to be circulated, providing no amendments are made to it.

Complaints against Coca-Cola

1. India
Coca-Cola is taking water from locals.

It takes three litres of water to make one litre of Coca-Cola. Several community campaigns in India.

In the state of Rajasthan, Coca-Cola established a bottling plant in 1999. There has since been " ... a serious decline in water levels. Locals are increasingly unable to irrigate their crops ... wells in use for drinking, cleaning, washing and sanitation are now in anger of drying up altogether." Water levels were stable from 1995-2000, then dropped 10 metres in five years.
Source: Graph produced by Ministry of Water Resources, Rajasthan.

Locals fear that Kaladera could become a 'dark zone'. (term used to describe areas that are abandoned due to depleted water resources.)

Activists in Chiapas, Mexico fear the same thing is about to happen there.

Land Contamination

Coca-Cola's plants provide a sludge-like waste which the company has sold as "fertiliser". Tests show that it has dangerous levels of cadmium and lead. Contamination, specifically lead, has spread to the water supply.

The Centre for Science and Environment tested Coca-Cola beverages and found levels of 30 pesticides 30 times higher than EU standards. Levels of DDT 9 times higher than EU limit.

Source (all above): War on Want, 2006. Quotes BBC, The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday
Other Reports: Ethical Consumer magazine, January 2006.

Also confirmed by eye-witness account; Sam, exchange student with Wesley College. Sam is a resident of Tamilnadu.

2. Colombia

Coca-Cola increasingly associated with union-busting activities. Eight employees in Colombia have been killed by paramilitaries. A lawsuit has been filed (June 2, 2006) under the Alien Tort Claims Act in the USA against the company and its bottlers.

Also being sued on behalf of 14 truck-drivers and other transport workers for its part in the torture and intimidation of trade unionists in Turkey.

Similar stories from the Punjab, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, Chile, Russia.

Source: War on Want, 2006.

Action against Coca-Cola

Some of the largest unions in the world, within and outside the IUF (International Union of Food Workers based in Switzerland), support the student movement to ban Coke products from the campuses. For example, UNISON, the largest union in the UK and the 1.4 million-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the world’s largest Coca-Cola union, which represents more than 18,000 Coca-Cola workers, supports the students’ campaign to pressure Coke. Europe’s Food Production Daily reported on Feb. 9, 2006: “Coca-Cola is now facing a labour relations problem in the US, after the Teamsters Union joined protesters calling for boycotts against the company over alleged human rights violations in Colombia.”

Over 23 U.S. universities, including the University of Michigan, New York University and Rutgers University have cancelled or suspended Coca-Cola's supply contracts, costing the company millions of dollars in previously guaranteed revenues, but also, and more important, countless students say they will not drink Coke beverages, thereby breaking the cycle of consumption of this optional product that is tainted with the blood of Colombian workers.

Bristol University students are beginning a campaign. Other universities have voted to terminate commercial relations.

Campaigns as noted above.

Supported by Locals?

It has been said that unions in Colombia and elsewhere do not support colleges and universities banning Coke products.

In Colombia, the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores de Colombia (CUT — the TUC of Colombia), issued a public statement from their acting President, reaffirming their commitment and their backing of SINALTRAINAL’s struggle.
In addition, CUT Vice President Fabio Arias said: "Coca-Cola has been a persistent violator of trade unionists’ rights and for this reason various universities in the United States have taken measures to protest against their conduct…The CUT supports the University of Michigan, in the United States, in discontinuing the sale of Coca-Cola within their campus, as a result of accusations of violating human rights and trade union rights in Colombia.

Workers in India want other countries to support their struggle by boycotting Coca-Cola.

Training Courses

Peg-Leg Pete was poring over the maps and charts on his navigational training course and suddenly began to wonder how he got here. Hadn't it started because the captain thought he was having trouble using the spyglass? Because he didn't know how to speak pirate properly (using the present tense only, for example)? What had the captain really intended?
But Pete was enjoying learning how to navigate so he thought he wouldn't go back to the captain and say; he reckoned he'd soon be finished and no-one would know any better. Who cared anyway? And he knew which eye to use for the spyglass.

Pink!

It's a very divisive colour.

Literally so, sometimes when boys are given/labelled blue and girls pink (do they still do that in hospitals?). Let's reclaim it for the guys. (Not just the gay guys.)

There's all sorts of pink - personally I prefer "shocking pink" ("hot pink" in America). It's bold, it's in your face, it says Hey! and it can say What's your problem? But we can wear pale pink with a gentler, more reflective mood, and we can match pink with others - pink and white stripes are good.

What is pink's claim to fame? In Chambers' Dictionary it has eight separate entries. Beat that. It's a ship, a flower, a stab, a lake, a minnow, the sound of a chaffinch, an adjective for small, and a verb, to decorate.

You can be "in the pink", meaning tip-top health. (Or I suppose you could be snookered behind the pink - pink is second only to black - which is less good).

Pop music - Pink Fairies, Kissing the Pink (also see Debbie Harry), Pink herself - and of course The Pink Floyd. More?

You can write your blog in it, which challenges people. Why? Why not? What are you saying? Are you just playing?

So we finish with a famous icon. Did you ever see a panther that was pink? Think! A panther that is positively pink? Well, here he is the pink panther, the rinky-pink panther, a panther that is ever so pink! Enjoy.

Next week - black?

The Frustration of Numbers

5 is about average, target achievable, yet 5 is dark. What is light? Not 10.
What is 35? Too little!
Why not 50 when 60 is possible?
35 becomes 30 and 25 in 30, but is finally beaten by 60, and 20 is light.
28 is too high when 60 vanishes - who planned 3 at 30?
50, 40.
75 is too high, too demanding, but 60 (normal) won't do, for 35 needs it.
Increase, decrease.
42.
43.
Green 44.
47 is made, and is good, for 50 is much more.
Peace is 15.

The Die is Cast

Well it got done eventually. My application to be ordained has been posted. Now I'm told it's exactly four months until I get the result (there are a few more hurdles in between, but we'll worry about those nearer the time).

I can do a lot in four months.

