Veteran animator who contributed to every aspect of Disney's output for 42 years
Guardian obituary
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Obituary: Bill Justice (Disney animator)
In praise of … publicly funded British film
What is needed is policy and a body which will support films that can secure European co-funding
Guardian lead article in the regular In praise of … series (includes references to the publicly-funded The King’s Speech).
Obituary: Trevor Bailey (cricketer)
Dogged but highly accomplished, he was one of English cricket's greatest all-rounders
Guardian obituary
In praise of … Sir John Rose (businessperson from Rolls-Royce)
A businessperson who steps down from the helm of a company usually does not deserve the encomiums they receive
Guardian lead article in the regular In praise of … series.
27 at Heart, Why Gen Yers shouldn’t write off their boomer co-workers
“Gender equality and wrinkles aside, what struck me about these two events is the inescapable fact that many of us baby boomers are going to be around in the workplace for a long time yet, through choice or necessity. The fact is that we’re all in this post-crisis world together (OK, bankers aside), and Gen Yers need to get used to the idea of working with a whole lot of people who could be their parents or even grandparents.
Personally, I think working with different groups of people is a lot of fun. But there are some things that Gen Y should understand about us boomers in order for us all to get along, especially as the old hierarchical rules are being rewritten and some Gen Yers will end up managing older colleagues.
I drew up a list of tips and tried it out on people in my boomer network. It clearly touched a nerve. A lot of their responses revealed irritation with certain Gen Y work habits, juxtaposed with a strong desire to connect with, learn from, and help the next generation.”
(A great article from The Conference Board Review)
Who are you calling past it?
The Miriam O'Reilly case exposed ageism at the BBC - but what's it really like for older women working in broadcasting? From Joan Bakewell (77) to Jennie Bond (60), we ask the women who know
Guardian article from February
Images of the pages from the magazine
. . . and an interesting response to the article from The Conference Board Review.
TV: Dragons’ Den: Hilary Devey, New Dragon
As James Caan leaves, Hilary Devey joins when the next series airs later this year.
Turned down for a bank loan in 1995, Hilary chose to sell her house and car to finance her own business. She has since become one of Britain's most inspiring and successful businesswomen
(Hilary’s BBC’s Dragons’ Den profile)
Royal Wedding (William and Kate): Spot yourself in (BBC’s) hi-def crowd picture
A million people lined the streets of London to cheer the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their wedding day. Were you one of them? Explore our high definition image of the procession along The Mall and, by zooming in, see if you can find yourself in the crowd.
(BBC page)
Royal Wedding (William and Kate): The Guardian’s 2 minute version
(The Guardian’s) photographers have captured a variety of today's events in timelapse
Video
Recipes: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's game recipes
Not a great game lover but the Murgh Makhani caught my eye, especially as mention was made of using chicken instead!
Actress: Andrea Riseborough
First saw Andrea Riseborough in the BBC political drama series Party Animals.
Guardian article re frocks
Royal Wedding (William and Kate): Krish Kandiah’s User Guides to the Order of Service and Sermon
Great stuff from Krish Kandiah on the Wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton aimed at those unfamiliar with Christian references, thoughts, teaching etc. Well worth a read by those unfamiliar (and those who are familiar!) with these things.
Guides to the Order of Service and the Bishop of London’s sermon.
Royal Wedding (William and Kate): The T-Mobile Royal Wedding (plus behind scenes and East 17’s House of Love)
Another great T-Mobile offering . . .
Loved the likeness-es of the key players.
And a behind the scenes video:
And the East 17 video for House of Love that is the soundtrack to the video:
Friday, April 29, 2011
Royal Wedding (William and Kate): Bank Holiday
Day off from work.
Isobel had sleepover at a friend’s house who were having a Royal Wedding BBQ. Rachael and Hannah went round to Maria, Jessica and Katy’s for a princess-type day. Meanwhile Isaac and I were at home. I watched the wedding service and a bit of the back to the palace bits. Isaac, despite this being history, wasn’t that interested at all.
Loved the user guides to the wedding order of service and the wedding sermon from Krish Kandiah aimed at people with little or no understanding of the Christian faith.
Also great in the sermon to hear about Catherine of Siena who was quoted as saying:
“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire”.
