Response to 'Christian teen camps are wicked, innit'

I've just read an article on the Guardian website written by a guy named, Thomas Prosser.  I did wonder when reading it whether he had some form of biased, already formed, opinion on the subject of religion...and he does. Clicking on his name, his description is, 'Dr. Thomas Prosser is a lecturer in sociology at Trinity College, Dublin. He has spoken at the World Atheist Convention on the subject of children and religion.'  There lies what I had assumed.  Just a quick jibe, but a convention which has "World" in the title would suggest something of a massive attendance... the venue they hosted it at can cater between 10-400 people.  A conference which is for the UK, for UK Christians, for UK Christian students, for UK Christian students in a leadership role (specifically) sees an attendance of around 1000.  Just saying.

Anyway, onto the article he wrote.  And let me just say, I have not just come back from a conference so the buzz of being away is not present, but it just so happens that I'm in a reflective mood.  I shall continue. The article is very generalised, first and foremost.  I didn't read anything about people he had interviewed (if he interviewed any?), and instead he seems to have attended (or perhaps just been told about) the conference, Soul Survivor.  He mentions the three chord songs, fair dos, Christian songs usually contain three chords, but famous atheist John Lennon in the majority of his songs used three chords.  Using comments in a derogatory fashion when it applies to both sides is just an easy way to divert attention from their own flawed theory to try and make a dent in a growing faith.  It may gain a few smirks from other atheists, but those few smirks won't really gain you anything of significance.

I have not been to Soul Survivor myself, but I have been to Christian conferences.  Yes, sometimes the music, the atmosphere, and the emotion are incredible and give you an amazing buzz, but who's to say that you've lost your mind?  Perhaps, you have pent up emotion and you're in an atmosphere that is so open and honest that you can show your emotion.  You haven't lost your mind, but you're expressing what's on your mind.

I've never been to a conference where altar calls and contracts have been used.  I think the author did a fairly bad job in researching 'teen camps' as there are loads more to speak of.  Altar calls, in my opinion, would pressurise people.  I've been to a places where if you would like to give your heart to Christ, just go and see the speaker after the session has finished.  It's a personal commitment.  I wouldn't be comfortable beginning that close, personal, walk with God, with a thousand people behind me.  It's not for me.  The author says that the youth accept an altar call, or sign a contract or whatever...but these are not legally binding documents.  Once the buzz dies down (which it does - you go home, you get stuck into your lives, etc), that person can very easily just say "It's not for me".  They aren't cast out, or imprisoned, or killed.  They are given an opportunity which they can accept or reject.  It's up to them.

The author writes, 'young people have a right to choose their religious beliefs without being subjected to strategies that emotionally exploit them.'  Of course they do.  However, I'm sure the author would like to back up his statement and interview a few people who attended and ask them whether they felt emotionally exploited, or whether they felt a true, genuine feeling of hope.

However, once the buzz dies down, and that person reflects on the conference they've attended, reflects on what they've heard, reflects on their lives, and they go back to school or college, and they think "This is for me".  They then continue their lives as a Christian, with faith in Jesus dying for their sins and restoring their relationship with God.  It's always a personal relationship with God.  No contract will take away or add to that.  If it were me, I'd take away the use of the contract, but I'd have a form saying 'If you'd like to keep in contact, write your email'.  It's a personal commitment, but we have other Christians around us to encourage and support us.

Finally, just to end.  The author has gone out of his way to show this conference as some sort of cult with words like 'threaten', 'initiate' and 'practices'.  I'm a Christian, and if a conference was sold like this, I wouldn't go.  Youngsters are threatened with divine judgment.  They are initiated into the world of charismatic Christian practices, apparently.   Please let me unpack his attempts of describing the Christian faith.

God created a perfect world.  Absolutely perfect.  There was no death, there was no pain, there were no tears.  Everything was beautiful and perfect.  He created humans too, and gave us free will to look after the world and to be in a perfect relationship with the God who created us, and everything else.  However, Adam and Eve took for granted that free will, and wanted to be God, thus rejecting their Creator.  They live their lives for themselves, and rebel against God day by day, and we continue to live in this world where politician upon politician think they can make the world perfect, and they fail.  God cares about humanity, and God cares about what choice we've made seriously, and calls us to account for our actions.  God pulls away from us, giving us what we want which is a life where we are in charge.  But, as God is perfect, the source of life, and where everything good comes from, God gives us what we want and pulls away, meaning that death and Hell remain.  The author of the article says that youngsters are threatened, no, they are warned of the situation which humans asked for.

However, God loves us.  He loves his Creation, and he loves each and every one of us.  Instead of sitting back and allowing humanity to suffer the consequences of their own actions.  God, in his great mercy, sent his divine son Jesus into the world to become a man.  To walk the very same earth we stand on today.  Jesus didn't rebel against God, he led a perfect life.  Jesus was God in human form, therefore, the only person who could be our substitute.  God sent himself, in human form, to pay for the rebellion and rejection we had done to him.  This was a perfect payment for us, so we no longer face our own fate of Hell.  Jesus' death and resurrection offer us new life, now and forever.  We don't have to be rebels any longer, as God wants us to accept his amazing gift, and call us friends.  We are completely pardoned.  We can either choose to accept God's gift of rescue, or we can choose to continue towards a life, and death, without God.

Remember the author said youngsters were threatened?  We aren't threatened with anything.  We're either given a way out, or to continue on the path we've chosen for ourselves.  It's a bit rude of us to want to continue our lives for ourselves, rejecting God's gift that is right there for us, and yet complain that there is a Hell and it's God's fault we're going there.  No.  We rejected God, and God pulled away as we wanted, leaving a Godless death (Hell) for us.  He loves us, and paid the sacrifice for us, and gave Himself in human form, so we could have a restored relationship with him so we don't have to have a Godless death.  This is amazing news.  We've been given a second chance!  This is why at conferences if you see people with raised hands, maybe crying, it's because we've been given a chance of rescue.  We don't have to face Hell, as God has rescued us.  Youngsters aren't initiated into anything... I've never had an initiation where I've had to raise my hands, clap three times, spin around, or whatever you do at initiations.  You get emotional because you remember just how great a gift we have been given, we've done nothing to deserve it, and yet God gave everything so we could have everything.

Mr Prosser, you may think that you have discovered some amazing insight into these teenage camps, but you've tainted what you've heard and been told with your own opinions and made it into something it isn't.  I would like to challenge Mr Prosser to interview some people that went to Soul Survivor and see what they feel about the conference, and whether his claims would stand true, or whether he'd discover there's more to the conference than three chords and going to bed before midnight.

Pantomimes - I'll marry the Princess Tamara...today!

You know what's coming when you see the first advertisement for 'Cinderella', or 'Peter Pan', or 'Jack and the Beanstalk', or 'Sleeping Beauty', or 'Snow White' with a brightly coloured background, and a vaguely recognisable face smiling at you.  It's Panto Season.

Deep down.  Deep deep deep deep down. I have a love for the eccentric advertisements and the popular way of providing Z-list celebrities with some spending money for Christmas.  But on the surface, I just love the horrific cultural references to whatever has been on in the news mixed with timeless classics such as naming the female love interest Tamara, just so the joke... "I'm going to marry the Princess Tamara" - "What you're marrying the Princess tomorra? That's awfully soon" - and then at the end, 'I'm going to marry the Princess Tamara...today!"  It's horrible, but yet, it's all part of a panto.  It's a little like a Christmas cracker...the bad jokes are all part of the fun...with a decent joke, crackers wouldn't be that fun or as stimulating.

I've been to a fair few pantos in my day.  My mum's birthday falls just before Christmas, and she loves pantos, so every year my family would take to a theatre to watch one.  I enjoyed the theatrics, the story, the 'He's behind you!' elements of the panto when I was younger.  I enjoy pantos now for the adult jokes (not X rated jokes, but jokes to entertain the parents), the celebrities, and the pure silliness of seeing people in a panto.

If you haven't been to a panto, go.  If you have, you may feel a hatred against them, or you may love them.  But, I think it's an experience we should all have in our memory.  So, go if you can...and if not, there's always next year....just look out for the brightly coloured adverts around the middle of November/early December time.

My Cycling Story.

