munzBlog

Eternity, Now

2009-06-02T06:10:00.001+01:00

Originally uploaded by Munzerr

There's something about our way of life that makes every moment fleeting, moving... each moment becomes only a passageway to the next task or sensation. It's perhaps in our culture, that values work so highly, and the purchased sensation as the only legitimate pleasure. In this system, only the sensation that decays in time and must be re-purchased, is useful.

Hannah, Ben, Helen and I were discussing this as we walked at Moorlands on Sunday evening. Appropriately, sitting on a bench in that garden, I felt a little of the timelessness we were discussing.

'Eternity' doesn't sell (unless it has become only a label on a perfume bottle, or a precious stone). Those who step outside of the conveyor-belt culture may be seen as subversive, or sidelined by society in some way. Perhaps if such gurus can sell books, capitalism can salvage something (think the Dalai Lama)?

There's an experience we can feel today - even in this very moment - if we can be willing to displace our urgency; our 'to do list' for a while. If we can accept this moment as whole, and concentrate on being present, and noticing our surroundings... if we can do these things, then we can experience an 'eternity' that transcends the usual.

I believe that the 'celestial', the heaven that we look forward to... can be part of today - this moment. What will be different about that time, more than our states of mind? I've always loved this poem, entitled 'The Bright Field':

I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

R. S. Thomas

Hay 2009

2009-06-01T08:32:00.001+01:00

The Town of Books
Originally uploaded by Munzerr

This year we had a lot further to go to get down to the little Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye for the latest installment of the Guardian Literary festival. As I'm sure everyone knows by now, students get free tickets for 5 events, so I was able to see Tobias Hill, Richard Madeley, Alain de Botton, Melvyn Bragg and Jeremy Paxman. All big names, and rather than last year's alignment of the stars with my literary interests, this year's speakers were very much middle-aged, middle-class interests, but the interest for me was to be able to see these familiar voices in the flesh, in the different format that often revealed something more human and three-dimensional than I was used to seeing.

I've never been much of a 'Richard and Judy' fan, but Richard spoke to Raj Persaud about the experiences that made it into his investigation of family history, called 'Fathers and Sons'. The experiences of his grandfather were particularly painful, going on from a 'double betrayal' where he was first abandoned by his family as a young teenager, and then disinherited from a farm he had worked for years to maintain under the promise of its eventual inheritance from his uncle. Richard traced the ripples of these painful experiences through to his father, and even to his own life. It sounds like a great read.

Another recommendation has to be for Alain de Botton's new book about 'work'. He visited a group of city accountants, a biscuit factory, a logistics company, and other important but under-exposed professions. Perhaps he received the most rapturous applause of the day, and managed to come across in an interesting and very funny manner across the whole hour (not an achievement matched so admirably by all!). Melvyn Bragg spoke about the latest instalment of his autobiographical works, which covered the difficult time leading to his first wife's suicide. He was hardly able to talk about the events themselves, and ended by simply producing a few words he'd prepared earlier. Even for the most articulate of us, it seems, there are some things that can be expressed only in the written, prepared sentence.

We missed our two little girls, being away overnight (Mum and Dad babysat), and it was a long drive back, but well worth the journey. For me, it's Disneyland - a whole day of thoughts, celebrity, insight, sunshine, books and conversation. Count me in for 2010!

Why I Oppose California's 'Proposition 8'

2009-05-26T20:35:00.007+01:00

Now, I'm aware that this will be a controvertial or surprising post for some readers of my blog. I don't talk about my politics very often, as I'm aware of the deep feelings and traditions that many of my friends and family hold, and the last thing I want to do is offend or alienate them. However, this is a debate that has been called 'the most important issue of our generation', and I think that's not much of an exaggeration. For those of you who haven't come across this, 'Prop 8' was a ballot last autumn to define marriage in California as being exclusively between a man and a woman, and therefore, to stop same-sex couples from having their marriages recognised by the state (performed legally prior to the ballot), and future marriages from taking place.

For those of you who know me personally, you'll be aware that I'm a very happily married heterosexual man, and I'm a lifelong member of the LDS church which has actively and openly encouraged its members (in a rare political move) to work to help 'Prop 8' pass. I have no bias towards the minority group in question, nor do I even have many personal friends who are gay. That declared, you're probably still wondering why I oppose California Prop 8. Here we go:

I believe strongly that the 'church' and the 'state' should be kept separate. In wider terms, that means that I feel that the two institutions have very different (and both important) jobs that they should stick to. In my opinion, it is the job of the state to defend our civil liberties and rights. The state should oppose bigotry, violence and the oppression of minority groups by the majority. As far as possible, the state should work to afford the greatest liberty to the greatest number of people, thus allowing everyone to live as their conscience dictates. The state legislates to establish and protect these liberties. The job of the church, by contrast (and with 'the church' I include all institutions working for similar good causes) is to encourage and aid citizens and members of their organisations (who ascribe to their specific principles) to live positive and productive lives - to help those around them and to find personal satisfaction within the liberty that the state has afforded them. To summarise: in my opinion, the state should legislate to protect freedoms, and the church should teach and encourage in order to aid citizens and members in their quest for personal happiness and fulfilment.