Song: “Our God”, Chris Tomlin
We sang “Our God” (lyrics) by Chris Tomlin a few times at Spring Harvest, Minehead, Week 3 led by Trent in the Big Top. An instant classic on a first sing.
The lyrics reminded me of the Olympics motto “Faster, Higher, Stronger” so we will have to see if we can use this as the theme song for our new “The Christian Olympics” series at Holme Christian Community Bradford.
Book: The Junior Officers’ Reading Club: Killing Time and Fighting Wars (Patrick Hennessey)
Read about this book a while ago and was really glad when it was picked as a selection for the Cover to Cover Book Club that I go to.
A great read and not just for those into military history, covering leadership development, the reality of war, fighting along side indigenous people, impact of war on those engaged in the fight. Highly recommended.
For the first time in a generation British soldiers are once again fighting at close quarters, coming under sustained and vicious firepower, losing friends in some of the most violent fighting the modern army has endured. Yet the same soldiers also serve on international peacekeeping missions, or counter insurgency. Sometimes they do all three in the same country. The Junior Officers' Reading Club is the story of how one of these soldiers was made, through the testosterone-heavy breeding ground of Sandhurst, into the war-pockmarked, gritty Balkans, out into the nightmare of Iraq and AfghanistanÂ’s Helmand Province, pinned down by the Taliban, living only from moment to moment. Written in spare and lucid prose, it describes with alarming vividness not only the frenetic violence of a soldierÂ’s life, but the periods of stifling and (sometimes) comic boredom, living inside an institution in a state of flux, an Army caught between a world that needs it and a society that no longer understands it.
(Amazon UK)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Recipe: Honey and marmalade-glazed gammon
Cooked this for the family a couple of Saturdays ago to rapturous applause from the crowd. Every so often I get the urge to cook a ham. Usually do a Nigella recipe but found this Hairy Bikers’ one and did that one for a change. Amazing.
Served it with Apple Compôte and new potatoes (and by special request Isobel asked for Nigella’s Spiced Peaches.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
1st BBQ of the Year
Rest of the family still on hols from school. Round to the Egans for the first BBQ of the year – this one was on the front garden to catch the sun. Soon got chilly though as sun went down. Followed swiftly by a quick trip to East Bierley Cricket Club to renew subs for this year.
Watched some of the Real/Barcelona match (Champions Leage 1st Leg) with Isaac and Messi scored 2 goals the 2nd of which was a blinder – Real won 2-0 and tie would appear to be over.
Book/TV: The Crimson Petal And The White
Missed the TV adaptation of the book when it was broadcast recently and had not heard of the book before. Bought it for the Kindle.
Book info:
Although it's billed as "the first great 19th-century novel of the 21st century," The Crimson Petal and the White is anything but Victorian. It's the story of a well-read London prostitute named Sugar, who spends her free hours composing a violent, pornographic screed against men. Michel Faber's dazzling second novel dares to go where George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss and the works of Charles Dickens could not. We learn about the positions and orifices that Sugar and her clients favour, about her lingering skin condition, and about the suspect ingredients of her prophylactic douches. Still, Sugar believes she can make a better life for herself.
. . .
Despite its 800-plus pages, The Crimson Petal and the White turns out to be a quick read, since it is truly impossible to put down. --Regina Marler, Amazon.com
Wikipedia entry
Guardian book review
TV info:
A big fan of Romola Garai!
Observer interview
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Spring Harvest 2011 Minehead Week 3: Summary
Tuesday 19 April
So off to Spring Harvest for my 24th consecutive year, This year having to go to Minehead for the 1st time as no Skegness weeks in the Bradford school holidays.
Went with the family, Grandma Jean and the Egans.
Left at 6am Quite a trek down but a few stops and all quite painless.
Struggled to find a pub near Minehead so had lunch at Pizza Hut on site at Butlins.
Got keys, programme and study guide and found the chalets.
Car parks a long way from the chalet but soon sorted.
Ann was 50 today!
Wednesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday 20/21/22/23 April
Soon got into the swing of typical days with start the day in the Big Top for All Age Worship with Trent, Abby Guinness, Bob Hartman and the Saltmine Theatre Company.
Kids had sessions with Hannah at Whizz Kids, Isobel at Energise with Doug Horley and Isaac at Distinctive.
