Pleasant surprise

How many people do you think we would manage to attract to a BCP Evensong service at a University Chaplaincy in 2009? 5... maybe 10... or possibly 15? Try 25 (including singers)!

In our regular Sunday evening service slot (which normally attracts 15-20), we decided we'd try a full sung evensong for a change. Some people might have anticipated a drop-off, as the regular service is more Taize/Iona in feel, and this may have appeared a bit too stuffy and conservative. 25 people, though, made the effort to come along, and the feedback was very positive! In many cases, people had never been to an evensong service before, and were pleasantly surprised. The service was so successful that we're planning to make it a semi-regular feature of our lineup.

Richie Benaud to retire

I saw this news on the BBC today. Richie Benaud, my favourite cricket commentator, is set to retire for good. He stopped commentating for UK TV when Sky gained the broadcasting rights in 2005/6.

Coming back to me: Another cricket post

Apologies to those of you who don't follow cricket, but as I'm listening to TMS, my mind is drifting to a book I finished a while ago. One of my Christmas presents was 'Coming back to me: The autobiography of Marcus Trescothick', and it was a very good read. As previous reviewers have noted, there's not as much about cricket as you might expect, but it more than makes up for it with its 'warts and all' window into the life of an international cricketer.

I haven't read much about mental illness; in truth, it's a subject that I find quite scary. But I found Trescothick's account of his anxiety attacks to be compelling and absolutely fascinating. I also found Trescothick's honesty about his own failings quite refreshing. He consistently points out (with the gift of hindsight) where he realises he made poor choices, and he says sorry to the people affected by those choices. Above all, I find this to be the most refreshing aspect of the book. It isn't always fashionable (especially in professional sport) to acknowledge one's failings. Conversely, sports psychologists seem to advocate a policy of ignoring failings and concentrating on past victories and successes. Whilst I can appreciate that this is a useful tactic in the heat of battle, it's hardly a sustainable way to approach your life and your work!

All in all, the book left me feeling a little sad for Trecothick. His aim in life was to play cricket at the top level, and he succeeded with some style! It's a real shame, though, that he wasn't able to continue for longer at the top level. His consolation is that he did reach the top level of the game, and that he's still capable of dominating the best bowlers, as shown by his county performance last season.

The happy ending is that Trescothick seems to have reordered his life in accordance with a new set of priorities. His choice to retire from international cricket shows he has realised the importance of the relationships in his life, and that cricket isn't everything.

Common sense!

It looks like the major mobile phone manufacturers are finally going to do what we all want them to do, and agree on a single standard for chargers. It seems that the micro USB plug/socket is the favoured technology, and that new chargers will be more energy efficient. Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG, T-Mobile, Orange, 3, AT&T and Vodafone have all backed the plan, so it looks like it might actually happen.

Well done Andrew Strauss

After the controversey of the abandoned second test and the humiliation of the first, Andrew Strauss has done well on day one of the hastily arranged third match between England and the West Indies. It must be a massive boost for his confidence to hit form at the start of his latest stint as captain, and it's exactly what the team has been missing for so long. I thought KP did an okay job, but, like Flintoff, the team needs his focus to be completely on the main part of his game - terryfying the opposition's bowlers. I'm pleased for Strauss and I hope his form continues.

Good news for LCCC

An LCCC email popped onto my phone this morning telling me the good news that Peter Moores has been hired by Lancashire as head coach. I thought he was shortchanged by the ECB during the recent kerfuffle between him and KP, and I'm glad to see him given some recognition for his undeniable abilities as a coach. I'm very pleased that Lancashire approached him - it might mean we gain some impetus for a big push this season.

School report

I thought I should post an update on the whole selection thing for those who are interested. The DDO came to see me the other week to go over the selectors' report from my selection panel in November last year.

The experience was a bit like getting a good school report. The selectors gave me a really good write-up, but it was a bit strange! It felt like they had met an alternate 'me' who answered all the questions correctly.

I now have to get my college application in, and it's looking like Westcott House in Cambridge is the odds-on favourite. As I'm not planning to start until 2010, I shouldn't have any problems getting a place or finding somewhere to live.

At this stage, it is becoming to feel a little more real, and a little more scary; particularly the financial side of things. Mrs Lanky and I currently bring in a fair amount of money every month, and it will be a big change for us to go down to a modest stipend for a couple of years.

That annoying preaching voice

We all know someone who does it! In a one-to-one setting, they're completely normal. You give them a pulpit, a microphone or just a congregation, and they wheel out the preaching voice. Thanks to Maggi Dawn for drawing my attention to this post by Phil Cooke. It echoes an opinion I've held for a long time; preaching should be done in an accessible and familiar way.

I know a few ministers who suffer from this affliction, and it's not a pleasant experience from the cheap seats. There are some people who I want to give a firm shake by the shoulders! I want to ask them if they know what they actually sound like; they probably don't.

When I first started hospital radio, many years ago, one of the first things I was made to do was to listen to a recording of myself. It's a horrible but formative experience, and I think every preacher should do it too. You can, of course, go too far and become obsessive about the physical aspects of your voice that you can't change and that's not the aim of the exercise. It's useful to identify the little habits we all have, like the annoying repeated utterances such as 'um', 'er', 'like' and the ubiquitous 'ok', which you don't really notice until you're forced to listen properly.

Ultimately, sermons are a form of communication. To be successful, the mode of communication needs to suit the audience. The current audience is highly skilled in communication, and does not need/want to be talked at.

One final thought - the condition of the 'preaching voice' is often linked to CHAS (comedy hymn announcment syndrome). This is where the worship leader announces the next hymn by reading out the whole of the first 2 lines in a heartfelt and dramatic variant of the preaching voice. I have noticed that this seems to be more common in the more evangelical setting, though it does have a counterpoint in more traditional churches: 'Our next hymn is number two hundred and thirty three, TWO THREE THREE!' - sound familiar?

