Category Archives: ramblings

beliefs, current affairs, ramblings

In which I worry about Bishops …

… or more precisely, retired Archbishops.

The BBC reported a few days ago that according to Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, allowing Gay marriage “paves way for polygamy”.

In an article for the think tank Civitas, Lord Carey … argues that the government is effectively seeking to change the definition of marriage to “a long-term commitment between two people of any sex, in which gender and procreation are irrelevant”.

He says he does not want to be “alarmist”, but that could logically be extended to “say, two sisters bringing up children together” or “multiple relationships, such as two women and one man”.

Let’s just leaving aside the fact that this is an absolute load of old baloney — the relationships his Lordship cites have been happening since time immortal, so where’s the problem? But I do worry what school Lord Carey went to when he can clearly think that two women plus one man is two people. Do divines have different arithmetic rules to the rest of us? Or has he actually lost his marbles?

Fortunately others of Lord Carey’s colleagues are more sane:

[T]he Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtham suggested in a letter to the Telegraph that it was time to “rethink” attitudes about same-sex marriage, as Christians had done with slavery and apartheid. “No one now supports either slavery or apartheid. The Biblical texts have not changed; our interpretation has.”

And in a brilliant response to Lord Carey …

Stonewall chief executive Ben Summerskill said: “This is regrettably hyperbolic shroud waving”.

You just have to love someone who can talk about “hyperbolic shroud waving”!

personal, ramblings

Volunteers Week

The week beginning Saturday 1 June is Volunteers Week — an opportunity to celebrate the amazing contribution millions of people make out of their own busy lives each year.

There are many different ways to volunteer from helping out at your child’s school through getting involved with your local hospital’s radio station to doing VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) in your gap year. Whatever your interests, and however little time you can spare, there is a volunteering opportunity near you.


Why volunteer? Well I know from experience that not only is volunteering immensely satisfying in itself, but you can make a real difference to people. Bring some friendship or comfort to someone lonely, help improve the environment, teach children in a third world country (or just here at home). Almost whatever it is there is an opportunity for you in your local community or much further afield.

And as someone who is involved in running two, totally different, voluntary organisation I know that both small local organisations and national charities are always in need for more people to help. And I also know that volunteers really do make a difference.

There’s a lot, lot more information about volunteering, and Volunteers’ Week, over on the Volunteering England website. Find out what there is near you!

ramblings

Approaches to Life

Here’s another that I encountered meandering the interweb. It’s something good to try to live up to.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t.
Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t.
Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.
Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either.
Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

amusements, ramblings

C(r)ock o'China

That was the headline in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph.

It seems that China’s official mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, is erecting a brand new HQ building. And as you’ll see from the photo even the least imaginative couldn’t fail to recognise the resemblance to a massive hard prick.

[Cue: Frankie Howerd]


It appears that this is all too much for the Chinese censors who have been working overtime to try to stop people sniggering to the rest of the world and viewing pictures online. I would really have thought that China should be proud of its erection!

personal, ramblings

Me-meme

My friend Katy has challenged us to to do a personal meme. I take up the challenge as it will make me think about who/what I am. So the questions are:

1. If you could change one thing in your life what would it be?
2. If you could repeat any age which one would it be?
3. What really scares you?
4. If you could be someone else for a day who would you be?

Now this isn’t going to be easy! But let me try …

1. If you could change one thing in your life what would it be?
The trouble is that there are so many things I would like to be different. Would I banish my depression or my excess weight? — both of which are attractive ideas. Or would I plump for £2M in the bank to see me really comfortable for the rest of my days? — equally attractive. Or would I choose to live in a pleasanter environment (though where we are could be a whole lot worse).

Maybe I’ll just plump for having three wishes, then I could have all of the above and more!


2. If you could repeat any age which one would it be?
Oh almost certainly 1972-1976, my post-grad and post-doc years. But only so long as I could do them with the knowledge I have now! They were fun years, and probably my most formative years. I would love to be able to do my doctorate again; I could do it so much better! And similarly with the year I was a post-doc, which I largely buggered up, but which I could do so much better. I could have achieved so much more than I did in those years while still having the fun I did.

3. What really scares you?
Apart from the obvious like dying, being seriously ill and generally becoming decrepit, probably the thing which worries me most (“scare” is maybe a bit OTT) it is running out of money as we get older.

4. If you could be someone else for a day who would you be?
Can I be the Fairy Queen with a magic wand to change both the way the country is run and instill common sense into those who run it? Or maybe I should just be dictator for the day and achieve much the same effect?
But then I’d also like to be a girlie for the day, to know what it really is like from the other side; yes, both the good bits and the bad bits, though this might need more than a day. While I have no great desire to know what periods or brooding a sprog are like I feel I should know. And of course I’d love to know what good sex is like for girlies.

