This whole blogging thing – it might take off.
Anyway, just thought I’d post this, as it made me laff: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moaksey/2223060360/
March 17, 2009
August 25, 2008
SOB… they’ve gone
VIDEO: Tinsley Towers blast drama – M1 reopens – The Star.
The Tinsley cooling towers, one of the few landmarks in Sheffield, have finally gone. After years of wrangling about whether they should be demolished or not, Eon, who owned them, did the deed and blew them up.
Of course, with them being so close to the M1 (less than 12 metres away), they had to do it at 3am in the morning. But that just lends the whole scene (watch the video above) a real eerie, ghostly feel as they go sown and especially when they realise that – oops! – they haven’t quite demolished one of them.
It won’t be the same, going to Meadowhall, any more (the towers weren’t far at all from the shopping centre), especially as the Supertram route runs pretty much under the Tinsley Viaduct, which carries the M1 at junction 34, so you went right by the base of the towers. It’ll be a little strange doing that – so I’ll have to do the trip at least one more time, just to see the difference (which, I know, makes me the equivalent of those who were holding up the M1 taking photos this morning, but hey! you’ve got to. Right?)
July 22, 2008
YouTube – Swing Out Sister – Breakout (1986) ►STEREO◄
I heard this on the Going Live! section of the BBC programme I Love 1987 (during the bit where they’re criminally underrating Gordon The Gopher) and heard it loads on Radio 2 and it’s been bugging me for ages.
But miracles, it seems, do happen.
To say I’m not a fan of Sarah Kennedy is an understatement, to say the least (she does go on a bit for my liking), but for some reason we always end up listening to her during the morning. However, for once I was grateful for her as, finally, she read out who it was! Hurrah!! And my months, nay years of agony are over!
And hearing it in full, it is rather spiffy. And the video’s pretty fab as well.
Now what can I worry about…
July 7, 2008
At last!
My horrendously stressful week is over, following our last residential weekend at Liverpool Hope Uni. I had 2 presentations to do, both of which I managed to do reasonably well (I think!) – certainly I got good feedback from the audience (is that the right word?) at the first one.
A small tip, though: when doing a Powerpoint presentation, always make sure your notes have some indication of which slide’s going to come where; I didn’t for my second one, so it was a bit like “Oh! That’s what’s next” or “That’s what I’ve just said” for half the slides.
Also, interesting to have a presentation on Baptist worship, being a Baptist and all. But then as the tutor said, there were 4 Baptists in the room (including himself), which probably meant 5 different opinions and 8 different styles of worship! That’s what being a Baptist is all about: call it openness, call it flexibility, call it just can’t make up our minds…
Actually, doing such an ecumenical course (albeit one that’s quite heavily Anglican-dominated, which isn’t a criticism) has made me want to explore more Baptist history and tradition and the reasons why we do the things we do. The problem is you just kind of fit in with the ways things are done and never stop to ask why, what’s behind it all etc. Why don’t we have liturgy, at least not the same extent as other denominations? Why can any believer lead Communion in the Baptist church? Why are Baptist services so different from church to church? I’m not saying any of these things are wrong, but I think it is good to get to know the history, tradition and reasoning of it all. Especially for a denomination with such a rich, radical, eventful past as the Baptist denomination.
June 23, 2008
June 20, 2008
This feels a bit geeky…
… and, in truth, it probably is. But I’m writing this post, from an Acer laptop, via a wireless connection to my modem/router upstairs.
I know, I know, the world and its gerbil has done it. And it’s not even a very good laptop. But, hey! It’s a first for me. Plus I can’t help thinking that I’m somehow embracing my inner geek by doing so. Especially as I’ve got it to dual-boot with Ubuntu (though that doesn’t seem to like the wireless adaptor on the laptop).
All I need now is a Blackberry or smartphone of some description and I’m there!!
Sad, sad, sad…
June 19, 2008
What to preach on?
Before I go on with this, please note that I’m not meaning to be churlish – honest!
It’s just that a week on Sunday (June 29) is my last “official” Sunday at Cemetery Road Baptist Church, where (for those who don’t know), I’ve spent the last year as part of my training for becoming a minister. And Nigel, the minister, has given me a free choice of what I preach on, rather than have me fit in with the current series that’s being looked at.
Which is great, except I haven’t a clue what to preach on! It’s a bit like when you were at school and were given a blank piece of paper and told to “draw something”. But what? You had the whole of the world to choose from – how could you decide?
Similarly here: I’ve got the whole of the Bible (pretty much) to choose from. Do I just go with the lectionary readings for that week? Do I revisit one of my old sermons? Do I choose something that’s vaguely related to moving on? I’m really, really, stuck!!
June 11, 2008
April 10, 2008
Spread your wings – Deacon
(Hurrah! A Queen review, just like it says on the tin…)
John Deacon’s second single and perhaps one of Queen’s lesser-known ones. Which is a shame; I’ve always had a soft spot for this song and recent re-hearings have only heightened that. It’s not flash or fancy, there’s less overdubs on it than before and the whole thing has room to breathe and live, without being suffocated by yet another layer of guitar from Mr May.
Of course, News of the world really marks the beginnings of Queen’s move away from the intense, heavy, overlayered sound that marked their first five albums, a move that represents a move away from the certainty of a sound they knew how to make, to explore new, unfamiliar terrain. It’s a move that would see them reach some very strange places (see Hot Space – but only if you have to), before they’d attempt something of a return to their roots in the 80s. Of course, exploration of other styles was always a Queen trait, as shown on their last two albums especially, but the next few years would see them more consciously try to find a new style overall, rather than the one that people recognised as “Queen”.
As part of that, Spread your wings looks back and forward, in a way. Back, because many of the classic elements are there: Freddie’s piano setting the backbone of the song (John plays it in the video, but this is wrong); Brian’s overdubbed guitars – less, but still there; Roger’s drums still pounding away. Forward, because of the aforementioned “space” in the song and also the lyrics.
Queen didn’t do “story” songs – this is one of the few. And, to be honest, it’s not much of a story: Sammy is bored in his job of a sweeper at The Emerald Bar; he dreams of leaving and “nothing in this world, nothing would make him stay”… except his boss, who rubbishes his dreams of freedom and chides him for not doing his job properly. Queen, ever the optimists, play the voice of freedom, calling Sammy to make the break. But the story’s unresolved: does he leave and chase his dream? We never know.
It’s a slight story, but one perhaps people can connect with – how many people have got fed up with their jobs, but never quite had the guts to follow their dreams? Queen were never too bothered about making great statements (Freddie once compared their songs to disposable tissues) and this song doesn’t – but it does connect, which makes its relatively poor performance all the more mysterious.
(Interestingly, John would return to this theme on I want to break free, which sounds like a great anthem of freedom, but isn’t necessarily… but we’ll get there later. And that was a hit).
Overall, this is a goodie: a bright, optimistic song, not earth-shattering, but saying something people can sort of relate to. Freddie sings it for all its worth (he called it “a real singer’s song”), as he always did, and overall you come away smiling. Perhaps Sammy did leave the Emerald Bar after all. 7
Video: We’re back in Roger’s garden. It’s still cold (see We will rock you). The band perform the song and get cold. Freddie and Roger mime really badly. What’s more interesting is if you get to see any of the “making of” footage. The director forgets who Brian is, referring to him only as “the guitarist”. Freddie decides the only answer to the cold is to get drunk, leading to the director asking someone to ask him to put the whiskey bottle down. It’s not good.