My parents ensured that each of their children would be able to ride a bike.  In order to do this, they followed these guidelines...

a. Buy a bike that the child likes and will enjoy to ride.
b. Buy and attach stabilisers.
c. Take child to grassy field nearby on a regular basis.

With stabilisers, you don't fall off.  You feel like you've achieved this mighty accomplishment...possibly a feeling greater than whoever invented the wheel or fire felt.

Without stabilisers, you fall off...to begin with.  We were going on a Sunday afternoon stroll, and whilst on 'The Cut' (and old railway line) my stabilisers fell off.  It was on rocky terrain...my wheels didn't stand a chance.  My dad encouraged me to pick my bike up, and that grown ups don't use stabilisers.  We went to a nearby grassy field (see guideline 3), and it had a small grassy mound which we walked up.  I got on my bike, my dad pushed me down, and at the bottom I fell off.  Gutted.  We tried a number of occasions, but after feeling like a failure...I decided I didn't want to ride a bike.  Who needs it anyway.  My dad (taking the second part of the third guideline into account) got us back on the bike, and eventually I started riding a bike for myself.

Who knew it would be the start of such a rollercoaster of a relationship?

When I was around 7/8, I was cycling down my street with my other friends.  I didn't notice that a particularly large stone was sat in the middle of the road (a car would have been ok to drive over it, but my bike...no).  My bike struck the stone, and stopped...as I continued to fly over the handlebars.  I went head first into the concrete followed by the rest of me.  Not exactly sure what happened after that.  I woke up (I assume I got knocked out from my little detour to the tarmac.) to see a paramedic shining a light in my eye and talking about her chicken called Lucky.  Again, I can only remember bits and pieces, but I had a toy dalmatian at the time which I had named Lucky...perhaps this was the reason for her ice breaker.  I woke up again (probably just fell asleep at this point) to a big bearded doctor shining a light in my eyes and asking me how many fingers he was holding up....think I got a couple wrong, but he kept moving his hand...I blame that.  Anyway, I ended up with concussion, a graze on my forehead and had to have my arm in a sling (not sure why now as it wasn't broken or anything).  The docs said had I not been wearing my helmet, my injuries would have been a lot worse.  Since then, I've always worn my helmet.

A couple of years later, quite close to the same place as the previous accident spot, I tried to cycle up onto the lowered part of the curb...however, I was attempting to do it sideways.  Somehow, I ended up on the floor and the ambulance arrived as I may have been knocked out again...I tend to hit my head I figure.  And, this is when I realised my bike and I would never have a good future.  I grew taller and needed a new bike...so said goodbye to my blue BMX and got a brand new red bike - unfortunately, it's not the bike that causes the accidents, it's me...I discovered.

I was up in the Lake District doing some mountain biking with my youth club and after a long cycle up, it was time to come down.  I should have known at this point that pedalling when going down accelerates you at an immense speed.  I should have seen the loose stones on the floor.  I should have seen the sheep poo mixed with some form of fluid on the ground.  I should have seen the people at the bottom.  I had to slow down...I couldn't work out how.  When I tried to brake, the stones were preventing me from slowing down slowly...and as I tried to slow down,  the poo/liquid cocktail splashed up in my face...as I was nearing the crowd of ramblers, I knew I had to stop so prepared myself to jump off and started to tilt...but suddenly, another one of the girls on the trip cycled up behind me (she had the same problem), hit the side of my bike causing my bike to stop somehow (no idea how), but I looked behind me and found her on the floor with her jeans ripped.  Thankfully, that's all that happened - it could have been a lot worse.

Most recently, however, was on my daily cycle ride to work.  My laces got caught in the gear chain, and as my laces were double knotted, the lace did not untie as the chain turned, so my lace was being pulled closer and closer to the chain causing my right foot to become, pretty much, void.  I thought I had to tilt to my free foot on the left side, but by then it was too late...I was able to slow down enough so I would just fall...instead of a moving fall (I know how to prevent injuries now).  My left leg hit the pedal (which left a bruise), and I had slight marks and bruises on my right arm where I fell - thankfully again, I landed on the grassy/rocky side of the path...had it been my left foot, it would have been rocky.  I untied my lace from the chain, and continued on my journey.  When I arrived at work, I was somewhat shaken as it had completely jolted my system.

If you need any last minute advice when preparing for a bike fall...gimme a quick text, and I'll let you know how best to complete it without injury.

US Road Trip

This has been one of my dreams for years...to fly to New York (and spend a week there checking out the sites etc), then hire a car and drive to California.

So are you going to go in a straight line there?

No way.  If this trip happens, I would like to go to visit many places in the south including going down to Miami (right at the bottom of Florida), Georgia (to see the famous lake from Sweet Home Alabama), Nashville (home of country music), Amarillo, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, then spend a few days/week in California doing all the touristy things over there.

Is this actually going to happen?

I've even bought a Michelin map of the US, usually this is a sign of pro-activity for me.  I've checked out car rental companies, and found rentals to be quite good price wise! And the cost of petrol (or gaaaas, over there) is also a lot cheaper than it is in England.

Who are you going with?

At the moment, it's just me.  However, it would be a lot cheaper, more fun, less tiring...if someone came with. My mum wouldn't mind coming, however, as she's married to my dad, it would be wrong to leave without him.  And I *really* don't want to do my dream road trip...with my parents.  Therefore, if anyone would like to re-enact Thelma and Louise with me (without the dramatic ending - I hope to make it back to England afterwards), let me know.

What are the requirements for this trip?

You've got to be fun.  You've got to have a driving licence...I'm not wanting to drive the entire way, therefore sharing the driving would be delightful.  You've got to want to be a tourist some days, and then be ok to see sights quickly (as it is a road trip...destinations in the middle won't have much viewing time), take a smiling picture, then leave...maybe buy an ice cream and souvenirs, or if it's a beach, hang out there.

Anything else?

Have some great driving music.

Final thought?

This is going to be my trip of a lifetime...and if I can save enough, I would love to do this trip either next summer or the following one.  I need this trip to happen soon, otherwise it'll never happen.  It's going to be epic.

Most Cringeworthy Non-Christian Argument Ever,,,

I'm just watching some standups at The Comedy Store on TV, and a comedian came on...he's Scottish, I've seen him before, and I can't remember his name.

Anyway, he came on and told us that he attended a Christian conference in Hyde Park. There was a stall set up saying 'Free Toastie for all of God's children'. This guy goes up and asks for a toastie, and is asked whether he is a Christian. The comedian replies, 'If I'm not, does that mean I don't get a toastie? Cos that's not very Christian.'

Grrr! That last comment is a comment that really gets on my nerves. It's often used, in my experience, by non-Christians wanting to get a cheap laugh around others. I've never heard it said to me in a one on one conversation, unless there is someone in earshot...but otherwise I haven't. In this case, we don't know if the guy at the stall would have given this guy a toastie or not...it would be nice to think that the event would have been a great evangelistic opportunity...then, he says that before the Christian guy can make an informed decision. And in that moment, instead of thinking evangelism, he was thinking, I've got to appear to be a good Christian in front of this non-Christian.

You could say that to any Christian, and they would be right - Christians are not able to stop sinning once they accept Jesus into their lives...but with the Holy Spirit's help, we try to glorify God through our every action because we love Him. It's a cheap blow to say to a Christian, "that's not very Christian" because that just enhances our struggle as then we are accepting their judgment of us, and feeling guilty for the thing we've done, or haven't done. When actually, we should only care about one opinion. God's opinion. We should be seeking to please Him, not people.

MTV Movie Awards 2011

Last night, I saw on twitter that the MTV Movie Awards were top trending. That reminded me of my post from last year (cast back through my posts to see it), at the time I was very bored as I was jobless and bored. Now this year, I missed the main event but I do have a job! And I have just looked at the results - and I am not surprised. I would have been surprised had the actual best nominees won, but there you go...if you're a Twilight fan, of course you would vote for Twilight, even if it wasn't the best film out of the options.

