Preparing for hiking

[Above: Summit of High Raise, Grasmere weekend 2005]

Those of us planning on tackling one or more of the Three Peaks are beginning to step up our training. Here are some useful links on preparing for strenuous hikes:

• Hiking Preparations - How to Prepare for a Hike
• Hiking Physical Fitness Training - Exercises for Hiking
• Pre-Hike Training - Training before a Hike
• How To Take Care Of Your Feet When Hiking
• How to Prevent Walking Injuries

Religious people less anxious

Despite the uncertain times, recent research into brain activity shows that "religious people" are less anxious. The survey team tested 50 university students from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. Christians made up most participants, but they also tested Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists. Researchers found religious people exhibit lower activity than non-believers in a brain region linked to anxiety when erring on a simple test. This is concluded to be because "religion offers an interpretative framework to understand the world. It lets you know when to act, how to act, and what to do in specific situation.... It provides a kind of blueprint on how to interact with the world".

Jesus said: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." [John 14:27]

Be still my soul...

Life is uncertain for many, particularly as the recession begins to impact on many areas. I recently stuck a CD into the player in my car while pondering some of these uncertainties and heard again this hymn, with the timely reminder that God is faithful in every change - our part is to "bear patiently" the discomfort while we wait for Him "to order and provide":

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
(Ka­tha­ri­na A. von Schle­gel / Jane L. Borth­wick)

Can a fleece ever be fashionable?

The synthetic fleece is 30 years old and can be found in almost every walk of life - except the world of high fashion. The BBC took this humble, workaday garment to London Fashion Week last month to see what the style tribe made of it.

Despite its near total absence from the catwalks, since polarfleece first went on sale in 1979, it has become the nation's outerwear of choice, whether for pottering in the garden or out on a bracing walk. It is practical, cheap, lightweight, and dries quickly. But stylish it is not! However, the gratifying thing about a fleece - aside from the warmth - is that it simply never has to look good.

20 best travel books of all time

The credit crunch means many people are scaling down summer holiday plans - or not going away at all. However, armchair travel is free - at least, if you borrow your books from the public library. Earlier this month, on World Book Day, the Telegraph published a list of twenty of the most inspiring travel books of all time: the 20 best travel books of all time.

Time management and social media

After the recent blog posts on the growth of social media ( blogs, Facebook, twitter etc), it's good to come across some advice on time management in the age of social media. In this article, productivity guru David Allen talks about ways you can make Facebook and Twitter work for you on the job.

Quizaid

Q: What’s the smartest way to help people in the world’s poorest communities help themselves?
A: Quizaid.

It's the best quiz night in town – and it’s organised by you. Quizaid forms part of Christian Aid Week 2009, which will run from 10-16 May. Last year, the first Quizaid raised £185,000 for Christian Aid's overseas development work. This year Quizaid aims to raise £225,000 with your help!

You can put on a quiz anywhere you like – at home, at your local church hall, up the road, over at your mate’s or in your local pub. Wherever you hold it, you'll be helping to raise money for the world’s poorest people.

The Quizaid question pack is bursting with hints and tips on how to make Quizaid a fun and memorable event. Quiz questions are included, covering up-to-the minute topical questions. Question rounds include brainteasers on: history, music, geography, maths, pot luck and much, much more. Christian Aid have thought of everything – so you don’t have to. Order your Quizaid pack online now!

Three Peaks revisted

Pen-y-ghent [Photo: Sigrun]

Ever since Infusion walked Ingleton last August, the more energetic of the group have wanted to try to "do" the Three Peaks in a day! So Ingleton Youth Hostel has been booked again and Infusion is in training. Though some of us are more realistic and will only attempt one or two of the peaks in a day.....

Economic lessons from the Wizard of Oz?

A story on the BBC website claims that the story, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, is used as an economic parable. It is one of the world's best-loved fairytales, and the 1939 film is the most famous evocation of the story. However, the story has underlying economic and political references that make it a popular tool for teaching university and high school students - mainly in the United States but also in the UK - about the economic depression of the late 19th Century. But not everyone believes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz includes any hidden meanings - and it is unlikely any young fans will think about deflation and monetary policy when they view it.