Death of a legend

I just read on the BBC website that the legendary Bill Frindall, or 'Bearders', has died. I've followed cricket now for many years, and Test Match Special is my staple source of live cricket coverage (after a brief dalliance with Sky Sports).

For those less familiar with the game, the scorer is a skilled and somewhat elevated role with great responsibility. You need to know all the rules, have endless patience and good eyes (and/or a pair of binoculars).

Bill provided analysis for TMS, and was rarely caught short when asked for an obscure statistic - and people tried very hard to challenge him.

TMS won't quite be the same without Bearders. He'll be missed by many.

Bus spotting

I saw my first atheist bus today - I didn't think we'd get them in lowly Lancaster. I also saw this on the Church Times blog.

Shaky start

I posted earlier in the month about new year's resolutions, and I thought I'd post an update. You might say that I have failed in both of my resolutions so far, but I do have an excuse. Mrs Lanky and I are currently house-sitting for a friend, and this includes looking after a small menagerie too. All of this means that we have a longer daily commute and extra animal feeding duties, and the upshot is that there isn't a lot of time left to read books or say offices. I have been better on the reading than the praying - I'm getting through the Trescothick autobiography at a reasonable rate (for me), but my success with the offices has been less encouraging, though I'm going to try to break back into a compline routine this evening.

Slumdog Millionaire

We went to the cinema last night for the first time in ages, and I was very impressed by Slumdog Millionnaire. Usually I read the reviews before choosing a film, but this time I went in more or less blind. The film is fast-paced from the beginning, and the switching timeframes make for an intense introduction. Once you get into the style and start to anticipate the plot, the viewing becomes compelling.

One health warning - you do have to be prepared for some fairly graphic violence, though this is limited to a few scenes, and it's instrumental to the plot.

I was particularly impressed with the casting, which accommodates three different actors for each of the principal characters. The transitions between each period in the film was very believable, and this was largely down to the quality of the acting, particularly by the young actors used.

The main plot device (no spoilers here) is clever, and echoes the often-implausible nature of films from the Bollywood genre, from which the film borrows many ideas.

All in all, this is a great film with good actors and a fantastic soundtrack. The whole thing is rounded off by the best closing credits I've seen in a long time.

If you're going to go to see it, I'd recommend curbing your instinct to read about the film beforehand, as this will probably diminish the experience.

Sleep yourself better

I was interested to see this news on the BBC website today. I know it sounds like common sense, but US researchers have found that less than 7 hours sleep per night makes you more susceptible to colds. It looks like an early night tonight then!

Credit Crunch

Following my post about the credit-crunch-defying success of the Booths chain of supermarkets, I saw some less happy news on the BBC website the other day. Mercer's of Blackburn (a sells-everything ironmonger and hardware store) looks like it will cease trading after 150 years in Blackburn.
Somehow, this hits a bit harder than the news about Woolies. Perhaps because it's an independent business, and perhaps because I have memories of shopping there when I worked in Blackburn.
It really is an archetypal, old-fashioned shop that you used to find in every town. Following the rapid expansion of DIY superstores, I can't imagine there are many left.

Booths supermarkets

We do the vast majority of our shopping in Booths - click here for a BBC story about the northern chain of supermarkets.
We don't shop there for the price - it is more expensive than the others - we shop there because of the emphasis on quality local produce and small scale customer service.
When we were in there the other week, we saw a young sales assistant walking round the store with an elderly lady and her shopping list, helping her to find all the products she needed. I can't imagine any of the 'big 4' routinely offering a service like this.

Brrrrrrr

It looks cold in Dorset at the moment! You don't often see the sea frozen around Brtitain. This is the rare scene in Poole Harbour, Dorset.

New Year's Resolutions

I don't usually go in for New Year's Resolutions, but I've made an exception this year. I've decided that I will aim to read from a book for an hour per day. I got a small pile of books for Christmas, and I'm determined to read them all!
My current book is Marcus Trescothick's autobiography, which is very good so far (I'll post a review when I've finished it), and I've managed to do more than my hour each day.
My other resolution is to try to say at least one of the offices every day; I've had less success with this one, but I'll perservere.

Pietersen resigns

**UPDATE** Looks like Cricinfo believe the story even if the Beeb don't. They're saying that Moores has gone too.

**UPDATE NUMBER 2**
Auntie is back on the ball, and Mihir Bose sounds fairly convinced about the news. Also, fellow blogger Dave Keen has been quick of the mark.


According to Sky it looks like Pietersen has resigned as captain of the England cricket team. Not a massive surprise, but it looks like all the pundits were wrong in suggesting that both he and Moores would have to go.

Today Progamme amusement

I heard this on the radio this morning, and, being a follower of Ben Goldacre's blog, I was fairly confident that he wouldn't make an unsubstantiated claim on national radio. He was commenting on the detox industry, which booms at this time of year, and he commented directly on the claims made a company's website. The MD of the company was his co-interviewee, and she denied that the content he quoted was from her comany's website (it was).

The father of science

A few months ago I did a presentation at our group for postgraduate students about the birth of photography. In my research, I came across a chap called al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham. I had assumed that Newton was the father of optics as we know them, but my reading led me to the discovery of the aforementioned chap, who is reputedly the first person to get to grips with the fundamental nature of light as we currently understand it.
I was very interested to find out about a thinker, whose name I'd never even heard, yet who could have had such a fundamental contribution to science.
The BBC have obviously heard about my momentous discovery and a three part series sbout al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham will start tonight at 9pm on BBC4 presented by Professor Jim Al-Khalili from the University of Surrey. Should be good!