Best Film apparently was Twilight: Eclipse. I would have said Inception....with The Social Network coming in at a close second. I have seen all five nominees for this category, and for the sake of this blog, The Black Swan and Harry Potter 7A were the other nominees. In terms of acting, script and CGI - Inception wins as it has all three. Eclipse has pretty good CGI, but acting wise, Kristen Stewart is a try hard and doesn't quite hit the nail on the head, and the script, I'm not too fussed - it's a weird story. The Social Network has brilliant CGI, scriptwork and acting - but the CGI in comparison to Inception? There's no contest. Harry Potter 7 - acting was bad as usual (apart from some great older ones), CGI is pretty good compared to HP2 (the last one I watched), and scripting with the bad acting, it didn't work for me. Inception should have won.

Best Male Performance....you have three guesses. No, two. Scrap that...it was Robert Pattinson - you didn't need two guesses as it was that obvious. Clearly more people are on Team Edward than Team Jacob as R-Patz beat Taylor Lautner to this award. I would have opted for Jesse Eisenberg personally. The other nominees for best actor were Daniel Radcliffe (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA - this must have been a joke - good one MTV), and Zac Efron. Definitely Jesse Eisenberg. When it says Best Male Performance, it's difficult to compare the others with Jesse Eisenberg as their acting styles were completely different in each film....or maybe Eisenberg was just leagues better. No idea. That was my personal view - and again, for the record, I have seen all five performances.

Best Female Performance. Eurgh. None. Kristen Stewart won....come on. MTV needs to show it has some credibility. Other performances were from Jennifer Aniston, Emma Watson, Natalie Portman and Emma Stone. I have seen all but Jennifer Aniston's...but from every other film with her in - I can safely say, no. Natalie Portman won the Academy Award for Best Actress, not that she should have as according to recent allegations, she only performed about 5% of the dancing in the film - and the film was weird and very uncomfortable watching. Emma Stone in Easy A was an alright performance, but from the whole year? Seriously? Are these the only performances MTV can come up with? Ellen Page should have been in there...and even Angelina Jolie in Salt - not a big film, but she always provides brilliance. So the winner of this? The non-nominee Ellen Page.

Best Breakout Star - I've seen two out of six. I can't really comment on this one.

Best Comedic Performance - Emma Stone in Easy A. I've only seen one out of five. She was alright, but I wouldn't say she's the best at making jokes work. Some females can carry a joke, some can't. Emma Stone has moments, but she isn't a natural. I'd opt for Zach Galifianakis - as in the moments of The Hangover that I enjoyed, he was there. That is all I can say.

Best Line from a Movie - "I want to get chocolate wasted". Just watched the scene on youtube. Delivered by a child...no thanks, I'm not a huge fan of Adam Sandler, his films, or quotes from his films. Easy A was nominated with "There is a higher power that will judge you for your indecency." "Tom Cruise?"' - this quote just annoyed me. The trailer ends with this quote, and I didn't find it that funny - it had potential to be funny, but Tom Cruise? Sank like a lead balloon on me. And the way she delivered it, just wasn't that great. Tom Hardy's quote from Inception was 'You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling." - Inception is brilliant, and this quote was brilliant, but there is a better quote on the nomination list. Delivered by Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network, "If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook." Screenwriting at its BEST. Seriously. Brilliant. And Justin Timberlake's quote is alright, but not a brilliant quote from The Social Network - just another quote. Winner should have been Jesse Eisenberg's quote.

Best Villain? I've seen two of five. I can't make a judgment, but I can say that in the absence of any Twilight villains, Tom Felton jumped in as the token Harry Potter villain. And all the fans of Twilight/HP jump from one boat to the other, regardless of whether he was the best. I can't think of any other villains, apart from bad guy, Liev Schreiber in Salt. He was really good. But after looking through the nominees, I would be interested in seeing Christoph Waltz' performance in The Green Hornet as he was remarkable in Inglourious Basterds as the bad guy.

Best Fight? None of these fights sound that great. I've seen four of five fights, and none of them were very good. There must be other fights in films this year, what with The Prince of Persia, Clash of the Titans, the Karate Kid, Narnia...there will be a better fight in one of these films. Clearly MTV just stick to the usual films and won't stray. Stray! Be adventurous!

Best Kiss? R-Patz and Kristen Stewart win....surprise surprise. Their kiss could have been the most awkward thing ever, or just a kiss on the hand - and they'd still win. The Black Swan - no, just no. Eclipse - which kiss do you prefer? Oh, it it has to have Kristen Stewart in shot - yep, she was nominated again for her kiss with Jacob. I'm pretty sure kisses with your one love should be special and set above the rest, which just shows the character of Bella to be quite easy. There is no way she should have two nominations for best kiss, as it diminishes love forever. Harry Potter kissing Hermione aka Daniel Radcliffe (HAHAHAHAHAHA - good one MTV) kissing Emma Watson. Nope, not at all. And Inception - the context and what follows the kiss is better than the kiss itself as it's just a kiss, nothing that special about it - but the context of it is the winner. The kiss in Letters to Juliet should have been nominated.

Best jaw dropping moment? Justin Bieber in his performance spectacular. I am a JB fan, but his film bored me. I watched the first 45 mins, and got bored of him talking, girls screaming, his friend praising him, girls screaming, his manager praising him, girls screaming...eurgh. Boring. Maybe I didn't wait long enough for this spectacular performance - but I couldn't watch any more. The scene in The Black Swan didn't really cause my jaw to drop, more like my eyes to close and the mute put on - nasty, and unnecessary. In 127 hours, it is a great scene and James Franco does brilliantly, but I knew the general story, therefore it didn't cause my jaw to drop, but caused me to squint a bit think about what I would do in that situation. Jackass, I haven't seen. Inception had my jaw on the floor throughout...the CGI in the Paris cafe scene, in the famous scene where the town lifts up, and then at the end with the spinning top - does it stop? does it keep spinning? :O BRILLIANCE!

Biggest Badass Star? Now Gerard Butler won this award for his performance as King Leonidas in 300. He was a the epitome of the film bad ass. None of these nominees come close. If you can't find a bad ass with a badder ass than Gerard Butler's bad assness, then cancel the category. It's pointless.

Finally, the last award is The Best Scared-as-S**t performance. That's exactly the way it's written on imdb. Winner? Ellen Page in Inception. That's quite an interesting win. I thought Ellen Page was superb, but I didn't really think she was that scared - but held it together quite well. I haven't seen any of the others but Ryan Reynolds in Buried, being buried alive is not a nice thing - so I've heard. And 'Piranha's are things you don't really want to meet in water. The Last Exorcism sounds quite scary too....and the Roommate, scary stuff. I've had housemates and flatmates, but never a roommate - they could do all sorts of stuff to you like draw a moustache on your face as you sleep, or wake up with the dawn with a particularly loud alarm. AHHHH. Now THAT... is a scary thought.

Anyway, hope you've enjoyed reading my post on the latest MTV Movie Awards, and tune in next year for my analysis and opinions of the 2012 event.

My Extensive History with Instruments

I'm not sure about you, but I've had a long ordeal over the years in deciding which instrument to play. I had numerous factors to consider: whether my parents would approve; what I could get my hands on; what I could be bothered to practice; what would be easy to purchase; and what would be useful to play.

My various attempts to learn were fairly disastrous. Don't get me wrong, nothing went disastrously wrong...I just found a reason to stop learning. I reckon I could write a pretty good kids book going through each instrument as the reasons for stopping or not starting in the first place.

The first instrument I was made to play was the recorder. That lesson in which everyone had to bring their recorder in, and play nursery rhymes. I remember playing it - but can't remember anything about it now. I also loved playing the xylophone in infant school...but after I accidentally trod on one and sent all the metal bars on it flying, I was told off, made to sit in the corner, and not allowed to play it. Gutted.

The first instrument I wanted to play was the guitar, as my dad played, my brother played, my uncle played, and it seemed like everyone could play. How difficult could it be? As a fickle 7 year old, very. After a few weeks of attempting to play, and being put in a guitar orchestra (despite the fact I couldn't keep up with the others and eventually just acted like I could), I decided it wasn't for me. My fingers hurt, my hurt hurt, and I just couldn't be bothered...so I quit.

Then I wanted to play the trombone, but the music teacher said my arms were too short - so I wasn't allowed to. That was a gutting piece of information to receive. Therefore, she gave me a trumpet. May as well have slapped me in the face. I can safely say that didn't last long - I gave it a shot, but my parents didn't want me to have a trumpet as it would only sound good with other instruments. Good point. So I went for a euphonium - aka a small tuba. My parents also attempted to defer me away from this instrument for the same reason. They were obviously not too hot on me being in a brass band.

