Funny ha ha

I'm sure i had a few things i wanted to blog about, but i just can't seem to recall them at the moment. Wasn't the fa cup boring, though predictably so. Without an early goal it was always going to be a case of not giving the opposition the edge. I'm pleased it didn't end up going to penalties. ad came round for some food after and we headed out to the winter garden to listen to this aural artwork that was being aired, supposedly as an experiment to see if music affected the plants. It was a kind of etheral ambient noise, rumbling bass and slow beeps, not unlike the free cd that came with 'everything is wrong' by moby, back in the day. Not the kind of music you'd listen on your stereo, but a sound that created an 'other-worldly' atmosphere in the winter garden alongside the weird and wonderful plants from around the globe. It reminded me of the forbidden planet. Quite a few of the plants were in bloom so i took some photos (in my sheffield set), some of which look quite nice, haven't a clue what plants they are though.
Went to the showroom to see an american indie flick called funny ha ha. It's filmed in 16mm with mono sound and follows the life of well educated twentysomething searching for love, a decent job and purpose in life. There's no plot as such, it's quite postmodern in that sense that you jump straight into a glimpse of the characters life and abruptly leave it again as the fim ends. The conversations were mainly improvised and the 'you knows' and 'i means' and 'it's likes' really add to the reality. Not like those flowing profound sentances that are the staple of programmes like dawson's creek. I thought it really explored a sense of purposelessness of life faced by recent graduates searching for jobs that utilise their skill base adequately, as well as the search for a relationship. The film was clearly not enjoyed by the philistine sat behind me with his girlf, almost constantly making unwitty remarks to her throughout the show. I was just about ready to smack him in the face. If i wanted people to talk through the film I'd've gone to the odeon.

I said what about breakfast at tiffany's

She said, I think I remember the film. And as I recall, I think we both kinda liked it. And I said, well that's the one thing we've got

Bought the collection of short stories by truman capote at fopp recently and enjoyed reading the original story and then re-watching the movie on dvd. Audrey hepburn's portrayal of Holly golightly is iconic, and being brought up on the a-team as a kid it's so strange to see george peppard as something other than Hannibal muttering, i love it when a plan comes together. Capote's book of short stories is interesting, BAT is by far the superior story, the others are much shorter, and though pleasant, aren't really striking. It's intersting to compare the differences with the film, the cliched happy ending of the film is not true to the novel, and although the character of Holly remains faithful to the book, I'm not so sure about Paul Varjak. The movie has him portrayed as some kind of gigalo, very heterosexual, and his relationship with holly has some kind of sexual chemistry. In the novel I'm not sure that that comes over quite so well, whether that is on purpose, or just a result of capote's writings being influenced by his own homosexuality, the relationship between holly and paul seems much more platonic. They are definately worth watching/reading.

feeding from the bile

Decided to engross myself in my book this afternoon, use my current feelings as inspiration for one of the scenes in my book, and it proved quite useful. Took me a while to find somewhere to have a coffee and write as the deli I found the other weekend was shut. No opening times posted, though I do recall reading ona flyer - come and sit and read the sunday papers, or words to that effect, obviously not on a sunday though. It's quiet in the city centre on a sunday afternoon, found a quiet corner in a coffee house and got down to some writing. Wonder if I'll ever finish iit, but at least it is giving my mind something useful to d, rather than wallow in pity and 'what ifs'. Met up with ad later to go and see Hot Fuzz. Entertaining, bit of light hearted humour always helps. Talking of which, last sunday we were singing a john bell song, kind of contempory liturgy put to a familiar tune, which has the verse:

Jesus Christ is raging, raging in the streets,
Where injustice spirals, and real hope retreats,
Listen, Lord Jesus, I am angry too.
In the kingdom's causes let me rage with you

ad had typed it out on the song sheet, but had made a typo: Jesus Chris is raging, raging in the streets. I had a job not to refrain from laughing - that's me on my commute to work, raging in the streets.

