Wordling politicians

You can use Wordle to analyse any sort of text - not just Scripture. The BBC have just used it to analyse the speeches made by the two US vice-presidential candidates.

While we don't really "do politics" on this blog, if you feel you are losing the plot about what's happening in the US, check out the 20-page briefing on the US election 2008 from the Economist.

I Love A Nice Cup Of Tea!

There's a new Facebook application: I Love A Nice Cup Of Tea!

You can send and receive virtual "brews" and collect points. More points means a better league ranking (Tea's Most Wanted) amongst friends and the world!

Ten cyberspace commandments

Podcasts from the recent EA meeting for Christian bloggers are now available for download, together with ten cyberspace commandments "to give bloggers a moral edge in a virtual age".

High tea enjoys a revival

The Guardian reports that the old-fashioned high tea (scones, cakes, sandwiches and a refreshing cuppa) is enjoying a credit-crunch revival and attracting a new, young clientele. Apparently customers are starting to shun the expensive chains of coffee shops in favour of more homely tea-parlours and cafes. A spokesman for the UK Tea Council commented that "it seems a younger generation is re-understanding the charm and elegance of the traditional English custom".

Don’t Stop at the Lights

A new guide from the Church of England offers church leaders a template for a year-long programme of practical action to reduce their congregations’ carbon footprints, as energy prices head upwards. The book, Don’t Stop at the Lights, has already won praise from the Archbishop of Canterbury amongst others.

Don’t Stop at the Lights includes sermon ideas and extensive bible study notes drawing on ancient theological themes which aim to reconnect the church to the natural world and the roots of its faith. It inspires leaders to make churches beacons in their community, offering case studies linked to the Church’s year. More info here.

Godblogs

The Evangelical Alliance hosted a gathering for Christian bloggers on 23 September at its Headquarters in London. The event was “designed to give Christian bloggers an opportunity to network face-to-face and to think through a godly approach to blogging”. One of the intentions of the event was to begin to develop “a code of conduct for godly blogging”, to help Christians communicate in cyberspace in a Christ-like way.

Read a write-up about the event from one of the speakers, Mark Meynell, who provided a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Christian Blogosphere. The EA website says that a podcast will be forthcoming.

Prayer for the current financial situation

The C of E has published a new Prayer for the current financial situation:

Lord God, we live in disturbing days:
across the world,
prices rise,
debts increase,
banks collapse,
jobs are taken away,
and fragile security is under threat.
Loving God, meet us in our fear and hear our prayer:
be a tower of strength amidst the shifting sands,
and a light in the darkness;
help us receive your gift of peace,
and fix our hearts where true joys are to be found,
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Perfect preserves

If Jacky's post on hunting down seasonal food to make jam has inspired you to do the same, then here are some recipes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on making the most of seasonal fruit. You could also check out River Cottage Handbook No 2: Preserves by Pam Corbin from your local library for more.

• Black beauties: blackberry recipes
• River Cottage Bramley lemon curd
• Soft options: strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants
• Links to seasonal recipes

You don't have to use wild food as a base, but this Hot hedgerow chutney is worth trying.

Café No-bucks

As I write, I am drinking a cup of home made coffee. And it hasn't cost me anything, except for the electricity to heat the water. A combination of the credit crunch, being a skinflint and a desire to escape the clutches of the over-powerful Tescos has led me to start to explore the world of foraging. More on that is very likely in future blogs, but for now, back to the coffee.

During WWII the nation's coffee supplies were cut off, and you can only imagine what that would have done to the nation's morale! A coffee substitute was made from acorns instead by chopping them up and roasting them (I don't know who discovered that worked, but I'm guessing it was very old knowledge that had fallen into general disuse).

So I got curious and had a go. You need to remove the outer acorn shells with a sharp, serrated knife, then chop the nut into small pieces. You're meant to roast the pieces twice, chopping smaller after the first roast. I roasted mine once, as I left them in the top of the oven for a bit longer than intended - around 15 mins, probably. The result was a charred-looking mess which both smelled and tasted a lot like coffee. The bits ground down well enough in the pestle and mortar & looked something like instant.

So far so good. What about when you make it into a mug of 'coffee'? It tastes very good actually. I may even prefer it to the real version, as there is not the same sharpness to the taste. I have no idea about the caffeine content though or other side effects but I'd rate the experiment as a success. The only downside appears to be - apologies squirrels - it takes about 5 acorns to make a spoonful of the coffee powder, so I will have to work quite hard to make a useful supply.

Post scripts: I have found articles afterwards saying that you are supposed to leach the tannin out of the acorns by soaking or boiling them, because they contain too much - my recipe didn't say anything about that! I also found some recipes for coffee alternatives from the American Civil War, which may be of interest to some readers.

Stress relief

STRESS RELIEF....

Just click on the BUBBLEWRAP

(Then try it in manic mode)

A passion for tea

Is it really worth buying fancy varieties? is written by a tea lover who has "always viewed indulging in different tea types as a lot of unnecessary faffing about". After a tea-tasting session at Taylors of Harrogate she is converted!

How far would you go for a great brew? In My search for the ultimate cuppa tea obsessive Henrietta Lovell discusses the quest for the finest white tea that took her high into the mountains of China.

Wild Food

Wild food - the kind you have to forage for yourself in the countryside - has seen a resurgence of interest of late, I'm told. Perhaps the likes of Fergus Drennan (that man who cooks roadkill), the popularity of SAS Survival manuals, and Ray Mears, have something to do with it.