Or then again, in much the same vein as Katy, maybe I could just be me but without the depression, obesity, diabetes, etc. Yes, maybe I’d settle for that.

OK, so I’m not going to nominate people to do this — it’s too hard and too invidious — so if anyone wants to join in either post in the comments or on your blog with a comment to let me know.

food+drink, ramblings, topographical

British Asparagus Festival

The British Asparagus Festival in the Vale of Evesham kicks off on Tuesday 23 April and runs until 21 June.

The official start of the UK’s eight-week asparagus season launches with the Great British Asparagus Run. This celebrates the first-cut round of asparagus with all the pomp and ceremony you’d expect on Saint George’s Day. The Run traditionally begins at the National Trust’s only pub — the Vale of Evesham’s Fleece Inn. Following a morning of festivities, the newly-harvested spears are escorted by a fleet of Morgan Cars to destinations such as Parliament and Buckingham Palace.

Following the Run, Worcestershire goes asparagus crazy throughout May and June. Scores of pubs and restaurants serve asparagus-themed menus whilst shops sell an array of asparagus products ranging from sausages, jam, ice cream and even soap. Visitors to the county can hop on an Asparabus for a tour of the local growers to learn more about the venerated vegetable as well as enjoy cookery demonstrations and tastings.

Find out more on the British Asparagus Festival website at .

As I love asparagus and will only buy British, I might even have to go myself! Let’s hope it isn’t too badly affected by the last year’s awful weather.

medical, ramblings

National Stop Snoring Week

22 to 26 April is National Stop Snoring Week. This is one of the few medical awareness weeks which I am going to mention, because snoring is usually ignored but can actually be life threatening.

National Stop Snoring Week is the annual event, sponsored by the British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association, promoting general awareness that nobody need suffer as a result of snoring: it is a condition that can be treated.


And indeed snoring is a condition which should be treated as it is often a symptom of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, a condition where the airways collapse during sleep preventing breathing. If untreated, sleep apnoea not only destroys restful sleep (and thus quality of life/ability to function) but can lead to heart disease and strokes. Luckily it is easily and successfully treated in 90% of diagnosed cases.

Of course snoring may have other causes and other effects. If nothing else it often disrupts the sleep of family members. And contrary to popular belief snoring is not something which affects only middle-aged and elderly men; anyone can be a snorer.

More information on National Stop Snoring Week at www.britishsnoring.co.uk/national_stop_snoring_week.php.

Transparency: Yes, I suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnoea which is now well controlled.

arts, ramblings, words

National Stationery Week

Monday 22 to Sunday 28 April is National Stationery Week. Yes, that’s “stationery” with an “e” as in “envelope”.

The aim of National Stationery Week is to get people writing. It is a celebration of the written word and all things stationery. The idea is to get more people putting pen to paper and writing by hand more often, especially children. Oh and to get them spelling stationery correctly with an “e”!


Some would have us believe that, in this digital age, letter writing and writing by hand is dead in the water and no longer matters. But in truth technology has merely distracted us from the joy and importance of writing, it hasn’t replaced it — we still have to write note, postcards, posters and exam papers; and many still enjoy writing letters and even novels by hand. Indeed there remains something special about receiving a handwritten letter or card.


There’s a whole website devoted to National Stationery Week at nationalstationeryweek.com including a page which focuses on children and schools.

food+drink, ramblings

Great British Beef Week

Great British Beef Week runs from 21 to 27 April.

Great British Beef Week is an annual celebration of the British Beef industry. Timed to coincide with St George’s Day each year, it is supported both at a local level, with regional events, and nationally with the backing of the nation’s biggest supermarket retailers.

This year, Ladies in Beef is joining forces with the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, a charity which helps farming families in financial difficulty. Its work is funded by public donations, fundraising events and initiatives and support from businesses and community groups.

More information at www.rabi.org.uk and www.ladiesinbeef.org.uk.

food+drink, ramblings

National Bread Week

Where would we be without bread? In one form or another, bread consumed by very many people the world over, so eating it during National Bread Week (16-22 April) is something most of us will do without even thinking about it.


Whilst no-one is absolutely sure when the first bread was made, man has been eating it in some form since 10,000 BC. Certainly the ancient Egyptians were making leavened (raised) bread with yeast by 3000 BC and it is thought that the workers who built the pyramids were paid in bread. Not surprising therefore bread has earned the title “staff of life”. Indeed, for many throughout the ages, bread has been a staple of their diet and so important, that laws concerning bread have existed for hundreds of years.

The purpose of National Bread Week is to celebrate the ‘roll’ that bread plays in our daily diet. The week will help to promote the nutritional benefits of bread and raise awareness of its part in a healthy balanced diet.

Having said that if you want to find more information or events you’ll have to do some searching as there appears to be no central website — which is missing a big trick!