The problem comes when these two roles become mixed up. In such a case (and this has been the case with Prop 8) the church, feeling threatened, desires the state to legislate on its behalf in order to enshrine in law principles that it holds as being important (ie. marriage exclusively between a man and a woman). The problem? This reduces the liberties of another group that thinks differently. In this case, the church has sought to enforce its beliefs and restrict the liberties of others through legislation. Although the church may think that it has safeguarded a God-given principle, there can be no virtue in living a moral law because it is enforced. If 'gay marriage' being made illegal reduces the number of 'gays' in the next generation of children, this will not be thanks to the children using their freedom to choose.

I fully support the rights of the church to exercise their free speech, and to teach and encourage everyone to live according to its doctrines. But, in my opinion, the long-held position of the church, to avoid entering into political questions in all but the most rare occasions, has been a valuable asset. 'Prop 8' saw the church turn away from this strong position, and enter into territory that, in my opinion, is unjustified. Supporters of 'Prop 8' claim that the legislation will have a long-term effect on 'defending' the traditional definition of marriage, yet I feel confident that the arc of history will continue to lean towards freedom. It is right that every human being should, as far as is possible, be able to live according to his (or her) conscience, and be free to express himself as fully as he sees fit. He should be able to live the life he believes is best. That is a right that I often have taken for granted, but I am immensely grateful for.

Which leads me to why I have felt so strongly about this whole issue. I hear the terrible and sad stories of gay and lesbian people who feel that they live in a society that does not fully accept them for the way they feel they are made to be. Proposition 8 has hit such a nerve in America because it does matter - hugely. Boiled down, it is about a group who feel that they have a responsibility to dictate the definition a cultural institution (marriage), and use that definition to exclude a minority group. This action reinforces all the feelings of alienation and rejection that the minority group felt before this. The message from the church is clear: "this is our marriage institution, and you can't have it!". It's about defining one of the most powerful and central pieces of language in our society. Words can be more powerful than bullets - and supporters of 'Prop 8' have set up a machine gun nest to defend what they see as being their society.

I believe that we should try to work from positions of love and inclusion, not fear and exclusion. We should work to find ways to extend the freedoms, freedoms of expression and rights of all human beings. We should not be so concerned to 'defend' our position (a selfish and inward-looking motion), and instead, try to look outward, and embrace those who want to take part in the best and most sacred instutions of our society. There will, of course, be difficulties in making these changes - but can't we all agree to work towards these ideals?

The LDS church knows what it is to have its definition of marriage placed outside the law. The church suffered years of imprisonment and exclusion, until it could no longer practise the beliefs it held to be 'celestial' and 'eternal'. The LDS church should, more than any other institution, work to encourage the state to 'allow all men the same privilege'[s], to worship or, indeed, marry 'how, where or what they may.' (see LDS 'Article of Faith' #11). I feel a responsibility as a member of humanity to speak out, to try to promote these freedoms.

I choose to live my life as I see fit, and to marry the person I love. I feel that these 'rights' are essential to my happiness and wellbeing. Therefore, I want to see these freedoms enjoyed by all. Who wouldn't? One day, in America, in the LDS church and everywhere, I believe and hope this will take place. Please speak up too, and let the world know if you feel the same things.

Story of Stuff: How Things Work, About Stuff

2009-04-22T09:17:00.001+01:00

What a great video, shared with me by my friend Tamara. We've got to find ways to increase the sustainability of our lifestyles, and encourage our governments to represent us in pressuring big business to do the same. Let's save the world!

The Things We Eat…

2009-04-22T00:24:00.001+01:00

I was recently impressed with a post on my brother-in-law’s blog, inviting his friends and family to join him in supporting Sports Relief by losing 50 pounds, and giving a pound for each of the lbs lost to help those who are in need. I’ve felt for a while that I have a few pounds to lose, and so Richard’s initiative gave me the inspiration I needed to get started with the healthy lifestyle I’ve wanted for ages.

Luckily, just as I was about to get started (and made a pretty rubbish spreadsheet to track my food intake/exercise burn, etc) Helen suggested that I look on the internet for a tool that someone else might have made to help track my foods. A quick Google search, and a few forum recommendations later, I’d found SparkPeople. Now, I know you’re going to click on this link and think it looks like a cheesy dieting website, which I’m sad to say, is at least partly right. The main target audience is obviously not the demographic I fit within. But the primary tools of the website have been really useful as I’ve begun to educate myself about nutrition and healthy living, and there’s a load of interesting articles and recipes there to use… which has helped with my joint-project of learning to cook some healthy foods for myself!

