Come on, Lewis!

Today was my Sports Day.

Well, that’s a tad misleading. Not that I was taking part myself - certainly not in the persistent rain! No…I spent my afternoon watching the British Grand Prix, wringing my hands and sitting on the edge of my sofa.

As you can probably guess I was rooting for Lewis Hamilton all the way, just hoping he would control his car in the inclement weather for the sixty laps round the course at Silverstone, praying he wouldn’t aquaplane off the road and end a third race this season without points.

And he came through! After a miserable couple of races in Canada and France, he won the Grand Prix with a clear sixty-eight second lead, and is now tied at the top of the Drivers’ Championship table with Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

I’m glad he won, if for no other reason than to silence his critics.

The vagaries of Facebook

I found this fantastic article on Times Online about facebook:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article4249605.ece

Although I’m signed up to the ubiquitous social networking site, I have to admit that my enthusiasm has waned somewhat since I first signed up last October.

It was amusing at first; seeing how many of my friends were already ‘initiated’, browsing through the myriad of applications, posting videos of my ’song of the week’ on my profile page and keeping in touch with loved ones on different parts of the globe.

But I have gradually tired of of getting ’friend’ requests from creepy people I don’t know, and the potential for intrusion. And, there is the small fact that although I’m quite a geeky nerd of a girl, I actually do have a life (thank you, God!)

I’m currently reading…Votewise

I’m currently reading Votewise by Nick Spencer.

To be continued.

Today’s Church: The Challenge of Remaining Relevant

A report commissioned for the Church of England by the Bishop of Hulme, the Right Reverend Stephen Lowe - with support from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Drs. Rowan Williams and John Sentamu - was published on 9 June 2008, and it stated that the New Labour government of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown has facilitated the onset of a spiritual, civic and economic crisis in Britain.

In the report titled Moral, Without a Compass, the government was challenged for its policy of favouring other faiths at the expense of Christian churches which are discriminated against, and was described as ‘lacking any convincing moral direction’.

According to the authors, in spite of the fact that the Church has led the way for centuries on such topical issues as health care, education and welfare by pioneering hospitals, schools and institutions of higher learning - many of which are now commonplace in the United Kingdom today - Christian charities and communities are consistently excluded from crucial discussions and consultations which occur prior to policy making.

As a result of this ‘positive exclusion of people of faith’, the report says that the government is failing society and leaving it bereft of a national identity, with the Church of England being consistently and relentlessly marginalised, excluded and neglected.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to hear of this report, for two reasons.

I went to see…Wicked

I’m currently reading…Northern Lights

I’m currently reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman.

To be continued.

Is It Alright to Cause Offence?

On the 27th of March, Dutch parliamentarian and leader of the Party for Freedom Geert Wilders premiered his film ’Fitna’, intending to use it as a vehicle to explore verses in the Koran he believes could easily be misconstrued as incitements for violence and terrorism.

Though innocuously titled - the title comes from the Arabic word meaning ‘disagreement among people’ or ‘test of faith in times of trial’ - in the film Wilders explores the rise of Islamic militancy and extremism, and the threats they pose to democracy, free speech and civil liberties in the Netherlands as a whole.

There have been protests across the Muslim world which, fair enough, is to be expected: any person or group in a democratic society who feel hard done by are free to make their grievances known by peaceful means.

And it was a given that that this work would raise eyebrows, since objections to Wilders’ political views, his stance on Islam and its relevance in the Netherlands, as well as his intention to make this controversial film had long been in existence and were really nothing new.

What seems to have gradually become the norm in situations where the Muslim faith is involved is the use of violence or the threat of it as a means of suppressing critics. Sadly, that has been no different in this case.

I’m currently reading…Blue Shoes and Happiness

I’m currently reading Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith, the seventh book in his No. 1 Ladies’ Detective series.

As regular visitors to my blog know I’ve read a few of the books in the series, and was looking forward to returning to his rose-tinted world of adventure in the lovely southern African country of Botswana.

I was particularly spurred on by BBC One’s Easter Sunday TV adaptation of the first book starring American Grammy Award-winning soul singer Jill Scott (whose music I absolutely love), directed by the now late Anthony Minghella.

Since I was ‘in the zone’, I thought I may as well get down with another of Smith’s books!

So, what cases are Mma Ramotswe and her assistant Mma Makutsi investigating this time around?

Are We All Guilty?

They are everywhere.

They sell millions of newspapers and countless magazines, ranging from well-known monthly publications to some downright obscure - and not to mention, trashy - weekly glossies.

They blaze fashion trails, which society blindly follows.

They inadvertently dictate how we should dress and look, and as a result, the fashion and cosmetic surgery industries continue to see growth in double digits on both sides of the Atlantic as societal aspirations to conform to the standards of beauty they set increase.

Welcome to the age of celebrity, where everyone wants to be famous and a fortnight of inappropriate behaviour with strangers on a reality show beamed into millions of living rooms across the nation is guaranteed to make you a ’star’.

I went to see…Shadowlands

At the beginning of the year, I wrote down a list of goals I hope to achieve.

One of my to-dos is to go to the theatre more often, and it occurred to me that keeping a tally of what I see on my blog will serve the following purposes:

First, it will keep me accountable (to you, dear reader), and help ensure I achieve this goal. I’m aiming to see at least one show a month; maybe more if the budget allows. So if there’s no entry in a particular month, you’ll know I’m slipping and can pull me up on it…

Second, I can give a brief synopsis of what I’ve seen and share my thoughts with you. As in the case of entries in the I’m currently reading section, I reiterate that I’m not being commissioned to recommend or review particular shows. All I’m doing is sharing my experiences with you as I expand my cultural horizons.

So, I went to see…