Die Grosse Stille

I've had a really busy week with commitments most evenings, which meant I have been rushed off my feet. One of the things I wanted to do was to go and see into great silence so I met up with a couple of friends at the showroom, including curig, a and M&E, though E admitted that she fell asleep during the film.
It's a film that I heard about around a year ago and sounded like an interesting experiment in docu-film making. German film maker Philip Groning had requested to film a group of Carthusian Monks, and sixteen years later was granted permission, provided he added no additional sound or commentry and used just natural lighting. What is produced is an almost three hour insight into the regulated and silent life of these monks. Dedicated to regular prayer, study and silent meditation, you are drawn into their routine. These scenes of their ritualistic life are interspersed with stunning images of the surrounding Alpine scenery which slowly transforms as the seasons change. The day to day chores of the monks are conducted with integrity and also a warmth. It is during these scenes that the personalities of the monks comes across, despite the lack of talking. There are shots of the monks, alone facing the camera, where they seem to radiate an air of confidence and contentment with compassion. The slow pace of life with plenty of time for silence and reflection is in stark contrast to my rushing around at the moment, and there is something about their use of time, space and silence that I think we can all learn from. Why these men choose to live such a life remains a mystery, and what purpose it might serve is not made clear, and is left to the viewer to form. Certainly an interesting piece of art work, with definate underlying spirituality. Sunday afternoons the only time reserved for a recreational walk and conversation, opitimised by the wonderful scenes of the monks sliding down a snow laden hill side in their shoes. Marred only by a conversation with a blind monk who proports that because God is infinately good then there can be good to come out of all situations, and hence he gains strength from his disability. An argument which does not stand up in the face of many atrocities that the world has seen, and perhaps an easier statement to make when living an aesthetic lifestyle as this.

Ghosts review

Decided on another trip to the showroom last night to go and see ghosts. I enjoyed the brisk walk to the cinema, as there was a real crisp coldness in the air. Probably the first time I've really enjoyed proper cold air this winter. There's nothing like wrapping up and walking in the cold, icy fingers pricking your cheeks, and the glow on entering a warm building.
It's exactly 2 years since at least 23 illegal chinese immigrants died whilst out cockling in morecambe. This film based on a true story is told by documentry maker Nick Broomfield. It holds on to some form of documentary in it's telling, not quite having the feel of a movie. For the most part I felt an observer, rather than feeling drawn and involved with the characters. Ai Qin believes she can earn a better life in the uk and provide for her family, she quickly learns that this is not the case as she is forced to live in squalid conditions in a rented house with many others. The film documents the work that services the food industry, meat factories, fruit/vegatable picking. The monotonous and hard work that goes to serve our supermarkets, carried out daily by people on the poverty line. Here the immigrants use false documents to garner work through an agency, where they earn about £100 disposable income from 40 hour weeks. It casts a bleak picture, and whilst you cannot condone entering a country illegaly, once caught up in the web it must be impossible to leave. Forever indebted to the loan sharks and gangs who paved your illegal entry, you are subjected to a life of hard work in some of the countries most demeaning jobs. Eventually forced to cockle, the immigrants are discouraged violently by the locals from carrying out their work whilst they are working. So it is whilst working at night that they are caught off guard by the quick changing tide. It poses difficult social questions, how to deal with illegal immigrants who could not possibly repay their debts if deported, and yet carry out important work in the food, health and care sectors. Would this work continue to be delivered if the illegal (or for that matter even the legal) immigrants did not do it. On the anniversary year of the abolition of the slave trade, issues like this show that it is very much still thriving. Challenging.

The families of the cocklers who died are still trying to pay back owed debts, the morecambe victim fund are trying to raise funds in support.

Pan's Labyrinth

I've a million and one things to do, but yesterday I decided that I was going to go to the cinema. It was the only night the showroom was showing pan's labyrinth at a time when I'm not at work. Actually it was quite liberating to just think everything else can wait, tonight I'm going to go to the cinema. In fact I didn't even need to bother cooking as I had a handful of macdonalds vouchers that had come through the post. I'll have two big macs please! Thing is I probably won't fancy another big mac for quite some time now. So I did some blogging, listened to operator please, which got me in the mood for punching the air. Well, ok, not quite literally, but if I'd been a heavy weight in training I'd've been ready to hit some punch bags. I'd've what a funny word, it has two apostrophes. I digress... so it was walk, then maccy D, then walk, then cinema. Excellent, all ready for some dark fantasy tale.

Well, it certainly isn't Willow, nor for that matter is it anything like Labyrinth!