I've been doing some foraging of my own . No roadkill, just in case you were worried for a moment. I blame my Granny - she took us mushroom picking as children, and grew most of her own fruit and veg, which we picked and helped her make into jam in the long summer holidays. And then there has been my growing dissatisfaction with the supermarkets that are geared so much towards getting maximum profit for minimum quality produce, and their preference for selling prepackaged foods over whole veg... and the limited availability of cheaper products. And then the sudden food inflation on top of all that.

I've quickly realised there are certain benefits to wild food that didn't cross my mind as a child, when squeezing behind raspberry bushes to get at the best fruit. So here they are - in no particular order:

- Fresh air and a bit of exercise (it makes a nice early evening walk going berry hunting or mushrooming)

- You can't really watch Telly when you're busy in the kitchen

- You start to appreciate food more and don't waste so much when you've put effort into collecting it yourself

- You learn about plants & their uses

- Less food miles - the food itself hasn't gone very far, and you probably haven't needed as many trips to the shops

- Tastier food - I've discovered some new flavours and realised that my home-made jam is much nicer than what you can get in a supermarket

- A more varied diet - ever seen elderberries or stinging nettles in Tescos, anyone?

- A sense of history - not that long ago, this activity was 'normal' (at least some readers of this article will think I've gone off my rocker) and people were much more directly reliant on the land and what was seasonal.

The main downside is the amount of time it can take - that, and the fact that you start somewhat obsessively looking about you for the food in the nearest hedge.

Recycling Energy at the Gym

A gym in America is claiming to be the US's first to use the energy of the people working out in the gym to help power it. In fact, the Beeb news site was looking at this issue a couple of years back, wondering if you could end up getting paid to go to the gym.

It sounds pretty inefficient, though - it would be far more efficient and green to close the gym and for the members to do alternative exercise such as cycling to work. (I say that as someone who doesn't even go to the gym!)

Far more interesting is the idea of energy harvesting, also reported by the BBC around the same time. This is all about capturing the everyday energy lost when, for example, commuters walk through a station. This could be used to light public spaces, power laptops, and reduce the size of battery packs needed in military applications.

Britain's 100 best day walks

The August 2008 Country Walking magazine featured Britain’s 100 Best Day Walks! Writers have selected the very best routes from each county, offering "spellbinding views, unique landscapes and an unforgettable day’s walking". Most walks link either to a routecard in the magazine or to a FREE downloadable routecard on the LFTO site (scroll down here).

How many of these have Infusion walked? As we haven't tackled Scotland, Southern England, or Northern Ireland, I reckon we have notched up 12 out of 58 (see below). Adding in walks undertaken by individual members of Infusion would certainly push the tally up.

• Northern England: Helvellyn, Malham Cove, Ingleborough
• Central England: Mam Tor, Kinder Scout, Goyt Valley, Malvern Hills, Dovedale, the Roaches, Rutland Water, Bosworth Field
• Wales: Snowdon

Why (and how) to pray for the economy

Following an earlier post on Credit crunch theology, here's a thought-provoking blog post on Why I Pray for the Economy. Although written in the US, the sentiments can apply to the UK as well, especially the reminder to make

supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings ... for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

Food and waste and sharing

Article on the BBC website on a food distribution charity, which you can also access directly; they also have stuff going on in Leicester. With so much food ending up as waste, this is some encouragement.

Love and desire

Through a friend's blog, I came across the this article in the Independent on love and desire and the difference between the two. It's not a faith-based article, but one could read a lot between the lines. Enjoy!

Anti-theft lunch bag

I'm not a very keen Sandwich eater for lunch, but I'm sure there are some of you who have suffered from your lunch being nicked. I came across this Anti-theft lunch bag and that would certainly put me off from taking anyone's lunch - have a look. And I guess that was my first attempt at a blog post...

Virtual chocolate

Divine is the Fairtrade Chocolate Company co-owned by the cocoa farmers cooperative Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana, who not only receive a fair price for their cocoa but also share in the company's profit. Watch the 30 second You Tube Movie about Divine Chocolate.

Noddy management

Following the news that Enid Blyton has been voted the UK's favourite writer, comes a confession from a senior academic that her own management style was forged by Blyton. In addition to detailing some of the lessons she has learned from Blyton, she analyses some key characters:

"The Famous Five is the ideal Harvard Business team. There's Anne the administrator; Julian the born leader with his determined chin and propensity to issue orders; Dick the playful networker; George the maverick you would place somewhere in Development. But don't delegate to Timmy the dog: he can't be trusted. "

How to be a thrifty gardener

The Guardian has published a useful two part series on credit crunch gardening:

• How to be a thrifty gardener
• The propagation game

These are extracts from The Thrifty Gardener: how to create a stylish garden for next to nothing by Alys Fowler. It says "Gardening has never been more fashionable - or more expensive. And yet you don't have to spend a fortune. Nothing could be easier or more satisfying than making your own planters, compost or even weedkiller".

How noses are calibrated

The company I work for actually helps people calibrate their sense of smell! In case you're wondering if this is a wind-up, let me explain : in the gas industry, the gas doesn't smell until an odorant is added. The best piece of equipment for testing if the right amount of odorant has been added is still the human nose - until a 'better' alternative is developed. And like all equipment, even the human nose needs calibrating for this work. The BBC recently featured the labs where this happens.

