Last night in the hot weather I reverted to emergency measures to stop Third Party being overly irritable….an evening spent chilling over a chick flick.

Confessions of a Shopaholic , (Wiki link for info),was the film chosen to bring peace and harmony to the household. Now I have to admit I wasn’t overly keen initially. I’d tried the book and gotten bored. However, sitting with a glass of wine over ice and a no brainer film seemed a reasonable way to show some parental attention.

I was pleasantly surprised by the film though. This, as with most chick flicks, is a modern morality tale. Without ruining the plot for those who haven’t seen it, it revolves around a woman who discovers the true costs of credit cards and an obsession with shopping. It was one of those films which takes a serious topic and addresses it through humour and entertainment. I was really glad I sat and watched it with Third Party, it raised some issues which I found it useful to discuss with her.

So anyway if you have a teenager who likes chick flicks and you want to help them with their financial literacy I can’t recommend this film highly enough.

Free speech is something wooly liberals tend to support……it is one of those things that is a “nice” idea. However, in reality free speech becomes something far more complicated. As the discussions regarding the BNP over the years have shown there is a fine line between free speech and discrimination. There are similar issues around faith and LGB sexual orientation.

It appears this is something which has come to a head in recent months, particularly in relation to clause 61 of the Coroners and Justice Bill which is currently going through the Lords. According to the information given by Care and by Stonewall the situation is that the government have acted to introduce protection against hatred on the basis of sexual orientation. Parliament voted to include an amendment put forward by Lord Waddington which read:
‘29JA Protection of freedom of expression (sexual orientation): In this Part, for the avoidance of doubt, the discussion or criticism of sexual conduct or practices or the urging of persons to refrain from or modify such conduct or practices shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up
hatred.’ (Care have produced an informative briefing in PDF form which for some reason wouldn’t link, www.care.org.uk/Publisher/File.aspx?ID=37546 is the address).
This amendment was included within the first reading of the bill in the Lords. However, in January the government removed the amendment and so the version currently going through the Lords doesn’t include it. This is the position that Stonewall support because they believe that “it is unnecessary and could mean that a very small number of people of extreme views attempt to avoid prosecution by citing a ‘religious defence’.”
Religious organisations, however, are concerned. They believe that cases are already starting to emerge where people who object to homosexual behaviour, for religious reasons, are finding their right to express their views are restricted. In addition to Care, which I have already linked to, Christian Legal Centre and CCFON are fighting for the reinstatement of the amendment.
This conflict is not an easy one to sort out. Personally, I believe the amendment should remain. The reason is that I have been in situations where people of faith have said stuff which could, to the outsider, been interpreted as inciting hatred. However, the individuals making these comments have in no way been inciting hatred against people of different sexual orientations. Rather, they have been expressing (i) their fear of the way secularisation has been moving forward and the way they regard the extension of rights for those with differing sexual orientations as a symbol of this or (ii) what they regard as love for those with non-heterosexual orientations, (where they regard homosexuality as sinful). The fact is their interpretation of the bible and they way they have expressed their understandings has been tactless and advocated a range of views including (i) the need to “heal” homosexuals and lesbians, (ii) the view that LGB people won’t be going to heaven, (iii) Jesus hating the sin of homosexuality and so forth.

Now, don’t get me wrong….I in no way believe that Christians putting forward these views -which leave LGB people who are made in the image of God, (just as all of us are), resentful against the church and deeply hurt - are right in their opinions. However, equally, I understand where many of those who say these things are coming from. I have heard their stories, I know their influences and I know their earnest wish to follow what they see as the biblical will of God by taking literal or very conservative approaches. They see their rights being eroded by conservative secularists who are using equality rights as a trojen horse to attack Christianity, and this is another example.

This is why my own belief is that ex-gay programmes, which have been proven not to work and which cause psychological harm, should be banned and it should be illegal to promote them. It should also be illegal to promote views inciting attacks on gay and lesbian people, whether in churches or elsewhere. However, beyond this as said earlier I believe the amendment should be re-instated. The secular fundamentalists must not be allowed to push forward their agenda.

Additionally, despite what some of the Christian organisations are saying Stonewall should be recognised as an organisation which is seeking to recognise the complexities of the sometimes conflicting positions of LGB campaigners and faith organisations. They have produced this booklet on the subject of “Religion and Sexual Orientation: How to Manage Relations in the Workplace”.

This issue is about protection of civil liberties and free speech, but more importantly it is about the dignity of individuals. Sometimes compromises need to be made and the acceptance of this amendment by some LGB campaigners is one such occassion. Equally, I believe on the other side that some Christians need to make some compromises too.

Recently found myself reading My Life My Way by Cliff Richard. It wasn’t so much an intentional choice as a convienient one….something going cheap at a sale of 2nd hand books at church which I could switch off totally with.

Have to say it’s the sort of book which should probably only be read if you want something that is so mind numbing it enables you to switch your brain into neutral. Basically the book takes a couple of hunderd pages to tell you that this guy has a private life he intends to keep private. It can also be summed up by saying: he has cares about his family, had an inspirational English teacher at school, has had a successful career singing, believes in God, likes tennis, has some famous friends and acquaintences and owns a few houses. These facts are generally already well known but are trotted out repeatedly at various points in the book.

