White like milk.

Switching off comments

Wed, 27 May 2009 14:30:47 +0200

Hello everyone,

I'm slowly migrating posts from this blog to my new blog and in the mean time I'm going to switch off the comments function as I won't be responding to stuff here, I'll be responding to stuff on my new blog.

Make sure you update your bookmarks & catch up with stuff over there!

See you soon!

Ben.x

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Favourite Communion Experience

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:38:12 +0100

I once took communion in a little church somewhere small, somewhere remote when I was younger (helps keep it all a bit abstract) and instead of using Ribena (which they'd run out of) they used really diluted blackcurrant jelly.

Needless to say, it set in the weeny thimbles they were served in and to take it fingers had to be inserted and rude slurpy noises made.

Still makes me smile.

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Kittens inspired by Loldeirdre

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:53:42 +0100

This made me laugh like a drain.

Maybe it's a "living in Birmingham" thing for people to take the mick out of Deirdre, so many people seem to do it. Or maybe it's just the Brum Bloggers...

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Selly Sausage hits top ten breakfast list.

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:56:54 +0100

It's official: the Selly sausage in Selly Oak is one of the top ten places in the UK to get breakfast.

They do awesome breakfasts.

When working at the Guild of Students many a happy one to one meeting/birthday lunch/team meeting/any excuse we had was spent at the Selly.

Well done on featuring on the list!

Here's what the Guardian wrote:

The Selly's homemade pancakes (from £3.15) - topped, American-style, with endless combinations of bacon, maple syrup, fresh fruit or Nutella - are legendary among Birmingham's student population. This quirky independent insists on quality basics, too. If you go for the big breakfast (£4.80), rest assured you will find HP sauce on the table and Heinz beans on your plate.
• Opens 8am; 9am weekends; prices from 75p. 539-541 Bristol Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham, +44 (0)121 471 4464; www.sellysausage.co.uk

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Thoughts before turning 30.

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:52:38 +0100

Just so people don't try to claim that I got this wisdom from turning 30 in a few weeks time I wanted to demonstrate I'd already had the thought...

I'm actually quite optimistic about my 30's. I used to be quite traumatised by it. Turning 20 was weird, turning 25 was also odd. I used to refer to 30 as social death. Within the gay community (whatever that means) there's a sense that young=best/attractive. I've chatted to some younger gay guys and they refer to 30 as old. One said "I don't know many old people, you know, your age Ben". Which usually gives me the impulse to go and kill myself.

I can confirm for the younger people amongst my readers, 30 isn't social death. I know plenty of 30somethings who are very social. And I won't be confining myself once I turn 30. I imagine I'm going to continue with my book group and my film group.

In my 20's I did all my dream jobs (teaching & theatre company) and that was fun. Didn't put money in my bank or food on my table but you can get away with doing that in your 20's. There's stuff I did in my 20's I just can't get away with any more.

Am now working on finding out what my new dreams are and making those happen. And it's nice that I don't think of dreams as being something I have to do during my working hours. Most of the really interesting stuff happens outside of my working hours.

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Things that make me cry

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:21:39 +0100

This is a two for one offer in the things that make me cry.

Good music coupled with good writing.

It's the episode from Scrubs series one where JD has to deal with an old lady dying. She's ready to go but he's not really ready to let her go.

Kathryn Joosten will probably crop up a few times more when we eventually turn to all the episodes of the west wing that reduce me to a weepy mess. Here she plays a delightful old lady who reminds us that being mortal isn't so bad. And the way she offers a simple moment of grace to JD by hugging him. So lovely.

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Does Birmingham need a welcome wagon?

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:35:07 +0100

So here's a thought for the creative types in the city to mull over.

I was talking at work to a colleague about the Welcome Wagon service that's available across the USA & Canada.

Welcome Wagon is a nationwide business who contacts new homeowners after relocation, providing them with coupons and advertisements from local businesses.

I was wondering if there'd be a slightly more British/Brum expression of this sort of idea.

Companies across the city could contribute "things" rather than just coupons and it'd be a great way to meet your new neighbours.

Usually when you move you've done a bit of research to find out more about where you're moving to but getting a personal reccomendation would be much better.

People often complain about a lack of community spirit or of feeling isolated from their neighbours.