My parents, well my mum, was a big fan of Kenny G. A very good saxophonist. My mum wanted me to learn the saxophone. My best friend at the time played saxophone - but after seeing all those buttons and small metal lever things - I quickly opted out of it. Therefore, I resigned myself to settling with a kazoo. Simple to play, cheap to buy, and easy to hide/throw away. Perfect.

Ten(ish) years later of playing the kazoo at what would have been grade 7 standard, I was bored. So, I picked up my dad's guitar and sat by the computer - brought up ultimateguitar.com, and found a song. I had always wanted to play 'Cowboy Take Me Away' by the Dixie Chicks, they have an instrumental bit at the end of the song which I loved pretending to strum away to on my badminton racket. Therefore, this was the song I brought up with the chords. You can hover over the chord in question and it brings up this helpful little box which shows how to play the chord. After a week of practising, I played a little number to my dad. Suffice to say, his words were very encouraging, his eyes told a different story - but I appreciated the comment. So I continued. Then I went to uni and had to stop. Then I bought a second hand one from a friend of a friend, so I started again. Eventually, I was learning chords.

Somehow in between July 2008, and now... I would like to say I can play the guitar. Finally.

And as of Christmas 2010, I asked for a ukulele for Christmas - and I got one. Given it was a cheap, practice one...but with my instrument history, good call my parents...I could have given up. But for the past 6 months, I have been playing uke...and it's been going well. If you know how to play the guitar, learning the ukulele is quite simple, or it was for me anyway. The chord positions are different, but your fingers are used to having to move around on the fretboard, you just have to get used to the smaller neck to it. But once you get it, it's very worth it. As I said at the beginning, loads of people play the guitar...but not everyone plays a ukulele - it's a quirky little instrument and it reminds you of Hawaii if you let it...and you can play Jason Mraz songs.

Rugby Town

It says on the enjoyrugby website,

'During a game of football on an autumn day in the year 1823, on a ground called the Close at Rugby School, one William Webb Ellis, a sixteen year old pupil of the school, with a fine disregard of the rules....first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, and so began the modern version of this major world sport.

Until you've been to Rugby, it's hard to imagine that the world-wide sport of rugby football took its name from our bustling market town. When you're here next to the hallowed ground where the game began, the atmospheric surroundings of Rugby School will transport you back to the day in 1823 when William Webb Ellis changed the game forever.

If you're a true fan of the game, a trip to Rugby can become a pilgrimage as you find yourself delving into the origins of the sport, the history of the players and the uniqueness of the town's connections. This will be an experience you'll treasure throughout life; after all, where else can you stand next to the spot where a worldwide phenomenon was born?'

I love Rugby, of course I do. I was born there, and grew up there. It'll always have a soft spot in my heart as we've been through a lot together. However, this description has been exaggerated...a whole lot.

'Bustling market town' - ummm, yeah, the market is ok. You have people shouting at you, and there's the famous man who walks around his stall in fluorescent leggings. It's not exactly bustling.

The 'atmospheric surroundings' - apparently will transport you back to 1823. You need to be in the history zone in order for this to vaguely happen. It's exciting to see where rugby was first inspired...but it loses its novelty when Rugby School has a reputation that only pretentious snobs go there, and apparently Harry Potter's Emma Watson once studied there. Knowing the nitty gritty of the school and its reputation to the rest of the town (aka people who didn't go to the private school but to a normal state school) dampens the atmosphere of it a bit.

Taking a 'pilgrimage' to Rugby. Please do not. I have lived in Rugby for nearly 21 years now, and I haven't a clue where to find out about the player's history, the origins of the sport and what not. I believe there's a very small outlet somewhere to find out - but I've been in there once and it doesn't give you much information!

And having an experience you'll treasure throughout life - standing NEXT to where the sport was inspired. It's a school, you're not allowed on the ground. I have had the opportunity to stand on the ground, though it was at a conference and marquees were all over the ground - but I do enjoy remembering that I once stood where William Webb Ellis first picked up that ball.

This was not supposed to have been a scathing review of the Rugby tourism website, but I'd just like to see the truth being published. Raising the profile of Rugby in this way just gets people's hopes up, to find its not *that* fancy. It's a lovely, charming, little town with many other quirky features, memories (on my part) and you can have fun there if you seek it. Sell it as it is! It's got a shopping centre called the Clock Towers, and inside there is a huge clock and on the hour every hour, the famous tortoise and the hare story is displayed. When I was a kid, I used to insist on watching it - and I still stop and pause if I pass it today. It's simple, yet charming.

Pick the not so historically or aesthetically impressive parts of Rugby, and sell those. After one visit, those tourist sites will be boring. So tell them about the quirky parts! I'd love it.

8 Easy Steps To Cope With The Common Cold

Everyone gets them, everyone hates them, everyone enjoys taking a lazy day off to feel sorry for themselves.

If you haven't guessed, I am 'everyone' right at this moment in time.

Thankfully, this cold has held off for a few days giving me some wonderfully lovely days hanging out with friends, and today, I have been able to stay at home to try and get over it.

My guidelines for coping with your cold, and all of these have been tried and tested numerous times over the years...they work.

When you next have a cold, you'll be ready to endure it with these 8 easy steps.

1. Stay HYDRATED

Very important one right here. In my first term ever of university, I had developed a cold. I was eating soup, and that was my main source of energy - however, I didn't really pick up on the fact that I wasn't eating much soup and also that I wasn't drinking anything. This just has disaster written all over it. After a few days of staying in bed in the foetal position, and having Joey's mindset, "It's getting darker and more painful, that means it's healing" - my condition wasn't getting darker, but it was getting increasingly painful. So, what did I do? Phone my mum. Of course I did. She arranged with the security at the uni to come and take me to the hospital, and I went to the hospital, had some blood and urine tests, and what do you know? I was dehydrated. After a few days of solidly drinking water and squash, I was better. Therefore, rule number 1, stay hydrated.

2. Stock up on TISSUES

Tissues had made a home in my room for most of the year, and last week, our house ran out of toilet paper - so I put my tissues in the bathroom. The box soon emptied. The following week, I am sat here discussing my cold. Yes, that's right. As of this morning, I was tissue...less, and using toilet paper to blow my nose. Oh, the irony. Get yourself tissues, or get some lovely housemates who will go out and get you some! I am now stocked up and blowing my nose on SOFT WHITE TISSUES. Nice.

3. Get yourself some OLBAS OIL

This stuff is amazing. I've used it for colds for as long as I can remember - we've always had and used it at home, and I have it here at uni. I went through a phase of putting the oil directly onto my pillow, but after a few eye watering nights, that stopped. Instead, I drip the oil onto my pyjama t shirt so the fumes go right up my nose. It's lovely. However, a word of wisdom. You can't really smell it when you have a cold - other people can. On a positive note, you can tell when you're getting over your cold because you can smell it. Works wonders, get some.

4. Stock up on SOUP and ICE CREAM

Soup makes you feel better - this is why I save all my BIG SOUP for my cold phases. Makes you feel all warm inside, and it's just a lovely dish - not overly filling, but will do the trick to keep your energy up. Ice cream, ok, you can't really taste it due to your nose being bunged up, however you can still eat it whilst watching a film. This most definitely keeps you going during a cold.

5. Don't HUG your cold

Colds LOVE you. They also love the warm, and the horrible "cold" atmosphere that you've developed in your room. Therefore, when you wake up and leave your room to go downstairs to lie on the sofa and watch numerous DVDs...open your window and keep your room fresh, and get those germs out of there.

6. Pick a HAPPY film

You're feeling ill, you're feeling sorry for yourself. Don't pick a film which will make you cry or will make you feel even more rubbish - it just doesn't help. Pick a film which you enjoy, I wouldn't risk a new one which you don't know anything about. I opted for 'The Phantom of the Opera' today, it has my favourite actor in it, I love the music, and it makes me feel better. On 'Glee', we learn that Mr Schuester watches 'Singin in the Rain' when he's ill and wants to feel better. It works like a charm.