For the main seminars covering the core content of the week (Route 66, named after the 66 books in the Bible, covering the Bible as Sonnet, Symphony, Screenplay and Streetmap), Rachael and I went to the Watch Zone led by Nick Pollard from the Damaris Trust (who produce the study guides that I use in The Culture Club). Great material.
For the remainder of the mornings, I went to hear Danielle Strickland (Salvation Army, Canada) lead the Creative Bible Readings on Malachi. Had never heard her speak before but had heard the name. Rapidly became a fave Spring Harvest speaker – inspiring, challenging, funny, insightful, prophetic etc etc . Serious stuff.
Afternoons after lunch including (1) swimming twice (great wave machine, with waves all the way round the rapids too), (2) trip to the beach and while the rest stayed in one place, I, Hannah and Dave walked for ages out to the sea (3) fair trip.
Evening meals shared with the Egans at our chalet, their chalet.
Went to the Big Top most nights with one night at a Cafe Church-type event. Preachers in the Big Top were Gerard Kelly, Pete Greig, Pete Broadbent and Danielle Strickland.
Amazingly only bought one book, the new Rob Parsons book “Getting Your Kids Through Church: Without Them Ending Up Hating God”) which is part of a new Care for the Family campaign which is of interest given our current situation at church re the kids work on a Sunday. Main reason for buying so few books this time round was to see how the Kindle goes and to see how many books I would have bought in hard copy are actually available on the Kindle.
Plus only one music CD, Chuffed the new kids album from Doug Horley
Picked up teaching CDs for all of Danielle Strickland’s morning sessions as well as her Big Top preach plus the 2 Gerard Kelly sessions on preaching.
Sunday 24 April
An easier pack up in the morning as Rachael and I had packed most of the stuff in the car the previous night and moved it to nearer the entrance so Grandma Jean had less far to walk after returning the scooter.
Final morning preach from Rob Parsons was great stuff and a call to all of us to keep at it.
Found a great pub on the way home, The Windmill Inn, at West Quantoxhead just out of Minehead. Great value carvery and loads of veg. Great church opposite (St Etheldreda's). Bouncy castle for the kids. A few stops on the way home with me driving all the way as Rachael’s arm really painful and not getting better. Home around 6:30pm.
Monday, April 18, 2011
TV: Modern Family: the dysfunctional domestic sitcom that's officially funnier than 30 Rock and Glee
The family love this series.
US mock doc with more than a nod to The Office and This Is Spinal Tap grabbed a stack of Emmys. But, as season two airs on Sky1, can it really go another 24 episodes without a 'clonker'?
Guardian article
Recipe: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's fennel recipes
The vegetable that's a breath of fresh air amid all the rich, heavy fare of autumn
(Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Chelsea buns: The classic recipe with a fennel seed twist.)
A big fan of fennel and fennel seeds.
Football: Ryan Giggs: Nice guy finishes first
He's Britain's most successful player, but we know nothing about his life. He's worth £24m, but lives within a mile of where he grew up. Is Ryan Giggs the last good man in Premier League football?
Guardian article from October last year
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Church Meeting: Notes
This was a follow-on to the Sunday meeting where we discussed how we want to do/be church in May/June/July. Rachael and I both attended. Some heavy but good discussion (although including some entrenched positions) and a way forward agreed but not the radical changes that I was hoping for.
Restaurant: La Rosa, Thornbury, Bradford
Mum and Dad came to see us and bought us lunch today at La Rosa in Thornbury, It was formerly an Aagrah Indian Restaurant. First time we have been. Food was amazing, Place was empty. Got best seat in the house under the chandelier. Very, very impressed. All had a good time. Highly recommended. We will be back!
Loved this latte (sunrise) at the end of the meal.
All Age Worship: The Christian Olympics #1 The Opening Ceremony
Launched a new series today for Holme Christian Community Bradford’s All Age Worship Events. We decided we would do an Olynpics-related series in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. We are using SE Gregg’s The Christian Olympics book to prompt us for ideas.
Running order:
Introduction and rationale for the series
Song: o God of burning cleansing flame
Olympic torch relay recreated by the All Age Planning team (with Chariots of Fire music soundtrack)
The lighting of the Olympic flame at HCC (it WON’T be staying lit for the duration!
