Tales from the front line

Here is the latest tale about Alex from the front line, as reported by the Plymouth Herald. All those who think that law is glamorous, look away now.

Christmas Devotional Blog

As part of our Christmas celebrations at church, our theme this year is WHEN HISTORY MEETS DESTINY!!! Our aim is to encourage people to embrace the spiritual side of Christmas as well as the traditions. You can join in our journey towards Christmas at whenhistorymeetsdestiny.blogspot.com

Here is a flyer for it.

Time to tune into countdown again...

You have all the rest of your lives to climb the eiffel tower or kilimanjiro, travel in the australian outback or the serengeti, or see the view from the top of the Empire State Building. However, you only have one more month to catch the Vorderman in her natural habitat, in front of a square A1 writing pad, solving incredibly difficult maths puzzles and laughing because the first four letters chosen spell RATS. Do not miss your opportunity, even if it means you end up watching deal or no deal by accident afterwards.

Comedy thingys

There is some really cool comedy around at the moment. Milton Jones is on Radio 4 at 6.30pm on Mondays. Listen to the last episode here.

Also, we're excited about the new series of The IT Crowd on 4 this Friday. It's taken us ages to catch up with this, but we saw it on catch up earlier this year and fell in love.

The Rocky Principle Sermon

This is a recording of the sermon that i preached on the day Rocky was dedicated at church. It was possibly the most personal that i've preached. I hope you listen to it and know that everything i said came straight from the heart.

More sigur ros in Bristol

Here are some more you tube moments from the sigur ros gig we went to.

Vid Spilum Endalaust (is what it says on the t shirt i bought)


Saeglopur (surprised this got the best reaction of the night but a great use of webcams)


All alright (better live than on record)

X Factor - Laura's Exit

Thought I'd weigh in on the issue of the day. Was Laura White robbed in the X Factor? No idea what that is, watch here.

Well, yes and no. Clearly she wasn't the worst performance on the night, take a bow Rachel, who we thought was going to get the boot for her off key performance. Clearly, she has been better than Daniel all through the competition. But to me, it's no surprise that she found herself in the bottom 2, and when she did, she got beaten fair and square by the marvellous, the one and only Spanish Bonnie Tyler, Ruth Lorenzo.

Why is the more interesting question here and here is our theory. Everyone has noticed that the standard has risen in 2008. There are a lot of people in the finals who can actually hold a tune. Even Daniel gets through because within his limited range, he can hold a tune. And there is no singer who has the vocal gift of a Leona Lewis just to blow away the competition.

Therefore, the X factor this year people need is personality as well as talent. Laura is clearly talented in voice, but had very little in the way of personality. Diana is the kooky one, Alexandra is the star, Eoghan is the cute one, Daniel is the cuddly dad, Rachel is the one with the past, JLS are the bestest mates in the world and Ruth Lorenzo is the Spanish Bonnie Tyler. But who is Laura? Who can tell because she didn't let it show. Which is why she ended up in the bottom two, because for all her talent, there wasn't a lot for a viewer to hold onto.

Once she got into the bottom 2, she gave a performance, which while technically sound, conformed to the growing evidence that there are rules to the new sing off. Over the Rainbow was a really bad choice of song, because it said nothing about her, and even if it is her favourite song, does the world really need another pop star who's favourite song is Over the Rainbow. Also, because that song has been done to death on the X factor, it just feels cliched. Secondly, she looked like she was beaten as she walked down the steps, whereas Ruth looked really excited to sing one of her favourite rock anthems. Lastly, uptempo seems to work better than downtempo in a sing off.

There's lots of fuss about Laura going out, but it will die down, and i doubt she'll get a record deal. And if Saturday proved anything, if it comes down to an old fashioned Diva-off, Alexandra will win by a mile.

Sigur Ros Live - The videos

Thankyou very much to a person called murderscenerevenge who went to the sigur ros gig armed with a mobile phone. Here are some of the (many) highlights of the gig.

Flotjavik (look at the pretty lights)


Hoppipolli / Meo Blodnasir (Great version, stripped of strings and brass, it rumbles like a train.)


inni mer singur vittleysingur (look how they almost lost it on the bridge-y bit)


gobbeldygook (audience handclaps, support band on drums, SPANGLYBOOM!!!)


Apparently, murderscenerevenge has more to put up, so i'll post those too, like the geek i am.

Sigur Ros - Bristol Colston Hall 7th November, 2008

We went to see Sigur Ros at the Colston Hall on Friday night. They were simply breathtaking. They are the best rock band on the planet.

Cool stats from the presidential election.

Obviously there are far more qualified people to talk about how Obama won this week, but i just wanted to have a go at highlighting some good stats.

As Michael Tomasky points out on the guardian, Obama had his cake and eat it in that he managed to get out more democratic voters and appeal to more independent voters. Of the voters 39% were registered Democrat but only 32% registered Republican. (In the US, you are allowed to register to vote as the affiliate of a party so that you can vote in the primary elections.) This meant that Obama got a big head start before the Independent voters waded in and went for Obama on roughly the same levels as the final national vote.

This is backed up by the fact that Obama won 70% of the first time voters, the young and the dispossed were motivated to go and vote for him. And also by the measure that the 13% of people who voted in 2008 but not 2004, went for Obama by 71% to 27%

A lot was made of the grass roots campaign that Obama won, and it seems rightly so. The effectiveness of both campaigns in reaching individuals was about equal. 64% of those who were contacted by Obama voted for him, 60% of those who were contacted by McCain voted for him. But here is the thing, 26% of voters were personally contacted by the Obama campaign, while only 18% were contacted by McCain. This is a big edge.

