another slight at christmas

2 cartoon posts in a row - not good but it sums up the feeling!

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

My sister and i had a long discussion last week about retired people choosing to shop on a Saturday during decemeber - "why would they do that?" was the general jist of the conversation, but the tone of the conversation later turned to a more dictorial approach! we decided that any who did not work monday to friday should not be allowed to shop on a Saturday during December!

O the world would be so much better if I ruled it!

great cartoon

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Love it, want it, need it, have it...

over the last week I have had 2 experiences that makes me want to start a revolution about Christmas.
1.
Yesterday Mum and I entered the fray that is known as Christmas shopping! We left early to go to Cribbs (always a traumatic experience) in high spirits with a short list knowing exactly what family members wanted. By shop three my head began to throb, the relentless Christmas music, sparkley lights, the screaming children and the sheer volume of people were entirely to blame - the joy of giving gifts was beginning to wear thin and the idea of cheap and fun stocking fillers was over.
The final straw for me came when we went into a well known high st clothes shop and their slogan "love it want it need it have it" was plastered everywhere.
Where on earth was God in all this.

2.
Last week at work a board member started a series of email discussions (never a good idea) about a party that has been organised by staff members and it is called a winter celebration.

This is an ongoing argument in an increasingly multi-cultural society - are we alienating people by using the term Christmas or is it part of our heritage. From a personal perspective if something is a Christmas celebration - then it should be called a Christmas celebration and I know from my Muslim colleagues that they are not at all offended by this. But what is a Christmas celebration?

The parts that disturbed me about the email was: people's understanding of what Christmas is, what is a Christmas celebration and the use of this discussion to further alienate people of different faiths from our communities.
the email went along the lines of "Christmas is about good will to all men" and "a time for family and eating and drinking."
Everything in me screamed no it isn't. This is what we have made it...
Is Christmas about getting as many presents as humanly possible, is it about drinking as much as you can and is it about eating as much as you can.

I found myself returning to my more evangelical days of thought! Surely Christmas is about the Word being made flesh, a time to celebrate Jesus's birth. Feasts and presents are appropriate but not what Christmas is about, they are a way of marking this significant occasion. Somehow we have been dragged into this consumerist world where there is no mention of Jesus.
Along time ago I took part in a drama/skit as part of the Christian Union at school (you probably know it) where there is a photo shoot at Christmas - it starts with the Holy family and gradually all the trappings we put onto Christmas are added in and in the end the photographer gets rid of the manger with the baby Jesus in. Part of my cringes slightly with embarrassment when I recall this! But part of me also thinks this is what we are allowing society to do.
How, as someone who believes that the son of God being born is a central tenant to my faith, do I reclaim Christmas? I enjoy giving and receiving gifts, I enjoy the feasts we make, I like the fact we get time off from work and I enjoy spending time with people I love - but I think I would be ready to give this all up for it to be something more 'real'.


(The additional point about the email and how it was used to further alienate people is a whole other blog! But in short, the tone of the email was about blaming Muslims (in particularly) and those that work in the community to try and bring unity for having Christmas "taken away" from them. In my experience the part of Christmas that alienates Muslims is the amount of alcohol we consume and the location of these Christmas parties. I also think in a society where increasing number of people do not subscribe to any religion - is it even appropriate to have Christmas parties? The organisers of the party felt particularly strongly that the party had nothing to do with Christmas but was about a closure of a building and an opportunity to socialise with other people)


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Having just published this blog I went off to read what others had been up to this week and discover Paul has been blogging on a similar theme - maybe we could start the revolution together?!

Bank of America

this is unbelievable! i think the scariest thing is that it might be real!

click here for this Bank of America video

to the tune of One by U2 (one of my all time favourite songs!)
"one bank
one card
one name that is known all over world

one heart
filled with spirit
with feeling, with sharing

one bank working every day
to bring higher standards, higher standards
one....."

(thanks for this one Jonny)

Kick it out

On friday myself and 2 colleagues ran an event for inner city primary school children at the City Academy to raise awareness about racism in football. Knowing nothing about football the day was quite enlightening to me! 7 schools (14 teams inc 5 girls team) took part in a morning of football games. and then in the afternoon we ran a forum theatre piece that looked at racism in football as well as touching on other issues, like pressure from parents, conflict of training over school work etc. Kick it out is a national organsisation that works with the FA to tackle racism within football.