The main tool of the website is a nutrition tracker, where you plug in your regular foods, and you can enter individual components of your meal. The database has all the nutritional information stored in there, so it tots up your calories, as well as your proportion of carbs, proteins and fats. It also can track all manner of other nutrients, which can be quite enlightening… there are so many elements needed to keep your body ticking.

So, 8 days since I started, and I’ve gone from 12 stone 13lbs to 12 stone 8, a drop of 5lbs, and the most in-shape I’ve been since my mission (I went up to 14 stone at one point when Helen was pregnant with Cara). I know the first bit comes off easiest, so I’m moving on from the heavy cardio exercise (running mainly) and calorie counting to working on building muscle. I’ve got myself a pull-up bar (can do 10 so far…), and with the fierce competition of my two free-running brothers, I’m confident I’ll be monkey-strong before the summer is out.

The bottom line: I can’t believe I went so long being so uninformed about what is good and bad for my body. I feel so much better in myself after only a week of eating properly and exercising hard. Who knows what benefits I’ll gain over years?

Richard – I’ll be adding the pounds up for your Plan! Thanks for the inspiration.

Andy's Got the Fish Factor

2008-12-13T21:19:00.001Z

Swimming Together
Originally uploaded by Munzerr

I'm suprised I haven't blogged about this already, but I've been quite interested recently in some new pets that we've been preparing for in our house: a tank of tropical fish! It all started with a goldfish bowl we found in our cupboard when we moved into our rented house here in York; left by the previous occupants. I thought it would be good for us to have some little pet, for Cara to learn about caring for living things. I thought a goldfish might be a good option... and then I did some research on the internet. As it turns out, goldfish are some of the messiest fish you can possibly keep. The least humane way they can possibly be kept is in a goldfish bowl - so, back to the drawing board we went. I managed to find a decent sized tank (2 foot by 1 foot) on ebay for cheap, and we did our research about how to prepare the environment best for the little inhabitants.

A month of daily water tests later, and everything was ready, so on Friday I finally drove down to one of our local fish shops, and bought six of their 'Glass Bloodfin Tetras' that Helen liked when we visited before. Now they're all in the tank, and swimming around happily. They're beautiful to watch, and fascinating to observe in their little behaviours and individual personalities (already showing through)!

Helen and I just finished watching the final of 'The X Factor' 2008. The perfect antidote; what I really needed, was to come downstairs and say hello to our six little Tetras. We're sure glad to have found out how nature has what it takes to balance the cultural contortions of reality TV in the twenty-first century!

Thoughts While Walking

2008-11-18T05:41:00.003Z

A Sunday's Walk
Originally uploaded by Munzerr

I've recently been inspired by my watching the films of the Bavarian film director Werner Herzog, who made such fantastic movies as 'Aguirre, the Wrath of God', 'Fitzcarraldo', 'Rescue Dawn', and (perhaps most famously) 'Grizzly Man'. I like directors who can be described as an 'Auteur', and Herzog is perhaps the strongest of the strong when it comes to personal identity in film. I thoroughly recommend that you go and watch anything/everything that he made.

When I was visiting the British Library reading room in Boston Spa the other week, I had the opportunity to look at a book that he wrote (quite hard to get hold of) in the winter of 1974. The story goes that he received news that his good friend and famous film critic Lotte Eisner was on her death bed in Paris. Herzog felt that her death could not happen at this time, such was her significance to German cinema and himself. He wrote that he would 'walk against death'; that he knew that if he set off walking from Munich, she would be alive when he reached Paris.

His journey was during one of the most bitter winters Europe experienced. Every entry seems to catalogue another day of freezing wind, rain and snow. He broke into holiday homes many nights to shelter when he could. Other nights he slept under a bridge. He wrote in his little notebook about people he met, and the reactions they had towards this sombre looking man, soaked to the bone, on some strange quest.

When he arrived in Paris on December 14, 1974, Eisner was, against all the odds, still alive. Herzog tells that she lived many years more, and later joked with him about the 'spell' he had cast on her, so she could not die. He replied in jest on that occasion, 'I hereby remove the spell'. Two weeks later, she passed away.

I myself was captured by the powerful concept of 'walking against death'. The faith that is encapsulated in this idea is impressive; a confidence in the ability of the efforts of mankind to change the forces of mortality. Walking itself isn't, however, just an arbitrary signal of this faith. There's something about putting one foot in front of the other on the earth that connects us to the foundations of what it means to be human. It connects us to our nomadic forefathers, and separates us from the animals we see around us. We stand on our two feet, and we walk - or do we? How often will we decide to walk somewhere in our own city, compared with taking the car?

I've been trying to change my habits a little since reading Herzog, to try to experience what made him claim that walking will teach a student more than any school or qualification. He said that if he were to open a film school, he would make his students walk (for example) from Madrid to Kiev, and write their thoughts while walking. He said that looking at their notebooks when they arrived, he would know which students had really walked, for they would know the most important things about making films. I suspect that he means some knowledge about ourselves and humanity, that we experience while walking.

