I spotted this amid a great series of photographs on the Grauniad website; you could be browsing for, ooh, minutes. Photo taken by Hector Georgiou.
Commercialism, Christianity and, er, fish
I spotted this amid a great series of photographs on the Grauniad website; you could be browsing for, ooh, minutes. Photo taken by Hector Georgiou.
10 today!
I do something amazing. I give blood.
So goes the National Blood Service strapline. Today was my tenth donation, and they gave me a pin badge! I'm A negative which means that I'm quite rare (ok, not *that* rare) - there's only five days stock left of my type at current levels because it needs to be replenished often. Group O is the most common which means it's in demand the most.
It takes less than an hour all told (forms, test, feet up, free biscuits, the lot) and it only involves one needle (and one tiny prick on your finger). Almost anyone between the ages of 17 and 60 can become a new blood donor. You get a free cup of tea and biscuits, and a warm feeling inside.
Only about 5% of the population who are able to do give blood: you could well be one of the 95%. I started giving because of someone who need a tranfusion after giving birth - someone had gone along and given a pint for her when she needed it without any of us knowing. I know I'm not the only one who's grateful...
technorati tag: national blood service
Jesus loves you
This gave me extreme giggles. Subtle humour courtesy of Some Grey Bloke. Contains swearing.
blog birthday
Nothing like missing mentioning our 3rd blog anniversary by 24 hours...
:-S
Oops.
technorati tag: sanctus1
:-S
Oops.
technorati tag: sanctus1
Tribe
We've just started a series in our sessions called "Tribe" - I think we'll be looking at topics and themes for the rest of this month around it.
We're covering belonging and indentity, rites and rituals, contemporary gang culture, the 12 tribes of Israel, and of course Bruce Parry's excellent BBC series.
I've found it a stimulating and challenging theme to reflect on. As one of my anthropology mates commented the other day, the people who benefit least from any research are the researched tribe or people themselves - of course they already know everything about their own rituals, rites, behaviours, culture... (or do we?)
Tomorrow, we're sharing food and having a service at Nexus from 7pm, covering some of these ideas - you'd be welcome to join our tribe for it...
technorati tag: tribe, sanctus1
We're covering belonging and indentity, rites and rituals, contemporary gang culture, the 12 tribes of Israel, and of course Bruce Parry's excellent BBC series.
I've found it a stimulating and challenging theme to reflect on. As one of my anthropology mates commented the other day, the people who benefit least from any research are the researched tribe or people themselves - of course they already know everything about their own rituals, rites, behaviours, culture... (or do we?)
Tomorrow, we're sharing food and having a service at Nexus from 7pm, covering some of these ideas - you'd be welcome to join our tribe for it...
technorati tag: tribe, sanctus1
How, for 15 seconds, I was almost going to Russia
"Hello, R0b C0tter1ll."
"R0b? It's J0hn. We've just got the go-ahead for the site visit to Astrakhan."
"Astrakhan??"
"-. I didn't tell you about Astrakan?"
"No."
"Ah. Let me check my notes. OK, you're not going to Astrakhan. Forget this call ever happened."
"OK."
"Speak to you soon."
"Fine. Bye."
"Bye."
"R0b? It's J0hn. We've just got the go-ahead for the site visit to Astrakhan."
"Astrakhan??"
"-. I didn't tell you about Astrakan?"
"No."
"Ah. Let me check my notes. OK, you're not going to Astrakhan. Forget this call ever happened."
"OK."
"Speak to you soon."
"Fine. Bye."
"Bye."
mercurial nonsense...
Things that you might have missed during the Mercury Music Prize, and the mania following Klaxons win (did you know that the Guardian gave their album a one star review in January?!):
Jools Holland pocketed the cheque before announcing the winner, and produced later on whilst interviewing the band to genuinely delight cries of “The cheque! The cheque!!”. I thought the Stormtrooper-style plaster cast added to the vaguely futuristic gold lame look the band had been sporting. And they appear to have Edward Scissorhands as a drummer…
In other notable Mercury nonsense:
Seb Rochford – aka The Hair!
Fionn Regan – his acceptance speech: “From the trenches and the moats, for this drawbridge, thanks.”
Natasha Khan – where does her voice come from? Spooky.
Young Knives – suited and booted in a city slicker version of their usual country jacket attire.
Only the Arctic Monkeys weren’t there to perform live - shame. That’s what winning the Mercury does – means you get so big you have to tour the US.
Everyone else did admirably but nothing more or less than we expected of them, namely, Jamie T, The View, New Young Pony Club, Maps, and Dizee Rascal.
And at last and least, we come to Amy – in her very own “she was there” shocker! She was also sounding and looking good, but the classic moment, caught on camera but off mic, was her mouthing to Jools post-performance, “Have I won?”
Amy, Amy, Amy – what is there left to say? Instead I’ll direct you to the prescient lyrics (given that Amy’s aged only 23) of Sir Andrew of Lloyd Webber in Evita’s High Flying Adored:
High flying, adored, what happens now, where do you go from here?
For someone on top of the world, the view is not exactly clear.
A shame you did it all at twenty-six.
There are no mysteries now,
Nothing can thrill you, no-one fulfill you.
High flying, adored, I hope you come to terms with boredom -
So famous, so easily, so soon, is not the wisest thing to be.
You won't care if they love you, it's been done before.
You'll despair if they hate you, you'll be drained of all energy.
All the young who've made it would agree.
technorati tag: mercury music prize
Jools Holland pocketed the cheque before announcing the winner, and produced later on whilst interviewing the band to genuinely delight cries of “The cheque! The cheque!!”. I thought the Stormtrooper-style plaster cast added to the vaguely futuristic gold lame look the band had been sporting. And they appear to have Edward Scissorhands as a drummer…
In other notable Mercury nonsense:
Seb Rochford – aka The Hair!
Fionn Regan – his acceptance speech: “From the trenches and the moats, for this drawbridge, thanks.”
Natasha Khan – where does her voice come from? Spooky.
Young Knives – suited and booted in a city slicker version of their usual country jacket attire.
Only the Arctic Monkeys weren’t there to perform live - shame. That’s what winning the Mercury does – means you get so big you have to tour the US.
Everyone else did admirably but nothing more or less than we expected of them, namely, Jamie T, The View, New Young Pony Club, Maps, and Dizee Rascal.
And at last and least, we come to Amy – in her very own “she was there” shocker! She was also sounding and looking good, but the classic moment, caught on camera but off mic, was her mouthing to Jools post-performance, “Have I won?”
Amy, Amy, Amy – what is there left to say? Instead I’ll direct you to the prescient lyrics (given that Amy’s aged only 23) of Sir Andrew of Lloyd Webber in Evita’s High Flying Adored:
High flying, adored, what happens now, where do you go from here?
For someone on top of the world, the view is not exactly clear.
A shame you did it all at twenty-six.
There are no mysteries now,
Nothing can thrill you, no-one fulfill you.
High flying, adored, I hope you come to terms with boredom -
So famous, so easily, so soon, is not the wisest thing to be.
You won't care if they love you, it's been done before.
You'll despair if they hate you, you'll be drained of all energy.
All the young who've made it would agree.
technorati tag: mercury music prize
Greenbelt communion liturgy
Here is the liturgy and the service sheet that we used for the sunday morning service at GB.
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