Last week was their focus for the year, when lots of events take place including 30 community events (of which we were one!).
We had a great day - though I was somewhat exhausted after hearing over 100 9-11 yr olds scream all day! The one down side was that the theatre group had not checked out the venue in which we were running the theatre and due to it being a sports hall and other pupils at the City Academy were using it as well, we could not hear anything (not good) after a quick relocation though, the day was salvaged - big lesson learnt there - and the children seemed to get lots from the day. This part of the job I enjoy!
The one aspect of the day that seemed to really disturb me though was the parents that had decided to come along. They were not offically invited but apparently some parents always come along when their 'little darling' is playing. They were horrible - screaming at the children to run faster, kick harder, pass quicker and also screaming at referees (who happened to be 6th formers from the City Academy who are doing a qualification in Community Sports Coaching). The language they used was appalling (given they were surrounded by children). They complained it was not a knockout tournament and that there was no trophy (depsite the winners of each group getting prizes) I have to say not much shocks me - but this did! what happened to enjoying a game of football without making it so competative that children end up in tears and feeling like they are letting their parents down at every turn. I felt like the parents had missed the point of the day but thankfully the children seemeed to get it!

London and things

Yesterday I was in London for the beginnings of GB 07 planning - yes really!, after my meeting I headed down to the Tate Modern with Jonny to have a look at the slides that are the new installation in the Turbine Hall - first question we asked was "is this art?' to be honest does it really matter? As it looked like great fun as the tall ones are very fast! in that space you need to have something very experiential and so this fitted the bill perfectly, as I was leaving a school group had gathered to cheer their teachers as they hurtled down the slides! Bet they went home with great stories of their trip to London! there are some pretty poor pictures (taken on my mobile) here and some better ones here (not taken by me!)


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Jonny blogged today about a fantastic sounding book - recommend you have a look - it is good to hear that people are writing stuff that is challenging and culturally relevant

Photos of weekend

As promised there are some pictures on flickr of our weekend in the Cotswolds - there are various slide shows on Steve's flikr account, but click here for the Hailes Abbey ones

A Cotswolds delight

this weekend was our first wedding anniversary (can't believe it is a year already!), and we went away to the Cotswolds for a couple of nights and had a lovely time. The Cotswolds are so charming with beautiful countryside, B&B's that let Frank (the dog) stay as well and quaint English towns. One of the highlights for me was an unexpected discovery of Hailes Abbey, a Cistercian Abbey that was established in approx 1240 and ran for about 300 years until is was dissolved and the building was ransacked for stone, glass, sculptures etc. What is left today is a mere outline of the building before.
With the entrance ticket comes an audio tour - I don't usually like these things but as it was free... It was very well done though, giving you space and time to wonder through the ruins and imagine the monks going about their daily routines. The audio tour drew you into the story to the extent when an older woman who was visiting, who was just behind us on the tour exclaimed to her husband "Eric the pastor at Stanway [a local village] has stolen the abbey's windows!" as if it was the current vicar who was liable for the crime!
There was something extremely peaceful about the ruins - so far from the hustle and bustle of daily life, with the fields surrounding you, you can see how monks would find it easier to seek God on this environment.
(pictures to follow hopefully)

Autumnwatch

for the first time the BBC are doing an Autumnwatch (instead of the usual Springwatch) there is something extremely compelling about these programmes, (despite not being a huge fan of bill odie!) I don't know if it is watching everyday nature up close and unfolding on a day to day basis, when you can't get out yourself and do that?

I am loving the Red deer parts of the programme - mainly because it is filmed on Rum! which is a beautiful Scottish Island on the west coast of scotland.

There is also a seal diary - which is filmed on another scottish island (the Monach Isles) off the west coast of Lewis (the outer hebridies)

if you've not seen it i would recommend watching it (BBC2 week nights at 8pm)

Work v leisure time?

Sunday evenings are my time to just be by myself - I usually watch the re-runs of west wing. This Sunday I also indulged in a little bit of without a trace' - a typical American cop drama. The theme, as ever, is: a teenage kid goes missing and the team of agents have to find them before they wind-up dead. Tonight there was an extra spin on it though - institutionalised racism.
2 kid go missing, one is a white girl, one is a black boy. The white girl gets all the publicity and media focus, all the agents are pulled of the black boys case and put on to the white girls case and so on. This is challenged at various points through-out the programme but nothing happens to change it. The programme ends with us being told one is dead and one is alive and finishes with the chief approaching the 2 mothers to tell them the news - we never find out which one it is that has been killed.
Every working day I have to deal with institutional racism as part of my job - it is not normally that blatant though. It can be very demoralising and wearing working within a context that means you have to battle twice, may three or four times harder to be heard, to have achievements acknowledged, to ensure the black residents are getting their fair share of the deal in the area, to explain over and over why perhaps people need to think more creatively about engagement and barriers, why there might be a need for a specific service for refugees and so on.
Prior to working where I do - I had not really ever given a great deal of thought to these matters in the way I have to now, I know for me, whatever I go on to do with my life, having worked as a race equality officer has given me an insight into "Great Britain" I never would have had - not one I particularly like or am proud of either. So despite Without a Trace being a little predictable and corny and too sugary sometimes - good on them for even thinking to raise the issue!

What do you blog!

Well I have succumb to my own internal pressures to start this blogging business. Very strange as I am sure I am talking to myself! As yet I am not entirely sure the theme of my rants but hope it will reflect conversations I am in at the moment. I also was keen to swell the ranks of female bloggers!