Does Birmingham need a welcome wagon? Could the community/council support this kind of project?

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Songs you should hear before you die.

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:22:23 +0100

My last fm profile is here: http://www.last.fm/user/Benjaminbrum

Feel free to have a bit of a browse around... if you're on last.fm feel free to add me as a friend.

What I was wanting was this:

Are there songs you think everyone should hear before they die?

What are they?

Suggest them below and I'll have a listen.

And it can be anything. I'll tell you if I've already heard it or not.

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Things that make me cry #2

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:19:23 +0100

This is quite an easy list for me so I'll crack on with number two.

This is a scene from the TV series Brothers and Sisters. (Awesome show)

Here we see Kevin propose to Scotty.

You'd have to have a heart of stone not to be moved.

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Things that make me cry. #1

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:19:24 +0100

I was thinking about starting a new series of posts regarding things that make me cry.

I know there's several things out there that do make me cry but I've never collected them together. I often wonder what the shape of something will be in the process of collecting them together.

This will mainly end up being TV, film and music I imagine as I tend not to break down looking at art. Am open to that experience but I've not had it happen yet.

So here's number one:

Angels in America.

It's this section particularly that makes me cry. Around 4 mins 30.
*wipes eyes*

I love how they destroy the reality of the show and talk directly to the audience. And I love the message of hope tinged with sadness. The programme is beautiful and the stage play is wonderful but doesn't get staged often.

I've seen that scene many many times and it never loses it's impact on me.

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Corporate Dead Pool

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:52:50 +0100

Companies I think will go bust in 2009

1) WH Smiths
2) JJB Sport
3) Evans
4) Little Chef
5) Barrat shoes

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If you look for me...

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:02:15 +0100

You'll find me around.

Am around but still in the bosom of my family for the next couple of days.

Will be back properly in the new year. Dead pool list announcement will follow shortly. As my friend Chris put it so beautifully "Death has been having a Christmas clear out of celebrities". No one I wanted for my 2009 list has gone- although I might have gone for Ertha Kitt after a very very long think about it. (Obviously I'm sad these people die but you know... the world spins on)

Will remember in 2009 to avoid blogging about the Pope, local councillors and anything else likely to incur the wrath of bloggers.

Lets see how long I can resist and how long people can resist commenting on the posts I've written to point out I wasn't going to blog about them.

(Fun for all the family)

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A Christmas Prayer

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:19:08 +0100

God,
We prepare to pause to celebrate with friends and loved ones,
let us bring your love to those meetings around tree and table.
We remember that not everyone can celebrate together,
let us speak kindness to one another and treat the stranger with grace.
We look around us and see fear, confusion and uncertainty,
let us have our steps guided by the star of wonder to your side.
We hear those in authority speak hard words about and to one another,
let us continue to wage peace around the world and tear down barriers between us.
You wrapped yourself in humanity, you humbled yourself,
let the message of hope from the little baby of Bethlehem reconcile our worlds.
Amen.

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A lovely blog everyone should read and comment on...

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:32:24 +0100

The West Midlands Regional Observatory.

http://wmro.wordpress.com/

They have some very interesting articles about a variety of subjects and are always keen to hear people's thoughts on their blog.

Go check them out!

And if you want to follow one of the key people on twitter check out: www.twitter.com/gavinwray

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A word on Biblical interpretation, being right and who knows what the Bible really says.

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:46:17 +0100

Lots of people had a lot of things to say about the Pope and his understanding of scripture today.

Not all of it was correct (and I'd hate to assume I've got a monopoly on truth or being right- I don't) and some of it felt quite wrong really.

My particular favourite moments from around the web were where the atheists lectured various people about forgiveness, correct readings of scripture and what the pope really meant to believe.

I think it's interesting that lots of people quoted the bits of scripture they felt spoke against or in favour of gay people. I think it's interesting to see people searching for meaning in the Bible. Elsewhere on the blog I've quoted Schopenhauer who says "A book is like a mirror. If a fool looks in, you can't expect a genius to look out."

The Bible is also a very reflective book, you'll get out of it what you read into it. There's various critical methods of approaching the bible (which I won't go into any detail here) but the key question people ask is "How do I know I'm reading the bible correctly/right?". (With the corresponding question of "How do I know if they're reading the bible correctly?")