As I walk, my mind starts to wander. Thoughts come more freely and easily, and make sometimes surprising connections. It's something like being in a dream. Other times, I get ideas about things I'd like to be doing. Remarkably, these ideas always seem to be more pure and correct than I have at other times. Perhaps the distance from distractions mean that I can sift the truly important from the superfluous? I'm not sure - but I know it's been a truly revelatory experience for me so far, and one that I'm going to make a priority to continue.

The York to John O'Groats Big Bike Ride

2008-08-11T20:56:00.001+01:00

Three Cyclists
Originally uploaded by Munzerr

On Saturday, Dad and my brothers Joe and Ben set off from the family home in York, at the beginning of their epic bike ride that will take them a thousand miles in less than ten days - York to the top of Scotland, and back. I think it was originally Ben's idea, and Dad was always going to be on board. Thirty years ago he did the same ride on his own: a little longer, even; from Hull to John O'Groats and back. Joe signed up to the expedition only a couple of weeks ago, but his thinking is that if Dad can do it, then so can he. Of course, nothing's certain, and Dad and Ben have been in training for a good month in preparation for the trip.

Mum has been driving along with them, meeting up with them every night, having set up the tent for them at a campsite a hundred miles up the road. So far we're at the end of day three, which should see them halfway up the highlands of Scotland. The weather has been atrocious down here in York ever since they set off, so I can only hope things have been better for them, or they've become accustomed to riding up giant hills with rain pounding at their backs for ten hours a day.

Seriously, though, I'm envious of the adventure they're having. It's surely a wonderful thing to all be going such a long way together, and to see the sights of the beautiful North of this island. Good luck to them all, and I'll update you again when they reach 'the summit'!

Stick Together and Stop

2008-06-14T15:34:00.002+01:00

This weekend the news is dominated by worries of a fuel shortage, caused by striking lorry drivers, who have picketed fuels depots here in the UK. Reading the comments after the BBC News articles made by the general public, it seems that people are quite aware that the localised shortages have been caused by the 'media hype' that has counteracted instructions explaining that as long as people only bought what they needed, there would be no shortage.

One comment was particularly insightful, suggesting that we need to stick together as a nation during these hard times, and reject the 'looking out for one's own' focus that causes everyone to panic buy fuel. The paradox of the whole situation, for me, is that as a public we play into the hands of the petrol companies. When petrol prices rise, industrial action threatens with shortages, and we go out and suck the pumps dry of the premium-priced fuel, proving just how much we depend on 'liquid gold'. My suggested solution? Imagine this:

We wake up tomorrow morning, and every one of us decides, individually, that we don't want to be fuel dependent any more. We walk to church as family. We book our necessary train journeys for next week ahead of time, (making the price of train travel competitive with car travel) and we look forward to spending our time in our local communities. For example, rather than driving to the out of town cinema, we invite the next-door neighbors out for a chat and some games. Rather than driving to the mega-supermarket miles away, we walk to the grocers down the road. Rather than driving to work, we cycle. If we need to, we catch a bus.

After doing this for a week, we realise that we didn't need a car so much as we once thought. Sure, there will be some situations where driving is unavoidable: but we are driving much less often. The result? Petrol prices fall... because, after all, what pushes prices up? Demand. So less demand... and we'll spend a lot less on our petrol. As a happy side effect, we also see our health improve as we walk and cycle more. We get to know our neighbors, and want to improve our communities, since we spend more time locally. We begin to see the outdoors as a place to be relished, rather than to be 'rushed through', on the way to some desk, or some TV show.

Just an idea... but perhaps one day, it will catch on.

Macro View

2008-06-10T06:50:00.001+01:00

Here's Looking at Blue
Originally uploaded by Munzerr

Recently I purchased a new lens for my camera; a 100mm Canon macro lens, that allows magnification down to a 1:1 ratio. That means that an object the same size as the camera's sensor (22x15mm) will fill the frame of the shot. Objects like, perhaps, a bee. Or the body of a butterfly... or a very small flower. The bottom line is that this lens allows me to take photos of very small things, and to see things that my eye normally cannot resolve. The effect of this on my photography, and the very way that I see the world, has been immense. Let me explain.

Normally, the role of photography is to set into permanence a visual scene that is transient, for example, a building, landscape, or recent haircut. The qualitative effect of such photographs increases as time goes by, and the ability to see, or remember these 'past' objects recedes. The 'old photograph' brings into the visual realm something that is not ordinarily available: the past. Photography is also able to interpret a scene, aesthetically or symbolically, to bring out meaning in the visual. Clever positioning of a meaningful object can help the audience to 'see' something that they might not when viewing the object originally. The 'framing' of the camera sensor brings something, again, that is not ordinarily available: significance.

