prague

are now in the czech republic, ben and charlotte will be arriving in an hour or so - forgot how cheap beer is here - cheaper than coke - about 30p for a pint of luurrvely tasting dark lager. also had a smazny sear (sp?) ie a deep fried breadcrumbed disc of cheese in a roll...mmmmm.... yummy.

also forgot about the spiritual oppression lurking around the place. doesnt really affect me at all, but gets bea pretty quickly.

lord of the rings

"the hands of the king are the hands of a healer; so shall the rightful king be known"

jrr tolkien, return of the king.

going to prague email

hi all - while we're in prague, you wont be able to contact us at the moogaloo.com emails (well you can, but we wont get them till we get home). fortunately, you can still email us the following: (the pic is partly cause it looks kinda cool, but also, it seems putting you email on a web page is a good way of getting on the spam mail lists, which i would really like to avoid, hence a pic of the address!)

stone circles etc...

found this cool little site full of photos of stone circles, standing stones, barrows, and (for the people who were at a conference of the same name recently) cairns, and so, in the absence of any autumn leaves photos, here's a pic of merrivale standing stone in devon.

some of the history behind them is pretty odd - folklore about king arthur, other kings of england, stones going for drinks at the local pubs...

autumn colours

on a more positive note, i've noticed that the autumn leaves have been particularly colourful this year - hodgson tells me its cause its been so dry, so the leaves have been more stressed, hence the brighter pinky-reds we've enjoyed the past week or two.

i s'pose i should have had a few photos to supplement this little observation for all our international friends...

off to prague tomorrow. yay!

and i've sorted out the lack of titles appearing in the blog space. my limited knowledge of html still suprises me.

sorry....

hmmm... sorry about that last post - must have feeling a bit cranky - i find it a bit boring always having issues with the church. sorry if anyone got overly offended tho i guess that was the point of it.

i think i'm just a bit too idealistic, but then end up cynical cause i dont see the church dynamically moving in the freedom and creativity of what it could be, so i just end up seeing it as a bit of an embarrassment. i would really like to love the church, but have been hurt by it so much - wondering how long can someone stay with a spouse that abuses them.

just read some good stuff at ben a's blog... it also gave me hope. or at least something to think/ bitch about:

"Finding the current discussions on Anglican Bishops v. sad. I guess the stakes are high for both involving a potent mix of sexual identity and belief in who men are, in what love is and in what God's word says.

For me, I think I know what is in the bible about it all but I know too that we re-interpret other parts with no qualm of conscience and call it context or whatever, so it seems a bit hypocritical to say that we can't do others. So maybe that makes me more of an anglican than an anglican't - but most of my friends would prob be the other way round."

read the other related bits here

there's also some really good words on the trinity too, being a part of God's dynamic relationship, joining in it all.

but where was i... ah yes something to bitch about...

i know i've said it before, but all too often you hear parts of the bible read out and taken word for word, and anyone doing otherwise is treated with the suspicion reserved for "those wooly liberals". creation for example. sex before marriage. homosexuality. tithing is another good one. all things that have their verses about them, rarely overly expicit, but all accepted as truth.

but wait there.... women in leadership? women speaking in churches? men with long hair? women with their heads uncovered?! all things warned against (and pretty explicitly as well), but (fortunately
for the irrelevant church trying to keep up (cf homosexuality)) these things are things we can "understand" in the context of the times, and when God's word says "i do not permit a woman to speak in church" God wasn't really saying that was he?! surely he wasn't... how un-PC of him... so maybe when God says he doesnt agree with sex before marriage, he didnt really mean that either... i mean what parts of the bible are we s'posed to believe as truth?!

personally i'm all up for women in leadership, but it does leave the church in a difficult position when it comes to other things that's for sure...

...or maybe the church isn't s'posed to have everything figured out. maybe God isnt as easy to understand as reading a book. maybe we (the evangelical church) should stop trying to figure every damn thing out and presenting them as absolute, God's own truths (until we change it a few years later as the culture changes around us) and leave it a bit more open ended. God is so much much more than we'll ever know.

maybe we're not s'posed to have all the answers - maybe then we'll stop treating the world with such pity, contempt and arrogance thinking we're there to fix its problems from our superior position of "Godly" morals and truths. i mean how patronising!!

hows about looking at the world and seeing what it can offer us, what it can show us about God's character. how about actually relating to the world in an equal level of respect, not seeing it as a provider-client situation, us needing to feed the morally impoverished and lost world beneath us? oh wait - that would be because the church has fostered a provider-client attitude within itself where we're force fed stuff from our leaders above us, with no place to disagree or discuss, instead of us being taught to take responsibility for our lives and our friends around us, and being shown the trust to listen to God for ourselves.


as one person in austin said, "the church should deal with it's own shit before trying to sort out everyone elses"

what'll happen when the revolution comes? who will stay at st toms? who will stay in the church? who will be forced out? who will be silenced? who will become the forgotten casualities of war?

what will God make of it all? what will he think of His Bride abusing and self-harming herself?

perhaps i'm being a bit too antagonistic... maybe i just agree with something ben said and got a bit carried away... keep it coming.

damp proofers in today.

beas first day back at work.