Two endings and a new beginning

Some people fear that the world may end tomorrow (10 September) when the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Switzerland gets turned on. [ BBC Radio 4 is offering special programmes about it all week, and has a Big Bang Day on the actual day of activation].

OR

This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper (T.S. Eliot The Hollow Men, 1925).

OR

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new! (Revelation 21)

Wordling Infusion

This is the result of pasting the first-ever post on this blog into Wordle. Click on the image above to enlarge it.

Back to Church Sunday 2008

Sunday 28th September 2008 is Back to Church Sunday 2008. The churches in Loughborough have their own Back to Church Sunday website. The national website has various resources including prayers.

Have you Wordled yet?

Google is a web application that is now regularly used as a verb. Another web tool that looks set to follow this trend is Wordle. It generates “word clouds” from text that you provide, giving greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. Then the clouds can be tweaked with with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The resulting images can be printed or shared via the Wordle gallery.

A number of Christian bloggers have created Wordles from Bible books and passages, for example:
* The Beatitudes (which Emmanuel Church studied over the summer)

* Philippians (forthcoming sermon series at Holy Trinity, Leicester)

Pizza topping in peril

Pizza toppings will be a little less tasty in future now that the anchovy has been highlighted as a "fish to avoid" by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). More info here:

• Over pizzas, over salads but now overfished: demise of the anchovy
  
• In praise of ... little fishes
  
• Read the MSC's updated Advice On Fish Sustainability


• The FISHONLINE website

If you have any tins of anchovies left in the storecupboard you might want to try Janssen's Temptation (scroll down for recipe) - a classic that everyone should try at least once!

And now for the good news...

Information specialist Phil was recently asked "Are there any sites that provide good news? I'm fed up of reading about miserable information!". So he's pulled together a number of good news resources. He concludes his listing by saying: "Take a moment out to read one or two of them. Smile at someone you don't know. And, just for a moment, count how many blessings you have".

A new way to bin the bags

Following on from the journalist's month without plastic, I have given more thought to this myself. Although I take re-usable bags to the supermarket, there’s still the problem of fresh produce and the need to get it weighed and priced (the alternative would be to stick a price label on every single potato or cherry tomato!).

I was therefore thrilled to find, in one of my favourite catalogues, that someone has come up with Weigh & Store Bags. These are reusable bags which mean that "instead of using the polythene ones provided at the fruit and veg counter, [you can] place fresh produce inside Weigh & Store Bags and proceed through the checkout. Back home, you can place these breathable mesh bags and their contents straight in the fridge or cupboard”. An alternative from the funky Onya Bags company is Onya Weigh. This pouch contains 4 strong bags made from tulle (each of which will carry up to 2 kilos of produce).

In both cases the bags are lightweight (so they don’t add to the weight on the scales) and see-through (so the sales assistants can easily see the contents).

Charles Wesley's secret code diary cracked

A priest / academic has unlocked the 270-year-old secrets of Charles Wesley's coded diary, throwing light on the turbulent relationship that he had with his brother John in the early years of the Methodist movement they founded. The cipher for Wesley's journals, partly written in a personal shorthand (when he wrote about sensitive subjects, such as his disputes with John Wesley over the future direction of Methodism), were cracked by the Rev Professor Kenneth Newport. Newport, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Liverpool Hope University, spent nine years transcribing the thousand page hand-written manuscript held in Manchester.

19 September is Tea Time

Whether it’s lapsang souchong or a mug of builders’, it’s hard to beat a nice cup of tea. Unless it’s a nice cup of tea that could help make a fairer world...

On 19 September, Christian Aid is asking people across the world to get together, put the kettle on and help give poor communities the chance of a better future.

• Order your free event pack

• Download free resources – including delicious cake recipes

• Send out your invitations

August means animal stories in the news

Bird-feeding may be banned in Berwick-upon-Tweed but there have been more positive wildlife- and animal-related stories in the media recently:

• A night out with tag-team hedgehog
• Military penguin becomes a 'Sir'
• Wild dolphins tail-walk on water
• Three-legged dog loves train ride
• Animal magnetism

As time goes by...

Infusion was originally known as Emmanuel & St. Mary's 20s & 30's Group when it started in 1996. We changed our name in 2000 for a number of reasons, including the fact that a number of members had become "30ish+" with the passage of time.

So it was interesting to see (via a friend's link on Facebook) that Twenty Thirty, a Christian organisation in the United Kingdom that organises social events for people in their twenties and thirties (whether single, couples or married), has recently expanded to include a wider age range and renamed itself Twenties Thirties Forties.

This blog has previously noted the Looking at life.. ministry from Care for the Family, aimed at supporting "20 and 30-somethings". At least their name will be able to stay the same even the age range moves on...

Magnetic Cattle

Have you ever noticed that herds of grazing animals all face the same way? Images from Google Earth have confirmed that cattle tend to align their bodies in a north-south direction, reports the BBC. The scientists researching this phenomenon have concluded it is that the cattle and other stock are aligning themselves with the earth's magnetic field.

I had to check the date on this story, as it was funny enough to be an April fool's wind-up. What the article doesn't say is whether kangaroos, with their lower greenhouse gas emissions exhibit the same behaviour.

The joy of simply faffing around

How do you spend a Bank Holiday Monday? Visiting relatives or tacking the garden or DIY? As this is the last Bank Holiday until Christmas, maybe you should just take it easy? Read the Guardian on The joy of simply faffing around or perhaps catch up on some sleep....

