Ideas for getting fit.

Alex and I have been talking recently about how we might need to get ourselves active, around and about more. So today, in that vein, I took rocky to the park and tried to shoot some basketballs. I am woefully out of practice, scoring 11 baskets in about 20 minutes. Then we walked into town after finding out that rocky still doesn't want to be on the swings yet.

But I'm thinking that to get me active, I need a variety of activities to get me going without doing my knees in. Any ideas?

if Sarah Palin was my mum

If Sarah Palin was my mum, I'd be called Crunk Petrol Palin. Check the link to find out what you'd be called.

http://politsk.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah_13.html

Family Update

Just a quick update of family news.

We have now started working at Whitleigh Christian Centre, which is merging with Carmel Church. By God's grace, we're going to be working to help it grow into a vibrant christian community and a valuable resource in one of the needier areas of Plymouth.

The decorating is coming slowly but surely. The living room ceiling is done. The ceiling under the stairs is done, the detour to varnish the doors of the bathroom and toilet is almost done. Its now time to prime and paint the walls. Yay.

Rocky is trying to get the hang of balancing on his own, his record is about 20 seconds. He has also developed a charming new habit. He still likes to eat any scrap of anything that he finds on the carpet, but when he has put it in his mouth, he will now crawl over to us, and if we say 'Say bleuuuugh', he will stick his tongue out and let us pick off whatever he has put in his mouth.

Sweet Home Bella Emberg

I don't like the Kid Rock song in the charts at the moment. Apart from the fact that it's a bit crass and stupid, there is nothing for me to relate to with it.

There's a lot of things that don't translate from American rap culture to England. They have the shizzle to the dizzle, but I left my thingumybob by my oojimy. When they say West Coast vs East Coast, they mean Los Angeles vs New York. When we say west coast vs east coast, we mean Weston Super Mare vs Great Yarmouth. And while Kid Rock might have grown up trying funny things and smoking funny things and singing sweet home alabama all summer long, I grew up on (amongst other things, mum=) crisps and Russ Abbot and Bella Emberg.

US Election

We have been following the twists and turns of the us election avidly over the past few weeks. I have been watching the two conventions. It's getting harder for me to comment on the election objectively because I just want obama to win now, so i see pretty much everything through that bias.

However, for all the talk and hubris, i still think that the big question of this election, the fate of the republican coalition, is still unanswered and the thing to focus on. All through the year, the problem has been that Bush won 2 elections on a core republican vote of about 51%. His performance has shrunk that vote to the point where the Republicans have to reach out to new independent voters. But reaching out to independent voters turns of the Republican activists. Especially because the 3 main strands of the Republican party economic conservatives, military conservatives and social conservatives have less of a united agenda. 

Clearly McCain has given up on the independent voters with his Bush-ist tactics and picking of Palin.(boo hiss) And is trying to get everyone who voted for bush to vote for him. It might work, but it probably won't, just because there are not enough republicans left in that core.

Of course, we will be glued to the election for the next 2 months. More real than x factor, shorter than a sports season. I thought you might be interested where we will be following it.

Firstly, The Daily Show on More 4 weekdays at 8.30pm. While this comes with a health warning because sometimes it's a little too crude for us, at it's best, this is brilliant, brilliant satire and incredibly informative entertainment. I can't believe i'm about to be this show-off pseudy, but, Marshall McLuhan wrote 'Our time presents a unique opportunity for learning by means of humour - a perceptive or incisive joke can be more meaningful than platitudes lying between two covers.' Or two news anchors for that matter. The Daily Show proves this theory right.

Secondly, Michael Tomasky in the Guardian is consistently pro-bama, but useful for understanding some of the mechanics behind the election. Hear him talk strategy here.

Thirdly, politics.cnn.com gives a good american perspective on what is happening.

Fourthly, The God's Politics blog provides a useful alternative evangelical perspective to the radical far right views of the likes of Palin (boo hiss). Jim Wallis, the main author, is a better preacher than policy maker, but the site is thoughtful and challenging.

Fifthly, C-Span Washington Journal on BBC Parliament makes great comedown watching after church on a Sunday afternoon.

Lastly, this is just a very funny video from Saturday Night Live this week.

Oasis and Kaiser Chiefs

I've been listening to radio again over the past few days and have heard both the new Oasis and Kaiser Chiefs singles. I prefer the oasis one, just because, for me, the Kaiser Chiefs are a good old fashioned hate-them-on-the-principle band. I could make a list of the reasons I don't like them, but i can't be bothered. 

Anyway, both songs reminded me of this song, except that this song is way, way, way better.

Been a while...

Since i last blogged. That's because things have been ridiculously busy since we got back from holiday.

DIY BONANZA!!!

We've had a DIY bonanza in the last month, experiencing a rare combination of funds and inclinations, we've had brand new windows and doors put onto our house and also had the front room plastered. It's starting to look good already. The outside of the house is transformed and it's great when there's a storm and the wind doesn't whistle in through the creeks.

However, we are now reaching the decorating phase. We are going to paint the living room in wild primrose, which looks like this.

That's quite small, but it's going to look good on the walls.

All of this monumental diy stuff is giving us a chance to redefine what our living room is about. When we first moved in, we wanted to create something like a common room where people could just come in and not have to mind themselves. That's why it was fun to paint the room camel colour. However, we're feeling the urge to be slightly more grown up now and turn the room into a proper family space. We're working on it.

MOVING ON IN CHURCH.

The other big change is that we are moving on in our church life. Our church, Carmel, has been asked to merge with a local church in the Whitleigh area of Plymouth and Alex and I have been asked to go and be the day to day leaders of the church, under the supervision of my senior minister, Mike.

It hasn't really sunk in what this means yet totally. It's going to mean more responsibility, but also more opportunity. It's a genuinely exciting thought that we are moving. But it's taking lots of time to prepare and work through how things will actually work.