7. Ensure you wear COMFORTABLE clothes

It's the time for you to feel as comfortable as possible - you don't need to impress anyone, you're just getting better. Therefore, get out the tracksuit bottoms, the baggy t shirt and the hoody. Make yourself feel as comfortable as possible but stay clean. Just because you're ill doesn't give you an excuse to be unclean, have a shower, wash your face, brush your teeth, wear clean clothes...it'll make you feel better being clean and comfortable.

8. Get OUT of bed and have a hot BATH

Staying in bed gives you more of an excuse to feel sorry for yourself, and keeps the germs wanting to stay with you. Getting out of bed and changing makes you feel heaps better. The last point is one my mum would suggest... having a bath. She's sure it cures anything...stomach aches, foot cramps, headaches, paper cuts, and colds. Whenever I'm ill, she'll run me a hot bath. Not only does it relax you, but the steam from the bath goes up your nose and helps to unclog your sinuses. Killing two birds with one stone...genius.

I hope these steps have either amused you and/or educated you. Either way you have discovered what goes through my head when I have a cold!

Retweets and @ Mentions

This year Twitter has somehow managed to worm its way into my life. I've had twitter for about two years now, but only for the past 9 months have I used it. And boy, have I used it.

Once you understand that there's nothing to understand about twitter...you're set! You can @mention your friends and celebrities, and they will read your message [or with celebrities, they can, if they want to, read your message]. And you can follow people from all walks of life, and if they have that little blue tick sign next to their name - it is really them.

I'm following loads of people, lots of friends, and lots of celebrities. Lots barely tweet at all, some tweet all the time - such as Justin Bieber, LeAnn Rimes and Jerry Bruckheimer.

And the other thing about twitter...if you can follow them as a user...people can follow you.

Again, lots of my friends have joined twitter and I follow them, and they have kindly followed me. But, some famous names follow me.

Jon Acuff - author of 'Stuff Christians Like' - approx 55,000 followers.

Jack Ingram - country singer - approx 29,000 followers.

Lady Antebellum - country group, their song 'Need You Now' performed by Glee. Approx 343,000 followers.

Justin Bieber - pop singing sensation. Approx 9,600,000 followers.

These all have those little verified blue ticks, which means it is them. Exciting times.

I have had a lot of @ mentions, but from friends when in conversation with them. However, from celebrities - it tends to be a bit of a rarer occasion.

I had @mentioned LeAnn Rimes, saying I was a big fan etc etc etc. And she @mentioned me back with the memorable...

'@StephParsonsUK Thx babe'

Oh my word! She replied to my tweet! Best day ever. Genuinely, I loved this tweet.

Now, moving onto the realm of retweets, also known colloquially as an RT. Now, I've written [as of this very second] 897 tweets. And never really paid attention to RTs...until very recently.

I got a RT in January about a tweet I had written from the Oscars...which I found surprising and nice.

Then I delved in the realm of celebrities, will celebrities RT you? They can do, yes. I tweeted the actor Gary Sinise [Lt Dan in Forrest Gump, Mac Taylor in CSI:NY] and told him my grandad was a Royal Marine Commando [Gary Sinise used to be in the Marines, and holds those who are Marines and those who have previously been Marines in very high respect], I also told him that my grandad trained US Marines. My grandad loves CSI:NY, and always wears his Royal Marine cap when Mac Taylor comes on...so I told him all this. And Gary Sinise retweeted it. This was a good day.

In April, I got a random RT from 'coffeybot'. Bit random, though maybe they found it funny. But this is when the RT thing started to kick in.

Last week, I was looking at the top trends, and some comments made in them. They were regarding Margaret Thatcher, and some were disgusting. So I tweeted, not at individuals, but as a general statement. And people did RT. Given, some people @mentioned abuse at me, but when you delve into the Thatcher debate, you know what's coming.

Then suddenly, this past week, a tweet [which was not aimed at anyone in particular, and had no mention of a top trend] was RTed. It regarded LA Galaxy's stadium - someone somehow found it, and retweeted it! This felt good! Then I saw on top trends something about Girls Aloud reuniting - I didn't know they'd even broken up, so tweeted. And what do you know? Someone RTed. THIS IS WAY TO DO IT! Tweet about a top trend! I've suddenly got an RT addiction, I love getting RTed.

Tonight, Eurovision was trending! So I tweeted about Graham Norton and Terry Wogan - instant RT from someone! Then I saw Borat top trending - wrote a tweet about him - BOOM! Instant RT from someone else! Addicted to Twitter ReTweets - though, this has all stemmed from the fact that I finished all my uni work and exams about two weeks ago, and have had nothing to do, so therefore I've been sat around doing not much. RTs have just shown that people appreciate my comments and opinions about things, and also have shown that I really need to get out more.

Demographics

According to blogger statistics, if you are reading this there is a very very good chance that you are in the UK....or if not, there is quite a good chance you're in the USA. There is also a good chance that you're using Windows, or perhaps a Mac. There's also a good chance that you're using Internet Explorer...followed closely by Google Chrome. If you're on IE, switch to Chrome - I love it.

If you're from another country, and don't know me. Why not leave a comment with where you're from...then I might be able to understand my audience a bit better...not by much, but a little bit may go a long way.

If you're from the UK, let me know. Do you know me? Do you not know me? Where are you from?

Wherever you're from, are you a regular? or have you just stumbled upon this page because you searched for a picture and it came up here...or you wanted to find the music to Brad Paisley's Cliffs of Rock City, and it led you here...perhaps to your disappointment.

Just let me know, I am intrigued as to who you are!

NWA + HBC

Anyone know what these acronyms stand for? Yes...well done. NWA is New Word Alive, and HBC is Holiday Bible Club.

Last week, I spent an amazing week in Pwllheli at New Word Alive, a Christian conference full of great teaching, worship and friendships. I can't quite describe how much I enjoyed last week, and can't quite describe the intricacies of the emotions I experienced there when I realised...again...what a horrible sinner I am, and when I realised...again...how loving a God I have, and how he sent his son to pay for the sins of mine which I am so ashamed of. He has paid the price for me - one atoning sacrifice...and now, it's not about what I can do to achieve salvation, but it's what God has already done. With this in mind, God is bigger than any sin (compared to God, our sin is nothing) and he is gracious and glorious, and not only has he already saved us, but he helps us to live for Him by giving us his Spirit! What a gift! I am so undeserving of it, yet, God has graciously given me this gift to help me live for his glory. Fantastic. This is a brief description of my emotions, if you'd like to know more, talk to me. I'm going to get on with the next section of this post...

HBC. Holiday Bible Club. This is an amazing opportunity to tell kids about the above! The thing is that children can understand and know what they need to do to be saved...yet, I still think I can earn my salvation? As adults, we can often twist and over complicate the gospel, when it's actually a very simple message. Last week was a great week to help me remember the glorious gospel, and this week helps me to remember the simplicity of the gospel. I'm so thankful that I can serve God in this way by doing HBC...I'm so thankful that God saved me. One of the questions that was on the worksheet today was what do we see in the world that makes us remember that God is amazing - the kids were giving great answers like the countryside. The countryside, the mountains, the sea...I often take for granted. I've seen them so many times, it's like they're just a part of my thinking -- and I can often forget that it had a Creator. I had a moment last week where I did the whole 'Gladiator' thing, and picked up some sand from the beach...and just looking at each tiny grain of sand was created by God - and it just struck me as brilliant.

It's been one day of HBC so far, and enjoying it so far. The kids understand it, they don't try to extort it - the gospel is simple, and God is amazing. Easy stuff. It's great to be reminded of it by the kids. The memory verse is Romans 5:8, 'But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: Whilst we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' - such a great verse, it's our one memory verse for this week....it'll not only be good for the kids to understand this verse really well, but for me too.

I'm up early tomorrow again ready for another HBC day! So I'm going to be off - check you later.

America's Most Hated Family in Crisis

The BBC description,

"Following up on his 2007 documentary, The Most Hated Family in America, Louis Theroux returns to Topeka, Kansas, for a week-long visit with the Westboro Baptist Church."

Watching this documentary made me feel a vast array of emotions, sadness, anger, fear, amongst others. I can't quite explain my feelings in a written format, so I'm attempting to write a blog with a lot of inspiration, but lacking in being able to explain what I'm seeing and hearing.