A Life on The Ocean Wave

The Magic of the FA Cup

... is not what it was, ask any fan of Sheffield United. It is also lessened for me at present after today's result at Anfield. No complaints; Arsenal always looked more threatening on attack. Might have gone better if we'd been given that penalty, though ... The Carling Cup is now the only pot we have a ralistic shot at, and Rafa knows it.

However, a good result for Oldham, 2-2 away at Wolves, 9th in the next division up. Bring on the replay at Boundary Park.

So, one defeat, one draw, but I am consoled with a win in a different game - Dragons 38 Pistols 0. It's the fire-breathing battle against the Blaze next. Don't get burned.

Temptation

I've saved soooo much money.

Yes for the first time in years I've been properly round the January sales. Normally I don't bother but there are some reasons that I thought I would this time. Never mind what they are. The trouble is it's compulsive. Well, I could do with one of those ... yes, that's a good idea ... well, while I'm here ... oh and that's what I really came out for! Half price? Sold. Half price and then I get a loyalty discount and a student discount? How can I resist? If I don't buy it now, will I have to wait another year?

In truth I'm happy with my purchases. I've refreshed my wardrobe and not just my CD collection ... hang on, didn't buy any CDs ... er. I'm sure that can be rectified ... Oh and half price chocolate! One of the stores I was in today, the assistant was saying that they don't celebrate Christmas (I thought this was a bit sad, but as she went on I understood) but bought presents in the January sales instead. Difficult to argue really. Perhaps the answer is to do like some other countries and celebrate on January 6. OK so there won't be much on the telly but then that's true anyway.

I wonder why I didn't do this in previous years. They say that 80% of most stores sales is done in the last 8 weeks of the year. It should be moved to the first 8 weeks of the year. What economic crisis?

More Magazines

This is a serious review, but the health warning is that it's done from memory of a quick skim through. This week's women's magazine (yes, we'll come to that later) is WomanAlive (I think it is all one word), a magazine for Christian women. I saw my mother-in-law's copy.

It contains a number of inspirational (I guess) stories about coping with tragedy. I did think it would be nice to hear from someone who hadn't suffered a complete disaster. And, er, that's about all I remember. I do recall there wasn't much about successful career women. Oh there were several books to read this month. Blimey. Just like being at college. Hard work being a Christian woman. Does anyone read it regularly?

What I really wondered was whether it would be possible to produce a Christian men's magazine. The male section in Wesley Owen in London wasn't promising, consisting of only two types - one assuming that all men were obsessed by sex, and the other containing advice that would have caused the Lioness to throw it across the store had I let her see it.

A review of FHM will follow shortly.

(Interim review of Trivium's CD: excellent. I now gather I should investigate Mastodon.)

A Question of Congruence

This is Peg-Leg Pete.

This is a crocodile.

Can Peg-Leg Pete learn to love the crocodile?

2007 - not a prime number

Happy New Year to all my readers. May this be a prime year for you all. May your journey, whatever it consists of and wherever it goes, be exciting, fulfilling and joyful.

Why Does It Have To Be So Loud?

The perennial cry of the metal widow.

The question was first asked by Fritz Spiegl of Pink Ployd in the 6os and still exists on a clip, stored in the BBC archives, that pops up from time to time. Roger Waters gives the best, the only, answer; the answer that poor old Fritz can't understand.

"We like it that way".

At which point Fritz witters on about how he was brought up on string quartets; while Roger says, well, he wasn't.

There is no necessity, no compulsion, no rational argument that requires you to burn your eardrums off listening to the Floyd or the Zep or the Ramones - and the latter particularly can play quite happily at modest volumes. But sometimes you need total immersion. Intellectual appreciation of fine nuances is all very well on occasion - but sometimes you want the energy rush and the emotional involvement. To feel the power chords. It's a bit like incense in church - it's not suited to all occasions and some folk can't do with it, but an extra sense can be brought into play - with loud rock it's touch (you feel it).

And if you think it isn't like worship, you've never seen the Darkness or the Quo or the Zep or the Floyd live (the Floyd seem to use the elements, I'm told). And you've missed something. Surround sound? This is "all through" sound. Poor old Fritz.

Glenn Hughes has a fantastic new version of "Nights in White Satin", by the way. A review of Trivium's album will follow (maybe).

Loud Music In Cars

Picked up an issue of Metal Hammer for the first time in a while. It's getting controversial.

The free CD has band names you'd expect: Trivium, Hammerfall, 3 Inches of Blood, Venom, Battleheart, Conquest of Steel, and, er ... Fairyland? Well, an advert says they are "symphonic metal meets speed metal", so that's all right then, had me worried. But a letter supports the recent coverage of "other genres" - and apparently much other support exists to. 21 to 8 seems unnecessarily precise ...

However there's quite a lot of religious content, too. Turned (somehow, spooky) to a page in memory of Stryper (Salvation Through Redemption, Yielding Peace, Encouragement and Righteousness? Yeah right.) with a mention of www.christianhardrock.net the place for "God-loving metallers". Add news of Norma Jean "Christian metalcore" and a worying trend develops, only reassured by feature on The Meads of Asphodel (how do they think of them?) who often dress as Templars (not quite sure where the gas mask fits in here). But even this page has ... book reviews (OK paragraphs about) of Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, and two more about "the other lives of the Big J".

I also need to know about Abigail Williams (as female as Alice Cooper, but she does take a mean picture), Arch Enemy (who really are fronted by a girly) and Blind Guardian (iffy name) who follow in the footsteps of Dragonforce (better name) down the quasi-operatic route. I need to do some serious catching up. Oh yes, Killswitch Engage are still in the mag but who are the rest of these guys?

Title of this post: an old track by Billy Bremner (appalling name) which is somehow relevant to where I shall mostly listen to the free CD. Sleep tight.

I wonder what Kerrang! is up to these days ...

Desire

The desire to know more is not balanced by the desire to write about it.

Choices

I got sent shopping again this morning. It doesn't happen very often because I always come back with the wrong thing. Well who knew that coffemate comes with a blue top or a gold top? And I found the wrong one - the only one there, I insist.

And the request to find Kerrygold spreadable? It doesn't say spreadable on the tub, so I came home without it. The cereal packets were too small (that's why there were cheaper.)

0/3. Must try harder. Or perhaps someone could make it simpler?