There are odd paragraphs where you feel you might be learning something about the guy and what makes him tick but these are few and far between.

Critics might accuse this bland easy reading of being the literay equivilent of his music, but I would beg to differ. In 1988 I saw Cliff live at Greenbelt and realised that actually his music is v.g. and not only has the catchy sing-a-long element but has some good tunes and lyrics to it. Not saying everything he’s done is to my taste but alot of it is. Carrie, for example, is I think one of the classic tunes of the 20th century.

Yesterday I went on what was effectively a school outing to Belsay Hall in Northumberland. It was the Theology post-grads annual end of academic year jaunt out to do an ickle English heritage.

Anyway, the Hall itself has been sadly neglected and is a property in need of some major rennovation. Structurally it is ok, although built in a style which is so austere that arriving and seeing the back of it one of my colleagues was heard to comment “it looks like a 1940’s camp”. However, from what I can gather this is a relatively new acquisition by English Heritage and so I am sure it will develop over time.

The gardens, though, are absolutely beautiful. The humid, drizzly weather added to their splendor as raindrops and spiderswebs hung on the leaves. The walk from the hall to the castle takes you not only through the gardens but through a quarry where much local stone was taken from. The scale of the stone mixed with the towering plants really gives one the feeling of being in a primeval setting. I am not one for lots of leaves and stuff but even I could see this was something beautiful and different; well worth a visit.

Moving on from the gardens you enter the castle. As castles go it’s small and not v. inspiring. However, to try and do something about this English Heritage have decided to install a bit of modern art occassionally. So it was, that after having to endure some terrible canned sounds of horses and randomly placed horse shoes on the journey down through the gardens, a wander up the spiral staircase led to “Luck Spot”, a chrystal horse created by Stella McCartney. (This BBC article tells you about it). In short it is a stunning piece of art made from 8000 Swaraski glass chrystals and was inspired by George Stubbs “Whistlejacket”. As with all good modern art it got the marmite reaction….you either loved it or hated it. I think the fact I walked into the room and just said, “wow” gives where I sit on this one.

Anyway after an lunch where I went to have my cream tea at the tea room, which I would totally recommend, it was off for a walk. Whilst the families played cricket, and staff sat and chatted the international group of 6 female theologians who were of a roughly similar age headed off for a woodland walk. As with any group of women aged in the late 20’s - late 30’s bracket there was of course the one with the inappropriate footware…who we were all worried about, afterall good sandals need looking after. (This of course was not Tractor Girl, I have not yet got that far in learning to be girly). It was really good fun…in our group the countries represented were: China, Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Sri Lanka and England but the ethnic differences made no difference. We were all united in the concerns about the footware and when we came across a swan and her young as we went to cross a bridge our fear of what the swan might do if she thought her children were at risk. There was much laughter aswell as some interesting theology talk as we moved along our way. On the way back we found the swan had returned and this time was slap bang next to the bridge, with sleeping children. So it was we had to come up with a plan. The Greek member of our contingent, thankfully, came up with the idea of clapping. We tried it, six women all wandering towards the river clapping to move the birds may have looked a little strange, but it worked….and so we could return to the main group, ready to drink a little wine before heading home.

Whilst the weather could have been a little less grey it was a fun day out. In terms of Belsay Hall, gardens and castle it’s worth a visit. You probably don’t want to spend as long as we did there…but if you are in the North East this summer it is worth a visit.

Carolyn Arends has this article about why the arts matter, even in a recession, in the current edition of Christianity Today. It is an article which makes several important points about why the arts are important. She argues, from a biblical viewpoint, that we are created to participate in the arts….made in the image of a creator God. From here though she moves on to more sophisticated arguments about the inspirational aspect of art and how it reminds us of the transformation which is possible…and the way new realities can be formed. She also highlights the way in which art is a part of the fight against injustice….giving us a faith in unseen realities.

The truths she speaks in this article are important. As we inevitably face public spending cuts….and the recession increasingly sends people looking for scape goats….arts projects run by “do gooders” and associated, often incorrectly, with liberal political correctness will be in the firing line. This is going to be true in the Prison Service aswell as elsewhere. Yet over the last few years, I have heard some truly amazing stories from those working within community arts of the transformative power of these projects. As Arends says the arts really do have the power to transform realities. They have often have educational and / or community building aspects to them which cannot and must not be under estimated.

Within the article Arends is referring to “high culture” primarily, with the exception of folk…which is itself now generally middle class. However, if we look back to previous recessions we can see that one aspect is exciting DIY art movements often arise out of periods such as the current one. The power she refers to in relation to art being a tool in the fight against injustice is real. It also, and this is an aspect she doesn’t pick up on, can act as an agent of escape.

