Thursday roundup

I know my custom of late has been to post a Monday roundup, but on Monday I didn't have anything of interest to warrant it. Today, however, I'm bursting with interesting thoughts.

A night at the opera - Until Monday I had never been to an opera, so when the opportunity presented itself I was keen to explore. Heritage Opera were touring with a performance of Puccini's Madame Butterfly, and a number of folk from the postgrad group went along for a bit of 'culture'. Like many, I have been put off opera for a number of reasons: language, musical style, class association... Despite my prejudices, I really enjoyed it (the subtitles helped). The production was hardly lavish, with much evidence of Gaffer tape and improvised props, but I was impressed by the way in which the cast coped with the very limited performance area. The venue was Lancaster Castle, in an actual Court room - Shire Hall. The 'stage' was assembled over the desks where the clerks would sit in a court case (I think), and due to the imposing nature of the Gillow furniture, the space they had was sparse. In the end, the success of the performance hinged on the skill and talent of the performers, and I was blown away by the quality of the singing! I know Madame Butterfly is not hardcore opera, but I do feel like my prejudices have been successfully challenged by my night at the opera.

The ban is ended - Not that a hosepipe ban has made a lot of difference to folk during a very wet August in Lancashire. When the rain comes down like it has recently, there is certainly no need to water the garden. Anyway, it's good that the stocks are back up to normal levels.

The end of a winning run? - Matt Prior and Stuart Broad came to the rescue yesterday to avoid an embarassing collapse at the Oval. England have now gone a long time without suffering a Test defeat, and I did think we were going to see an end to this run until Prior came to the crease. What we need now are favourable seam bowling conditions and a repeat of the recent successes of the fast bowling attack. Either that or Swann will have to work some magic towards the end of the match. This is the kind of situation England need to come through if they are to have any hope of retaining the Ashes in Australia.

Changing times, changing Church? - Bosco Peters posts about a wedding he went to where the rite included promises between one of the spouses and the child of the other spouse. This made me think that we really need to look at our rites and liturgies in light of the situations we actually encounter in the Church, rather than naively clinging to an ill-remembered image of how it used to be. It makes perfect sense to me to add something like this to a marriage ceremony where one or other party already has children; it reinforces the value and importance of 'the family' in the Church and wider society, and it reassures people that the Church is not blind to the changes in society.

The many joys of a British summer

England are through the group stages of the world cup and set to take on the old enemy this weekend. Shock exits for Italy and France have shaken the tournament up a bit after its slow start! Live streaming footage available from ITV and the good old Beeb mean that those with a desktop PC at work (and no bandwidth or IP restrictions) are able to watch and work (I learnt I could actually multitask during England's last game).

Wimbledon is off to a flyer! Warm and dry weather mean no lost time so far, and the most epic of matches concluded yesterday to give us all a reminder that, for all the training and precision of the serve-volley game, it's still possible for a surprise to turn up occasionally.

The England cricket team have beaten the other old enemy, Australia, twice in three days! And it was in the 50 over format of the game; one which we are meant to be bad at (though opinion seems to be turning).

Add all this to the hospipe-ban-weather, and the rare site of yellow-brown lawns in Lancaster, and it makes me realise why I love the summer. The only way to top it off would be if a farner came to me and asked me to help with hay-making. That would bring back some very happy childhood memories of Salesis Farm.

Another cricket post... I promise I'll stop soon!

A few cricket things...

1. Still smarting from the bowl-out fiasco at Old Trafford!
2. The ECB have listened to my earlier post about the congestion of the domestic calendar. Next year will see an extended 4 day cricket, T20 and one other limited overs competition. Hoorah! At least I think that's what it says. If it's a choice between 50 and 40 overs, I choose 50.
   
3. I've just noticed that Graeme Swann seems to be emerging as unofficial team spokesman for England. More often than not, he is the one providing an end of day interview, and he comes across very well; The journalists must love him.
   
4. Come on England!

Two Lancastrians to watch

I watched bits of Lancashire's unlikely win over Surrey last night in the Pro40 competition, and was impressed by a couple of Lancashire players.

Stephen Parry impressed with the ball. He's a slow left arm orthodox bowler who has mainly been deployed in limited overs cricket for Lancashire. From what I've seen he seems to have the knack of taking wickets at the right time.

Gareth Cross is one of Lancashire's wicket keepers along with Luke Sutton. He executed a brilliant run-out last night which made me wonder how long Lancashire can sustain two high quality keepers without one of them leaving. With Cross being the younger at 25 years old, my money's on him sticking around.

In my opinion, both players could well have international futures, though I concede that at 23 and 25 they have probably already been passed-over by the England selectors.

Speaking of Lancastrian England players, Sajid Mahmood was on decent form last night. I do think he should stop obsessing on his slower ball. I don't mind a fast bowler who has a slower ball for an occasional variation, but Mahmood seems to bowl at least a couple per over. Having said that, his figures this season are quite good.

Why do people vote for the BNP?

Today we had the 'pleasure' of receiving some delightful correspondence from the BNP. As you'll have guessed from my previous post, I don't have much time for the party and their ideas, and today's little present hasn't changed my mind. Lots of photographs of white people staring from the page; some of them well qualified professionals. Much mention of 'immigrants', and several references to armed conflicts in which the UK military has been successful.

Does this actually convince anyone? I suppose it must! The tabloid press does such a thorough job of whipping up fear out of nowhere that I suspect there are many people out there who have been conditioned by this kind of propaganda. Hopefully they haven't been brainwashed enough to actually vote for the BNP! 

The risk of a bacon sandwich

This piece on the BBC website interested me. I have a long-running bee-in-my-bonnet about the common government practice of telling me what not to eat, and how many carrots I should consume. I concur with the author's points about 'nudging' society towards epidemiologically 'better' ways of behaving, but I still find the tone of things like the 5-a-day campaign to be completely patronising. I also feel that this trend in British society has imposed a moral framework onto lifestyle choices which were previously left to the individual. Just think how most people react when they see a pregnant woman enjoying an alcoholic drink! The government advice is that abstinence is best, but the latest scientific studies conclude that the occasional drink will have no negative effects on the unborn child. Most pregnant women (including Mrs Lanky) do not drink at all, and it's in no small part due to the moral judgement that the behaviour now attracts.

Scary morris dancers

I heard about this on the today programme this morning. i think I saw some of this type of Morris dancer in Lancaster once - a scary experience!