In contrast, macro photography does not require the passage of time to assert its value, nor does it need to claim special meanings or messages. The beauty of an extreme close-up photograph is a simple fascination in a world that we ordinarily cannot be a witness to. To view an insect, as if it were the same size as a dog or a cat, makes us feel as if we were meeting aliens. To see the minute detail of the inside of a flower makes us look again at all flowers we see afterwards - the photograph comes as a revelation; a realisation of hidden complexity.

For me, as the photographer, the experience of taking photographs with this lens has been qualitatively of a different order, to my prior experience. Whereas the shutter button was frequently a way to capture; to 'shoot and forget', the macro lens causes me to look more closely. I examine; I hunt... and the resulting experience is nothing less than revelatory. As I explained the strange difference to Helen, I compared different lenses to different tools I use in my Literary Criticism. The wide-angle is the generalisation; useful for inspiring a sense of grandeur, overview and context. The normal lens gives us a conversational voice, like the general tone of discussion in an essay. We are familiar with it, and compare familiar things with it. The macro lens is the close reading; the incisive insight, that will often sit at the heart of an argument. Perhaps we are more likely to believe the 'macro' view... since it is less available to question, we accept its truth. Certainly, the effect is satisfying, and I intend to attempt to look closer and closer, to reveal more and more of the undiscovered world that goes before out eyes, unresolved, every day.

Three Years Ago... in Pictures

2008-05-17T00:20:00.007+01:00

I thought it would be fun to look back at some of my old photographs, of before I started my course. So young! So full of promise! Three years ago... seems like a dream. How could I have known the life-changing moments that would await?

My Last Day

2008-05-16T23:33:00.004+01:00

This morning I woke up with two essays to finish. I read over them; tightened things up, altered words that were out of place, until it was time to print them out, and staple them to the paperwork. Just like that, it was finished.

Next thing I knew, my library books were dropped off, my essays handed in, and I was smiling for a photograph with everyone else on the course. There were people there who I'd never seen at lectures. There were some of our best lecturers, there to wish us well and stand in the photograph. Everyone headed down to the pub, and we picked up a 'Bristol University' hoodie, to somehow represent my time here as a student.

Then we drove home, I sat down on the couch, and fell asleep.

Three years, I've been a student at the University of Bristol. I think it's been possibly the single most defining learning experience of my life. Connected with the other events that have happened during that time, it's certainly been the most eventful - getting to know and marrying Helen; Cara coming to us, and being together in our first home. Serving in the church.

Coming from York before I started this course seems such a distant memory. Soon we'll take the trip back North. Already, I feel nostalgic for my University course. I know I'm going to miss sitting around those tables, kicking back and forth the meaning of words, relationships, and the cosmos. Three years goes by so quickly - and then it's finished.

This evening Helen and I watched 'Hamlet'; Mel Gibson with an English accent, wondering what dreams may come... Life is so short, and as I come to realise this; more sweet. To quote some Shakespeare, (a play of valediction) on this significant day for me -

The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

('The Tempest', Act IV, Scene 1)

As with any period in life, my Undergraduate days now pass into memory, and become enshrined with those other experiences that I hold dear. Souvenirs from those days become connections; reminders, but never contain much of the real substance.

As I type, we pass into a new day. This is the beginning of my life, anew. Every time I pass into a new stage of life; every time I go to sleep and awake again, I begin. My course has ended. Now I begin; a new opportunity to live the life I've dreamed of. Here's to the future! Here's warm gratitude, for the past.

Goodbye, my University of Bristol.

Next Year... to York (Again!)

2008-04-12T22:56:00.001+01:00

Monday - University of York
Originally uploaded by chıcgeeĸ

This week I heard back from the two Universities I applied to for a Master's programme for next academic year (October). Oxford said 'no', but York said 'yes' - the expected result. Still, now I know, it's exciting to consider all the good things connected to living 'up north' again in a few months time. As you can see, the campus for the University of York is lovely, and the English department is one of the best in the country. Of course, we get to be near our family, and lots of friends that I grew up with.

My programme is officially the 'MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture', and will take me 12 months, from October 2008 to September 2009.

Activism

2008-04-12T20:19:00.001+01:00

Banners of Freedom
Originally uploaded by Munzerr

This afternoon Cara and I went down to the middle of Broadmead, Bristol's main shopping area, to join in a rally organised to protest against the displacement of several important parts of Bristol's communities. The rally was particularly focusing on Stokes Croft, an area close to Broadmead that is currently at risk of being sold off to big business, causing the eviction of residents, and the loss of a rich cultural element in the city. I'm particularly opposed to the loss of pubs - despite being a non-drinker, I feel that they play an important part in neighborhoods, acting as a 'community living room' that brings people together. I'm also against the loss of our community Post Offices, green spaces and local shops. If these go, then our cities will become like many American areas, making a car an absolute necessity, and destroying the closeness of our neighborhoods. (I've lived in West Coast USA - and believe me - you can't get anywhere without a car!)