What should Christians make of the Olympics?

As the 2008 Olympics draw to an end on a Sunday, you may be interested to read a thoughtful blog post on What should Christians, especially those who are non-sports fans, make of the Olympics?

Animal Olympics

I had been hoping that the 2008 Olympics might be an excuse for the BBC to show again two "documentaries" from earlier Games. In the run-up to the 2004 Olympic Games, BBC One's Animal Games proved to be a big hit with viewers. "Athletes" from the mammal, fish, bird, herptile (reptiles and amphibians) and insect worlds competed in human events. All competitors were scaled to human size to allow them to compete against each other. This was followed by the Animal Winter Olympics (which doesn't appear to be available as a DVD) in 2006.

The programmes were light-hearted but informative. An online photo gallery from Animal Games is available.

How splendidly ripping!

Enid Blyton is the UK's best-loved writer, according to a survey conducted for the Costa Book Awards. The popularity of children's writers continues throughout the top 50, with Roald Dahl, JK Rowling, Beatrix Potter, CS Lewis, AA Milne and Dr Seuss included. There's been a lot of media coverage (I caught the BBC, Guardian and Radio 4). Commentators tended to agree that it was "simpler" to write about childhood when Blyton was publishing than now.

Revisit your childhood reading at the Enid Blyton Society and EnidBlyton.net, and see also Nostalgia Publishing.

Virtual Water: How Much Do You Think You Use?

The scale of British water consumption and its impact around the world is revealed in a new report today, which warns of the hidden levels needed to produce food and clothing, reports the Guardian.

The UK has become the sixth largest net importer of water in the world, the environment group WWF will tell a meeting of international experts in Stockholm, with every consumer indirectly responsible for the use of thousands of litres a day. Only 38% of the UK's total water use comes from its own resources; the rest depends on the water systems of other countries, some of which are already facing serious shortages.

A very British Infusion

A site in Cornwall now exports its own highly exclusive tea, reports the BBC. Apparently the local climate is very similar to the foothills of the Himalayas. They even sell the tea to India!

And Yorkshire is not far behind.... Taylors of Harrogate could soon be using Yorkshire-sourced tea, after founding a plantation in North Yorkshire. Perhaps that will cause trading standards difficulties with their flagship brand Yorkshire Tea, however, unless they can grow sufficient quantities of the real Yorkshire Tea to cover the 10 million cups that Taylors claim is consumed per day !

More Ingleton photos

Sigrun has posted three "albums" of photos from the Ingleton Weekend on Facebook (note - you don't need to sign up to see these):

• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

Infusion walks the Cotswolds

Infusion spent a weekend away in Stow-on-the-Wold in August 2006, staying at the local Youth Hostel. We enjoyed good food, fellowship and walking. On the Saturday we did a full-day walk, which was remarkably hilly towards the end and on the Sunday we headed to the Malvern Hills. This photo is of the British Camp from the Malvern Hills; there are additional photos on the website.

Long Distance Walkers’ Association

Helen recently mentioned the Long Distance Walkers’ Association in an email - so it seemed worth publicising their website. They organise lots of events around the country - both Challenge Events and Local Group Events. The website includes a database of over 1,000 long distance paths (with brief route summaries, lists of maps and publications, and cross references to linked routes) and lots of practical tips.

Credit Crunch theology

The blog post Credit Crunch theology: Does God want us to be poor? raises a good question. However, the writer of Proverbs offers a balanced and timeless perspective:

give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:8-9)

Bird-feeding ban!

This is hard to believe but council staff in Berwick-upon-Tweed issued a public health warning to a retired couple telling them to stop feeding birds in their garden. See: RSPB supports couple warned not to feed birds

Recycle a pet?

If you don't want to adopt a retired greyhound (especially Dixie), then maybe you would like to consider adopting an unwanted chicken? The lifespan of an egg-laying battery chicken is 72 weeks, but a rescued 'ex-bat' can live for up to 10 years.

Google Maps: walking directions

Google Maps are beta-testing an application for walking directions.

Eat kangaroo to 'save the planet'

Switching from beef to kangaroo burgers could help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It seems that the methane gas produced by sheep and cows is more potent than carbon dioxide in the damage it can cause to the environment.

Alternatively, one could go vegetarian.....

[picture courtesy of Free Nature Pictures]

Infusion walks Ingleton

It would have been nice to title this Infusion walks the Three Peaks but only three of our number managed that (although a further three managed two out of three Peaks). However the sixteen participants on the 2008 Infusion Walking Weekend all made it up Ingleborough.

Our stay at Ingleton Youth Hostel (lower pic) was made more interesting by the boiler breaking down on Tursday so there was no hot water on Friday night / Saturday morning. As the Hostel was full, four people stayed in a B & B (top pic) - although the proximity of a sign saying "Elderly people" may give the wrong impression!

Ingleton photo gallery

Father, son and holy toast

From today's Guardian comes the story Father, son and holy toast - a discussion of the JesusPan, kitchen gadgets, and religious images appearing on food. The sort of news story that could only appear on a Friday.

The obligatory Olympics post

The 2008 Olympic Games commence today after what seems to have been a very long build-up.