Eleven To Go

If I hadn't been away/forgotten/otherwise occcupied/moved around I could easily have had my gold card for 50 blood donations by now, but as it is I got to 39 today so in just under four years I should be there.

I told them about the two of us being ill and the doctor said it was fine so long as it was enough days and we are both well now. In fact they were impressed both with the quality (the finger sample went straight to the bottom of the tube) and speed of delivery (it's all in the right arm, you know) and the fact that I agreed to help them get off earlier by coming 15 minutes earlier than I had booked, so today was a great success all round. In and out in 30 minutes including the cup of tea and not a needle in sight.

In turn the staff are friendly and cheerful even at nearly seven on a dark cold Friday evening, with time for a joke and a chat. They really are a treasure. They are now being asked to work on Boxing Day. Well I can see the point and all that but I wonder how many people are going to think of going out to donate then.

God bless all those who work hard on this important demanding service.

Drugs on Radio 4

Two consecutive programmes on Radio 4 today about legal drugs.

On "Thinking Aloud" Laurie Taylor was discussing qat with a Somali friend - which I have done too. It's legal and it can get you high - if you chew for about 20 minutes. My friend doesn't indulge, but Laurie's does and described the effect. It is illegal elsewhere in the world (like Canada) but there's no pressure to make it so here. However, I think I'll pass.

The other programme was much more scary. "Am I Normal?" was about alcohol. And it said that normal is not a good guide, in this case, as normal in Britain means you are probably damaging your liver. The presenter thought that the majority/typical (of) Radio 4 listener(s) probably drinks too much - 2 glasses of wine a night qualifies, and pub measures of wines are large - and is unaware that they are doing so. Sobering stuff, literally.

An obvious conclusion - Radio 4 listeners should drink less alcohol and chew more qat. Wow.

Both programmes available online. You must hear the second one. Especially if you think it doesn't apply to you.

Here's the link to the Radio 4 Listen Again page where the programmes are easy to find - so long as you're sharp. You can even email them to a friend, if you think anyone needs to hear it.

Health Warning

Browsing idly through the newsagent's I discovered my new magazine has a competitor. Really! It is called Kindred Spirit. However I will not be switching allegiance.

KS only comes out bi-monthly and the Jan/Feb 2007 issue is not out yet. How am I going to plan for January without a horoscope? In any case, the horoscopes in KS are not nearly as detailed. One paragraph to cover two months? Come on. (I haven't checked whether they're accurate.)

Then it has some very strange disturbing stuff. There is an article (this is all from a quick skim, you understand, I haven't bought it) about pentagrams which I had to quickly put down when I came to the words MATHEMATICS and PYTHAGORAS. Yes, really. I nearly fainted, I can tell you. Are their readers, if they have any, still at school? Does anyone else need to read this?

Then there's even stranger stuff about some "scientists" who believe the universe is full of something called "Dark Matter" which you can't see (it's dark, geddit?) but "solves all the scientific problems about what's out there". Or something. Believable? As if. There's a mention of the Big Bang too, but nothing about Gaia at all.

There might be some interest in the article about Sufism, but I'm not buying it just for that. And there's some stuff on Mayan healing (didn't help them, did it?).

I didn't check out the letters page - I suppose they must have readers. However, I have heard that some magazines invent the letters they'd like to receive ....

But crucially, .... no spells. No wicca. Not a sniff of a candle or a ritual. What good is that then? Self-help only takes you so far .... what we need is the supernatural. Magick, if you like.

You can make your own mind up but I know what I prefer to read.

Sick and Tired

I hate being sick and I thought I'd resolved not to do it. You get to lie around all day and do nothing (good) but you don't get to enjoy it (bad). It's so depressing and boring. And you still have to later catch up on all the stuff you had to cancel because you weren't up to it (worse). Occasionally you can get out of things you didn't want to do (but not this time, all good stuff got cancelled) or get a chance to read or think (but not this time, head too fuzzy). Bah.

Anyway tomorrow I shall be baaaack. Are you ready?

Christianity - A Good Thing?

Other people read books, I only seem to have time for book reviews ...

Anyway, there is a new book out, "Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris, apparently a follow-up after his first was greeted by "thousands of emails from enraged Christians" - I don't know of what persuasion.

His arguments are that Christianity is "dangerously irrational" (I don't recognise that at all although it may be true of some Christians, I guess), "its persecution of other religions is deeply-rooted" (rather a strong phrase, but perhaps it shows that we are at least sincere and consistent), "sin is a guilt-inducing concept" (can't argue with that - is it a bad thing?), and "faith perverts trust, respect and tolerance" (er, what? I'd have to see that argument).

(All quotes are from New Statesman, whose reviewer feels that he "[fails] to address the most challenging arguments".)

The book has a foreword by our good friend Richard Dawkins, of whom Terry Eagleton said in the London Review of Books "Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is The British Book of Birds and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology." (also quoted in NS.)

Anybody up with where the latest debate is? Answer in not more than 500 words.

The Worst Thing about Examinations

... is waiting for them to start.

You Can't Make an Omelette

.... without breaking some eggs.

We're going to break a few tonight. I wonder if they'll be the right ones?

They're After My Blood

Every three or four months I get a letter telling me how valuable I am. In particular I always get one as Christmas approaches. I duly got one today. Yes, I am a blood donor.


I am especially valuable (no really) as I am type O+ which is the "universal donor". 84% of the population can accept my blood. And they particularly need extra around Christmas time.

Also they say the number of blood donors is dropping. So at the end of next week I shall give half an hour of my time and get an excuse for a lie down (not that I've ever felt the need to). These days regular donors can even make timed appointments to cut down on the waiting.

Maybe I'll see you there?

Mondegreens

A mondegreen is the part in a song where what you hear is not quite what the lyrics are supposed to say. The name comes from an old folk song, whose exact title and quote I don't recall (it's something about a group who killed Lord someone and Lady Mondegreen)

As an example, here is a picture of Jimi Hendrix performing Purple Haze singing "'Scuse me while I kiss this guy" - listen to it again and you'll see what I mean.
(This used to be a popular feature in Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Maybe still is.)