This family preach that God hates sin...and the sinner. They don't only preach this at church, but they picket events in which to proclaim their belief with huge signs reading 'God Hates Fags', and 'Thank God for Cancer'. This is simply not Biblical.

In one of the most famous verses in the Bible, it reads,

'For God so loved that world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.' - John 3:16

and

'But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' - Romans 5:8

God loves us...but he hates sin...and rightly so. He created the universe and everything in it, and man rejected God. This rejection is inbuilt within everyone, and we are all sinners. However, God's infinite love for us saw him send Jesus, his son, to Earth to die for us. Jesus, the sinless one, the only perfect man, died. Taking our sins and putting an end to them. Taking our punishment on the cross, and being the one atoning sacrifice for us. This is AMAZING news. Not only this, Jesus rose again three days later - no man can do that...only God can do that. This is AMAZING news. Through Jesus' blood, our relationship with God is restored. We can come to Him, whatever we've done in the past...whether it be a little white lie, a lustful thought, murder, pride, theft, greed...etc etc. We can ask for forgiveness, and come to Him who saved us from death. We can ask Him to turn our lives around, that we would want to turn away from sin and live for Him. This is the gospel. Isn't it BRILLIANT?!

Now I wonder why this family are proclaiming that God hates specific people. This shows that they consider their own sin nothing compared to the other sinners who practice homosexuality. Why are they comparing themselves with others? None of us are perfect, and 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Romans 3:23). We should be comparing ourselves to Jesus, and striving to be more like Him, not comparing ourselves with others to make ourselves feel better. Instead of picketing funerals of soldiers, burning flags and calling Obama the anti-Christ...evangelising with the family of the fallen soldiers, with homosexuals, with anyone...this gospel is for everyone. This is GOOD NEWS. We can't do anything to achieve salvation, as we are sinners, but thankfully God is merciful and gracious and has given us a way in which we can be saved - so let's proclaim that!

This family, this church, preach a false gospel. They are leading people into a religion built into hate...pure hate against others. This family has a daughter who decided to leave the church as she wanted a boyfriend [which is wrong apparently, as having a boyfriend obviously means having premarital sex, according to them - therefore I have no idea how you go from being single to married in their minds, but anyway...] and her church kicked her out, her family kicked her out of their home, no longer talk to her, have removed all her pictures from their home, and were thankful when she left. Her best friend was asked whether she was sad to see her go, she said "She wasn't my friend" I'm sorry - I would try and explain my thoughts on this further, but I could cry. Family and friends are a beautiful gift from God, to encourage us, to support us, to help us grow, and their false gospel shatters it...and makes family and friendship absolutely nothing.

Louis Theroux doesn't believe the Bible, and he makes it clear in this programme. He tells this family that what they say is offensive, and this family laugh. It's so sad that this guy has an opportunity to hear the gospel, and all he sees is hatred against everyone. They believe that natural disasters happen as it is judgment from God, that those who denounce their church die [a Muslim man denounced the church, and a week later his wife died] as judgment from God. They say that Hell is a scary thing - yes, it is - but they don't know that they are driving people even further away from God.

Louis interviewed this girl 4 years ago who was adamant she would stay at the church. When he came back to do this next programme, she had left the church and explained that after long tensions with the church, she felt a strong urge that she had to get out of the church. She is scared that she's going to Hell for what she did whilst in the church...I pray that she meets someone soon who is able to tell her the true gospel of grace and despite what she has done, Jesus has saved her. The church are not allowed to make personal interaction with people not in the church...how is evangelism possible this way? It's not.

The more and more of the programme I watch, the more and more saddened I am in how lost these people are. This guy spoke to one girl who came over, and there was no reference to Jesus, only how her parents raised her from the devil and that her parents hated her. This programme has made me angry, and I have judged these people, and I just pray that God works in their hearts to the real truth. The gospel of love, not hate. The gospel of Jesus, not religion. Please pray for these people.

"So how many are we taking out today then?"

Dentists.

I haven't had the best experience with them, to be perfectly honest with you.

I'm pretty sure the first teeth that grew in my mouth were wonky, and they continued to grow wonky. Very wonky. My two front teeth had a huge gap...not a Madonna gap, but a big gap that formed in the shape of a triangle. And the rest of my teeth were in there, but all over the place. I couldn't bite into an apple because of the shape of my teeth...this made apple bobbing one of the most difficult things to do in my childhood. I competed an apple bobbing relay race at my youth club once, and need I say, my team lost - very badly. But at the time, I loved the uniqueness of my teeth. But, the dentists did not feel the same way. I was told I need braces when I was about 12 years old, and they said that they'd send a letter with my next appointment. I seem to remember always falling ill on these appointment days...for about 3 years.

When I was about 15, the dentist set an appointment, and my mum got in on the fun too. My mum said I needed a filling, so I was like - ok. Let's go get a filling. I sat down on the dentist's chair ready for my filling...the chair goes back and as I was reclining, he turned around and said those fateful words. "So how many are we taking out today then?".......

I'm sure you can imagine my horror. Tricked into it! That day he took out 7 of my teeth. They were milk teeth that just didn't want to leave...I gave them a nice place to live, why leave? But, in order to have braces, they had to come out...and that's what happened. When you're 15, the last thing you want is a smile where teeth are missing...and that's what I had.

The problem? After the milk teeth came through, one of my adult teeth didn't want to come through. So, back to the dentist. They said that I needed an operation on my gum, and essentially, I needed a window in my gum...and that's what happened. I went to the hospital and had a window cut into my gum.

But, what? The tooth started growing the wrong way? Of course it is. Back to the dentist. He refers me to an orthodontist, and when I had just turned 16...I got my brace. I had the brace until the week before I came to uni. And despite the years of horror as explained above...and the fact that I don't trust anybody when it comes to my teeth, I am now happy with my relatively straight teeth. I still don't like going to the dentist, they're perfectly nice people, they play the radio, they ask questions they know I can't answer because their hands are in my mouth...but I don't enjoy going, just in case they say those words again...

"So how many are we taking out today then?"

Hope

I sat down this evening to watch one of my all time favourite films, 'Hope Floats'.

This film is not well known, at all. It's highly under-rated in terms of the theme and the acting.

I've seen this film many a time, and always used to watch it with my mum at home. But only today's sitting of it has made me reflect on it.

We see the main character (played by Sandra Bullock) on a Jeremy Kyle/Jerry Springer type of show where it is revealed to her that her husband has been having an affair with her best friend. She is obviously distraught. She leaves Chicago and returns to her home town with her daughter. After wallowing in grief, many tears and arguments with both her mother and daughter, she finds a job and gets back on her feet. It all appears to be going well - a handsome cowboy [Justin] from her high school days likes her, and she's happy. Until it is realised that she still thinks about her husband despite his infidelity and the fact he doesn't love her. She gets drunk, her daughter hates her, her husband doesn't love her and this guy has left indefinitely. After this, a brief shining moment when her mother explains to Sandra's daughter about the importance of family and love. That night, her mother suffers a stroke and dies. At the funeral, her husband asks for a divorce and her daughter wants to leave with him. Everything has just fallen apart in her life.

Yet, in these circumstances, she still has hope. Her daughter and herself are reunited. Her husband leaves and shows his daughter that he is doing the leaving, not Sandra. And she realises through these circumstances that she loves Justin. At the end, we see a family and she narrates...

'Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will...'

This is the ultra-paraphrased version of events...and it is worth a watch to fully grasp the intensity of the situations.

This story sort of reminds me of the story of Job, a bit. He loses everything. Absolutely everything and it is shown how through his circumstances, he still relies on God wholly. How does he do this? Just now I've been thinking about 1 Thessalonians and how we should be joyful in all circumstances and what it would look like. This film [despite it not being a Christian film] does give some good advice. She lost nearly everything and yet had hope. As Christians, we should have hope in any circumstance...hope in the resurrection, and we can place our hope and trust in Jesus. In the film, she doesn't do this, but she still has hope. It is hope that we should have day to day - being joyful doesn't mean being happy all the time - but it means rejoicing that God has a better plan for us, and having that hope of salvation. There are moments in our lives that are unhappy, and it is right for us to feel upset about them - but having this hope we have in Jesus is life-changing - we don't see unhappy times in life as the end, but we can look to the future and rejoice that God is in control and is truly sovereign.

