A Busy Week

I did three days at college this week. Three full days starting around 9 or 10 and leaving just after 9 at night. I was pretty whacked for doing much else like housework or fun things with my family. I was going to do some more college work today but I just couldn’t get my head together. I listened to the radio at little. I surfed on the internet a little.

I just came across this quote from Andrew Marr who stepped down as the BBC’s political editor in the summer only to take on lots of other jobs Sunday AM on the telly and Start the Week on radio:

“I don’t think stress is a bad thing. We’re too scared of it. I think urban life is about packing a lot in. I’m very much of the view – perhaps it’s to do with getting older – that you’re not around for very long on this planet, and to feel that you’d had more than enough time half-asleep in the garden is not how I want to go.”

I think I can see where’s he’s coming from. But after my busy week I’m quite glad of a chance to laze around.

Adbusters

I found this sight two or three weeks ago when I was looking for things on Remembrance Day . The link with terrorism is interesting again. I think this site has some really insightful comments on our culture although it is very American. I think it is well worth exploring more.

Adbusters now talking about ‘Buy Nothing Day’ that is a part of the Buy Nothing Christmas campaign. It looks like a campaign to boycott shops on November 25^th in protest of the materialism of Christmas. I have a lot of sympathy with this campaign.

It just amazes me that Christmas items were in the shops alongside Halloween stuff. There is so much about Christmas that sickens me. For most of us it’s just a time when we must shop and then ‘enjoy ourselves’ in a way that our culture tells us to.

Materialism. Yuk!

Remember Remember

My wife Nettes and I went to see this play the other night at a local church. We were very impressed by this, the latest production from the Riding Lights Theatre Company. It tells the story of the gunpowder plot from the viewpoint of one of the conspirators. The main story is interspersed with more contemporary scenes of terrorism from both the IRA and Islamic fundamentalism. It didn’t take that long to get used to the minimalist set design and costumes and the fact that some actors played more than one part. I was soon caught up in the story. I found the portrayal of religious persecution particularly powerful. The image of the worshippers leaping up at the slightest sound is one that will stick with me. I also liked the development of the hero’s character – from someone reluctant to talk of his faith through someone who took action to finally someone who was repentant. It is interesting that the fact that the gunpowder plot took place 400 years ago is still recalled in our national celebrations. But the parallels drawn with the war on terrorism and the recent London bombing is even more chilling.