off on retreat

I am off on retreat in a few hours so I am busy packing. It is lovely sunny day but the forecast is not good so I am pondering which season to pack for?!

It has already been quite a busy day: I have been in my office doing some admin that can't wait till Monday and just been to vote. I also have some shopping to do so I little trip to ASDA's is required and I need a spot of lunch.

So, the next time I write will be back on the Ellen Loudon blog because my diaconate year will be over and I will be a priest! I will, of course, be changing the Ellen Loudon tagline and will be making some changes to the format...but I am not sure exactly when that will happen.

Thanks for all your support and prayers this year...it hasn't been the most straightforward of years but it has been far from dull. Loads of love...Ellen. xxx

mary poppins - Expialidocious

This was twittered to me today...and it is a lovely distraction for a hot summer's day

what a week this is going to be!

So here I am starting my last week before I become a priest (do I really mean 'become' - like I will change into someone new on Sunday? I am not sure? But, I am not sure how else to refer to my 'change'...any ideas do let me know!). Anyway, I am ordained priest on Sunday so this week is a going to be a bit busy. I am in the parish until Thursday lunchtime then off on retreat at teatime until Sunday.

I have a long long list of bits and bobs that need sorting before Sunday though you'll be pleased to know most of them are very superficial and none are theological - they mainly involve cleaning, changing the sheets on the bed, visiting people in hospital and in the sheltered accommodation, going to the hairdresser, meeting Henry for various things, buying black clothes dye to revive my clergy blacks and there is a slim chance that I may go to see Girls Aloud tomorrow night (if my attempt at gegging into the Echo Area pull itself off - though to be honest it is not looking good - but I live in hope).

I have written a brief post for re:jesus about the appearance of Jesus' face in a marmite jar which you may enjoy.

Hope you have a good week.

nasty cough

Sorry to not be blogging this week. The usual excuses...but a few new ones: I had a rather stressful preaching assignment for Thursday for Ascension day - an ecumenical service with Eucharist. I felt under a great deal of pressure to develop some ideas about Christ and the founding of the church - which I think I managed to pull off in the end - but it was touch and go until really the last minute.

Added to this stress I have had a nasty cough for a few weeks and I was starting to get really very tired of all the cough cough coughing. Eventually one of my parishioners suggested going to the local chemist and ask for the pharmacist's special cough medicine - called Black Magic (see above)! Well, I can tell you it has worked a treat...you feel absolutely no pain whatsoever and the cough submits very quickly to the black magic potion (if you click on the image above it gets big enough to see the ingredients of the potion - then you'll know why it is so effective).

Mark and Eva are both away for a few days (Eva in Colomendy of a school trip and Mark up Ben Nevis)...so I am home alone - which is lovely. Off to the supermarket now and then I shall potter about the house, eat cake and prepare myself for an evening of rubbish TV with nobody to fight over the control with (I have 3 episodes of primeval to catch up on).

eurovision

Last night saw a (sort of) return to form for the UK at the Moscow Eurovision...Jane and 'the lord' ALW did very well to achieve 5th place. The winner was Norway...see below:


It sounded great last night but today I am already starting to feel a bit irritated by it...but that's the power of the earworm!

Anyway, I had a great evening twittering away during the event and enjoying each offering as it came to us live. Elise and I had plenty to say throughout and couldn't believe it when the last song ended - it seemed to all pass off very quickly.

I hope Philly J had a great time last night in Moscow. I can't wait to hear about what the live interval act was like in the flesh in the stadium. IT must have been fantastic because it looked pretty amazing on the TV. If you missed it here it is again:

The bells the bells

I had some time off today so went off to Liverpool Anglican Cathedral to hear the bellringers chime out John Lennon's Imagine. It seems an unlikely secular hymn for the Cathedral to choose to launch it's initiative to encourage young people to think creatively. Hailed as "A premiere recital and reinterpretation of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ using the bells of Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral and produced by artist Cleo Evans in collaboration with local change ringers." The event was part of FUTURESONIC (URBANFEST OF ART, MUSIC & IDEAS).

It was actually quite a moving experience and I noticed that a few people were drying away tears. A song of hope but also a song of despair...hearing it being peeled out by the bells and then sung inside the cathedral by children who weren't even born when John Lennon died was strangely haunting.