You get them in hymns too. A particular favourite of mine is the one about what God does to the stabling arrangements for the Great Giraffe.
You know: "He is trampling on the village where the Great Giraffe is stored .."

Contributions invited.

Be Sure Your Sins Will Find You Out

I need to post a warning. This comes also from my new favourite magazine.

In the September issue there was a feature article in which they reported on regressing couples to previous lives to see if they had had earlier connections - a soulmate thing.

One woman experienced several previous lives, and saw her (current) husband in a couple of them, although none in which they were a couple. In one of these lives, she reported seeing him having sex with a prostitute.

He didn't see his current wife at all in any previous life.

Oops.

Recommended Reading

Anyway, down at the Magistrates' Court last week I discovered the most wonderful magazine which has me absolutely captivated so that I've fallen under its spell (more of that later). It's a women's magazine that men should read too and it's called Spirit and Destiny.

Now I'm not a connoisseur of women's magazines but this one is useful, educational and inspirational. The January issue has two pages dedicated to telling you how good oranges are for you. You'd be amazed. (Or maybe you wouldn't, I don't know.) You can do more than eat them, anyway (again, more later). There's also two pages on eco-friendly skiing called Respecting the Mountain, and lots of stuff about organic, friendly eco-conscious ways of living.


Then there's the useful stuff - spells provided by the resident Wicca, Silja. Candles are a big theme here so it's time to invest. There's an "easy-to-cast money spell" (green candle), as requested by a reader, one (red candle) to make someone at work ask you out (a curiously old-fashioned approach for such an up-to-date publication it seems to me, but we'll let it pass), a spell to boost your luck (nutmegs and an old shoe, for a change) accompanied by a testimony from someone who tried it, a spell to make you less depressed in the winter (here's where the oranges come in) and a New Year celebration for if you missed 31 October, for which you need white wax. Add some general advice about meditation and some ruminations about why we get depressed in the winter and how to combat it (honey stirred clockwise into orange juice) and you have a whole lifestyle.

What else? Seven-day guide to detox for the new year; after a day of preparation, day 2 is the liver flush (the liver is where your spiritual soul lives, so don't poison it), day 3 cleanses the skin, day 4 helps your digestion (by a technique I am not personally going to try), day 5 clears your lungs (a use for frankincense!) and day 6 sorts out your kidneys (load up on the salt, which you also need for the feng shui exercise elsewhere) so that on day 7 you can finish by polishing your spirit. What a start to the new year!

I said that men should read it too, and I meant it. From the September issue I learned to be careful whenever a lady offers me a cappucino. Apparently if you want to seduce a man, he is more likely to agree if he has accepted said drink. True. Not that this is a situation I feel likely to occur, however forewarned is forearmed. (Mind you I haven't read the feature article on 7 steps to higher love, copiously illustrated, and based apparently on the Kama Sutra.) This advice does seem more suited to the modern miss than that above, though, if I'm any judge.

Anyway back to the research. Did you know that chidren who watch lots of TV are likely to be more unruly in school? You did. There's a feature on alternative schools, too.

Oh, there's too much. Almost at random, I could find more. Psychic healing, holistic makeovers, useful hemp bags, homeopathic and naturopathic remedies, recycling to save money, spiritual paths to material prosperity (before you spend money on bills, always spend some on spiritual growth and fun or celebration - you don't find that in the Financial Times) and recognise how much you need (er?)

There is plenty of other research, too.
Did you know that if teenage girls live with their dads the moment when they're biologically ready to have sex can be delayed by up to three months? Not stated whether this is approved of, or not. And bad luck too to have an older sister, as it holds you back further; stepbrothers help you though. There is no suggestion thankfully of what to do if you're caught in this predicament.

I should mention that as it's the January issue there's a proper horoscope with actual dates in January, not one of these cobbled-together two-paragraph jobs in other mags. If it applies to men too then I'm likely to be short of money at the end of the month and be cautious especially on the 22nd if I want to buy an internet cafe. (Er, I wasn't actually thinking of that, so I might get away, I suppose. Anyone want to make me an offer?)

You really must read this, especially if you're a leader of worship and want to know where your congregation is. I've just sent off for a year's subscription. It's the ultimate proof of G.K Chesterton's famous statement that when folk stop believing in something they don't believe in nothing they believe in anything. Did I mention the bollocks? Not sure.

I've barely scratched the surface. Buy it, read it. Ignore it at your peril.

Reflecting Pool

High Stakes

Blood Pressure

My blood pressure is higher in my right arm than my left. The doctor checked it to make sure. Then he wrote it in my notes. Hmmm. However my eyesight is 6/6 which is good for someone my age.

My Day in Court

... was a bit frustrating, though educational. Actually, it was only a morning.

I can't say anything about the case which was the reason for my attending, or why I didn't get to see any of it, or why it was only a morning. But some things can be said.

If the mills of God grind exceeding slow, then the courts of the UK can, on occasion, run them close.
This is not due to a lack of professionalism on the part of the court staff. In fact, it is in large part their professionalism, and their concern for interests of justice, which causes the slowness. And I can't explain that without referring to the case. In fact all the staff seem very professional, efficient and creative. Goodness knows what the courts would be like without that.

And I did see part of a case which had run very fast.

And maybe I'll get to find out the result of the case at some point in the future. I hope so, as it is an important case.

Oh yes, it was a Magistrate's Court.

Hours aka What Happened to the Blog?

Monday 20th: 5.5 + 5
Tuesday 21st: 10.5 + 3
Wednesday 22nd: 17.5
Thursday 23rd: 5.5
Friday 24th - Monday 27th: (78) + 4.5
Tuesday 28th: 9.5 + 2.75
Wednesday 29th: 13

The Examination

Bad News: I have an examination upcoming.
Good News: I still have a week to prepare.
Bad News: I have a lot else to do in that week.
Good News: Some of it can be delayed till later.
Bad News: Examinations are harder as you get older.
Good News: This examination only has one question.
Better News: The question is given to you in advance.
Bad News: It is a difficult question.
Good News: I think I understand it.
Bad News: There is a time limit.
Worse News: There are no re-sits.
Much Better News: There is more than one right answer.
Bad News: There are several wrong answers.
Good News: The examiner likes me.
Bad News: That is not enough.
Good News: I think I know the answer.