Pan's Labyrinth has a huge rating on rotten tomatoes which helped convince me to watch the movie. It is, however, a very dark and stark movie. A realist/fantasy movie where you are left unsure as to whether the fantasies are purely in the mind of the central child character. Set in Spain during the civil war, Ofilia travels with her mother to stay with mother's new husband. Captain Vidal is the sadistic leader fighting the resistance, who holds no qualms when it comes to inflicting pain and torture on those he considers his enemy, leading to some gruesome scenes. At the backdrop of these realist stories, Ofilia has her fantastical quests from the dark and sinister Faun, leading to various encounters including the revolting 'Pale Man' whose antics and image was so abominable that a girl sat near me had to run out of the cinema in fear - and not return! This tale of death and destruction with it's dark fantasy scenes is rather brooding, but it was the final scene that really struck me. Ofilia is told she is the lost princess of the king of the underworld, and on passing three tests she will once again enter his presence. We are not sure whether these quests are a figmant of her imagination, but the scene where she meets the king is quite potent. I can't remember the exact words of welcome, but there was a great sense of love and affection of receiving his daughter back into his presence. It made me think of the love of god for his children as he welcomes them into his presence, and that the path to this love is not easy, though it is ever-present.
I initially thought that I wouldn't relish watching it again, but after a day, I think I would. It's a good film, but not an easy one to watch.

Monika Webster

Is the title of the first single released by the delgados, and it is backed by a 'brand new car'. Which is what I now have, well when I saw brand new, I mean, brand new to me. So really I have a car, that was once brand new. Another fiesta, cos i like them a lot, and this is the newest car I have ever owned, it is only 6 years old. Hopefully it will enable me to get to work in a much more convenient manner once i've sorted out the insurance. It is black, in case you were after further details.
So much of my saturday was taken up with viewing cars and purchasing. The evening I met up with a at the showroom. Whilst reading the programme about upcoming films I discovered that die grosse stille(into great silence) is coming soon. I've been wanting to watch this movie ever since reading a review from the toronto film festival. It sounds very intersting.
We had gone to watch babel, one of a number of films that I would like to see at the moment. There are parts of this film that work superbly, the sense of the varying cultures of morocco, mexico and japan is quite striking. The interaction of the characters, the modes of communication add to this, along with the wonderful camera work and a clever soundtrack that weaves the cultures together. On the down side, the film is overlong, which seems to be a trend these days. It's not that I'm against long films, but if you begin to feel the movie is overlong whilst watching it, then it's time to get out the scissors and cut some scenes, leave them for the movie geeks to watch on their 2DVD packs. The character played by brad pitt becomes rather dull as there is not much of a story for him, basically he's trying to get his wife to hospital in morocco. We don't need ten scenes to tell us this! It's actually the moroccon characters that are really interesting. The japanese storyline really made me feel sad (slight spoiler) following the trails of a deaf mute teenager struggling with her own identity and feeling unlovable. She struggles for attention and goes to extreme measures to garner male sexual attention. Thankfully it doesn't lead her to take her hown life, which towards the end of the film I feared would be the conclusion. Perhaps it could've ended like that, and such and ending would've made me feel sickeningly sad. Not really what you want when you go to the cinema, but if a movie can move you to such emotions then on one level it has suceeded. Though will have failed if you've gone out to the cinema for a nice evening out!
After dp had dropped me off near my house I bumped intyo dp and j who were on their way to the C&C, I didn't need much persuading to join them for a couple of beers. I was able to have a good moan about how much i disliked insurance companies.

The name's Bond

DP cooked a delicious meal for a group of us and I got to sample some of his superb home brew, a blend of a couple of kits that gave a wonderful flavour. Enjoyed the company and the meal, afterwhich we headed to the cinema to take advantage of orange wednesday and watch the new bond film. This, believe it or not, is the first time I've ever seen a Bond film at the cinema. I think I must've have seen all the bond movies by now thanks to bank holiday tv watching and in my opinion this episode doesn't rate amongst the best of the genre. It starts really well with some fantastic stunts in a 'jump london' style. In fact the stunts at height were making me feel quite giddy, but it slowly went downhill from there. The turning point of the movie is a poker game and I don't suppose I need to give any spoiler warnings about who wins the contest. There's no suspense during the game it's so cliched. Oh no james, you've lost all your money, what are you going to do now?! Then there are the necessary plot twists just when you think the movie has finished, and then when you think it's finished, and then when you think surely this movie is finishing soon, and then when you're looking at your watch thinking surely that must be it! Not that the action is bad, it's all the laboured dialogue inbetween. Daniel Craig makes an interesting Bond, very heartless and someone you can believe is a fighter. He doesn't have the charm and charisma that previous incarnations have had, though still manages to have his way with the ladies. Nice bond girl, so it's not all bad ;) You can also play 'spot richard branson'