2 days till we go to prague.

just read a very nice little essay by andrew jones at ncubator - the article might not be there much longer though....

i wonder what else i can read waiting for the lab to finish...

i'm sure the 2 in question won't mind me saying it, but i'm glad to have some non-believers a part of our blogging community.

(i hope they also don't mind the "non-believer" label! i'm personally finding myself more and more turned off by the label "non-christian", as if the "christian" label should mean anything to anyone anymore anyway - i'm sure God's more interested in what you believe than what label you give yourself, or what religious movement you align yourself to or not.)

more students not turning up/ cancelling lectures... need to go for a walk - sheffield's getting a little boring to walk round all day, every day, and my job is really getting too dull to be doing all year - really need a better job... if only this job wasn't so depressing, i might actually do something about it... and what have i now got to look forward to? 2 hours sitting in a room doing pretty much nothing.

good news tho - steven's bro, mike has set up a blog, as has si wilkins. both are looking like they're gonna be a good daily read. their mug shots will be on the side bar soon....

the maid of llanwelyn

and i got my player a couple of days ago - its lurvely - been listening to the be good tanyas, kate rusby, bellwether and gillian welch all around town the past couple'a days. aside the kate rusby - its felt nicely out of place listening to optomistic american bluegrassy stuff in the grey, dull (and now wet) city of sheffield.

so today, i've earnt just over £60 for sitting in rooms and not writing a single word (except "did not attend" on my time sheet!). and dont feel too depressed - maybe it's the music....

may have noticed form the film list we've been doing a bit of backdating to our dvd collection - wild things, 4 weddings.., gattaca. got the piano also to watch some time soon too.

and tonight, "crazy man" hodgson's coming for tea - i think we're getting take away of some sort. then we're off to see the band i used to be in, stoney lacuna (fka mark stoney) playing in town.

tomorrow, i'm meeting up with dan to keep working through the list of oktoberfest beers at the devonshire cat - maybe i am a completer finisher after all...

then hodgson's got his housewarming on saturday.

and we'll be in prague this time next week.

not sure why i feel a little down - with all this stuff coming up (and a house thats coming along nicely - by the beginning of december, we should have a fully functioning, carpeted, leather sofa'd, nicely painted front room with a roaring log fire to toast crumpets on whilst watching films and drinking wine....mmmmm....) i should be a lot happier... i guess i am.... going home now 2 hours early.

ooooo..... to echo (and reprint more quotes from derek and amy's blog) here's some more very interesting stuff to read:

"His promise over our generation still stands. He calls us a prophetic generation. We weren't just supposed to be the Mac generation, or the Christian rock generation. We were actually supposed to carry a pretty heavy mantle of creative power and prophecy, as well as a gift from God to name our elders and the power generation coming after us. "

read the rest here.

those little errors that our page had are now gone - it seemed i copied our blog html code in twice. whoops.

the lounge has now been done - big well done to bea for doing it (and having a bit of fun in the process - certainly helped her depression!), and a big thank you to those that helped her do it all.

had the electrician in this morning to isolate the wires, then bea started on the walls - it was scary how easily the wall plaster came off - didnt really need any chisels etc - most just came off by bashing it with the hammer and then pulling it off with the claw part of it.

i've had a massive head cold all day so i've not been doing a lot except walking around like a zombie, blowing my nose and sleeping. not nice.

very exciting - my mini mp3/ wma player and matrix: reloaded dvd have been dispatched, and should hopefully arrive early next week-ish.

a couple of photos of vivs before and after:

today is viv's birthday - she'll be shaving her head for a charity called TOSTAN who educate and support cultures where they practise Female Genital Cutting (FGC). we gave viv a bible for her birthday (as had been requested) - it is a perfect size for carrying in a bag but is still substantial enough to bash people over the head with. viv is going to be reading it alongside the koran - you can read about her thoughts and ponderings at her new blog.