Conclusion: The jury is out.

In a State

Palms sweating
Head spinning
Shaking uncontrollably, all over.

I cannot concentrate or focus, I am totally bewildered, I see everything and nothing.
The clock spins round in the stillness.

Words flow past me, but I cannot capture them. They flee faster and faster than I can run, even though I pursue them.

Calm down.
Breathe.
One, two.

It will soon be over, one way or another. I shall be released or damned.

It is essay deadline day.

Madre

This is a prayer for all mothers everywhere, those who want to be mothers, those who expect to be mothers.

For those who find motherhood exciting,
May every day be joyful and bring new riches and challenges.
For those who find motherhood tiring,
May you be daily refreshed and excited.
For those who find motherhood frustrating, unrewarding, dispiriting,
May you see in a new way the days, the hope, the possibility.
For those who find motherhood bewildering,
Take heart for many have gone before you. Be excited. Enjoy the experience.
For those who want to be mothers,
God is looking after you. God bless you. Others feel for you.
For those preparing to be mothers,
Your sisters support you. Be encouraged.
For new mothers,
Feel confident in the support around you. Love and receive love.
For mothers who feel no longer necessary,
Remember what you have given, how you have loved, and help others. Share.
For all of you,
There is always more. May you always feel God close, guiding you, comforting you, holding you.

For those who are not mothers, who do not want to be mothers, who cannot be mothers,
Life is full of richness. May you find it.

This is a poor prayer, but the best I can do.

One year on

It is exactly one year ago that we took Sheba to the vet and didn't bring her home again. We both still miss her dreadfully. We had her for all our married life and Angela a long time before that. She lived with me for a bit too. She used to bark at me when I first met her. Bark and bark and bark. What a lovely dog.

We look for her when we come home. We miss not being followed around. We miss throwing the ball for her and we remember how she barked at the squeaky hedgehog. You get a lot of love from a dog.

The End of Chicken-Little

Chicken-Little had spent some time in the farmyard. He'd learned about pecking and crowing and digging for worms and why all the eggs were brown and he'd even hatched a couple. He'd met some ducks and seen the lake and he felt he'd really grown up. The badger had shown him some new ways of swimming and the silver fox had talked of the past. And the sky hadn't fallen on his head after all.

But the Rooster Council said that he couldn't enter the henhouse because his clucking upset them and his feathers were too shiny but anyway there was always plenty to do in the barn.

Chicken-Little was very sad. But he shook his tail-feathers, changed his name and ran off to join the circus. And he was never heard of again.

Goodnight children.

The Darlington Trip

I've been putting this one off, but I can't do so for ever. And I don't want to write a story this time.

Getting old is no fun. Scratch that - it's better than the alternative, as George Burns said. In any case there's nothing wrong with being old. What's terribly depressing is becoming unable to do the things you used to do.

And watching that happen to somebody is, well I suppose nearly, as bad. Not just because you wonder what will happen to you, but just because it is.

Hopefully there is someone there to take away the pressure of coping with the things you can't do. But it really still won't be enough. It can't be.

And that will have to do for now.

Do you know where you're going to? - Diana Ross

Short naive answer - Ty Mawr.

Longer less naive answer - I know where I'm aiming for but I don't know whether I'll be prevented from getting there and diverted en route. One thing is for sure. I'm on my way to a different place.

Making Progress is ...

400 words.

Morning Trip

From warmth and light
Into cold grey damp
Clunk
Twist
Quiet vibration
Cold face
Hydrocarbon tang
Drums beat, guitars sing
Light up the grey
Dim shapes approach and fade
Flick flick flick
Tick tick tick
Red and white shine
between the green strips
White appears in the gloom
Red fades in the distance
Warmth climbs
Grey ribbon stretches into grey world
Press and an unseen force is pushing
as the lights glow and grow
light and light and white light
redlight, redlight
Chest restrained
and slow and slow and
stillness and a slow crawl
turns into a surge
White and blue is the sign
Red, and gold appears
Green arrow
White reflection
Go and turn
and jolt into silence
Stop and step
into the grey.

Breaking Eggs With a Stick

So let's summarise. I have on my to-do list:

14 books to read
4 or 5 books to analyse
2 services to lead
2 service to jointly prepare
12 portfolios to mark
Indeterminate amount of moderation, probably at the last minute
1 moderation exercise to organise
2 weekends and 1 day away
2 applications to make
2 services to reflect on; 1000 words
1 personal statement to write
4000-word essay to write
1 essay to think about
Indeterminate amount of research to prepare
1 chess competition
1 medical to organise
3 Gridiron games, including coaching and signing free agents
3 roleplaying sessions to lead
Lectures, seminars, placements

Better get started.

Chicken-Little Goes to Tea with the Ferrets

Chicken-Little knew he was well looked after. Although he was teased sometimes about his ragged feathers he knew that the other animals made him welcome, when some others like some of the wild geese were cooed at and even pecked, particularly by the swans but also among other animals. One goose in particular received a very severe pecking from a black swan and had feathers plucked out.

The ferrets did not always help either. They were supposed to help the visitors but sometimes they were a bit snarly.

Then he heard that in this case the ferrets - who had seen this incident - expected this swan to be taken into the aviary, and Chicken-Little was pleased. But he wondered if it was actually right to feel this way - wouldn't it be better if all the birds could live in the barnyard together? There was plenty of food, surely?

(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles - The Proclaimers

OK a bit of a cheat - it's a 500 mile round trip, not one way, and it will take three days. However it still gives you plenty of time to think. On the third day I shall return. Will be the same old me? Who can say.

The Biggest Blog

My second attempt at uploading my day worked, so those who want to can read a day in the life of a theology student. Search for theology, or look at 25 October entries. I'm not putting a direct link here so that you have to go to the site, when you might get interested in other entries.

A Brush With The Law

So I've been escorted by 18 police officers today. Well at least I went with them on a Cultural Awareness Day. In half-term. I feel very virtuous. And I learnt something. Three aspects of God is not just a Christian doctrine, for instance.

The England Team Coaching Method c.1956

The technique commonly used at this time was "don't practise with the ball at training sessions - then they'll be hungry for it in the real match". Absolutely true.