In the light of the banking crisis, the two thirds of voters who own stocks and shares just went for Obama 50/48, but the third of the country who don't own shares went for Obama 61/37. It's an interesting stat which shows just how far Obama came in being the people's champion. And here is, I think, a key point that the Republicans are going to have to learn, being the people's champion, being for someone like Joe the Plumber, means interacting with people from the cities and suburbs. Both the cities and the suburbs went for Obama and they represent 80% of voters. The Republicans need to rethink their role as the custodians of small town values, because only one in five voters live in a small town. 

Which leads us on to Sarah Palin, who 60% of voters thought was not qualified to be president. Of that 60% the split for Obama was 82/16. That will be a tough number for Palin to turn around if she wants to run in 2012. However, it should be clear that Palin is nowhere near as bad a drag on the ticket as George W. Bush. Of the 51% of voters who strongly disapprove of the job Bush is doing, 82% voted Obama.

Random stat, 1% of all voters polled thought that the US economy was in excellent condition, and that 1% voted for Obama by 59% to 39%

Still reading? I could go on and on, one final stat that might say something about the weight of expectation on Obama. 72% of voters think the economy will get better or at least stay the same in the next year. Of those who think it will get better, Obama won 61%, and for those who think it will stay the same, 52% voted Obama. Interestingly, Obama only won 43% of the voters who think the economy is going to get worse.

Read the full national exit poll here for hours of fascination.

Quantum of Solace Review

We went to see Quantum Of Solace on Monday night and I wanted to blog some thoughts about it. I'm not sure how good my sensors are as to whether this was a good film or a great one due to the fact that it was our first time at the cinema in over a year. The actual act of eating popcorn and making jokes about local adverts and just being there without the boy was a little weird, and meant that we were probably always going to love the movie.

Secondly, as a disclaimer, I have a very low threshold of quality when it comes to bond. I am of the bank holiday + bond = must be watched even if it's moonraker point of view. So again, I was always going to like this movie.

I liked Quantum of Solace. I can see why some people are criticising the movie, but i think that all those criticisms are answerable and therefore not necessarily making for a bad movie.

So does it work to have a bond film that is so close a sequel? Maybe. You definitely have to have watched casino royale to get what is going on in this film. It would be better to think of it as a volume 2 rather than as a discreet story.

Is it too much like Bourne? The filming style is very bourn-esque, especially on the action sequences. I don't really have a problem with that. HIGH FALLUTING BOND THEORY ONE - One of the most significant reasons that we still all watch bond movies is because they act as a cultural hall of mirrors. They take trends and tropes and tap into the emotional undercurrents of our times and reflect them back to us in a gaudy glamourous way. You still feel like you are in Bond's world rather than Bourne's as the car getting wrecked is an Aston Martin and so on. This is added to by the referencing of previous bond films. I counted references to The Spy Who Loved Me, Goldfinger, The Living Daylights and I'm sure i missed some.

Is it too one paced because it's action all the way? Maybe, but to me this is justifiable in setting up the Quantum organisation. The first thing we find out about them is that they are everywhere, therefore it shouldn't be a surprise if everywhere Bond goes, they are waiting for him and look to kill him. It's part of having a more vulnerable bond that the odds are stacked up more against him. In the 21st Century, it appears that the henchmen of evil have done more than basic training.

All this ties into what i think is the most interesting theme in the whole film which is that Bond is an agent provocateur rather than a secret agent. HIGH FALLUTING BOND THEORY TWO - the key to the action of Quantum of Solace is based not in Bond being a young or naive agent, but in him being an agent who has a moral centre where some people are good and some people are bad and something must be done about it. However warped it may be, Daniel Craig's Bond is about justice. This is what makes Bond relevant in a post 9/11 world. We get the world of secrecy opened to us in this film as thoroughly amoral. Quantum, elements of the CIA, and dictators co-operate for what they perceive as mutual benefit without any hint of ideology or agenda beyond control and finance. Bond in this world becomes a bull in a china shop, full of vengance and wrath and anger.

The style of the film comes from the message, there is no messing with this Bond, no quips or asides, because he is too focused on his 'just cause'. For the viewer, the message is that within a complex world of international power and control, there is still good and evil and it's good to be on the side of good. The film implies that the perpetrators of Abu Gheraib and 9/11 are linked, both levers being pulled by a wider network of control. Whether you are a conspiracist or not, this film denounces both the levers and controllers and suggests the way to deal with them is to give them all a good old fashioned kicking.

Fleet Foxes

Bought the fleet foxes album today, which is great because i've been into this band since i first heard the single above White Winter Hymnal. The album doesn't disappoint. Obviously they are severely in love with pet sounds, but there's another element to their sound that i can't quite pin down yet. And whatever, it sounds great, especially driving along mutley plain in the traffic at night.

Dedication Day 2nd November 2008

Well, we dedicated Rocky to our God today and promised that we would raise him the best we could to know of faith in Jesus.

What a great day. It was lovely to have so many friends and family present. The church was full even though it was a bit cold with the water supply playing up. Thank you to everyone who generously gave cards, gifts and lent their support. A special thankyou to the catering team at Carmel, who were tremendous.

It was a privilege to be able to dedicate Rocky and also to be able to preach and share about how he got his name. That preach will be on the blog as soon as we can get it. But for now, here are some pictures that my dad took that give an atmosphere of the day.