I caught this morning's TFTD on the Olympic Games are a metaphor for life itself with a reminder of Paul's use of this metaphor in 1 Corinthians 9. I also appreciated the mention of Olympic athlete Eric Liddell , who was immortalised in the film Chariots of Fire.

[Posted on 08/08/08]

Time Travel: Is Life Without Plastic Possible?

Following on from all those reports about what plastic is doing to sea life (cf David Shukman's reports from Midway island in the Pacific), and how it is absorbing toxins which are then introduced into the foodchain, BBC reporter Chris Jeavans has taken on the challenge to spend the month of August without plastic. (Where she fails, she is collecting the evidence and comparing it against her usual amount of plastic, to see how much it is possible to cut down.) Cutting down plastic when you live a wasteful lifestyle already is probably pretty easy, but cutting it out entirely sounds like no mean feat & I'll be interested to read how she gets on.

Walking with the fishes: swimhiking

Following lighthouse-bagging, here's another option for those who find merely walking up (and down) hills is not challenging enough: swimhiking. This combines swimming and hiking and the creator says it is the perfect way to get fit and explore the countryside. Read the Guardian article and perhaps the book: Swimhiking in the Lake District and North East England.

"With swimhiking you are freed from the constraints of hiking. On foot, rivers and lakes become a barrier, but if you swimhike you can go much further, or at least in more directions"

Word Spy

The Reader's Digest used to carry a regular feature on "How to improve your word power". Now you can do this online with Word Spy - a Web site devoted to lexpionage, the sleuthing of new words and phrases. These aren't "stunt words" but new terms that have appeared multiple times in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites, and other recorded sources.

Lighthouse bagging

Some people like to "bag" Munros or Corbetts but a recent a Guardian article describes the somewhat different challenge of lighthouse bagging:

"You need a head for heights and sturdy sea legs to conquer these pinnacles of engineering achievement and testimony to our ceaseless struggles with the sea. The walkers who bag Scotland's 284 Munros have it easy compared with those who undertake the ultimate challenge: visiting all 209 working lighthouses that mark the most treacherous corners of Scotland's coast".

The term pharology is used for the study of signal lights and lighthouses, It comes from Pharos - the huge lighthouse of Alexandria that was built in the third century BC and was one of the tallest man-made structures on earth for centuries.

Making time to think

From the BBC website:

When Barack Obama met David Cameron, the pair got around to discussing thinking time - and the lack of it. It's not just potential leaders of nations who are short of opportunities to reflect on the bigger picture. How can any of us grab thinking time during the working day?

... few of us complain of having too much time, whether at work or at home. As a public service, the Magazine asks how to grab yourself some thinking time - from those who've had time to think about it.

[Image from FreeFoto.com]

Keep taking the Tablets...

Hundreds of pieces of Hollywood movie memorabilia are up for auction on 1 August. The autction will include the tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments (click on item 8) from the 1959 film Ben-Hur. The film starred Charlton Heston and is famous for its chariot race. The tablets were made in consultation with experts in their field and only five pairs of the tablets are known to still exist.

If you prefer not to let Hollywood act as your commentary on the Ten Commandments you might be interested to read God's good life: the Ten Commandments for the 21st century (David Field), Mere Morality: What God Expects From Ordinary People (Lewis Smedes) or Smoke On The Mountain: an interpretation of the Ten Commandments (Joy Davidman).

Hitting the high notes on Snowdon

Forget concert halls and theatres: three cellists have scaled new heights to perform their music.

This is a wonderful news story about a trio of cellists who climbed Snowdon, carrying their heavy instruments on their backs and then played together at the top. It was the latest mountain in their challenge to play at the top of the highest peaks in the UK and Ireland. The self-styled "extreme cellists" have so far raised over £3,000 from their mountain music challenge, which will be donated to a spinal injury charity and mountain rescue organisations.

Sandcastle engineering

If you are heading to the coast this summer you may be interested in the science of building sandcastles - there are several links here, including one to amazing sand sculptures from around the world.

[Image from FreeFoto.com]

GOOSHING: the ethical shopping tool

I entered a recent Cafédirect competition and was delighted to win a copy of The Good Shopping Guide!

This tipped me off about GOOSHING - the free ethical shopping tool. Using GOOSHING makes it easy to buybrands from the most responsible companies at the cheapest price… and boycott those corporates that don’t care about animal welfare, human rights or the environment. The price search tool seeks out the lowest prices available - on 250,000 products from over 350 shops. GOOSH away.....

Star in a reasonably-priced TARDIS

A fun idea by staff at the BBC has resulted in a "hilarious mash up of Doctor Who and Top Gear": Star in a reasonably-priced TARDIS. This combines clips of the TARDIS in flight from the show with David Tennant's appearance in Top Gear's Star In A Reasonably Priced Car slot. It shows Jeremy Clarkson talking Tennant through a lap in the TARDIS and when the clip was shown to Clarkson and Top Gear's Executive Producer they loved it and agreed that it could be put online.

Walking gear: sales and reviews

The Infusion walking weekend is only six days away.... If you need new or replacement walking gear and clothes check out livefortheoutdoors.com website (home of Trail and Country Walking magazines) for reviews of particular products, and the Ramblers provide good generic advice on walking kit on their website. There are a lot of sales on at the moment - online as well as in the high street:

• Blacks
• Craghoppers (for the Earl Grey clothes)
  
• Lands End (or visit their outlet in Oakham - free tea & coffee for visitors)
• Millets
• Rohan
  

Blogging break over

The recent blogging break has been unintentional - it was in part due to a new job and the resultant tiredness when adjusting to a new routine, coupled with no longer having access to a really fast laptop. Then came our summer holiday and a hotel with a slow Internet connection.