We marched through Bristol on the roads, stopping traffic in the centre for about an hour. I was surprised to see just how supportive the motorists were, smiling and obviously approving of our cause. The march itself was a lot of fun, with music and everyone dancing. Cara did her bit, singing when everyone else cheered. We walked up to a derilict building that had been reclaimed by artists and activists, and turned into a gallery and bar for the weekend. It was great to explore inside, and see everyone having such a good time together. It's what being a community is all about.

I met some new friends, and enjoyed being around people who really care about doing something good for the place they live. I hope the right people noticed us, and we'll be able to reverse the tide of development that threatens to make these colourful, diverse communities a thing of the past.

Local Government: Learning My Responsibility

2008-03-26T00:07:00.003Z

Tonight I went down to the monthly town council meeting, held in a little community centre close to where we live. It's the first time I've gone to the effort to attend this kind of meeting, a fact I felt a little better about once I got there and realised that I was one of only three members of the public present. True, it's not the kind of meeting people go to very often - but all the same, I was really glad I attended. The meeting covered items of business relating to the community, and there was nothing extraordinary about that. I was most interested to see the processes by which a member of the public can get something done, if they have a concern or question to raise. The councillors were clearly very involved with members of their community, and were very welcoming to me. The vice-chairman even gave me a lift home, and suggested I join the local 'Young Conservative' group (he being a Tory). I didn't try to explain my politics to him in the car, but thanked him for the suggestion.

There's still lots of things I have to learn about local government and our political system, more widely. But I was very encouraged this evening. I believe that having people in our communities, working to help each other, is the best way we can work to get things done. On the same subject, we went to see 'Be Kind, Rewind' at the cinema yesterday - a wonderful film, all about building community. If you get the chance, go and see it before it leaves the cinemas.

Threadless!

2008-03-19T20:47:00.005Z

I've known about Threadless for a while now, through my brother-in-law, Steve, who has ordered t-shirts from them before. The concept is that ordinary people submit their images and concepts for t-shirt designs to the site, who then produce the best ones into t-shirts that anyone can order. As a result of this wonderfully creative approach, there are some brilliant and funny designs available.

Helen noticed today that they are having a 'Spring Cleaning' sale at the moment, so the t-shirts are available as cheaply as $9 each. With the good exchange rate at the moment... work it out... that's £4.50, or thereabouts! Brilliant! Add the fact that it's only $13.50 for postage to the UK, and it all adds up to some excellent and cheap t-shirts! Check it out.

I like t-shirts that have an interesting message or trick to them. I figure; if the advertising media can grab our attention all day long with their commercially-driven images and messages, then why can't I, when I've got something worth saying? Communicate! Through a t-shirt!

By the way, here are a couple of the (in my opinion) excellent designs I ordered! :

Singing Together

2008-03-16T18:53:00.001Z

Today I came across this - a concert with Bobby McFerrin, doing his usual cool beatbox and singing thing. In this concert he is singing J.S. Bach. This video is a beautiful moment, where (perhaps as quite an accident) he ends up singing Bach's 'Ave Maria' with not the Brass Band - but the audience at the concert. The result is an amazing piece of synergy and mutual connection. How often does an audience have the opportunity to connect in meaningful ways? Bobby achieves this here - and for me, it stands as a beautiful metaphor of so much of what is best in life. I wish I could have been there!

As a side note, I've recently fallen in love with Bach again. No other composer (or musician, for that fact) has touched me in such significant ways, and at such important times in my life. Anyway - watch the video - and enjoy!

Telling Stories: Jesus' Pet Chicken

2008-03-09T23:31:00.005Z

I've been delighted and excited recently to see that my brother in law Richard Cook has begun a blog to post up some of his creative writings. I've loved what I've seen so far, and I'm excited to see what's yet to come. This ties in pretty well with something I've been thinking about a lot recently: the power of stories. I sincerely believe that there's something built into us that responds to stories. We delight in them; we learn from them, and we love to tell them. There's a reason that we remember information as part of a story better than in any other format. That's surely part of the reason that the ancients taught everything (surely mostly everything!) through story-telling?

Now, I'm not talking about just watching an episode of the 'X-Files' (as I like to do, sometimes). As entertaining as that is, there's part of this process that requires us to verbally tell these stories to each other. It's a personal, verbal connection that can only be counterfeited by television or film. It brings people closer together, and expresses something more true than we communicate from idle conversation, or small talk. It can grow a connection between a father and child, or a room full of adults, still responsive to the power of Story. It's real! So why don't we tell more stories?

Well, here's a story. I've only told it to Helen so far. I read it in an excellent book that I picked up a few years ago when I worked at Waterstones, imported from the USA (at great expense, I might add). The book is called 'Living to Prowl', and it's a collection of delightful, rambling essays by Sam Pickering, announced on the cover as 'The Professor who inspired The Dead Poet's Society' ( - I really hope they forced him to put that on the cover?! ) . The story appears within the book, in a chapter called 'Indolence'. I thought it was an appropriate chapter to read, as I soaked in the bath on a Saturday evening. I'll quote the story to you, as Professor Pickering does in his essay. I think it's funny, touching, surprising, and beautiful.