in case you were wondering

i forgot to include anything about football in the previous post. Well that is in part because there really wasn't much to say. In fact scrappy goal, scrappy match pretty much sums up the chesterfield game. Watched brewster's millions on sunday, one of those classic 80s films you watch as a kid and think are amazing, but probably don't really stand the test of time. I'm happy to report that I think it did stand the test of time, whether or not War Games, Flight of the Navigator and DARYL do too, remains to be seen. Brewster's millions was also a film i remember chatting about with john on a journey to school as we both enjoyed it, I guess it also made me feel a bit like i was getting old too in a strangely nostalgic way. Church was better as there was quite a number in attendance and after the coffee morning it felt like the vision was beginning to become apparant. We've been joking along a 'pirate' theme in church meetings for quite sometime since steve had suggested we all came to a service dressed as pirates as some school kids were coming to film a methodist communion service for an RE lesson or something. The joke was to claim that this was the methodist way. For a while our minister wasn't sure if we were joking, and then with the recent 'international talk like a pirate day' I highlighted the youthblog post lamenting the lack of pirate liturgy. Well JT announced that he had been working on a pirate themed service and that he would be delivering it next sunday, so I'll look forward to that!
Awe planning meeting last night, and although I thought that it was a bit of an effort and that ideas weren't really flowing, when I wrote up the ideas today they did seem to be crystallising together. The theme is advent and we started by looking at some 'input' to the idea of advent:

• eschatology
  
• realisation of christ in us
  
• when/do we expect christ to return?
  
• what do we expect on christ's return?
  
• does it make a difference to what we do/how we act knowing that He will return? eg jesus is coming - look busy
  
• is advent and adventure?
  

and the train of thought took us into something along the temporal aspect, the waiting, the finite time we have on earth and how we use it. Hopefully itshould spark some intersting discussion.

grrrr my keyboard has had it, the space keeps sticking and it's making it difficult to post. I need a new o ne.

The best made plans...

I had been pondering whether to go to see doncaster vs chesterfield, but decided that I could do with a weekend to get some more jobs done around the house. I took the advantage of having a lie in on saturday and do some reading. I've just bought why don't penguins feet freeze a compilation of questions from the new scientist's last word feature. It's quite an enjoyable read, though I think some of the answers could do with a few mathematical equations. Often it is much simpler to explain things with a formula rather than text. Got a bit of a sore throat, which i put down to breathing through my mouth at night. However as the day proceeded it was clear I had a cold and my nose just began streaming. It made me feel really grumpy and lethargic. Such that I couldn't get on with the jobs I had in mind. So frustrating to have a weekend taken away by a stupid cold. Had some soup and garlic bread and watched the final korean movie that I'd recorded. This was the most commercially successful I think, it is called brotherhood (of war) and is a fairly graphic portrayal of the korean war from the perspective of two brothers. It is in a similar vein as 'saving private ryan' and highlights the attrocities of war and the effect that war has on the soldiers. In places it is over sentimental, but the ending scene is really quite moving as the younger brother finally finds the resting place of his older brother.
Didn't sleep well due to the cold and this morning I found setting up church quite exhausting. Not many people at church this morning, which is really frustrating, some times i wonder why i bother. I think we have a really interesting way of 'being church' yet it feels somewhat isolated.

Suppose you have to try these things

Must admit i didn't think much of the organ recital type thing. I think me and emma must've been a good generation or two younger than everyone else. Just didn't find the music particularly moving or engaging. Nothing like the vitality of a gig. There were pieces on the piano, sax and some woman warbling songs. All I could think of during the sax solos was 'i wonder if she know's the sax solo from baker street by jerry raferti" and then thinking that it would be such a culturally philistine thing to say. Which made me smile!

Don't think I'll be rushing to another performance, it's just not my cup of tea. Wathced tell me something which had a very predictable ending, though it made the rest of the film quite confusing. Merely an average movie this one.

Korean cinema

It's great that filmfour is now free as it's a source of great films. I noticed recently that they have been screening some critically acclaimed Korean films, so I have recorded them and am in the process of watching them. What is striking about these films, and I wonder if it is peculiar for korean cinema, is the method of storytelling. Not usually chronological and containing loads of scenes that seem to jump sporadically, making it hard work to follow the plot. I actually like this, a stark contrast to American cinema which always seems to aim to please the lowest common denominator, making sure everything is explained in detail. Here a lot is ambiguous and open to interpretation. The first two films I watched were part of Park Chan-wook's vengeance trilogy. These vengeance films are very 'film noir' and contain some horrific scenes, but the story lines are certainly novel.