The event has been 'blessed' by Yoko Ono who wrote to the cathedral:
"The sound of your bells will travel around the world and remind people of John Lennon and his belief that there is an urgent need for world peace… like the church bell in the town, which used to ring as the warning to people about impending disasters like flood and fire!

Thank you for thinking of a very important way of bringing change to the consciousness of the world."

stephen fry's audioboo

becoming slightly obsessed with guessing the QI words...can't work this one out at all!? It begins with G...

Jesus and Martin Luther King

You may well know that I have been blogging for re:jesus for a while. Well, I have been writing a series of conversations between Jesus and famous people. My latest is with Martin Luther King and can be found here...

burials at sea

A modern take on a watery classic.

finding fab faces

Date; Saturday May 2nd 2009

Venue St. Lukes Church & District
AKA The Bombed Out Church

Mission to capture your face, yes, yours...get in to town any time after 01:00pm and meet the fabcollective at St. Lukes. Get your portrait taken for free and then you will be given a card with website details, be a part of our launch event and we'll make you famous...well on the internet at least.

The results...

6 degrees of kevin bacon

I always knew it was true!

punk photographer captures the easter story

We are working on the (post)Easter story in our house groups - these pictures capture the story.

World-renowned photographer Dennis Morris is best known for his iconic 70s images of the Sex Pistols and Bob Marley, so his latest project – for which he has teamed up with the diocese of London – is something of a departure. Working with young people from St Stephen’s and St Mary’s churches in Islington, north London, the photographer has produced a series of shots that mark six key events in the Easter story and which will form part of a teaching resources pack. Morris, who discovered photography as a nine-year-old choirboy in east London, hopes that the images will ‘provoke thought and generate discussion around the significance of Easter’

happy chickens

mini pinch

Eva, mark and I play this game when we are out and about...in the car or walking. If you see a mini you shout "mini-pinch" if you see a yellow car you shout "yellow car". There aren't any prizes and no one is keeping score. It is just the catching them first and shouting loudest that's the fun. Picture the glee at seeing a yellow mini!

Anyway, it seems like everymanandhisdog has got a mini or a yellow car at the moment so you have to be prepared for a lot of shouting whenever we are out.

Well, recently I've started having nicer dreams (having had a few months of rather restless nights) and last night was a lovely night of dreams...all peaceful and calm. Until, I saw a mini...in my dream I saw a mini...and then I shouted "mini pinch" and woke myself up. I was very confused...at first I thought I have fallen asleep at the wheel. But, I was all tucked up and safe.

Ahhhhh.

the week ahead

I have been caught up in activities outside the parish for quite a while now but after Easter I can return to 'normal'. Next week I am marking my return with a week at St Deiniol's to do some work on my PhD. I was fortunate to win a scholarship to spend a week there studying and plan to use this time to complete my second draft of my thesis and chill out a bit. I am rather hoping that there will be some spring days so I can explore the gardens and make a visit to Gladstone's house.

I have made an Easter Sunday posting to the re:jesus blog...Happy Easter!

Good Friday

Sorry not to post here - but I have made a Good Friday contribution to re:jesus...

"No Respect" (Youth Culture) - Laura Walsh

Dream - Guerrilla Worship - Liverpool Flash Mob

the London to New York Tunnel

Is it art?
Is it a tunnel between New York and London?
Is it smoke and mirrors?

Take a look at this link and see what you think!

marching in the rain

I haven't been able to make it to London today but it is great to see so many people marching through London demanding action on poverty, climate change and jobs, ahead of next week's G20 summit. There is some good coverage of the event on the BBC website...including some great photos.

We have had a good day resting, gardening and light shopping at the farmers market on Lark Lane. I am feeling particularly tired and in need of rubbish TV and nibbles. Mark and I had a great evening out last night (which is why I am a bit tired today - not used to late nights and spicy food) with some of the people I was ordained with last June. It was lovely to relax and talk about some oft he adventures we have been having. Mine has been a strange year - with a mix of commitments inside and outside of the parish - not exactly what I had expected from my diaconate year. But, I am looking forward to a more normal parish life after Easter. I am struggling to get my head round being ordained priest in June...but that is still a while off so perhaps it will fall into place before then.

Right, I am off to read a bit of my book and doze on the sofa.