The Archbishop twitters

After the growth in blogging and social networks, what next? Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time and is often described as "micro-blogging". Updates are known as "tweets" - text-based posts of up to 140 bytes in length

Dave Walker reports that the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, now has his own page on the Twitter social networking site. Find him here: @JohnSentamu. Almost certainly the first Twittering archbishop?

Listen to wildlife

The British wildlife recordings collection offers the opportunity to listen to over 600 recordings of wildlife from around the UK. Captured by three British wildlife enthusiasts from the 1960s to the 1990s, most are published online for the first time.

The selection of sound recordings of all kinds of wildlife from around Britain is from the British Library's Sound Archive's unrivalled natural sounds collection. Made for the most part in nature reserves and wild locations, the recordings often have special significance in documenting ancient habitats that are gradually vanishing.

Some habitats continue to dwindle under the pressure of development: peat bogs, old Caledonian forest and lowland heaths are all slowly disappearing. In others, wildlife populations have increased: on the Scottish moors, for example, as a consequence of the extensive re-planting of forests there. Every shift in the balance alters the sound of the countryside. The recordings selected here include not only the familiar noises of country gardens and suburban parks, but also the increasingly elusive cries of some of the country''s rarest creatures. Together, they paint a fascinating sound picture of Britain''s ever evolving landscape. Further information here.

Member communities: top Internet trend

A recent report indicates that social networks and blogs are more popular than e-mail. Time spent on these sites is growing three times faster than the overall Internet rate, accounting for almost 10% of all Internet time. “Member Communities” which includes both social networks and blogs, have become the fourth most popular online activity - ahead of personal e-mail. It is growing twice as fast as any of the other four largest sectors, according to Global Faces and Networked Places, a comprehensive report revealing the new global footprint of social networking.

One in every 11 minutes online globally is accounted for by social network and blogging sites. The social network and blogging audience is becoming more diverse in terms of age: the biggest increase in visitors during 2008 to “Member Community” Web sites globally came from the 35–49 year old age group (over 11.3 million).

So if you read this blog and belong to the Infusion Facebook group, you are right on trend!

Outdoors Show (27-29 March)

The Ordnance Survey Outdoors Show will take place from 27-29 March at the NEC, Birmingham. The NEC will be filled with with high ropes, scuba diving, mountain bike tracks, surfing, woodland trails, canoeing, climbing walls, a music festival and it’s all free, once you've paid for entry. They say that if you enjoy the great oudoors, you'll love the show! You can sign up to the Outdoors Show newsletter for updates and competitions.

Bishop's Lent Pilgrimage

During Lent 2008 Bishop Tim undertook a pilgrimage of 215 miles, visiting 114 churches in the Leicester Diocese. In 2009 he is focussing his thoughts and actions on the communities where people are struggling most, sharing in acts of care and service as well as taking time to listen.

The theme of this time of action is ‘Strengthen our Hands’, a theme taken from the Old Testament book of Nehemiah (see Neh. 6:9). A manual has been produced for the pilgrimage to enable everyone to share in the experience through prayer and an increasing understanding of the problems. You can download the Bishop's pilgrimage manual online at www.leicester.anglican.org and read his blog here.

Acting on the Biblical imperative to care for the poor, the widowed, the orphaned and the exiled, Bishop Tim will spend time visiting communities where people are struggling the most. He will visit the elderly, the sick, the young, the unemployed and the addicted during an extended timetable of action in the six weeks of Lent, including ten full days of visits. Where possible the Bishop will use public transport to travel to the days’ venue where, in addition to service users, he will meet with local clergy, volunteers and the professionals working in the community.

Travel games

A number of Infusion members enjoy board games, and travel. Nomad Travel have brought together these two passions in the Backpacker Travel Game and the Travelproof Bandana Gameboard.

The End of the Internet?

