Weather with you...

I hate the Manchester Hilton building.

IMHO, it's a clunky slab of uninspiring glass that dominates the south end of Deansgate. I have to walk past it several times a day to and from home, work, the pub... I particularly hate the step half way up the back that increases the floor area of the flats above and gives the bar a creepy see-through floor section.

But some days its ugliness catches my eye as the weather transforms it. And sometimes it even reflects my mood back at me. The other day (above) its steely flint-grey appearance reflected my own gritted-teeth-head-down week...

And occassionally it has its head in the clouds (literally).


technorati tag: manchester hilton, manchester weather

Turin Brakes/ Nessun Dorma

OK, it's nothing like the last post, but this too was also lurking at the bottom of my inbox, waiting for a wider audience...

I *know* it sounds like it should be a ridiculous mess, but I just think there's something about it that works.

Go listen.


technorati tag: turin brakes, nessun dorma

FLOWmarket

Having tidied my desk, its drawers, and the floor surrounding my desk, I finally turned my attention to my inbox...

And lurking somewhere near the bottom from the end of the summer, I found a note to blog about FLOWmarket. A colleague had come across their products for sale in a gallery in Denmark and been wowed. Put off by the price tag, she didn't buy anything, but did come back to encourage us rifle through their site one slow afternoon.

I think it's wonderful stuff. Product? Art? Provocation? Challenge? Pretension? You decide.


technorati tag: flowmarket, consumerism

The God Delusion or The Dawkins Delusion

The next two weeks in sanctus1 should be very interesting! We're exploring the rise in atheist fundamentalism and the Christian response to it.

Here are the details of what we're doing:

Wednesday 28 November - 7:30 Nexus and Sacred Trinity – Exchange .
Theme: Atheism explored – a week looking at some of the primary objections to the Christian faith.

Wednesday 5 Dec - 7:30 Nexus - Engage (Food followed by an after dinner speaker)
Theme: The God Delusion – A Christian Response to Atheism

Variety: births

Arriving in LA, I'd been keen to see a copy of Variety, the film bible. To an Empire reader, it seems so foreign and mysterious.

So when I got back to the UK, I added their feeds to my reader and delved into the world of "for your consideration" and more. To my delight, they publish birth announcements - and this one, for a boy with a "pro" mom and "non-pro" dad particularly tickled me:

"Tracy Brennan and James Dreher, a boy, Dashiel James Dreher, Oct. 2, Los Angeles. Mother's an agent at CAA; father's non-pro."


technorati tag: variety, birth announcements

Insight Film Festival Winner!!

Last Wednesday was the first ever insight film festival. I was part of the steering team for it and we had a fantastic day with the judges at Nexus before the prize was awarded by Michael Wakelin. The judges selected the winner and it was a 12 minute film called 'Fire and Clay' by Balti and Havana. You can view the winning piece here.

We're now beginning to think about next year and how we can both enlarge it and get further funding...

stop worrying

LA la land...

Just got back from a little over two weeks in Los Angeles - city of angels, city of dreams, city of the stars, city of contrasts, city of freeways, city of tomorrow - aka LA la land!

My head's too full and too jetlagged to blog much about it, but am sure I will as I start to process and reflect on the experience.

technorati tag: los angeles

Insight Film Festival

Over the last year I've been involved in planning the Insight Film Festival. The festival invites young people to make a film about the power of faith, they then submit it and the films are judged by a panel of experts who choose a winner. The prize in £1000.

I understand that this year there have been a number of excellent submissions. The prize giving is this Wednesday in Nexus and the prize will be awarded by Michael Wakelin, head of Religion and Ethics at the BBC. It should be a great event, so if you're interested in coming you can buy tickets here.

Images from Findhorn

Most of you know that i was at Findhorn last week, anyway whilst there i took a load of photos with my DSLR that you can see here. However, there were times when i didn't have my DSLR with me so i had to resort to the phone...here is one of my favourite images.

The first one was the sign above the bread board and reads:

Be gentle when you touch bread,
let it not be uncared for, unwanted
too often bread is taken for granted
There is much beauty in bread:
beauty of sun and soil;
beauty of patient toil;
wind and rain have caressed it,
Christ often Blessed it -
Be Gentle when you touch bread.

new website - any comments?

I've been redesigning the website over the last few weeks with the aim to make it simpler and more accessible. Have a look here:www.sanctus1.co.uk/sanctus1home.htm

any comments - the blog will also be redesigned in the next few days and i think i'm gonna change it to typepad...

Sanctus1 tonight!

Please bring something with you this week...

This week you are invited to bring something that holds meaning for you, or something that you might cherish – it might be an object or a piece of music that reminds you of something important in your life. It could be special photo, or a picture, or a
specific Bible passage.

Bring a poem
Bring a painting
Bring a song
Bring a dance
Bring a video
Bring a photo
Bring a word
Bring a prayer

Bring yourself and be...

Wednesday 7.30pm at Nexus and Sacred Trinity – Doors open at 6.30pm

A night to explore one another’s creativity (owned or borrowed) and within it to discover a creative God.

Followed by drinks at Sam’s Chop House