Greetings at Christmas

Ok, welcome to our blog for those who have found it for the first time. If you really are interested to find out about everything that we have done this year, then we suggest you browse through each month at leisure. You'll also get a taste for some of our year from our magnificent 7's below.

However, here's a quick summary of what we've been up to this year.

• We're still in the same jobs as last year. Alex is with Alan Harris solicitors and Simon is an Assistant Minister at Carmel Church. (For Church related news and some of Simon's sermons, log on to carmel-church.blogspot.com)
• We're still in the same house, bathroom still not finished!!! However, we do now have a nursery, a library/study and a small magnolia tree.
• New Arrival. Our handsome son Rocky D. Travers arrived in October, see previous posts for a blow by blow account. Also, THANKYOU TO EVERYONE WHO GAVE US PRESENTS WHEN ROCKY WAS BORN. If you haven't had a personal thankyou, it was because we were overwhelmed by everybody's kindness. We love you and appreciate you very much.

Our plans for the new year are

• Alex to return to work in May
• Simon to start getting accredited as a minister
• build a shed and get the bathroom in

New Year's resolution

• Let life come to us in 2008.

Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this. Hope you are healthy and happy through the new year. Stay open hearted at Christmas because it's worth the extra effort.

Simon, Alex and Rocky Travers

Happy Christmas From The Travers Family

Magnificent 7 Films of the Year

1) Ratatouille

This was an obvious choice for us, as Ratatouille is charming, ambitious and giddy fun, and then, right at the end, it manages to add a twist that is so beautiful I honestly cried.



2) The Sound of Music

We went to see The Sound of Music on the big screen in September. It was a revelation. It was a completely different film to tv. The scale, the colours, the cinematography were all so much more noticable. If you ever get a chance, see the Sound of Music in it's true home.



3) The Bourne Ultimatum

The best action, the best stunts, the coolest spy in all the movies.



Joint 4) The Last King of Scotland

Great movie, thought that James McAvoy was excellent as well as Forest Whittaker. Check out the eerie parody above.



Joint 4)Notes on a Scandal.

Just as good as Last King, and similar in terms of atmosphere, creepiness, great acting. Hence the joint placing.




6) Rocky Balboa

Clearly not a work of art, but we don't care, it's great anyway.



7) Heima

Concert film by Sigur Ros that we bought on DVD. It's a musical tour around their home and it is stunning.

Magnificent 7 Albums of the Year

1) Bruce Springsteen - Live In Dublin

This style of music wouldn't normally be our kind of thing, but the sound this band makes is amazing, vibrant and life affirming. It makes us think that all music should sound like this.



2) Alison Krauss - A Hundred Miles or More
Alison Krauss and Robert Plant - Raising Sand

Alison Krauss put out two amazing albums this year. She has the best voice ever. The video above is a lot more soft rock than she usually does, but it was released as the single of A Hundred Miles...



3) Matt Redman - Beautiful News

I put a lot of thought into what could be the soundtrack for Rocky's birth, made cd's and things like that. In the end, all that was washed away by the emergency. But while alex was in theatre and Rocky was being pulled out, I was singing 'You never let go' like the guys in the video above in the delivery room. And God never let go. And I don't think he ever will.



4) The White Stripes - Icky Thump

Been white stripes fans for a while now and really enjoyed the new lp. Funny, weird, rocking and fresh.



5) Radiohead - In Rainbows

Blagged a copy of Kid A off my sister earlier in the year and loved it, so when In Rainbows came along, it was good news. Paid £5 for it, which is the perfect price to pay for excellent music.



6) Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

Mmm... alt-country. Again, wilco were another band that I've liked for a long time that I've come back to this year. Not a perfect album, but its lush and gentle and groovy.



7) The Go Team - Proof of Youth

This album just makes me smile. They took the attitude of all the slacker 90's bands i loved and put it to a hip hop beat.

Magnificent 7 TV of the Year

1) Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Not everyone's cup of tea, apparently, and it did sag a bit in the middle of the series, but we haven't gotten over The West Wing yet and so while Studio 60 may be the next best thing, it is still better than everything else. Here are some clips from the Alison Janney guest star show.



2) Dr. Who

Again, a little patchy in places this season, but at it's best, Dr Who is popular TV that manages to be profound as well as exciting. Here is a clip of the Children in Need special.



3) Bringing Up Baby

This caught our personal zeitgeist, it was a really useful counterpoint to our ante-natal classes.