Not hard to see the flaw? "Take all the best players available, and then not only fail to develop their skills, but actively encourage them to atrophy".

It took a new regime to make changes. Nowadays we don't think in such a way. Do we?

Fashion Victim

So this is the film we went to see today:




















But real life isn't like this, is it?

That's all.

Making Your Mind Up? - Bucks Fizz

A Walk in the Woods

Yate and Sodbury celebrated the Festival Of Lights in its inimitable way yesterday - and you can catch it again today too at the Ridgewood.

















Pretty lights, shadow play, music and sausages (if you cared to wait in the queue.) Everyone looked Anglo-Saxon Protestant to me, but hey. Good fun.















Recommended that you walk around the trail and see the effects.

Spotlights and a lantern to your footsteps, as it were.

King of Shadows

The Caro-Kan

The Caro-Kan is a deceptive defence. White starts with a classical, traditional move, attempting to dominate from a central position. Black responds with a move that looks like he's already given up - a single-square pawn move that doesn't challenge the centre, encouraging White to expand. It looks passive, innocuous.

But slowly he begins to undermine the imposing centre. With no obvious targets - and the Caro-Kan is more resilient than you expect - White can only attempt to slowly shore up his position while waiting for the counter-punch. The centre comes under pressure and may crack. Black is playing the long game, waiting for the mistake. Patience is key - no sudden aggression but little probes. Suddenly White's position is parlous - and there is no reversal from here; all the energy is on one side.

Do not underestimate the Caro-Kan.

A final story; true although I'm not sure if the names are right.

The grandmaster Lasker came up against a new opponent in a tournament - an unknown. He opened with his usual bold e4 and pressed his clock confidently. His opponent, looking up from his newspaper casually, seemed unconcerned. He folded his newspaper, leant back in his chair and used the newspaper to slide the c-pawn to c6 - then went back to his reading. Lasker was outraged, with the lack of respect shown to him (won't put his newspaper down and play properly!) and to the opening. What is this foolishness? It's not even a proper move. He summoned all his rage and energy and focussed it into destroying this upstart, into obliterating him completely. And he lost, to Tarrasch, who would go on to massively influence chess thinking. No openings are named after Lasker; Tarrasch has a major defence to the Queen's Gambit - and even names like the semi-Tarrasch, developed later from the principles he taught.

New Blogger

Well she's not new to blogging but I've only just discovered her blog and added a link in friends and relations. I won't introduce her cos she's perfectly capable of doing that herself. Suffice to say that we have quite a bit in common. Go to Josette's site to see what she has to say. Bound to be interesting.

Making Posterity History

Today's blog entry will appear on
Britain's biggest blog - sometime soon.

An Appropriate Approach?

1 e4 c6
2 d4 d5
3 Nc3 de

intending ... e6 and ... c5 (with ... Nd7)

A Good Day for Landlubbers

I finally beat RME's Pirates - and convincingly 47-19. Good job. The service went well too, I thought.

Refreshing

Chicken-Little Learns the Truth

The Bear spoke Latin hoping not to be understood, but Chicken-Little thought it all sounded rather familiar although he had forgotten most of it a long time ago. He knew it was not satisfactory though.

Army Boy knew the discipline but did not use a razor. Shaggy. It reminded Chicken-Little of The Great Stone Face.

Little Woman cleaned the house. Multi-tasking was at least useful but she didn't finish the job.

The Lion-Man was interested but Chicken-Little was of a mind with the Leopard who wanted meat not fresh air.

Chicken-Little Steps Out

Chicken-Little went to visit the Watchdog behind the Big Wooden Gate. He had heard that the Watchdog was fierce and chased buffalos and he wondered what he would find. And the Watchdog was indeed big and brave with a powerful bark, but he also had a lovely warm paw and he gave Chicken-Little a big hug. He showed Chicken-Little how not to be eaten by lions and introduced him to lots of other animals, so that Chicken-Little forgot all about the farmyard and even Badger's set. He was very sad when it was time to go home again, but he promised not to forget the Watchdog and to send him nice juicy bones to say thank you.

A Question of Truth

Is eating sawdust a good idea? I wonder if anyone can come up with a better suggestion.

Talking To My Computer

My computer is very friendly and seems to enjoy the conversation, always signing off with a cheery word. However its repertoire seems to be very limited.

It is very concerned about my feelings. It never switches itself off, never gets restless. It even seems to understand me, in a way.

But the interaction is missing. I think it's the programming. I need more.

Who am I?

I look complete but I am empty inside.

I may seem perfect from the outside but I am not even at the beginning of progress.

I contain elements of love, and may even be taken to be love in entirety, but I contain the seeds of resistance and rebellion and am almost completely in error.

I may seem to contain moral judgment but also a complete negative.

I am the subject of a quest but discarded as worthless.

Brookside Rules OK

I know u of old, I have played in your branches U R OAK.

I have sheltered from the storm while u wave importently at the elements.

I have dug at your roots and exposed u, u have no secrets from me. And I have felt your warmth, the heart that lies beating within. That others do not c, will not c. U will go on even if your limbs are cut down.





I do not no u for I can never no u. U dance happily away before I can grasp u, u are never the same. I have splashed in u and laffed in u but I cannot caress u, u are gone. And u can sweep me away. U are cold sometimes and dry sometimes but u come back to life in a torrential heartbeat.


The tree is cut down and I ride in its bark to the c.

Broken Down Angel - Nazareth

There was a rumour that today there would be a fairy on the streets of Bristol. Sadly it turned out to be only that.

I do believe in fairies, I do, I do. Why can't I see any?

Love Me Two Times - The Doors

When you hear the same sermon preached twice in four days by two different preachers, it gives you pause to think, doesn't it? Particularly with an introductory sermon in the previous week. Somebody is telling me something and they want to be sure I hear it.

Handle With Care - The Travelling Wilburys

A very dangerous envelope arrived here today. Inside it (and I have checked, just in case) are the papers which are required to apply to be a presbyter in the Church. These are clearly weapons of life destruction and must not ever be used. I'll just go and put them in a safe place ....

A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles

I've been working like a dog. And don't say it keeps me out of mischief, for it doesn't.