last night andy and i were at the finalists prize giving dinner for the enterprise challenge we've been a part of. unfortunately we were'nt in the running for a prize because we were unable to attend the presentation assessment due to me breaking down. it was weird being there because we suddenly realised that this event was a big thing! they had dr. alan hart-davis as speaker who is off the tv and there were 150 people at the dinner, only 12 of whom were actually finalists. suddenly felt quite proud of ourselves.

it was great hanging with derek, amy and drew the other night - it has really refreshed andy and i in terms of having energy to keep going with coffee shop stuff and church stuff. we're asking God to teach us practical warfare - andy and i are seeking to find out more about our identity in heaven - it's been suggested that at the heart of it all, i'm a worshipper and andy is a teacher.

hey shannon - keep meaning to ring but am either too tired or i forget. the intention is there and thank you for ringing us. a real blessing. by the way shannon, you'll be pleased to hear that the neighbours may not be sleeping as well as they used to. i think there is potential for them to be woken up at least twice a week, sometimes more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i love you stacy!

andy and i could do with help!

this weekend we'll be stripping out our dreadful fireplace surround monstrosity and we'll also be taking all the plaster off the walls in our lounge. we need to get it done this weekend so please can you help?

we're going to get masks and tools but if you have a mask and the right tool then can you bring it. also, can you email or ring us just to give us an idea of how many people will help.

ALSO, i've booked a 4 tonne skip so if you're trying to get rid of stuff then there will probably be space in the skip. can you check first though!

had another little film marathon yesterday - only 3 films, but they were all pretty good. was good to see barnaby again too, as it was hugh, and also rob who all made it to the films for at least part of the day.

i'm pleased to say that the sub was every bit as good as the ones in america. they even did the loyalty "sub club" card thing. they really were a foot long, and so full they were overflowing with stuff. as a starter/ tester i had the good ol' chicken teriyaki. very impressed i was. in fact the only thing different to the US ones was the price - they're not cheap....

oh well.

jen & frans wedding today. wish 'em well.

as an end of week (!) treat, i'm going to subway for lunch - see how healthy it is here!!

i actually brounght a sandwich, but after eating a bowl of muesli (that was more like a bowl of wet newspaper - viv told me after i ate it that i was s'posed to mix it with some other stuff to make it more edible) for breakfast, i've got quite hungry.

i know they're not gonna be up to the american standard of sub, but anyway.

saw bad boys 2 last night - i've not really enjoyed such a good straight out action film like that for a looong time - highly recommended viewing!

getting so impatient waiting for my mp3/ wma player - its taking ages to come in - cant wait!

plus it's coming in the same package as matrix: reloaded (which i'm certainly looking forward to)

my arms been aching a bit today - maybe all that note taking i've been doing over the years is giving me RSI!... shouldnt joke really.

"there are more people on antidepresants than voted for pop idol. maybe we should be listening to someone else."

a samaritans ad i saw today

by the way, we can spell the word antidepressants, its just there seems to be something making it do odd things (as you can see...) - the internet can be a wierd place... moogaloo.com is no way affiliated or endorsing the use of serenity (!!) antidepresants.

i am about to go and help jen and fran with their wedding prep and then i am going with cathers to see "raising victor vargas" at the cinema. andy doesn't want to see it so i'm taking the opportunity to not miss out!

in case you're wondering, i am still really struggling with depression and I have decided to go onto anti-depresants which should take a couple of weeks to kick in. i am still signed off work by my doctor.

my email has been strangely quiet these last few days - apart from the incredible emails the so many of you sent me, it made me realise that so many of the emails i receive are replies or business based. i used to love writing letters because it was so personal and there is nothing better than the post arriving and a handwritten letter waiting for you. i think i might start writing letters again.

Congratulations! You're a fuzzy navel!!


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yesterday and today have been better days. i am back at the doctor's tomorrow.

i am sooo bored... i've sat in front of computers for well over 4 hours today, with nothing to do but wander around the internet - i mean theres really not that much stuff worth looking at on it. and when i'm not sitting at computers, i'm wandering town (again, not much to do there) or waiting for students who don't turn up.

i wish i did have some tequila right now... this job makes me wanna do something stupid.

Congratulations!! You're a shot of some good old
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good to know.

the italian job was a pretty good film - more of a sequel than a remake. like a cross between the original and oceans 11. apparently gigli wasnt completely awfull, and did actually have some redeeming features.

and to clarify, i have been to the theatre, just not seen a play. thank you viv.

went to see midsummer nights dream on monday - it was amazing - i mean i've never been to see a play before i dont think, especially a shakespeare, and if i have i dont remember it, but this was just sooo good. i hear they've got cheaper tickets on sale for this friday too - go and see it!!