A number of people defended the Pope's statement about homosexuals and transsexuals but the question behind all of that is "Is his interpretation of scripture correct/right?".

The really simple straightforward answer to all those questions is- you don't, you never know. When we have that urge to ask that question we should stop and ask ourselves "Why do we need to be right in our interpretation of the bible?".

I think some people want to be right so they can gain some of the perceived authority the bible has and therefore you can't argue with me. (And if you're an atheist I know you don't hold any authority with the bible, maybe it's similar if you can quote what you think Richard Dawkins thinks on a given subject?)

At Greenbelt this year I heard Paula Gooder speak about interpreting the bible and she said "we should be trying to work out how to read the bible well rather than reading the text right."

She also said that people often appear to approach the bible with a question that needs answering "What does the bible say about...?" and get frustrated when it isn't clear cut. The bible isn't an encyclopaedia with a set of answers. She posed a question that asked what would happen if we didn't ask the bible questions and allowed the bible to ask us questions.

I always find it a little galling when people who've never read the bible before or closely tell me what I believe and what's in the bible. I also think there's some people on here (and who comment on the blog) enjoy trying to rile people. If you're interested in reading the bible more (seriously doubts anyone really does want to) I'm more than happy to chat it through with you, drop me an email.

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It's behind you...

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:14:35 +0100

On a lighter note this afternoon sees the first twitter panto.

Go to www.twitter.com/twitpanto for more information.

Should be an interesting first.

I'll let you know what I think later tonight.

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The Pope sends message of peace and joy this Christmas...

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 11:30:09 +0100

Hang on... wait... no he doesn't.

From the BBC website:

Pope Benedict XVI has said that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.

In a time of global economic crisis and uncertainty THIS is what the old man comes out with?

Makes me so glad I'm not a Catholic. I expect there's a number of people shuffling from foot to foot, looking at the floor wondering if its too soon to be putting him on their dead pool list. I also expect there's a number of people who'll be thinking "Finally, the old man said something I totally agree with".

And I was wondering- how does one go about saving the world from homosexuality? Is there a special new superhero? (Wonders if mjohnson will do a special drawing for me?)

Makes me so angry. I hurt my hand banging my desk with anger.

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Carrot Cake.

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:39:23 +0100

I made a slightly foolish wish on the I so wish website yesterday.

I wished for cake. Carrot cake.

I didn't think I'd get one.

Then one turned up.

Someone dropped the cake at the reception for me. Which is lovely. Random act of kindness.

People in my office thought that was weird.

Then cake number two turned up. I was videoed looking shocked and awed that cake number two had turned up.

I'll post the pictures later.

This is proof that there are good people in the world.

And the lazyweb does work.

Go join isowish. Wish for stuff. Sometimes they come true.

The people I work with were deeply impressed with the carrot cake.

Here's the video of me getting the cake.

Ben wished for cake and it came true from Andrew Dubber on Vimeo.

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Testing, testing, one two three...

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 23:41:05 +0100

Just trying out something new with posting photos...

Does it work?

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Gone but not forgotten- Charlton Heston

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 23:37:35 +0100

I know this clip isn't from 2008 but it's worth watching to see what Heston believed about gun control.

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Wave bye bye... think good riddence.

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:02:23 +0100

And while I'm saluting the gaffe of McCain, let's reflect on Sarah Palin.

The lady who doesn't know where she'll end her sentence before she begins it.

This, ladies and jellyspoons, is the path not taken.

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If you're wrong...

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 20:58:12 +0100

You might as well be REALLY wrong.

Let's just reflect on the moment John McCain claimed the "fundamentals of our economy are strong".

It bears watching a few times.

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Predictions/Wishlist for 2009.

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:24:26 +0100

One of my fellow bloggers (and rapidly becoming someone I tweet at far too much, and when is it appropriate to consider someone on twitter a friend?), Daniel, wrote his own list of things he wants to see in 2009.

Being the kind of person I am I thought this list would contain band names, krakens, killer spiders from mars, triffids, you know, sensible stuff.

His list is VERY geeky (or is nerdy the right word here?). I clearly need to up my nerd/geek game. But in the meantime here is my offering of predictions/wishlist for 2009.