Yesterday I watched A Tale of Two Sisters, which is my favourite so far, a psychological horror. A film that definately requires a number of viewings as it isn't until the story unfolds that you realise that it is being told from the perspective of an 'unreliable narrator' who imagines many things that are not real. It is on this epiphany that your mind begins retracing the story thus far and realising that a lot of what has happened is in fact a figmant of imagination. Unfortunately it seems that a big buck american remake is on the cards, as it seems to be all the rage these days to remake asian cinema after the success of 'the ring'. Which is a pity as this is a superb film as it is. The cinematography of these films is also very beautiful. So if any of these are repeated on filmfour, I'd recommend checking these films out. There is more info on the wikipedia links below, but they contain film plot spoilers.

A tale of two sisters
sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Oldboy

A new record

Just got back from giving blood where I set a new PB. Walked up to the donation centre after work as they are open late on a thurs and a pleasant chap called Martin took my blood. Now I'm pretty sure my record was due to the expert way in which he put the needle in, and judging by the amount of metal work aroud his person, he obviously knows what he's doing when it comes to piercing. Once the blood was flowing he started attending another guy and I stared blankly at the wall wishing that I could at least hear the radio to pass the time. Then I started beeping, well not actually me, rather the blood collecting machine and I had to enquire if I really had finished. Yes that's it, and the time five minutes and twenty seven seconds. I usually take around 11-15 mins.

I've finished watching most of the stanley kubrick films that i'd recorded on the tv a while ago. His style is superb, the use of wide angled shots is compelling. I particularly like the way scenes appear unrushed, something I guess is as a result of the freedom he was given in his cinematography, no restraints from the people putting up the money. This is used exquisitely in 2001, a film containing little dialogue and is just spectacular, even today the special effects still stand out, and i doubt could be acheived any better with CGI.

The sets of Clockwork Orange are fantastic, this kind of surrealy retro seventies impression of what the future might be like. Despite it's violent subject matter the ideas it raises about free will and whether people should have the choice to do evil deeds is fascinating. If it is taken away from us, as it is from Alex DeLarge, does it make us less than human?

Not afraid to put controversial books on the big screen, Lolita is also remarkable, not least with the choice of using Peter Sellars, aiding the darkly humourous charcter of the film. Following Humbert's infatuation with an adolescent beauty, but his obvious frustrations at her immaturity could again raise interesting discussions about the nature of humans and their sexual desires.

Barry Lydon was another film I'd notseen before, and I did find the story line abit dull. But i won't be quick to judge as Kubrick's films tend to grow on me. There are again some wonderful shots and a quite moving scene after a horse riding accident.

Right, almost finished my bottle of irn-bru which I like to drink in account of all that lost blood. I know it really doesn't make a difference, but I like to think that it does!

Circuit meeting and Stanedge

Saturday was our circuit meeting and we continue with our experimental format of worship, business, workshops, free lunch and final business session. It was a chance to meet the new super intendent minister who had an air of a strict head master about him, it must be difficult in a new appointment trying to make sense of all the different characters. Especially when in a conversation about the correct method of listing local preachers I suggest that we could have a top ten and people could vote who they thought was the best preacher for the quarter. I'm joking of course, but then I wonder if he realises - I hope so. All the groups were discussing the same questions relating to where our circuit was at and where we felt we would be in 10 years and what we thought would be beneficial. Some useful discussion actually, and it reminds me that I ought to write up our groups thoughts to pass to the circuit review group. In this age circuits clearly do not opperate in a fashion for which they were designed, communities are different, people travel to church, people travel to work and therefore what a 'local community' is is very different. Discussions on buildings, worship styles, ageing congregations. Maybe if I'm inclined I may drop a few of the more intersting thoughts on here when I write up the notes. Sunday turned out to be a really nice day and we had a local preacher who hasn't been to cv for quite a few years. She really utilised our informal settings to advantage. Asking us to share our stories to what we had done in the past few years and challenging us on how we were no interacting with the local community. Quite pertinant really, as we are about to undertake a review on where we are at and how we should continue to develop - if at all. This was followed by the sermon which was then open for discussion before finishing with songs and prayers. Refreshing to order the service in this way. In the afternoon I took advantage of the warm weather to repeat a walk around Stanedge Edge that I did a few weeks ago, but this time i was able to take my camera round and capture some of the beauty. The recent rain had raised the level of redmires reservoir suffiently for it to pour down this weird overflow hole. It intrigues me to know where it goes! Does anyone know? There has also been a lot of stanley kubrick films on cable this weekend and I've been busy recording a lot of them. I really love his films and there are some that I have yet to see, so shall look forward to watching them. Perhaps a film orientated blog will arive shortly.