4) Robin Hood

It's still daft, but it's got better stories now and goes down great on a Sunday afternoon from on demand.



5) Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption

One of the greatest joys of the year has been subscribing to the North American Sports Network, and they carry these two shows from america featuring men who talk about sports. It might sound boring, but its better than breakfast in the morning.



6) The Daily Show

Currently not on because of the american writers strike. This is a very funny talk show that educates as well as entertains.



7) The Krypton Factor

Every year, we find ourselves in some sort of TV fad, 2 years ago it was poker, last year it was deal or no deal, this year, for a month straight, we watched repeats of the Krypton Factor every night. Alex had never seen it as a child, so was introduced, and once introduced, was mesmorised. It really is the hardest ever tv quiz show. They should bring it back, but even harder.

Our Magnificent Seven Books of the Year

1) When We Were Orphans and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.



Joint top spot for the man who is probably our favourite modern novelist. He is an elegant writer, building complex stories that comment on the nature of memory. His books are always subtle, but that doesn't mean they don't have power.





2) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling.



Read it in a week in July. Normally it takes us forever to read a book, but this one rollocks along with a plot that means you just want to keep going with it. It was a fun reading experience. Definitely one of the two best in the series. And Dobby dies!!!



3) The Jesus Way by Eugene Peterson


The third in the Spiritual Theology series is just as much a masterpiece as the previous two. For those who haven't picked up on this yet, Eugene Peterson is writing a 5 volume, they will be studying this in 50-100 years, theological work of wonder and joy. It is hard to overstate just how good this series is.

4) The Final Solution by Michael Chabon


A quiet little English detective novella with a stunning twist at the end. This is a little gem.






5) Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation by Adrian Plass


We have been reading Adrian Plass for the last 20 years. His latest book is structured as an A-Z of modern Christianity. It's basically a very funny joke book with some thoughtful bits thrown in. This made us laugh lots and lots.




6) Selected Poems by George Herbert (Bloomsbury hardback)

Been looking for one of these in second hand shops for ages, finally got a copy for my birthday. The most beautifully put together book with great poems. George Herbert is by far and away the greatest ever Christian poet, because he takes risks with language in a way that most Christians today would never dream of.



7) Moneyball by Michael Lewis

A fascinating, highly entertaining but flawed business book about baseball. It is dripping with energy, ideas and power, but struggles with it's need to be right all of the time.


Honourable mentions too for Hard Times by Charles Dickens which we haven't finished yet, Q by Luther Blissett, Falling Man by Don DeLillo and Martin Luther and His World by Graham Tomlin

7 Wouldn't Have Missed in 2007 (In no particular order)

1) Low Profile at PL:AY - Plymouth is hardly the art mecca of the world, but we do have Low Profile, a live art duo, and they are brilliant. We first heard of low profile by watching a video of theirs on double acts at an exhibition that blew everything else away. Then we got to see them at Plymouth's 1 day live art festival PL:AY, doing a piece called 'show for you', about the social graces and habits of entertaining guests. The performance was funny, charming, accessible, something interesting to say and a big paper swan. It was great.

2) Major League Baseball - We (simon more than alex, obviously) watched a lot of baseball this year, as a trade off for not getting out so much. It was a hugely memorable season for many big reasons, but the great thing about getting into the flow of it all was the little details and patterns. I have just realised that if i try to explain that comment, this post will go on for ever. Please trust me on it.

3) Ben and Jerrys - I don't think that this year was the year we discovered Ben and Jerrys, but it was the year that it became the ice cream of choice in our household. Especially good is our local cinema's option of 3 different flavour scoops in a little tub.

4) Rhydian and Same Difference on the X Factor - X factor's not been as good as last year, but we love both these acts. We love that Rhydian takes so many stupid risks, but that's what's going to give him a career. Why be a Russell Watson when you can be an Elton John or Meatloaf. We love Same Difference because they are so smiley but clearly so determined. They clearly have an awesome work ethic. They are slightly mad, but we like them for it.

5) Stratford Upon Avon - Where we went for a holiday in February. It's beautiful and we fell in love with the place.

6) Facebook - Alex is agnostic on this, but Simon is converted, especially to the correspondence chess feature. Find me and friend me.

7) The Wurzels at Tavistock and Razorlight at Exeter - After not going to a concert for years, 2 in one year!!! Both were special nights for their own reasons, and it would be unfair to single out one above the other.