The complete death of everyone on my dead pool list.
After taking the lead in March with the death of Arthur C Clark I'm getting ready for a celebrity death filled 2009. I think I've nearly got my full list ready for announcing on January 1st. To take all ten would be a wonderful achievement. I may even be persuaded to go double or nothing. Although I'm struggling to remember just how much money was bet on the list for this year. I recall it being either £20 or £50. Who cares, I'm going to be taking my best mate Chris' money. (And you thought this was going to be a happy happy joy joy list with world peace and stuff... well it probably will be, but this is fun!)

Book someone truly awesome for literature at Greenbelt.
I've got a modest budget to book people for the festival.
This is my first festival as literature coordinator.
I need to make a mark. Show that I've got game.

I'd really like to get Dustin Lance Black as he's an awesome writer. But also because it'd be interesting to hear a voice from the Mormon community about coming out and growing up gay. If anyone has an email address... you know where to get me.

Beyond that I'd like to get Sean Dixon. He wrote "The last days of the lacuna cabal". I loved reading it. It's an interesting post modern treatment of the epic myth of Gilgamesh. I think he'd be interesting to talk to.

And if I'm really lucky I could try and get Jeanette Winterson to say yes.

I guess my vision for the lit stuff is to have people who'll be good in conversation or compelling speakers. I guess in light of the theme (Standing in the long now) I'd like to awaken some nostalgia in people or pick books/poetry/etc that's epic, monumental, monolithic. Your suggestions are, as always, welcome!

More politicians will use blogs and twitter properly
I think Tom Watson is brilliant. He's gently guiding the way forward for different MP's to use twitter. Yes, I know there's other MP's who twitter out there but he's local to me and he actually appears to have something in close approximation to a soul. Or he's very good at faking it. I like to think he's genuine.

And onto one of my pet peeves- blogs that don't allow comments. It's not a blog if you can't fire back comments. As I've demonstrated time and again here nasty comments can be made to go away. Spam, ads, porn, hater comments can all be deleted. Even comments just pointing out bad grammar and not engaging in the content of a post can be allowed to stay. It helps me improve my spelling, punctuation and grammar. You wouldn't think I've got a degree, a pgce and used to teach GCSE English, would you.

Blogging isn't about selling "a service" it's about engagement, communication, conversation, feedback. If you don't want feedback, don't put yourself out there. Or do what she-who-must-not-be-named does and switch off the comments.

To get onto one of those "50 most..." "50 people who..." lists
I've always wanted to get onto one of those "power" lists. People to watch, people with power, best creative types or something. I clearly don't move in the right circles or have friends in high places so won't be appearing on a list any time soon. But I'd quite like to be well regarded by people who do know me. Lots of people have told me I'm funny in the last week or so. One of the Christmas cards at work said "Thanks for making me laugh" and another said "We're really lucky to have you on the team". They didn't have to write that, they could just sign it and be done with it. Nice to know I can still make people smile and I'm not just a random face in a corridor.

Birmingham participation in SF0 will improve
SF0, the multiplayer collaborative production game, is a wonderful experience. I've been playing for a while but it'd be great if other Brum based bods would join so we could really kick off some awesome completions. Totally selfish reason.

See more live music. (Preferably folk, acousticy chilled out music)
Birmingham has an awesome live music scene. It's got music festivals, symphony hall, the town hall, the custard factory, pubs, clubs and buskers.

Do I engage much in the music? No. Should I? Yes, I bloody well should.

(I've been using isowish.com to turn some of these ideas into wishes which people can help me get granted)

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My thoughts on Rick Warren and Barack Obama.

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 02:45:19 +0100

Ok... I've held my tongue on this issue long enough.

Seems every wingnut is allowed an opinion and I don't want to be a wingnut who misses out.

Rick Warren may have some views I disagree with.

I have one question for Barack Obama. Why didn't you pick Jim Wallis?

He has an equally strong background on social justice, education, community work. He just doesn't come with all that baggage that Rick Warren does.

Sojouners is a wonderful organisation with an interesting magazine. (A subscription to the magazine would make a wonderful gift for me)

I know President Elect Obama has to placate some of the Southern States a little but he's running the risk of pissing off moderates, liberals.

I guess the press were waiting for something like this to be able to write the "Oh Gosh, Obama has pissed off the liberals/gays/atheists/insert group name here" stories.