Regrets - The Eurythmics

If I have just won the lottery, why does it feel like I threw my ticket away?

Follow You, Follow Me - Genesis

First day of my extra, self-imposed and unregulated placement. The speaker this morning challenged us this morning to get more involved with local schools and the preacher this evening asked us if we'd won the lottery and said he had. Talk about mixed messages. I wonder what happened at Shortwood. But I think I know which path to resist (or be more creative about ...) and which to go for. Wully, Tim and Mary all seem sure - but do they know all the facts?

Dreams of Children - The Jam

Apparently the Wild children were playing "What animal would you be ... ?" with people they know.

So this is me.

Now explain that if you can ....

Stuck in the Middle With You - Stealer's Wheel

I was most grateful to Richard - see links - for his link to mine. I'm just a bit curious about the positioning. He has blogs characterised as eg "Diggers and Dreamers", but I am in "Middle Ground". Now that could be a compliment - but I wonder if he considers me/this a bit too staid, traditional, .... the b-word would be next. I think "Cutting Edge" would be a bit far, but .... (drifts off wistfully).

Still at least due to an accident of naming I am currently first on the list I am on. Mustn't grumble. No, hang on, that's wrong .....

Respectable - The Rolling Stones

You don't half get some stuff on the telly these days.

Some people say there's too much sex on the telly. That's because they keep falling off. Boom-boom.

Anyway, there's a programme on Channel 5 called Respectable. It's a sitcom set, well, in and around a brothel. I'm sure some people think it shouldn't be on. Probably still more think I shouldn't be watching it. But hey, we do.

When people have complained there's too much sex on the telly then I have wondered where they have found it. They must know something I don't. But anyway, why not? We have programmes about all sorts of things. We've had comedies about the war (Dad's Army, Allo' Allo'), about petty criminals (Minder), and I think about funeral directors (didn't watch them, were they comedies?). We can laugh about sex, too surely. Actually after all the variations on My Family, Respectable is a truly brilliant concept. And it's funny.

And it's educational (I think) - and it's got a clear moral message.

I do hope a second series is in production.

Games Without Frontiers - Peter Gabriel

A wonderful day at the Season 3 draft yesterday. A dispersed networked community gathers together to share its passion - and those who are can't be there are represented, not only in spirit and thought of but important decisions made carefully on their behalf by their rivals, and in Gerard's case make long transatlantic phone calls at ungodly hours to be part of the occasion. He even gets his picture taken by proxy.

There were welcomes to the community; most of those there I had not met before. There were friendships renewed. There were plaudits. There were jokes. There was serious business. There was chat. There was creativity. There was time for games. I saw no tears but we share each others' misery when the star player turns up for pre-season training with a busted knee and a heart murmur. Above all, there was fun and laughter.

There were no arguments, no discord, no tensions at all. Different characters, different viewpoints aired and shared, discussed and respected.

I can only describe it as a foretaste of heaven.

Nothing Happened Today - The Boomtown Rats

Well obviously not true at all. But nothing that inspires me creatively. Enjoyed simple liturgical communion yesterday!

You've Got My Number - The Undertones

And the results are in. Scores on the doors: 61 and 63.

Damn. I suppose I'll have to go on.

The Professional Non-professional?

Twist In My Sobriety - Tanita Tikaram

"Tradition is not precedent."

Thanks, Mervyn.

Hard Habit To Break - Chicago

This could also have been titled:

Jealous Guy - John Lennon
Power - Rainbow
Speak to Me - Pink Floyd
Anarchy in the UK - The Sex Pistols

and no doubt I'll think of more.

It's hard though. This might be the crucial test.

Do You Want To Know A Secret? - Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas

Too bad.

Call Me - Blondie

Isaiah 50; the suffering servant is called to speak out. But also to be alongside those who need it. To make a difference. This requires discernment and guidance. So the worship tonight will make a contribution. The Bear of Very Little Brain needs it to be made crystal clear, though. No subtle hints. Tell it straight and loud.

Who Are You? - The Who

There's a popular interview question "pick five words to describe yourself". I've had a go. But I'm not ready to absolutely reveal them just yet. Instead I'll give you the initial letters. They are, in no particular order bar the last one:

P A C I F

The first four are adjectives and the last one is a noun and the title of a pop song.

There are other sets too I think, so this may be the first of a series.

Post title: I read some blog awhile ago in which every post title was the name of a (pop) song, so I thought I might have a go for a bit (maybe a fortnight). Whether I can keep it up we'll see - might be a bit restricting - might fit post to title rather than other way round. The other blog was a bit irregular. Hey it's fun to play.

Motorcyclin'

Affordable housing

The cry goes up again "Don't get into debt!" and "We must have more affordable housing". But it doesn't happen.

What is affordable? Affordable to me is cheap to other people. So I can't buy it anyway because they can come in and outbid me; then the prices keep moving up and we get into a spiral - if the value of your house goes up then you can spend more when you move, making the chance to buy worse for those without a house.

Affordable to me is out of reach to others. What do they do?

Who wants affordable housing?
Builders don't. There's not so much profit to be made - the extra time spent in building a bigger house, selling it etc is far outweighed by the extra money made. Efficiency of scale.
Estate agents don't. They are on commission. The higher the price the more they make for the same amount of work. They are heavily incentivised to raise prices.
Mortgage lenders don't. They want to lend as much as possible. Keeps the shareholders happy. They don't want small borrowers, they want large ones. These are the ones they look after. The Carling advert is not far off the mark.
We don't. We want to live in nice houses. Because we've seen them and likely been brought up in them. We don't want a two-up two-down, we want a spare room. We want a nice garden for the kids with room for a shed. We want a garage (probably a double). We want a playroom for the snooker table. We are aspirational. And we want it now, unlike previous generations.
The government doesn't. It doesn't stimulate the economy. And they certainly don't want it in the areas they live in. (Who does? No-one. We think they are the wrong sort.)
The only people who really want affordable housing are those who are so badly off they'll take anything. And they can't afford even affordable houses. And they have no power to affect anything or anyone. They are not preferred customers. They have no voice.

Ruth is stranger than Richard

What is Ruth?
Ruth will pout. Ruth is out there.
I will tell Ruth, and nobody but Ruth.
You shall know Ruth and Ruth shall set you free.
Ruth and Justin, the American way.