Dear Jerry Bruckheimer,

I have to start this letter by saying that I love CSI, and both spinoffs. You won't meet anyone who can defend CSI like I can - it's one of these shows that I can easily defend as it is a really great show, which has changed TV history forever, and for the better. I've watched them since the beginning, and have even gone to the extent of going to university to study forensic science and criminal investigation to find out more about this field. It's clear that I love this show.

But, what is going on? Even an avid fan like myself just can't understand why some decisions have been made to try and improve ratings. CSI was a show that was so good, the storylines, the chemistry of the characters, the reputation - that it stood out from the rest because of it. CSI didn't rely upon big names to make it great. But now, I feel that CSI is selling itself out.

My first observation was after William Petersen left, and the greatest character in CSI history, Grissom, with him leaving...the decision was made to bring in Lawrence Fishburne. He is brought in as a new character and doesn't have any CSI qualifications, he is brought in to be a consultant...ok. But, to replace Grissom's screentime with Ray Langston was not a good move. It felt like Ray Langston was too forced into the show, so forced that there wasn't the chemistry there as there was with Grissom. William Petersen was on the show for 10 years, and had an irreplaceable chemistry with the original team. No matter how forced Fishburne was into the show, there is no way he could gain the same standing as Grissom had. It was a real disappointment how the audience had to watch Grissom leave, and be left with a character who just didn't fit. There wasn't enough of a transition period with both Ray and Grissom, had there been then Grissom leaving would have been seen as a sad, but you'd have a character you could fall back on. It's much like having your childhood dog die, and having another dog brought in the next day and being forced to love it. It's not going to happen...and there's no way you can love that second dog in the same way as the first. Grissom's shadow will always be in CSI, and it takes a certain type of character to overcome it, Langston cannot. Sorry.

This same thing has happened in CSI: New York - but there wasn't even a transition period. Stella Bonasera was a central character to the team. Stella was a boss when she needed to be, and a really good friend. She offered a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, and great advice. She was the advocate between the team if there were any tensions. She was the person the team would go to before making decisions. She knew when people were acting differently and needed someone to talk to. She was the glue of the team. Mac is the boss, but Stella held the team together. She's been through loads with the team, and there was a real chemistry and history with every person on the team. Stella's last episode was at the end of season 6, and in the beginning of season 7, we discover (via a letter) that Stella has moved to New Orleans and the new character Jo Danville, played by Sela Ward, has come in to replace her. She comes in, tells a joke about 'BYOB: Bring your own body' - and that's it? That joke is all she says to replace the legend that was Stella Bonasera. I love Sela Ward as an actress, I think she's great. But again, sorry, as an avid CSI fan, I was disappointed with watching a character come in and expect the same chemistry. It's more than just having chemistry with the other actors on screen, but the chemistry has to be there with the audience too. It wasn't there for me. When Lindsay Monroe was brought in to replace Aiden Burn, it wasn't forced. She was shy, she didn't expect the audience to love her, but through the joking around on screen with Danny, the chemistry built up...and Lindsay is a brilliant character. The character was not forced, and didn't have much screen time to begin with...just enough for you to understand who she is, and a few chemistry building scenes. The problem with Jo Danville is that she came in, told a joke, and then suddenly everyone was her best friend. This is unrealistic, and again, didn't work for me.

The final point I'd like to make is using big stars to improve ratings. Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. I love these singers, I've been to see Taylor Swift in concert, and at the time Justin Bieber was supporting her...now I love his music as much as hers. But. Why? Ok...Taylor Swift wasn't too bad as she was playing a confused teenage girl...and yes, she did do it well and I enjoyed the episode. However, why use Justin Bieber? Why? He was 16 when he filmed CSI, and we're meant to believe he's some sort of terrorist bomber? I can understand the point which would say that the least likely people would be terrorist bombers, that it could be anyone. But, this was an obvious use of getting the biggest name there is at the moment, and putting him as a central character for a couple of episodes. CSI could have used any young actor to play this role...and CSI has regularly used relatively unknown actors for roles and having that quality to it. CSI is good enough to hold its own without using big names. And in terms of using a big name, it will improve the rating for that episode, then will most likely come back down to its regular viewers.

Though, I was a regular viewer...but after all these changes and money making schemes, it has lost its quality, and I continue to watch old seasons of the TV series', and remember how great it used to be instead of watching something which is craving for more attention, and forgetting its original qualities for the sake of new watchers. It seems to be wanting more viewers, but forgetting about the viewers it already had. I'll stick to watching the older seasons, but bring Grissom and Stella back, and don't use random A-listers for the only fact to increase ratings, and it may bring me back to watching, as well as the other original fans who have stopped watching for the same reasons.

Yours,

Steph Parsons.

CU? What is that?

I've discovered over the past 2ish years that I've got into the habit of using the term 'CU' in everyday language - assuming everyone knows what it is an acronym for, how it works, and the purpose of it. Therefore, I am going to apologise now for all my usage of it...and explain everything.

Over 200 universities and colleges in Great Britain have one...and that is a Christian Union. Regularly shortened to "CU" to those involved in one, have been involved in one, or have a close relation to them. Another acronym that I often use is "UCCF", which stands for the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship - this is an organisation that oversees CUs across the country. UCCF provides CUs with help in the form of a staff team including a staff worker, and a relay worker. A staff worker works with a few CUs, helping them in anyway they can, and a relay worker is participating in a training scheme called, 'Relay'. This is a year's scheme where the graduate assists the CU in its events, organisation and preparation...but at the same time, it is a discipleship course - which means to increase their knowledge of the Bible, but not only gaining head knowledge but being able to apply it to their lives, and to grow in their relationship with God through it.

This is what a CU in principle is...but there is much more to it.

When I first came to university, I wanted to join the CU. I was a young Christian, and I wanted a circle of Christian friends. Joining the CU is a great way of meeting other Christians who attend the same uni as you...however, I soon realised that CU was much more than just a holy huddle of Christians who met every week. The CU is a mission team. Christians believe that God created everything, and everyone - and that during the events of the Fall, humans rejected God as their creator and King, and wanted to rule themselves. This sin was passed down generation by generation - where every person born was a sinner, who naturally in our hearts wanted to rebel against God. For this, as God is a just God and the fact that everyone has rebelled and rejected God - the punishment is death. However...God is not only just, but a loving God. He sent Jesus - who was born pure and holy...he committed no sin...and was blameless. Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, was beaten, flogged and hung on the cross - and died. He took our sins, and died for them there. One atoning sacrifice. If we leave the story there, Jesus was a man... but three days later, Jesus rose from the dead....conquering death, and showing he was God in human form, and had authority over anything. This death, this payment...restored our relationship with God. And God wants us to know him, He created us, He designed us, He wants to know us...and us to know Him. He is a personal God - who we can talk to, and rely on. We, through Jesus' blood and sacrifice, can trust him, and ask for forgiveness for those sins that Jesus died for...and turn away from our lives which are all about us, and turn to our Creator. We no longer have to fear death, as Jesus died for us...and He has taken our place so we can have a relationship with God. We can now make this decision, to either live for ourselves in this life or live for God and be free.

This is what Christians believe...and this is what CU is about. Sharing this amazing message to everyone on campus. CUs are not trying to convert you to achieve higher numbers in meetings, but to give everyone the opportunity to hear the good news, or the "gospel" as it is called in the Bible, and provide everyone so they can make their own decision. The CU is a way for the gospel to be spread, so people can hear and ask questions. It is a huge decision...and the CU is made up of members who will be willing to answer those.

The CU is often disregarded by Christian students, as they may not see the importance of sharing this good news. We are at university for a very short time, and we have this incredible opportunity to talk to thousands of people about Jesus. It makes me upset when students have this opportunity and ignore it. I don't know why they do...because this message is the most important message you can ever hear. We were told about the gospel, via friends or family, or CU events, and have made that decision for ourselves...so why do we shy away from sharing the message with others and keeping it to ourselves? No idea...I know I'm guilty of falling into the trap of feeling like I *have* to go to CU sometimes, but I remember Jesus and the price he paid for me, and me being able to tell my friends about Jesus and meeting with other Christians to talk about Jesus is just amazing...the freedom we have in GB is incredible. There are students in other countries who would give almost anything to meet with other Christians and share the good news, but can't due to oppression and persecution. We should be seeing that the CU is a great opportunity, as we can share the gospel of Jesus with the only fear of being said "No" to. This is nothing compared to the sacrifice Jesus made for us, so go out and share the news as it is totally worth it.