I'm hoping this will blow over a little and people will see that the guy is just praying a prayer over Obama. And it's not like they're going to stand Rick Warren up there and say to him "Ok Rick, just get up there and say whatever is in your head". The words are going to be agonised over, picked over and held up to great scrutiny- these are words which are going to be carefully chosen.

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Photo tagged by Paul Chambers.

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:36:12 +0100

Yikes.

I really should read my friends blogs more often.

Turns out I'd been tagged by Paul Chambers to do a photo meme thingy.

Instructions
Open the fourth file in your picture storage…and go to the fourth photo. Tell its story…

Because I'm rubbish with blog.co.uk I can't work out how to embed my picture properly.

So here's a linky to the fourth picture in my fourth file.

It's a piece of art on the exterior of the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre in London.

I was meeting Adrien Grady for coffee at the National Theatre and spotted it as I was rushing to meet him. I was late. I loved the rainbow and the words offered hope. I went back after chatting to Adrien about where life was taking me. I was just on my way to a meeting at the greenbelt hq.

I guess this year has been alot about hope for me. And the art was telling me that my dog days were over.

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Civil partnerships celebrate leather anniversary.

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:14:07 +0100

Tomorrow marks the third anniversary for civil partnerships (they're gay marriage in all but name) in the UK and Wales. (Scots and Northern Irish registrars began one and two days earlier respectively).

Made me smile that the traditional gift for the third year of wedding is leather.

Nearly 60,000 Britons had entered a same-sex union, giving them legal rights virtually identical to those of married couples.

Is it rude not to send a leather gift to the government?

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Greenbelt's first podcast..

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:10:23 +0100

..is based around the "little town of Bethlehem" and features voices and images from my trip there earlier in the year.

It's best to listen to this enhanced podcast with earphones as some of the voices were recorded in difficult places.

Enhanced Christmas 2008 Greenbelt Podcast from Greenbelt Festival on Vimeo.

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Dreary Boredom quote of the day.

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:28:48 +0100

"In the U.S. you have to be a deviant or exist in dreary boredom. Make no mistake; all intellectuals are deviants in the U.S." · William S. Burroughs

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Alternative person of the year announced...

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:20:43 +0100

Adbusters have announced their alternative person of the year award. (And no, it's not the shoe throwing guy in Iraq) I subscribe to their magazine, it's good reading and makes a good present for someone who likes to think.

Have a read of the profile. Interesting stuff.

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2008- a year in review.

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:57:58 +0100

I need more time to think deeply about the wider year in review.

What I can do is give a whistle stop tour of the year from my blog. And to honour praguetory (yeah, me neither) there won't do be a post about Mrs Alden in the list.

January- I started the year caffeine free and I'm ending it the same way. Things got a bit lost in the middle but I've returned to my stupid idea. And this year's dead pool list was announced.

February- I reviewed a classic and no one cared. I saw two films that blew me away (Juno and There will be blood). I turned 29 and the earth moved.

March- I reviewed a couple of books and appeared in the audience for deal or no deal.

April- I managed to miss the fierce festival completely even though I blogged about the performers a bit. And I left my job.

May- I went to see Liza.

June- Didn't appear to happen at all. No blogs. I think I was busy finding a job.

July- I got broadband at home. Thanks! I got a place in the bunker for being nice to my senior manager, Sylvia is lovely though. I discovered the joys of working in a high powered bureaucracy and considered the perils of time travel.

August- Olympics and Greenbelt.

September- I explained where the old name of my blog came from. I saw the rice show and launched a thousand ships. I also got stressed over the word homophobia.

October- I vowed to free my feet and began to prove that Birmingham is overrun with Zombies. I talked about elbows a lot, saw forced entertainment and went to Israel but came back from Palestine.

November- I got cryptic about bonfire night. Found a resonance from the past and was shaken by Obama, Dr Atomic and a little girl dancing in a shop.

And now we're in December, where we risk looking back at looking back and getting trapped between two reflective surfaces. I wrote a lunchtime haiku and became the literature coordinator at greenbelt.

2008 has been a very interesting year personally. There were some posts I wanted to talk about but I'll come to those in my more global reflection.

(Thanks to Praguetory for his proofing skills. It was posted quite late last night so maybe I should have waited)

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