And if you believe Pat, you'll believe Antony. Ali can go round the world while Ruth is putting her boots on.

Love is Lisa.

Don't you tell it to Therese for she will tell the Birds and the Beasleys.

What mood are you in?

Well there you go. I played "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" to evoke a mood, but when I asked what it evoked, expecting the answers loss, loneliness, alienation the answer was "joy". And I could see the point. Serves me right for asking a question to which I expected a particular answer.

However they did enjoy "The Sun Has Got His Hat On" so that worked.

How many sermons can you write?

I've been asking ministers in Circuit how many (different ones) they do in a quarter. Popular answer seems to be between nine and twelve.

Blimey. I'm doing well to do six. I shall have to get cracking.

Speeding fines

Now let's see if I can stir it up.

I saw a headline in the paper on the stand the other day "Speeding Fines on the M1 raise £1.2m" (may not be exact but that's what it came to).

I didn't read the article but I imagine (advance apologies to the reporter if I'm wrong) that this was considered to be A Bad Thing - given the vitriol there's been on Points West about fundraising from "the poor motorist" that's what I expect.

I don't agree.

First of all let's be clear. We are not talking about people accidentally accelerating a little too hard and doing 71 mph, or even briefly doing 75ish while overtaking. We are talking about people wilfully doing 80mph and more. Beetling down the overtaking lane (remember its correct title - it is not a "fast" lane) like it's their own private racetrack because they're the most important people in the world and they haven't given themselves enough time.

This is a criminal offence. It is dangerous. We need to stop it and them. Particularly those who flash their headlights at me when I am overtaking at 75 (holding them up?), and then when I refuse to move over, try to undertake me (double meaning possible) in the middle lane and fly through the closing gap between me and the other car - and yes I've had this happen and seen it happen to others, don't deny it.

I hope the fines next year do not amount to £1.2m. I hope they are zero. In the meantime, until people learn to drive with consideration for others, I support the speed cameras. They may save a life. They may at least help to provide the money to police the roads until they are safer.

(I bet some people complain about the price of petrol. Slow down a bit and see how much you can save.)

When shall we have the sermon?

Discussing with George when it began to be the "tradition" to have the sermon in the middle of the service, rather than the end (climax).

I think I've found it. Richard Jones' book Groundwork of Worship and Preaching, 1980. It's on my bookshelf because it was my set text when I was training. It lays out magisterially that the service should be in three parts "and the sermon of course relates to the second section" (my italics). No argument allowed.

So like the Oxford University Press on Balderdash and Piffle, I throw out a challenge - can anyone find an earlier occurrence?

In a way it's nice to know that at one time I was at the cutting edge of Methodist practical theology. Just a pity that I now have to tear it down and remake it. Why? That's another post.

Meetings

How does he do it?

Circuit Meeting all done and chairs being put away by 9.00

Local Preachers' Meeting finished at 8.35. I think that's a record.

It's a gift.

Where's my glasses?

Now I have:

New reading glasses
Old reading glasses (still fine)
Reading sunglasses
Driving/General sunglasses
Dark sunglasses

I'm not quite up to the record set by my mother but I'm getting there. I am never going to keep track of this lot.

Discipline and Freedom

There is joy in creation.
The act.
The impulse of inspiration.
Responding to the muse.
The result may be ephemeral, necessarily or voluntarily.
It need not be shared, for God sees it. Or it may be global. Provocative.
Comforting.
Weird.
It may be lost. Never rediscovered. Yet it was. It existed.

It can be free. And freeing. It may be the ultimate freedom.

Can it be programmed? Done to order?
Is it the same when it is required? How will the space be filled?
Is it still so joyful when the weight of expectation hangs like a sword over your neck? When the clock ticks, and ticks, and the alarm is set and cannot be delayed? And will chime every hour until eternity? There is no time!
When the heart races: is it good enough? enriching?
Will the weird be acceptable? The discomforting appropriate? The unconventional understood? The straightforward rich enough? The fun caught?

Places I would like to go but never will

The Burning Man festival in America (in the desert).

Monsters of Rock (don't mind being deafened don't like getting wet and muddy).

Monte Carlo.

An igloo.

Who's reading all this anyway?

The other thing about the bloggers programme on Radio 4 was how many people read them. The two ladies on this week knew from comments that hundreds of people were reading (and the one who blogged about the Underground got thousands on July 7) - and these are just personal blogs, not about deep issues. La Petite Anglaise I first heard of on Ceefax. Whereas those who read this one are numbered in ... er, units.

Now this blog wasn't intended originally for a wider audience - and isn't listed so it's not likely to get one - but the idea was that it's more than a personal diary (I can't keep a personal diary, I've tried, if what's written isn't in some sense for public view I mostly can't be bothered to do it) so should I widen it? I've resisted putting it on eg locustsandhoney (Methodist) because you aren't allowed on there unless you put five other members on your blogroll (from whom I don't know anybody) and I'm deliberately trying to keep the links section short and tidy partly as a mark of quality and also that long lists are terrifying (the list on l&h is shocking - how can you possibly find anything there?)

Thing is, it would be nice in a way to have hundreds of readers, but then you have to be witty and disciplined and lots of other qualities (other folk write reams of stuff) and then you wonder if you do have any other life. And although I've proved I can write a thousand words in a day (a couple of hours if I know what I want to say) do I want to? How big is my community? Is it worth being famous? How careful would I have to be?

I don't know really. What's the point as someone once said?

Why do we do it?

I'm listening to yesterday's Radio 4 programme in the series "Meet the Bloggers". This one includes an interview with La Petite Anglaise who lost her job through blogging. She and many others talk about their lives and have titles for their friends and family (Tadpole, Mister Frog, in her case). There's clearly a need to reflect on their lives. Blogging helps.

Me too. But this blog also covers other things - not just my personal story, but larger reflections; which is what some bloggers do exclusively. Am I trying to do too much and falling between two stools? Perhaps it makes this blog confusing. Some posts are coded to protect the innocent. Some are straight. I'm given to understand that it's sometimes difficult to tell the difference. Should the content be taken literally or interpreted?

Stylistic similarities to the Bible, then?