All this time, though, possible blog topics and links have been bookmarked and a selection will get posted over the next few weeks. The Infusion blog is back....

Wilberforce on the Wasted Life

Check out this blog post, quoting from William Wilberforce's book, A Practical View of Christianity (1797), in which he addressed the defective nature of the Christianity many middle and upper class people in England professed. Wilberforce speaks of people filling up "the void of a listless and languid life" - and the blog author notes "that sounds as if it could have been written about today".

• What is an unwasted life? See the Don't Waste Your Life! website.
• I was reminded of the book Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment: Learning to Live with Passion and Wonder by Richard Winter
• The Infusion blog series on Wilberforce can be found here.

Knit One, Save One

The Leicester Diocese website alerted me to an appeal from Save the Children UK for knitted hats for babies. They aim is to produce 10 million hats in 2008, which will be sent throughout the world to where they are needed to keep new born babies warm. There is a tag to fill in with each hat which will go to Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street to highlight the appalling death rate among new born babies in many parts of the world. Any baby hat pattern will do or you can get the ‘knit kit’ pattern.

Links round-up

After an unintended blogging break, here are a few links I thought worth noting:

MPs launch Faith in the Future report: a report from a cross-party group of MPs (including local MP Andy Reed) which finds that, despite unprecedented levels of financial security and good health, Britons are no happier today than fifty years ago. Report based on a two-year process of consultation with church leaders and policy experts.

Christian Bookshops — who needs them?: a blog post on the vital role that Christian bookshops have a to play in Christian mission.

Mobile phones more important than wallets: a survey has found that more than one-third of workers would choose their mobile phone over their wallet, keys, laptop or digital music player if they had to leave the house for 24 hours and could take only one item.

Green myths?: article which says that media, individuals and business often focus on the wrong issues rather than putting their efforts towards combating the main contributors to our carbon footprint. Lists environmental activities that "do little more than salve our conscience, making us feel we are doing something good, thus diverting attention from the real problem areas". Ouch!

National Liftshare Day (June 9th)

National liftshare Day aims to raise the profile of carsharing and encourage and enable more people give it a try. Leicestershare.com (the Leicestershare Car Share scheme) has been set up to make it as easy as possible for you to find a match for your journey. It is free to use and has been designed for both drivers and passengers.

Prayers to ease exam stress

Infusion numbers several teachers amongst its ranks, and the Church of England has published a selection of prayers offering reassurance to students and teachers in coping with the current examination period. See also this post on prayers and meditations that were written with education in mind.

The disappearing Doctor Who knitting patterns

I blogged on Dr Who Tardis and Dalek knitting patterns last month and today the Guardian - "Hands off the Doctor Who knitting circle" - has alerted me to the fact that a blogger (Mazzmatazz), who created knitting patterns for Doctor Who-related objects and published them under Creative Commons licenses, has been instructed to remove them from her website by the BBC.

On a mystery-related note, this Saturday's episode features the Agatha Christie storyline - don't forget to check out the book titles in the dialogue!

Something Understood: the potentially subversive nature of walking

On a Sunday morning and/or night I often drift in and out of sleeping and catch parts of Something Understood through the radio headphone under my pillow. The theme for last Sunday's episode was One Foot in Front, in which Mark Tully considered "the potentially subversive nature of walking. While walking may have immense therapeutic benefits, it is also about protest and pilgrimage." You can see the readings and music selected for this episode here or listen again until Sunday.

Job satisfaction

Blogging has taken a bit of a backseat recently, with the heatwave and starting a new job. In connection with the latter, this blog post on job satisfaction was timely and thought-provoking.

Web-enabled walking

Ahead of the Leicestershire Walking Festival in two months time (Saturday 5th July), this is the first in a series on Internet resources for walkers. First up are some free resources from Leicestershire County Council:

• Parish Walks Series: This popular series of leaflets provide written directions and a map; all routes are circular and range in distance from 1 - 9 miles. Leaflets can be downloaded direct from the website or requested by email.
• Walking Through Time - Staunton Harold: download map and route directions for three walks
• Walks to Nature - Charnwood: download map and route directions for the Outwoods

[Above right: logo from Leicestershire County Council's Parish Walks series]

Make mine Fairtrade

A lovely cup of tea just got even better. Cafédirect are offering tea lovers 50p off any pack of 80 tea bags from the Teadirect range. Just pick up a pack of Teadirect, Teadirect Decaffeinated, or new Teadirect Gold before 30 June 2008, then hurry back home to put the kettle on. So, if you keep meaning to switch to Fairtrade tea, now is the time to do so!

Blogging Birthday!

The Infusion blog was launched a year ago on Friday 4 May 2008, and this is post number 258. These are the topics that crop up most frequently:

• faith (50)
• environment (26)
• food (25)
• Christmas Countdown (24)
• Internet (23)
• tea (21)
• church (19)
• walks (19)
• Fairtrade (17)
• Lent (17)
• books (17)
• coffee (14)

Search engine gives revenue to good causes

I've just come across a new online search engine with a social purpose, which gives 50 per cent of its advertising raised revenue to good causes. Each search using VeoSearch.com generates income from advertising, half of which is then donated to sustainable development projects, promoted on the website. Users of the search engine also have the opportunity to set up an account for free and nominate causes to benefit.