More photos from my walk in the stanedge edge photo set

Garage junk

Another fairly busy weekend, and again no jobs acheived around the house. Though I had already got some things sorted during the week, mowed the lawn and tidied the lounge (which included sorting out my cds where I came across some cds that I thought had been mislaid, but they were just hiding in the wrong cd case). Highlights included watching chesterfield beating rotherham, not an especially good match but I got to meet a fellow blogger whose blog I have been following for a while. So I can now add phil to my 'blogger eye spy' book. Then in the evening I went to see this very enjoyable film, little miss sunshine. It's hard to describe this film without giving away plot details, basically it's a comedy looking at the fuitility of the success of winning.
Spent Sunday afternoon with Dave sorting out some of the stuff from cvm that has been stored in my garage since selling the old building. It has been decided that we no longer need the items, especially in light of having no place of our own, so we are now ebaying and freecycling the items. Another church in the circuit was interested in some of our items, including metal cupcoards, so we were able to get those delivered which made much more room in the garage. All other items were then re-packed into the garage with items we are freecycling near the front and stuff for skipping near the back. If anyone reading this is interested in having/making a donation for the following please contact me in the comments: rangemaster cooker (huge double oven type thing), old filing cabinets that fail H&S regulations, dining table and 6 chairs (ideal for 80s decor), drop leaf table, set of two drawers, ancient microwave, deepfat fryer, various flight cases.

V for Vendetta

Visited my sister on saturday as I have not seen her since her return from uganda. Nice to catch up and hear about her time at an orphanage out there. We watched v for vendetta, which I had previously seen on the plane on the way to israel/palestine, and thought it would be good to see on a larger screen. I'd initially meant to go and see it with v when it was on in the cinema, but we never got round to it. The film is one that I wouldn't mind seeing repeatedly, not least because natalie portman stars, but also for the storyline, set in a state ruled by fear. It portrays an england in the future which has come under the rule of a dictator, voted democratically into power by a nation in fear from groups within society they don't understand. (A fear that later turns out to have been fabricated by the party itself). A dictatorship that brings peace and order, but at the cost of many lives, especially of those 'undesirables' the homosexuals, the immigrants. A power fuelled by hate and fear is ultimately defeated by the seed of an idea. An idea to overthrow and start afresh, an idea that if grasped by many can succeed as an idea cannot be killed. Of course there are many parallels, and it is why i think this storyline works well on many levels.

Mission training day

As regular readers may remember I am travelling to Israel/Palestine with highway projects to help with their mission initiatives amongst palastinian arabs. On Saturday I had a days training, and I found the whole day really exciting. Not only the anticiaption about going, but also the slight fear about going to a completely different culture. Learning about some of the cultural dos and don'ts that will be essential for me as I stay with some palestinian hosts. The work sounds like it will be fairly exhausting and also fairly 'off the cuff' as no full itinery is yet available for our work with young people in Reineh. This is a town adjacent to Nazereth and Cana, so no doubt Christ would've travelled through it on the way to a certain wedding feast. We will mainly be working alongside a number of agencies promoting reconciliation between palaestian arabs of differing faiths, listening to their stories and helping run fun activities to keep them amused. On our days off we also get chance to visit Jericho in the west bank, on the edge of the dead sea, travel on the sea of galilee and to the mount of the beatitudes amongst other things. I'm sure it will be a truely rewarding experience. During the worship at the training event I got a real sense of God in the place, an almost physical presence as we sang. So I trust that God too, is excited about these continued projects, and not just the impact it will have on those we meet, but also the impact they will have on us, particularly as we engage in conversations about faith. There are still places available on some of the september projects to Jordon, but if you can't make that I recommend you check out the highway projects website and perhaps apply for one of the missions next year.

It was also a really sunny day, and me and chris purchased a tent for our germany trip. In the eve I went to see x-men III with v, though we were disappointed with the disjointed storyline. Such a shame as the other two films are really enjoyable, and you can read so much allogories into the way that the mutants are treated in these films. They could be any oppressed member of society that society wants to 'cure' be that gays or asylum seekers.