According to another Macedonian story, Simeon gave the baby Jesus a chicken for a pet. The chicken stayed with Jesus until the Last Supper. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the chicken perched on the animal's haunches and crowed. The chicken laid magical eggs. Biblical scenes decorated the shells: the water of Meribah flowing from the rock struck by Moses, Gideon threshing wheat by the winepress, and Elijah riding the whirlwind to heaven. So long as the eggs depicted ancient history, the chicken roosted well. Near the end of Christ's life, however, illustrations on the shells began to predict the future. After Judas discovered an egg showing him betraying Christ, the chicken's days were numbered.
According to the story, Judas betrayed Christ not because of greed, jealousy, or the unbearable burden of associating with absolute goodness, but because one of his duties was cleaning after the chicken. Judas thought it ignominious that a grown man care for a bird. The night before the Last Supper Judas chopped the chicken's head off. The next morning Judas cooked the chicken and served it to the servants who waited on the disciples. After the servants picked the chicken clean, Judas buried the bones. Overnight the Judas tree sprang from the bones. When Judas committed suicide, he hanged himself from the tree. At Judas's death purple flowers blossomed like feathers on the tree, and Peter said that a perfumed wind blew through the tree, rattling leaves against branches, making a cackling sound.
(Pickering, 'Living to Prowl', p.69)

It's a story about stories, and the importance of not destroying the chicken that produces them. Sometimes I think it's a shame that we don't have more time for telling these wonderful, strange stories. Let's make it! Let's be 'Chickens of Storytelling', both of past and future tales. There's so much we can learn.

Feeling the Earth Tremor, in the UK

2008-02-27T01:37:00.004Z

It's one of the strangest experiences I've ever had. About half an hour ago, I was sitting at the computer desk in our living room, when I felt the chair I was sitting on, moving underneath me. I looked around, and heard creaking sounds in the walls, and through the house. A dull thudding seemed to be coming from beneath me, like someone was banging something heavy, downstairs. Fifteen seconds or so, and it was over.

'Helen!' I said. 'Did you feel that?'

Fifteen minutes later, this article showed up on the BBC news website.

Apparently the earth tremor registered 4.7 on the Richter scale, and had an epicenter 30 miles south of Hull. I feel really privileged to have been awake during this natural phenomenon, and experience what is in the UK a rare occasion of nature showing its massive power.

The last earth tremor in the UK of any size was in 2002. I wonder how long until the next one?

As a further, personal note, I hope my family in York, Hull and Grimsby are all okay. I'm sure they are - I wonder if they were awake to feel the tremor? I keep such late hours!

Free Music! No, but Seriously...

2007-10-10T11:16:00.000+01:00

When I mean 'free', I mean truly free. Not just like, you don't have to pay for it. Radiohead have released their new album, 'In Rainbows' by digital download from their website. The remarkable thing about 'In Rainbows' is that you are free to pay what you like for it - from a penny to ten pounds. I'm listening to the album now (which is excellent, I might add), having been happy to pay for music that I truly enjoy.

I really hope that this turns out to be a huge success for Radiohead. Noone can deny that digital download is the most convenient way to get music, but up until now, this has been marred by Digital Rights Management or threats of illegality of BitTorrent. I'm sure that any fan would be happy to pay for music, if only the bands/record companies/middle men didn't all insist on their respective big cuts.

This is the future. If you like Radiohead, or simply want to be part of what's coming up, then go and get 'In Rainbows'.

The Inexhaustible Gospel

2007-10-03T13:09:00.000+01:00

I read an article today by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, called 'The Inexhaustable Gospel', which had some wonderful things to say about learning in the world today. It's really satisfying for me to be able to read the writings of an Apostle whose knowledge spans areas of my own field. In this article, he quotes questions from T.S. Eliot that speak to many of my own thoughts:

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”

(“Choruses from ‘The Rock’,” The Complete Poems and Plays, New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1930, p. 96.)

Elder Maxwell has a wonderful way of turning descriptive and colourful phrases. There are lots in here. I recommend you read it!

The Ability to 'Know'

2007-10-01T00:20:00.000+01:00

We're up in York at the moment, visiting with my family, and a friend of mine who is back from Thailand for a couple of weeks. It was really good to attend church today with my other good friend James and his girlfriend Sarah, and to hear the testimonies that were borne in the Fast & Testimony meeting. For me, one of the most strengthening things I can hear is the testimony of my Dad, and he said some wonderful things, about his gratitude for being part of an organisation which believes in the ability to 'know' something for sure. As he said, we live in a world where it is considered foolish to believe that we can 'know' anything at all, where there are no absolutes. The claim that we make in the Church of Jesus Christ is that anyone can know the truthfulness of the message we share - even after one or two brief lessons from relatively untrained young men or women. It seems incredibly unlikely - yet I have felt that assurance. It came after lots of years of study and desire to receive it, but it did come. It made it possible for me to serve a mission where I could share the conviction that I had of the absolute truth of my message.

