Day Off Week 46 2022

I decided on this week's day off I would grab breakfast in MacDonalds. In a charity shop I spotted a book of booklists which looked like it was made for me. I also made a start on another of these books I have on Mediaeval subjects. I haven't finished the one on Alchemy yet but I thought afresh start might be good so I dug out the one on the Gnostics. Very interesting. In the afternoon I watched Miracle on 34th street which I had somehow never seen (the 1995 remake). In the evening it was University Challenge again (after the Bake Off final with my wife).

Taste and see

In Psalm 34:8 David calls on us to Taste and see that the LORD is good; and he assures us blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. So here is the invitation. Taste and see that the LORD is good.

There's a lot of advertising at the moment for MacDonald's new vegan burger, McPlant. I am not a vegan (or a vegetarian) but I thought I'd like to try one and see if they taste as good as they claim. So yesterday I went along and bought one for my lunch. I can assure you, it's very tasty. I've tasted it and so I can say it is good.

Now David urges us here to give ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord and then we will know by experience how very good he is. A person who takes refuge in the Lord will be blessed indeed. David can say that because he's experienced it and I can say it too to some extent for the same reason. You'll never regret turning to Christ for refuge.

There is a Scottish expression - Better felt than telt. It is not easy to describe how good God is, how wonderful all his ways, but when you experience it - then you'll know.

See more on my sermon illustrations blog

Day Off Week 4 2022

 

I had thought of going to the cinema on my day off but that wasn't convenient so we went the previous evening to see Belfast, the new Kenneth Branagh. That's our second recent trip to the cinema as we saw Westside Story the other Saturday. The Branagh film was fine. It's a tiny slice rather than a grand epic but fine, nevertheless. The use of a Van Morrison sound track was a smart move, casting Judy Dench as an Ulster grandmother nit so much. On the day itself, my main project was reading one of my Christmas books - the one on Cromwell's formative years. I am enjoying it as it is well written but Mr Hutton's interests are not the same as mine. Picking up tips about how to write history - useful as I hope to be contributing ti a history book this year. Something else I did, apart from a bit of TV and an important phone call I had to make early in the day, was to have lunch in MacDonalds. I 'm not veggie or vegan but I enjoyed their new McPlant. It tasted good.

Happy Meal

It's in the eye of the beholder, I guess

Fast food

A combination of circumstances this week conspired to launch me into a survey of local fast food outlets. The order was

Monday Brent Cross MacDonalds (wrap and mozarella dippers)

Tuesday Hendon Domino's Pizza delivered (shared Hawaian and Meat feast with boys)

Wednesday Childs Hill Coral Bay chippy (curry, chips, steak and kidney pie)

Thursday Golders Green KFC (Boneless banquet)

Friday Golders Green Subway (12" meatball marinara with salad)

I had a coke with each one I think. It's not a very cheap way to live and is probably not very healthy. I enjoyed the Subway best, probably, and the KFC worst (I probably made the wrong menu choice). The chippy works out cheapest, the pizza most expensive. Some people don't like fast food but I don't mind it and it's nice that there's a bit of variety.

Quiet Blog

It's been a bit quiet here of late but that's because I'm having a very busy week with lots of preparation to do for various things. Sunday went off okay, preaching from Mark 11 and Romans 1 still.
On Monday morning I was involved in a last minute interview at LTS. They started again this week. In the afternoon I chaired the Evangelical Library committee, following our final signing for the new building in Bounds Green. Still lots to do yet. We hope to have our new website up and running shortly. Watch this space.
Tuesday I was in the study working hard until the evening when we were joined by Rhodri, Sibyl and her family for a meal, marking the marriage. I don't think there's a proper name for your son's in-laws. There should be. We had a lovely time together.
Wednesday was all meetings, with visits to two old people's homes where I spoke from Genesis 2 and then the evening meeting in the church, looking at Deuteronomy 31. That was a good time with a decent number present. University is about to start though so we'll be less next week I guess. I also fitted in a lift from the hospital for one of our elderly members and took chance to be with Luke Jenner and his friend, Miriam, who were visiting the newly weds with us. Gwion went to see Chelsea v QPR in the Carling Cup that evening, with a new school friend. 1-0 it was and good fun.
During the day on Thursday, after dropping Owain off I spoke at a ministers fraternal just north of here in Welwyn, where Mostyn Roberts is the pastor. About a dozen ministers (most known to me) and wives gathered for two talks with discussion. I spoke on Christ at God's right hand and the intercession of Christ, which I have been trying to study. It brought home to me how little I understand so far. Picked up a copy of Who made God? by Edgar Andrews. After that we loaded up the car and, after tearful farewells at both homes, I drove Rhodri and Sibyl up to Aber. It was a long but pleasant journey towards a glorious sunset. We stopped at MacDonald's in Shrewsbury en route where Sibyl (vegetarian until 13 ) had here first ever Big Mac! The couple who will study in the University, are staying in the manse until the flat round the corner is available.

