sb

The Florence Fun Bus

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 07:41:41 -0700

Remembering Titanic

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:16:00 -0700

It has not gone unnoticed that we are boarding a cruise liner tomorrow, on the centenary anniversary of RMS Titanic's foundering in the North Atlantic. That ship, greatly remembered in the media and on television at the moment, was considered "unsinkable". Such a moniker was indicative of the the times: the confidence of the British Empire, the complacency, the arrogance, the unimaginable failure. One thinks also of other recent high profile cruise-ship disasters such as the Costa Concordia. Once again, under the public gaze and it's inevitable forensic scrutiny, we are presented with a disaster scenario that could have been averted but for the apparent foolishness of the captain, despite his overwhelming responsibility for nearly three thousand souls. Two thirds of the earths surface is water. At any time there are countless boats of all sizes remaining afloat, and going about their business. Anything can happen, especially at sea! And yet what of those whose lives are totally dependent on the sea: sailors, fisherfolk, etc? I have always considered the Mission to Seamen as being a most worthy cause, helping to bring support and friendship to people of all nationalities whose lives are closely tied to the sea. A cruise, automatically associated with luxury, is time spent with three thousand other people, a third of which are staff. They take care of the ship and the "hotel". They come from all over the world, for long periods of service, to serve food and drinks, make our beds, maintain an enormous vessel and keep us safe in the busy shipping lanes of whichever ocean we are hoping to enjoy a few weeks of sunshine. For the next two weeks we shall commend ourselves to a dedicated team of people, from all over the world, who will work hard spending many months away from their homes and families. Like the crew of Titanic, or any other ship, they will do their best hoping beyond hope that the ship will remain afloat, with sufficient lifeboats and a decent chain of command. God speed to all who sail upon the sea, for whatever reason. Eternal Father, strong to save, Whose arm hath bound the restless wave, Who biddest the mighty ocean deep Its own appointed limits keep; Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee, For those in peril on the sea! William Whiting, 1860

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More Training....

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 01:16:11 -0700

I am in Manchester today, at PeachPit Training. I shall be getting really good at making iPhones and iPads work well in business!

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I Love Spring

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:08:53 -0700

Spring is just wonderful. Light, colour, warmth, new life. Hope.

I had a lovely drive to Scarborough today. I drove slower than usual, just to enjoy the scenery!

Lots of wildlife, sadly a fair bit of it dead at the side of the road.....

I am greatly blessed and thank God for Spring!

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Madame Butterfly

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:39:56 -0800

Well, what a great evening! Northern Ballet Theatre performing Madame Butterfly at The Grand Theatre, Leeds.

Neither Marlene or I really knew the story but we quickly caught up from the programme over the first half of a nice bottle of wine before the show!

It was lovely (not just the wine!)! Great production and set, supremely talented dancers and the music and lighting was good too.

Delicious would be a good word to describe this ballet. Mind you I was quite hungry, requiring a Mars Bar during the interval along with the other half of the wine!

Ballet is so graceful and moving. I don't really get opera (sorry). Ballet requires a different sort of engagement, more emotion and feeling. I won't go on, but you get my drift!

Marlene was quite unsure about "the ballet", to begin with but she loved it.

On the way home we sang along to the soundtrack of 'The Sound of Music' (for some reason), stopping only to buy a loaf of bread for late night toast. Hurrah!

A big thank you to Sarah and Chris for this Christmas present.

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Remembering Peter

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:33:00 -0800

Remembering my father who died on this day in 2008.

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Retrospective

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:29:42 -0800

From Evernote:

Retrospective

Mmmmm, catching up with blog means wrong dates displayed!

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Ash Wednesday

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:27:10 -0800

From Evernote:

Ash Wednesday

It's Ash Wednesday - the start of the Christian holy season of Lent.

Find out more about Lent here.

And why I have a mucky mark on my forehead, here!

Ash Wednesday Choral Eucharist at Wakefield Cathedral.

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…finally

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:13:00 -0800

From Evernote:

…finally

Having missed the most obvious points of reference for beginning this blog - New Year, the start of a new month….. a Monday etc, I decided to start it on a Tuesday (21/02/12).

The reason for this is that I attended the inaugural meeting of the Wakefield Amnesty International group this evening.

I have been a member since the early 1990's and apart from engaging with various campaigns, I have never really been attracted to local, group based membership activities.

Until now, it would seem.

There were just less than 30 of us (with 19 apologies apparently) gathering at the Quaker Meeting House. We heard from Peter Sagar, an AI representative from the North-East who gave us some interesting and helpful guidance on what to do, and what not to do, with a new group.

Next meeting 20/03/12

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Awaiting Inspiration

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:47:00 -0800

Any day now I shall write somthing.... It may be thought provoking, or witty. Maybe a little controversial or challenging.

Any day now.....

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