Virgin Trains Marketing

Here I am, sitting in a Virgin train awaiting departure. I am sat in J015, FIRST CLASS.

First class? I hear you say...that's awfully expensive, isn't it?

No, it's not. By the power given by a young person's railcard, I can get cheaper tickets. This isn't the same on all trains, but on particular lines, at particular times and days. I just happen to know that the Preston-Rugby line on every weekday at this time - means I can get a first class seat for a little over £15.

I wondered where Virgin get their money from - then it came to me...Virgin are actually very smart.

They charge non-students full rate for a first class ticket...and students are amazed at the price. Standard seat for £12ish! Awesome! But then, just slightly lower down it offers a first class seat at £15. Even more awesome!

It costs them nothing to have you in first class, yet they draw people in using those two words, 'First Class'. It's quite nice having a clean doily on the back of my seat, and electricity - but I've been cheeky before in standard and been able to plug into a socket. They bring you a sandwich in first class (approx £0.30 cost for them)...but they are making an extra £2.70 from every student who is sucked into their marketing scheme.

But full credit to them, they sucked me in.

I like being able to sit here and have a free cup of tea (approx £0.05 cost for them)...and I like being able to say I travel first class. But, in the end, Virgin are the winners here...I'm out of pocket £3 extra but have a sandwich, and they are raking it in from the thousands of students doing the exact same thing as me.

Well done, Richard Branson, well done.

Owl City - A Bit Forward?

Before you read the rest of this post, follow this link, read and listen to what you find...

http://owlcitymusic.com/vday/

It's essentially the guy aka Owl City taking Taylor Swift's song, 'Enchanted' and doing his own version of it but directed at her, and using her name within the song.

Rael James Mason pointed this out to me - most likely because I have self-professed an interest towards Taylor Swift's music. Therefore, of course, I would listen to it.

It was quite an interesting listen - I do enjoy listening to his music. But whenever he used her name in the song, it did make me cringe. The letter on the website he writes to her is evidence enough that it is directed at her - it is a romantic gesture, but is it a bit too corny?

The song sung by Taylor is alright for her to sing. It suits her style of music and lyric...but just a guy singing some of the lines that are maybe a bit girly, just doesn't quite sit right. They're still lyrics I like...but I think that (if I were in Taylor's shoes) I would have preferred to hear an original song by him instead of words I wrote towards another guy in my life.

Throughout the song, I was wondering if there was anything else to it...or whether he just really liked his meet with Taylor. I listened and right up until the last line, it wasn't too forward for an internet gesture...then came the line...'Taylor, I was so in love with you.'

Hello, there!

Forward much? Yes. Quite somewhat.

Not sure what you make of this whole debacle...probably not much, which is understandable. But who knows? A romance in the air? Can we predict the guy in one of Taylor's songs on her next album? Most likely...

The King's Speech and the Oscars.

After many people telling me that I had to watch this film...and that it would be a total waste if I didn't. I gave in, and watched it.

I'd seen the trailer, and I wasn't *that* enthralled by it. The trailer itself: the music; the cinematography; the direction reminded me of one film, 'The Queen'. And I didn't like 'The Queen'...

But I sat and watched it - and loved the cast. Absolutely loved the cast. Usually I stay away from Colin Firth as the lead role because he plays the same character, and to be honest, he played the same character again...just with a stammer. No idea how he does it, it might just be his monotonous voice but thankfully Helena Bonham-Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Derek Jacobi and Guy Pearce were there to keep the standard of the film high. They're all very good, and with the exception of Derek Jacobi, the cast were able to step out of their usual roles into their respective roles. Helena BC usually opts to join her partner, Tim Burton, in his strange, sometimes gothic, dark films...and she can get into any role and do it very well and make the role her own. Derek Jacobi does these films all the time, but again, he's still very good. Geoffrey Rush went for the more subtle comedic role in this, and pulled it off perfectly, he has a great persona to carry it off...sometimes I did see a bit of Captain Barbossa in him when he was playing with his kids, but that added to the role, as he was only like that for that one part - it showed his diversity within one role. Brilliant. Guy Pearce is incredible, he was in Christopher Nolan's 'Memento' (watch it if you have time, and want to have your mind put to the test!) and he was also in a favourite of mine, 'The Count of Monte Cristo' as Fernand Mondego. He's great, and despite playing a character with quite a sinister undertone, more a seedy undertone - he does it well. I was a little upset that his sunken cheeks have now gone due to him getting older and putting on some weight...but it didn't take away from his performance.

Essentially, the film is about a guy losing his stammer. That is the premise of the film...you can argue, but the whole film is about this problematic stammer. Somehow they managed to stretch it out to almost 2 hours. I love history, and always have - and I loved being able to link the film's characters to the history knowledge that I had already. I do this with many history films and get annoyed if it's selling itself as an accurate representation, and it blatantly isn't...but this film does well to keep its accuracy and not go off on some fictitious tangent.

As an avid film watcher, I like to think I know what elements of a film are needed to please the general public, and then what pleases the Oscars. I'll tell you right now...the Oscars LOVE films about real people, who overcome a struggle or a problem. And that is seen in the nominations within the best actor or best picture categories...guaranteed.

Proof...here it is.

Last year, 2009. Sandra Bullock won best actress for 'The Blind Side'. A real person who overcame everyone in order to adopt this black teenage boy.

In 2008, Angelina Jolie was nominated for best actress for her role in 'Changeling' - one which I think she deserved to have won but Kate Winslet finally won an Oscar. In the same year, 'Frost/Nixon' and 'Milk' were nominated for best picture...again, about real events. Sean Penn won best actor for his role as Harvey Milk, in 'Milk'.

In 2007, virtually unknown (at the time) Marion Cotillard won best actress for 'La Vie en Rose'

2006 gave nominations to 'Letters from Iwo Jima', and 'The Queen'. Helen Mirren won for her role as Queen Elizabeth, and Forest Whitaker won best actor for his performance as Idi Amin in 'The Last King of Scotland'.

What a shocking year 2005 was. Everyone thought 'Brokeback Mountain' would win...but 'Crash' was the surprise winner. Others nominations were 'Capote' and 'Munich'. This was my favourite year of the Academy Awards as Reese Witherspoon won for her role as June Carter in 'Walk the Line', Joaquin Phoenix was nominated too for his performance as Johnny Cash but was beaten by worthy winner, Philip Seymour Hoffman in 'Capote'.

Other notable mentions are Hilary Swank...who has two best actress awards to show for 'Million Dollar Baby' and 'Boys Don't Cry' - these are incredible films about real women. Charlize Theron for 'Monster'. Nicole Kidman for 'The Hours' and Julia Roberts for 'Erin Brockovich'. 'Million Dollar Baby' also won Best Picture in 2004, and 'A Beautiful Mind' in 2001.

This year, there are 10 films nominated for Best Picture, out of these 10. Three are real adaptations. '127 Hours', 'The King's Speech' and 'The Social Network'. Now, I'd love to see 'Inception' win...but I doubt it will. 'The King's Speech' has more of an Oscar feel to it than the others, but who knows, 'The Social Network' did win a surprise Best Picture at the Golden Globes. Who knows?

This year in the Best Actress category, there are no "real" stories...so I'll go with Natalie Portman in 'Black Swan' - she's won everything else. And in the Best Actor category, we have three nominations. Colin Firth, James Franco, and Jesse Eisenberg... Colin Firth has been around the Oscars longer, everyone knows him, he's well known in the Academy Awards side of the Hollywood industry...this is why it'll be unlikely if James Franco or Jesse Eisenberg win. Despite the fact that I thought '127 Hours' shows more of a physical struggle as Aaron Ralston actually has to cut his arm off to survive, than what 'The King's Speech' provides. But I really really hope Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham-Carter win for their performances. I think they will.

'The King's Speech' is good, but is way over hyped... I enjoyed it, but won't be buying it when it hits the shelves....sorry kids.