We certainly live in a world where people need to be sure of some more things. They need to be sure that they are created for a reason. They need to be sure that they are loved, and they need to be sure that they are created to love other people, and not for selfish ends. They need to be sure that life will continue after our bodies seem to die, and that life includes a coexistence with those that we care most about here on earth. If everyone was more sure about these things, this world would be a much happier, more energised place.

I have lots of questions about this huge gospel, and I don't doubt that I always will have questions. I don't think it's a problem that I have questions, as long as I remember my basic convictions - I know that God lives. I know that He inspires men on this earth. I know that this church is based on that rock of revelation, and to follow the Gospel is the way to Abundant and Everlasting Life. As for the rest of it, I'll figure it out. I've got time!

A New Look at the London Temple

2007-08-05T22:05:00.001+01:00

Night Lights
Originally uploaded by Munzerr

As I was walking around the grounds of the London Temple recently, I had the opportunity to take some time to try to capture the building from a different angle. So often I find myself taking the same shots of the temple, because I don't take the time to walk around and see the rest of the beautifully-kept grounds. Luckily, it was a beautiful evening, and the photos turned out really well, I think. Find them in this set on Flickr. Let me know what you think. I hope the photos perhaps helps you to appreciate the temple from a different point of view, next time you visit.

Poetry Fix

2007-07-29T00:56:00.000+01:00

Here's a couple of fairly recent ones. I hope you enjoy!

Discovering Moses

Line by line, lifewriting; my life takes place on white pages
Turned printwards. The oldest thoughts firmly expressed in words
New to me, newly found, newly invented in mind
A bright treasure, once buried, then found on white sands
of bright shores.
Where did that person go? Yesterday Person
Who thought this way; wanted those things; battled hard –
Where do those flickers of memory go? And why am I afterwards left all alone
Weighing the consequence of broken old shards?

But cobbling together these words and that memory;
Those once-spoken words, this mind-image, that place:
I find there that yesterday’s person is present
In me. He is Here. My heart; mind; my face.

In my memory, as in ancestry, we feel there’s a distance –
But bubbling below the fogged vastness of time; there’s something beyond this
Something more than verbal. Something controversial?
I’m seeing the essence of what entity is.

It’s found in the corners of pages; the margins of badly-scrawled handwriting.
Found in the edges of written existence. Written in nighttime, late
moments in emotion’s hot bed of half-sense.
Now I write poetry. Try to piece shattered tablets
discover the real, underneath soft,
Old pretence.

* * * * *

Morning

The crackerpots open, but no one is home.
The body rolls, registers the liquidity of crystals, slowly
Eyes, shuttered, close.

Later, eyes open. The mind doesn’t open
The eyes open, laden; exhausted, eyes close.
Later on, the mind flickers - stirs from the coma of dream.

Two times, the eyes open; slowly, eyes close.

The green digits on the bedside alarm clock click circular round.
The green numbers stay the same. Ditto. Eyes close.

Reality hits like a rude kid, road rager, tapping on the car window.
Reality hits again, and the eyes close.

Slowly, slowly, magnetic they close. Reality is knocking again.
Again! It knocks. It bangs on my comfortable door, breaking blows
Making surprisingly loud noises with its redknock, rude knuckles.

Time passes.

And I wake.

Usually I roll over rightwayup, rigid onto my feet.
The eyes battened, in the interests of safety.

I move towards the refrigerator for something cold and wakeful.

* * * * *

Vignettes

2007-06-28T22:26:00.001+01:00

zzzparis-je-t-aime-6
Originally uploaded by ivanovash

A couple of days ago I watched 'Paris Je T'aime', a film made up of 16 vignettes by famous directors and actors, celebrating the French city, and the beauty of love. The film is wonderful to watch, in and of itself. It's great to see so many talents in the same project.

For me, one of the greatest revelations from this film was the power of the 'short story'. I've been studying Raymond Carver, the great American short story writer of the latter half of the last century, in order to write a dissertation on him next year. Paris Je T'aime just confirmed to me what I already felt from Carver's work - the short story is a powerful format.
Descended from a long history of oral storytelling, the short story is fundamentally different from the novel. It aims to tell of the mysterious parts of life - the supernatural. The novel, in comparison, looks at the known mind of the character; the psychology of life. I think people respond very well to the short story/oral tradition format. There's a 'reveal'; a twist... and that moment stays with you.

I'd like to spend more of my writing time working on very short pieces that investigate the mysteries of living. The resonant moments that come at the climax of these vignettes are some of the greatest revelations in fiction.