The End of the Internet

Tea4health

Tea4health is a website from the UK Tea Council dedicated to bringing facts about how tea, the world’s favourite drink, can help you maintain your health as part of a balanced diet and healthy, active lifestyle. The website provides: the science behind the facts, background articles, how to make a perfect brew, interactive games, and a section on tea at work, including a special tea chart to remind colleagues of how you take your tipple!

Isn't it good to know that "drinking at least 4 cups of tea a day is a good way for you to help maintain your health"?

Fasting and feasting

As Fairtrade Fortnight ends, check out the cartoon from Dave Walker on how Lent and Fairtrade Fortnight cancel out each other.

Guilt and chocolate

Last year we discovered a church that encouraged its parishioners to buy chocolate during Lent! This year, it is scientific research on guilt and chocolate bars. The Development of the Attitudes to Chocolate Questionnaire is a cheap, fairly accurate way to measure chocolate craving and also to measure guilt. Reporting on the use of this tool, the researchers announce that they made an exciting new psychological discovery: that "craving but not guilt was associated with the eating of chocolate bars".

Washing up to the glory of God

Here's a post currently doing the rounds in the blogosphere. Tim Chester says he is passionate about "connecting theology with everyday life", and posts on How to wash up to the glory of God (plus washing up tips).

Intrigued? Check out his his paragraph headings:

• When a legalist does the washing up
• Finding joy in washing up
• Idolatry and washing up
• Your kitchen sink is a holy place
• Top tips for good washing up
• The evils of dish washers

The UK's reading secrets

Today is World Book Day. Earlier this year over 1,300 people took part in an online survey about their reading habits. They were given a list of 10 books and asked which they had lied about reading. Two out of three people admitted lying about reading a particular book to impress someone, the survey released to mark World Book Day found. George Orwell's 1984 and Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace are among the books people are most likely to have lied about reading, according to the poll.

In addition, 41% of respondents confessed to turning to the back of a book to read the end before finishing the story and 48% admitted to buying a book for someone else and reading it first.

Top-selling chocolate to go Fairtrade

Cadbury and the Fairtrade Foundation today announced yesterday their plans to achieve Fairtrade certification for Cadbury Dairy Milk, the nation’s top selling chocolate bar, by end of Summer 2009. This groundbreaking move will result in the tripling of sales of cocoa under Fairtrade terms for cocoa farmers in Ghana, both increasing Fairtrade cocoa sales for existing certified farming groups, as well as opening up new opportunities for thousands more farmers to benefit from the Fairtrade system.

More posts on Fairtrade matters

Credit crunch pizzas

Apparently, "in our hour of financial need, we're all heading for cheap and cheerful high-street pizzerias" . Matthew Fort of the Guardian reviews the leading pizza chains - and doesn't find anything very authentic.

If you want to do a taste test yourself, the MoneySavingExpert website has links to vouchers for:

• Pizza Express 2for1
• Pizza Hut Delivery 50% off
• Prezzo 2for1
• Strada 2for1
  

Carbon Fast Day 8

Today's Carbon Fast challenge follows on from recognising that the world's poorest people are suffering the most from climate change yet they have contributed the least to the problem. It is to go to www.tearfund.org/carbonfastaction to speak up for action in the UK and other rich countries to cut their emissions and for help for poor communities to adapt to the changing climate.

We are futher encouraged to "tell one friend about the Carbon Fast and encourage them to take today's campaign action" - hence this post!

Father, thank you for being a God who searches out the poor and vulnerable. Help me to put a face to climate change, so that it is not just an issue, but it's about a person who You created. Remind me of these people impacted by climate change whenever I feel unmotivated to make changes in my life.

20% off Fairtrade products

During Fairtrade Fortnight, the Co-op is offering 20% of all Fairtrade products. The Co-op was the first UK supermarket to launch anown brand Fairtrade product back in 2000, and stocks around 150 own brand products and over 50 branded Fairtrade products, providing the largest range of Fairtrade products in any UK supermarket.