So unsurprisingly New Zealand have beaten Australia 34-17 to win the Rugby World Cup again. Well done! (It's been a great competition).
A blog featuring whatever I fancy, often on the Christian faith but not exclusively
Sheldon e il sarcasmo
This piece of footage from YouTube may give you an idea why I find Big Bang Theory such fun.
Retro Album "of the week" 36 The Crossing
I tend to think of myself as seventies man when it comes to rock music though the truth is that there's plenty of seventies music I have no time for (Elton John for example). On the other hand, there is plenty of eighties stuff I like. Another example of that is Big Country.
The Crossing is their first studio album and was released in 1983. The album reached #3 in the UK and #18 in the US. It went on to be certified platinum in the UK and Canada. It contains the song "In a Big Country" their only US Top 40 hit single. The music has a pleasing Celtic feel (the band is Scottish). Apparently the guitar effects were achieved this through the use of the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 Guitar Effect. They also apparently used the e-bow, a device which allows a guitar to sound more like strings or synthesizer.
The album has been remastered and reissued on three occasions. The latest version released by Universal in 2012 in advance of the album's 30th anniversary includes (as is de rigeur these days) a second disc of previously unissued demos.
The chief genius behind the band was Stuart Adamson who sadly committed suicide in 2001.
10 Things people shout in sports and games
1. Mark. If a rugby union player shouts Mark as he catches the ball clean within his 22 he has a free kick.
2. Fore. A golfer should shout fore to warn of an approaching ball
3. Kabbadi. In Kabbadi a player shouts kabbadi kabbadi, etc, to show he is not taking another breath
4. Subs. In basketball substitutions are announced when the ball is dead by shouting subs
5. Snap. In snap the first player to shout snap when identical cards are laid takes all the cards laid down to that point.
6. House. In Bingo a player shouts House to declare all his numbers have been called
7. Mob 123. In the game mob when the player who is on it sees another player he shouts mob 123
8. Bang. In paintballing if a player is within 10 feet of an opponent he should shout bang not shoot
9. Marco Polo. In Marco Polo the person on it shouts Marco and the others shout Polo
10. Car. In street hockey when a player shouts car, all play stops
Midweek Meeting October 28 2015
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| The Hunt Museum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons |
New James Bond Offbeat Suggestions
1. Prince Harry
2. Meryl Streep
3. Jeremy Corbyn
4. Harry Styles
5. Warwick Davies
6. Philip Schofield
7. Ant or Dec
8. Nicola Sturgeon
9. Jim Carter (of Downton Abbey fame)
10. Huw Edwards
Retro Album "of the Week" 35 Stratosfear
The instrumental album Stratosfear was first released in 1976. It followed Ricochet (also a great album). It is by the German group Tangerine Dream. Critics say it marks the beginning of the band's development away from their uncompromising early '70s synthesizer experiments towards something more melodic. It certainly must mark the band at its height with the classic line-up of Froese, Baumann and Franke doing their last album together. Critics also say it combines the band's acoustic and electronic influences more tightly than before. They instance, the deep piano/flute tune at the end of the last track, "Invisible Limits".
The LP reached No.39 in the UK, in a 4-week chart run, and eventually reached silver status for selling in excess of 60,000 copies. Great cover. I owned the album but parted with my first copy as a joint birthday present for a school friend, the man who is now Bishop of St Asaph. (If someone has a google search on that phrase may be it will pick up. Hi Greg.)
Lord's Day October 25 2015
Preaching at LTS
I was preaching at LTS on Friday afternoon. As well as daily morning devotions they have someone to preach most weeks (usually from the faculty). About twenty gathered and I preached on Ehud as an example of what preachers should be (I hope the message sunk in). My son was amused that after making a point about not making sermons too long I said "seventhly". It was good to be there. A nice lunch followed. Good old Giovanni. It is encouraging to think that there is a small but rising generation of preaches being prepared at the seminary.
New edition of Focus book
A new (third) edition of the book on Focus by Australian Peet Johnson arrived through my door the other day - Hocus Pocus: the strife and times of rock's Dutch masters. (See details here) Peet must know more about Focus than any man on earth and this new edition brings you right up to date with facts such as the version of Focus 3 done by Outkast and that by Guo Yue of House of the King (both in 1996). It's a bit expensive but hardcore Focus fans will go for it.
Registered rugby players
As we come to the rugby world cup semi-finals, there was a piece on the ITV News last night. They wanted to highlight Argentina's lowliness and chose to do so by noting that it has only 102790 registered layers compared with England's massive 1990988 (more than any other country). However, if you check on Wikipedia you will see that although South Africa and New Zealand the other semi-finalists are in the top five on this indicator, Australia who Argentina play against are down at 14th with only 42100 registered players (just behind Kenya) so it is not a helpful statistic. Wales, by the way, have 50557 registered players.
That Video Again
I looked at that video again (which is here) and noticed that in the non-live there is a left handed drummer at the front. Someone else pointed out that at 02:02 you can see (in the top left hand corner) one poor drummer retrieving his sticks after dropping them. This is about making the video.
John Knox Documentary
KNOX Trailer from Trinity Digital Film on Vimeo.
The November issue of Evangelical Times has a review of the documentary on Knox from Trinity Digital trailed above.
Knox
is a documentary produced by Murdo MacLeod, marking the five
hundredth anniversary of the birth of the influential Scots Reformer,
John Knox, which occurred some time around 1514.
The
documentary is presented in a manner that we have grown used to.
Philip Todd, the film's youthful presenter (in dark jeans, loose
narrow tie, open velvet collared Chesterfield coat and leather
gloves) moves from location to location (Edinburgh, Perth, St
Andrews, Stirling, Berwick, Geneva, etc) telling Knox's story from
his birth to his death and beyond. This is interspersed with a number
of talking heads (ministers and academics such as Rev Maurice
Roberts, Professor John McIntosh and Knox biographer Jane Dawson),
cartoon images backed with actors reading the actual words of Knox
(Stuart Falconer) and others plus a sprinkling of other appropriate
images ancient and modern. Throughout, music (Charlie Wilkins) and
other audio is used to enhance the presentation.
It is all
done to a high standard, although Amanda Aiken's cartoons are not
really up to the standard one could desire. (This is the point where
the senior youth group start to snigger, if they get to see it). The
documentary has, understandably, a very Scottish feel, which may
limit its use in some places. Far from being a hagiography, it seeks
rather to give a rounded picture.
The chief
aim of the documentary appears to be to give us clear and accurate
history but from time to time some of the talking heads make
statements that are no doubt intended to encourage true faith in
Christ and to challenge believers today. Such instruction comes over
in the quotations from Knox too.
In the final
section the conviction is very clearly expressed that Scotland needs
a new Reformation. The final words are those of Knox himself calling
on us to know God, to be faithful and to seek blessing for Scotland.
It is encouraging to know that such materials are being made.
Rugby and Tracts
Some of our members have been given out this Roger Carswell tract recently. That's one of my sons there. (He's got my coat on. If salvation were by works would I score anything for that?)
Midweek Meeting October 21 2015
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| Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
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