Turning books into trees

From my lunchtime scan of Metro: The artist who turns books into trees. Su Blackwell creates paper models from old novels. Her creations - which appear to grow out of the spine of the book - include forests, buildings, people and boats. They sell for up to £5,000 each.

Job hunting in the recession

Evangelicals Now magazine offers Practical tips on how to find a job after redundancy for Christians, with the following outline:

• Think and pray
• Preparation
• Finding opportunities
• Interviews
• Settling into what's next
• Resources

Lewis and Chesterton for beginners

Following on from Monday's quote from C.S.Lewis, I've just come across a Beginner's Reading List for Lewis and Chesterton that may be of interest if you've always wondered where to start with these "portly, homely, undramatic men" who are "still the bookish Christian's rock stars".

Social media updates

Following today's news that the UK government has published a 20-page guide to Twitter (or "140 character communication explained in too many words"), here are more social media links:

• A Facebook song from the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre
• Tweeting mouse trap and window: a cottage that sends Twitter messages when a mouse is caught, a window shut, or a light switched on
• Can you Twitter the Gospel? ‘Twittering’ the gospel accurately may be a challenge... but Paul gives us the confidence that we can summarise the gospel and stay on the message of Jesus and him crucified. Oh, that’s another summary and that is — what? — 15 characters in total in English: ‘We preach Christ crucified’ (1 Corinthians 1.23)".
  

Leicestershire Round goes Audio‏

The Leicestershire Round is on the radio. Chris Baxter, the afternoon presenter on BBC Radio Leicester has recently walked the Round and 10 minute recordings of his travels are being featured on his programme for the next two weeks. They're also available as RealAudio files on the BBC Leicester website. Along with some nice mellow music it's reminiscent of Julia Bradbury's walking programmes on TV.
[provided by Andrew]

C.S.Lewis on tea and books

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough for me" - C.S.Lewis

[ad for the British Library cafe - "visit our cafe to refresh both mind and body"]

Happy International Cup of Tea Day

Rather belatedly I have discovered that the last Sunday in July is now designated International Cup of Tea Day. Perhaps next year Infusion should celebrate with a tea party!

Summer reading from IVP

The IVP annual summer sale is now in full swing, with many titles available for as little as half price! Sale prices are available at participating Christian bookshops or via the IVP website at www.ivpbooks.com/sales. You can also download a copy of the sale brochure here.

Swine flu: impact on communion

On Thursday The Archbishops of Canterbury and York wrote to Bishops in the Church of England recommending the suspension of the sharing of the chalice at communion. The Archbishops’ letter follows advice from the Department of Health not to share “common vessels” for food or drink. For those who wish still to offer both bread and wine, the Archbishops have recommended use of “personal intinction by the presiding minister” allowing the priest to dip communion wtafers in the chalice before handing them out to communicants.

Elsewhere, thermometers sell out with swine flu scare and prayers for the pandemic.

New rituals for the British summer

The BBC website on emerging trends that say much about Britain in the 21st Century: new rituals for the British summer.

Divine competition

Divine Fairtrade chocolate will be launching a new flavour in stores inthe autumn: 70% Dark Chocolate with Raspberries will join the range in September.

To become one of the first to try the rich dark chocolate infused with real zesty raspberries, enter the competition to win an exclusive bar. Closing date is 31 July.

Plastic bag revolution

Government figures reveal that shoppers are rejecting plastic bags - the national use of plastic bags has halved to 450m since 2007. This has been heralded as a "small green revolution".

Rohan Bags beat the RPI (or MBI)

Rohantime has been tracking the price of Rohan Bags from 1978-2009 against the Mars Bar Index. Why? It’s not often that an item of clothing can be tracked over 30 years because products change so often or are superseded, up or down graded. However, this is possible with Rohan Bags - soon be celebrating over 30 years of continuous manufacturing means that the Bags Price Index can be tracked over all those years. And the Mars Bar Index? Apparently the price of a Mars Bar correlates accurately with the change in value of the pound sterling since World War II.

The price of a Mars Bar has increased by 300% over the years. During the same period, Bags reveal a slightly smaller percentage increase. Read the full results.

World Ebook Fair - 2 million free titles

Until August 4, 2009, the World Ebook Fair is being held and you can have access to over 2 million ebooks for free. Go here to check out the massive selection of ebooks which are available.

Cost of a cuppa is rising

Further news about the rising cost of tea. The blog broke the news back in May: tea news

Celebrating 40 years since Apollo 11 Landing

A Wordle of Neil Armstrong's words from the Apollo 11 mission

• NASA website: Apollo 40th Anniversary features
• The Science of Apollo 11
• Apollo 11 Landing's 40th Anniversary celebrated, new footage released

In the Thick of It

Tearfund have been working with local churches around the world for over 40 years, and are passionate about the role that local churches play in meeting practical and spiritual needs. Believing that their role should be recognised and encouraged, the charity has put together In the Thick of It, a position paper on the role of the local church in development.

The paper is full of stories about local churches in tough situations, reaching out to the people around them and offering hope and help in times of need. Read the press release to learn more about Tearfund's vision of mobilising churches to get even better at working effectively within their own communities.

The Unquenchable Flame‏

The Unquenchable Flame: introducing the Reformation, by Mike Reeves has recently been published:

Burning pyres, nuns on the run, stirring courage, comic relief: the story of the Protestant Reformation is a gripping tale, packed with drama. But what motivated the Reformers? And what were they really like?

In this lively, accessible and informative introduction, Michael Reeves brings to life the colourful characters of the Reformation, unpacks their ideas, and shows the profound and personal relevance of Reformation thinking for today.

The Theology Network has a whole host of resources to accompany the book.

The C-factor test / Portrait of Calvin

If you followed up the earlier post about Calvin, you may wish to take the Take the ‘C-factor’ test to find out if you are a closet Calvinist. Developed in the Netherlands, read more about the poll online.

You may also be interested in a free e-book: Portrait of Calvin by T.H.L. Parker with a foreword by John Piper. This reprint of T.H.L. Parker’s classic biography commemorates the 500th anniversary of Calvin’s birth in 1509. Parker is a former Reader in Theology at the University of Durham in England and an expert on Calvin’s life and thought. Parker’s Portrait was first published in 1954 - but it’s not the kind of book that goes out of date, because it’s only trying to be current with the sixteenth century.

Sounds of summer

The chirp of crickets and grasshoppers is overtaking native songbirds as the sound of the British summer, reports the Guardian today.