The search engine does not perform its own searches, but uses Google, Yahoo, Ask and Exalead. The search engine has already dealt with more than 17,900,000 searches and has over 33,000 members, generating more than £19,900 for good causes. Visit www.VeoSearch.com to start searching - the website also provides more information about how it works, the charities that benefit and how to set up a personal account.

deovox: an update

Damaris soft-launched deovox, a free audio devotional aimed at helping people get back into regular bible study, in February. Following feedback, the developers have come up a number of improvements. The intention is to provide a devotional guide for use by individuals, enabling them to benefit from each episode more than once. Damaris aim to release two episodes a week: these will provide a resource that can be used throughout the week and the devotional guides will help people to get the most out of each episode. Each episode contains a wealth of material that guides the listener deep into each passage.

The next episode has just been released, with a daily devotional guide. You can sign up for the Deovox Update email which will link the two recent episodes and provide daily devotions for the following week, or just check out the deovox website.

Of First Importance blog

Of First Importance is a daily devotional blog: each day it will provide a thoughtful quote to help you remember what's "of first importance": the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are options for email delivery (see right hand side of blog) and RSS feeds.

WebWatch: Manage your money

Christianity magazine has a regular WebWatch column, with themed reviews of Internet sites. This month the theme is Manage your Money:

"Over the last couple of months we’ve been analyzing how the Web can help Christians with their stewardship of all God has given. We’ve spoken about stewardship of your time and your thoughts, but we haven’t yet addressed the area most people instinctively think of when they hear the word “stewardship”... Your money.

So let’s talk about it now. How do we use our finances effectively in God’s service? How do we even get them under control? Can the Internet really help? Well, yes it can, in a mind-boggling variety of ways."

Dilemmas of a time traveller

This week's CultureWatch from Damaris includes an article on the moral dilemmas raised in a recent episode of Doctor Who: Dilemmas of a time traveller. The themes of choices, responsibility, suffering, morality, and ethics are considered in the light of the Doctor's decisions in episode two of the current series 'The Fires of Pompeii’. The article concludes with some recommended reading for a fuller treatment of the problem of suffering.

Walk to Work Day

Did you know that today was Walk to Work Day? The Walking Works campaign from Living Streets aims to encourage people to leave their car keys on the sideboard and walk all or some of their way to work. Read the musings of the BBC website on the topic.

If you only found out about the Walk to Work Day after the event, you can still take part in the Step into Spring Pedometer Challenge which kicks off that day and runs for four weeks. If you keep track of the number of steps you walk, how much calories you burn and how much carbon you save, then send in your results - you could win a digital camera! Click here to find out more.

Dr Who Tardis and Dalek knitting patterns

Instructions for knitting your own Dr Who Tardis and/or Dalek

(courtesy of a tip in the weekly newsletter from www.moneysavingexpert.com).

World Book & Copyright Day (April 23)

Since 1996, World Book and Copyright Day has been celebrated on 23 April to honour books, widely recognized as invaluable cornerstones of societies’ educational, cultural and social systems.

23 April is a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.

It was therefore a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

Blake's "Jerusalem" banned

If your nationality means that you celebrate / note St George's Day, then you may be saddened to hear that Blake's Jerusalem has been banned by a leading British church.

The Patron Saints website is a useful resource should you want to find out a bit more about St George, or indeed the other British patron saints.

Health warning: This blog post was written by a Scot, who is unimpressed by both St George and Jerusalem.

Internet Evangelism Day (April 27)

April 27 is Internet Evangelism Day - a resource for churches, Bible Colleges, groups and individuals because …
... over 1 billion people use the Web
... the Internet is changing the world
... God is using the Web to transform lives
... “We’d love to use the Web for outreach, but we don’t know how”

Their website carries a wide range of resources explaining how best to build church websites, write blogs, create video clips, and interact in many other ways with the worldwide web community, to share the gospel. Includes a free e-book on web evangelism.

Taxonomy of biscuits

Following on from the news that chocolate teacakes are a cake rather than a biscuit, here's a link to a taxonomy of biscuits from the NiceCupOfTeaAndASitDown.com website. Biscuits explained expounds on the difference between biscuits, cakes, crackers, chocolate covered biscuits, and chocolate bars.

If you are still not sure how to spot biscuits, here are three clues:

• They come in packets
• They have two sides
• You could dunk them in tea

Dawkins - and the Doctor and the art critic

Just had to blog this news item that combines a defence against secularism in art (from a non-Christian), Richard Dawkins, and Doctor Who!

The writer defends Christian art - and the Bible as literature - against attack from leading humanists such as Dawkins. He says: "we should celebrate the Christian legacy in western art and society - and stop the Dawkins army from denying us the possibility of drawing inspiration from faith to create the art of the future".

The Doctor Who angle is the news that Professor Richard Dawkins is to appear in the current series as himself. The article pointed me to Outpost Gallifrey, described as "the most popular Doctor Who fan website on the Internet and homepage of online Doctor Who fandom".

Ultimate Bible Quiz

The Bible is a rich and wonderful compilation of 66 different writings, written in many different genres by several different authors. Nearly everyone has read or heard some part of the Bible, but do you know the Old Testament from the New? Do you know the Biblical characters and events? Take this quiz to see!