Video of an opening ceremony performance:
Song: Be Happy (Doug Horley)
Palm Sunday: handed out palm crosses
Intro to Craft: making flags
Fave Olympian (Craig’s choice): Seb Coe
Bible Reading Acts 2:1-4
Talk: Birth of the church, drawing the parallel with the Olympic opening ceremony
Songs: Consuming Fire; Spirit of the Living God
Ministry Time: praying for people and lighting coloured candles in the shape and colours of the Olympic Rings (while Delirious’ Fires Burn was played).
Songs: Let It Fly in the sky, Let the Whole World Song (waving palm crosses and flags made in the meeting)
Benediction
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Cover to Cover Book Club: The Junior Officers’ Reading Club: Killing Time and Fighting Wars (Patrick Hennessey)
Enjoyable, wide-ranging discussion at the book club at Vicars Cafe in Saltaire with 4 of us present looking at The Junior Officers’ Reading Club: Killing Time and Fighting Wars. Wide range of opinion on the book with 2 not finishing but the other 2 including me encouraging them to persevere. Lots of topics discussed about the book and more broadly (see Jane’s comment).
It was my turn to supply a list of books for the groups to select the next book from:
- “Freedom: A Novel”, Jonathan Franzen
- “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life”, Donald Miller
- “A Game of Thrones”, George R.R. Martin
- “Flash Forward”, Robert J Sawyer
- “Going Rogue: An American Life” Sarah Palin
- “The Republic”, Plato
The group chose “Freedom”.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Life Group: Social
Social meeting of the group at Joly and Tracey’s as we welcomed a group of people from the States who are part of the Fire and Fragrance programme with YWAM in Philadelphia. Lynsey, Jon, Ben and I were also present. Great food as ever including lasagne.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Homes: Remote control (on Skye)
We all fancy a bit of wind-lashed isolation sometimes, but could you go as far as this? Caroline Ednie meets the family who did
Guardian article
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Culture Club: Funny People (film)
Led the latest Culture Club meeting, the fourth one of the year, when we watched the film “Funny People”. Not a great film, too much swearing and sex references but did trigger some good discussion. Attended by Ben, Mark, Eryl and Billy.
Meeting details here.
Church: Meeting Notes (Discussion)
This was a special Sunday gathering at Holme Christian Community Bradford where we discussed in groups how we should do and be church in May, June and July using the following discussion starter questions:
- First tell a story about a good situation of church
- What should our main gathering look like?
- How should we develop the children and young people in our fellowship within the main gathering?
- How should we encourage each other to grow in their faith?
- How should we connect church with the Care Centre?
Grandma Jean was with us at church today and was good to have her views on these questions and what was being said in the group.
After the meeting we had a joint churches lunch at East Bierley Cricket Club with Wyke. Very relaxing meal again.
Friday, April 08, 2011
Ale and hearty: pub walking in Northumberland
A new walking route in spectacular, if chilly, Northumberland, takes in no fewer than 48 pubs
Guardian travel article
The Inn Way (tourist board site)
The Inn Way book site
Book: Guardian Style
Guardian Style will help you distinguish between the so-called rules of grammar that are an aid to good writing and those that you can cheerfully ignore. It is also a mine of information about everything from spelling to punctuation, from commonly misused words to foreign terms and expressions. If you're not sure what the difference is between principle and principal, if you have ever been puzzled by the rules governing the use of that and which, or if you are unsure as to whether brackets and parentheses are the same thing, then this superbly straightforward and straight-talking reference guide is for you.
(Guardian bookshop)
TV: Game of Thrones
Thursday, April 07, 2011
In praise of ... wasting time
Despite what MPs say, the principle of time wasting should be recognised and appreciated as the luxury it is
Guardian lead article in the regular In praise of … series. This one on electronic voting in the House of Commons.
Barry and Pugin (includes slideshow): architects of the Palace of Westminster
Croatia: A Bond girl's guide
“I was a Bond girl, but this was the most Bond moment of my life.” Actor Gemma Arterton heads to Croatia
Guardian article
Unthinkable? Historically accurate films
Film-makers owe it to their audience to be careful with the past
Guardian lead article in the regular Unthinkable series
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
49 today
Another year gone . ..
Great family birthday Indian banquet meal at home. Super way to end what earlier had just been another working day.
Also now the owner of some Paul Smith “Optimistic” eau de toilette:
I was also to later buy a Kindle with a combination of birthday gift money and Amazon vouchers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