Things Seen 04

I am sat in MacDonalds in Newport.

Three lads of about 16 or 17 enter. They sit down near me but are oblivious to others. They have a project on.

They have just bought an inexpensive earring - from one of the cheap jewellers nearby, no doubt, Gus Jones or some other. The boys have short quite blond hair. Two of them already have earrings in both ears but the third does not.

One of the earringed boys takes the new earring out of its packet and puts the sharp part of it into the hot flame of a small disposable gas lighter that he carries.

He then accurately sticks the mint green earring that he has heated up into the earlobe of the boy with no jewellery. He appears to feel no pain. Indeed, he smiles.

They all think it is good fun and so off they go, the task completed.

New Photo Series 15

MacDonalds Central London

(Link)

Drink Root Beer

Okay now it's almost a series. Alan was slightly ahead of me but I had thought to cover root beer next. Like him my first experience of it was in MacDonald's (Golders Green in my case). In the early years (typical Americans) your choice was root beer, coke or something else. They eventually caught on. It reminded me of the dentists. I'd not realised that taste is cloves. According to Wikipedia root beer is the same as sasparilla (which I thought was going to be next in my series) and is a carbonated beverage originally created from sassafras. Root beer, popularised in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
The soft drink version is generally made using extracts or flavoured syrups diluted into carbonated water. It is not as widely popular as other soft drinks and constitutes only 3% of the US soft drink market. The alcoholic version is made by fermenting a solution of extract and sugar with yeast. Typically this will yield a beverage with about 0.4% alcohol, compared to more than 4% for most regular beers. Root beer extract may contain a variety of flavours, coming from the wide range of ingredients. Bark from the roots of the sassafras tree was the typical flavour in root beer historically, and is the primary flavour most individuals associate with the beverage. It is slightly red at times. Sassafras bark was banned in the US in 1960 because of the carcinogenic properties of its constituent chemical safrole. A safrole-free variety is now used, with some claiming that it has a weaker flavour than the pre-1960 variety (they would). Acacia is also used.
There are hundreds of root beer brands in the USA, produced in every US state and there is no standardised recipe. The primary ingredient, sassafras, is complemented with other flavours, common ones being vanilla, wintergreen (which is why it tastes like germoline - did you get that Alan?), cherry tree bark,liquorice root, sarsaparilla root, nutmeg, anise, molasses, cinnamon, clove (that;'s what I thought). Homemade root beer is usually made from concentrate, though it can also be made from actual herbs and roots. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic root beers have a thick and foamy head when poured, often enhanced through the addition of yucca extract.
Root beer was sometimes used as a herbal medicine. Throughout history, the beverage was often mildly alcoholic. As a medicine it was used for treating cough and mouth sores.
Commercial root beer was developed by Charles Elmer Hires in 1866. Hires presented root tea powder at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, and in 1893 he began selling bottled, carbonated root beer. His choice of a name seemed unfortunate at the time, as the word "beer" drew the wrath of the temperance movement. However, Hires had his product tested by a laboratory, and trumpeted their conclusion that root beer contained less alcohol than bread. His His beer became the "Temperance drink"— among other slogans. There was an upsurge in the popularity of root beer in the US during Prohibition. It was at its most popular in the period during and after prohibition, and has since declined in popularity. Today, root beer is often mixed with ice cream as a root beer float.

Flickr Foto Series 13

MacDonalds Notting Hill