"I'll have those trousers in Earl Grey, please"

I received the new Craghoppers catalogue over the weekend and noted two features of interest: that one of this season's colour choices for clothing is Earl Grey, and that Craghoppers are now including a small range of Fairtrade clothing (trousers, shirt and fleece) - although this is only a option for menswear.

Competition: win a green Spring Clean

If you keep meaning to use "greener" products for household cleaning, then why not enter a competition to win all you need? Ecover are giving away 25 Ecover Household Starter Packs (containing new Bathroom Cleaner, Multi Surface Cleaner and SquirtEco, plus 2 bamboo cleaning cloths) and 10 runner-up prizes of Healthy Homes Booklet. The Ecover website also offers lots of tips on greener living.

New Infusion Programme online

The Infusion Summer 2008 programme is now available on the website.

Pudding Party

The Infusion Pudding Party took place in Loughborough last night when we sampled a variety of puds - from the calorie-laden to the healthy & fruity.

Here's my recipe for Cranachan:

Ingredients: 2 tablespoons (medium) oatmeal, ½ pint whipping cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 8oz raspberries (fresh, frozen or canned).

Method: Toast oatmeal, then cool. Whisk cream and sugar until thick, then fold in oatmeal and raspberries. Chill for at least two hours before serving.

What was going on outside Emmanuel Church?

Read the Emmanuel Church overview of The Big Picture - a world record breaking community picture built on the grass outside Emmanuel Church in March 2008. Part of Hope 08, it comprised almost 500 panels, each painted by a community group, school or individual. In total around 2,000 people took part in painting the boards, which together made up an 80 metre long and almost 8 metre high picture of the Easter story!

Coffee and Teacakes

A couple of stories that caught my eye this week - expensive coffee and cheaper chocolate teacakes:

• Animal dung coffee at £50 a cup: Fancy a cup of an exclusive coffee? What if it is a gourmet coffee blended from animal droppings and currently being sold at a London department store for £50 per cup. Two rare coffee beans (Jamaican Blue Mountain and the Kopi Luwak bean) are used to create Caffe Raro which is thought to be the most expensive cup of coffee in the world. What makes it unique is that the Kopi Luwak beans - which sell for £324 a kilogram - are eaten, then passed, by the Asian palm civet (a cat-like mammal).

• Teacake set to cost taxman £3.5m: Chocolate teacakes have been wrongly classified as a biscuit for two decades and the European Court of Justice has ruled that the UK Treasury must pay out £3.5m as a result. Customers paid VAT on Marks and Spencer teacakes for 20 years before the authorities accepted the product was a cake, which does not command VAT.

What's in your fridge?

As a result of spending six months in Australia I keep some food items in my fridge (including jam and some fruits) that I never did before - although the need to keep food items cool is less of an issue when you grow up in Scotland! Today the Guardian has an article on What should go in your fridge? discussing the fact that - with the trend towards larger and larger fridges - many of us store an increasing range of foods. The writer talked to a wide range of culinary and food hygiene experts to find out what we should and shouldn't keep in our fridges. It makes for interesting reading!

What's the meaning of green?

In the 1970s Kermit the Frog sang about the hardship of being green (video of its not easy being green) but now the term "green" is now used universally. An article on the BBC website ponders What is the meaning of 'green'? noting that retailers, politicians, High Street firms (especially supermarkets) have jumped on the bandwagon, and an entire industry of smaller green firms has been developed.

RSS feeds from Emmanuel and St. Mary's

The Emmanuel and St. Mary's website has recently launched RSS feeds to keep you updated with changes to the site. If you're new to the world of RSS then it's an easy and free way of getting only the latest news from a website delivered to you (there's more from Wikipedia HERE or from the BBC help pages HERE).

If you do use an RSS reader, Google Sidebar or similar, this is a new and easy way of getting the very latest news from Emmanuel or St. Mary's quickly and easily. Click on the links below to be taken to the special feeds:

• Emmanuel
• St. Mary's
  

Sowing, reaping, keeping

Laurence Singlehurst is Director of Cell UK and former Director of Youth With A Mission, England. Laurence visited Holy Trinity, Leicester last Sunday and preached on 1 John 2:12-17 in the morning and evening; you can listen to his morning and evening sermons online.

In 2006 IVP published Laurence's book Sowing, reaping, keeping: People sensitive evangelism. This book is a book to "help you tell others about Jesus". It takes principles from the parable of the sower and explores what it means to "sow the seed of faith, to reap the harvest when the seed of faith has taken root and to nurture the faith as it grows'.

By offering biblical and straightforward steps, the author provides a helpful framework on deepening encounters and relationships with people, and then guides us through ways in which we (as individuals, groups or churches) can go about each of these stages, seeking God's help at every turn.

Doctor Who does books

In the Year of Reading, its good to see that the new series of Doctor Who (which kicks off on Saturday) features two episodes set in a library and one which features Agatha Christie's ten-day disappearance and provides viewers with the opportunity to "spot how many titles of Christie novels are hidden in the dialogue".

A two-part story Silence in the Library and River's Run apparently promises "an abandoned library, moving shadows, the gruesome Nodes, and the horrifying Data Ghost" - the Radio Times reviewer says the latter is "possibly the most spine-chilling scene I've ever seen, anywhere".

10 stories that could be April Fools... but aren't

From the BBC: 10 stories that could be April Fools... but aren't

However, the Guardian caught me out with this: Deconstructed Delia