This means that we need to support artists during the recession but also we need to nurture the use of art as a means of expression. This is again why I believe continued funding in community arts projects is important. We should not just be encouraging people to become consumers of art….more importantly we should be encouraging them to become participants in the production. Art and creativity is, as Arends points out, a broad category which incorporates music, visual arts, storytelling, poetry, etc, etc. It can also operate on so many different levels ranging from the heart stopping professional performances to the enthusiastic amateur’s effort which might not be about to attract much praise but which has given huge enjoyment and fulfilment to the producer. It is something which transcends boundaries of class, gender, sexuality, disability, age or ethnicity. We might all have different tastes in art, but in some form or another we all appreciate it. So it is, as you can probably tell, that I wholeheartedly agree with the article.

I have discovered one of the perks of having a teenager who is growing up at an alarming rate….you get to wear their cast offs. We had great fun last night working out which t-shirts no longer fitted her, but fitted the slimmed down version of me. Thing was it wasn’t just the fit which was important it was which would not look silly on a middle aged woman. Anyway net result was about four t-shirts I didn’t own yesterday which make me look slightly more fashionable.

Additionally on the subject of casting off, today went on the Methsoc end of term summer jaunt down to the river. We took some rowing boats down onto the river before moving onto the river bank for a chat. The weather was perfect for it and was the ideal way to say goodbye for the summer.

I have wondered whether or not to put this on the net….but know that this is the space where alot of the people who have supported me in prayer during the adventure get updated. So here it is….the latest update. It’s taken a new turn this week. After alot of twisting and turning it appears I, after chatting it through with my supervisors, have made the decision about the upgrade. I expected it to be taken by others, but in the end as I say I have taken the decision…..I’m not going for it. Therefore, if all goes to plan and I get the field work done and the odd 70,000 words written in the next year or so I will end up achieving a MLitt and be job hunting in late 2010.

The reasons are various, and this is not the place to explain all of them, but I know it is the right decision for me. Just as, whilst sometimes I might doubt it, I know deep down coming on this adventure was the right thing for me to do.

Whilst a small part of me is worried that I am somehow letting down those who have supported me on the adventure by not upgrading I hope this isn’t the case. Anybody who knows me, (and that includes all who have supported me prayerfully, financially or whatever), will be aware that this has always been about doing the research rather than the qualification at the end of it. I am going to get that research done and get some kind of bit of paper at the end…just it will take a bit less time and have different letters. More importantly, I hope by making this decision I am actually going to do a better bit of research because in many ways this will reduce the amount of pressure I am putting myself under.

Once upon wellington boots came in red, black, blue or green and were generally worn only by young children or gardiners. Now, in an age when festivating is an accepted part of the middle class summer, they are fashion accessories. The Independent has it’s pick of the Ten Best Wellies, just in time for Glastonbury, which Third Party is heading off to on Wednesday once she has finished her exams for this year.

The changing face of the wellington boot and the fact it’s become as much part of the early summer fashion season as flip flops is interesting. It is a sign of the way the festival scene has mushroomed over recent years…..and has logically reached saturation point. A quick trip to the Virtual Festivals sight shows 271 in the UK alone. Admittedly amongst those 271 are some events which are not festivals they are concerts….or a series of concerts, but most are. The question we now have to ask ourselves is have we reached festival overload or is there no such thing?

Loved this Ekklesia story showing the details of a Daily Mail poll which ended up showing that a majority of respondents disagreed with the racist nonsense being espoused by Richard Littlejohn and actually supported traveller rights.

Ok, to be fair it involved a Twitter campaign…and so the results may not be as accurate or representative as they might be…..but still a lovely story.

Today I finally made it over to the Baltic to explore the North’s answer to the Tate Modern.

Unlike the Tate Modern there are no permanent installations, rather it is several floors of exhibitions. Some are easy to find….taking up most of a floor, others are more tucked away. The first I discovered was tucked away between the cafe and the information point. It was a film by David Blandy entitled “The Barefoot Lone Pilgrim”. It was clever and entertaining; the bit I saw becoming a montage of rap music, suburban and city living and Kung Fu movie wisdom. The sofa that I lolled in whilst watching was v. comfortable aswell.

Moving on into the gallery properly, after negotiating the shop which was sadly lacking in a decent selection of post cards or cultural studies books of a reasonable price, you got to Harland Miller’s “Don’t Let the Bastards Cheer You Up.” It was an exhibition based on dark humour and the “it’s grim up north” theme. The works based upon subversion of 70’s posters relating to the Yorkshire Ripper were disturbing. They begged the question of whether good art justifies what is really bad taste. Yet, this was part of the cultural landscape he grew up in. More comfortable were his subversions of penguin book covers. My favourite was the one based on the green penguin crime novels I remember my mother consuming at an alarming rate. The title was “Can I get Involved in Your Crisis” (and yes I checked the question mark was missing). Most amusing was the one based upon the blue Pelican cover which proclaimed “Bridlington Costal Erosion. It’s Not all Bad News”. This is the type of modern art I really like.

Moving up to the other floors I was less impressed. The next exhibition I encountered was the Baltic’s Dawin exhibition. You stepped out of the lift to be hit by the sounds of a childrens choir singing All Things Bright and Beautiful before moving into “A Duck for Mr Dawin”. Now this is one of those exhibitions where unsuprisingly history, natural history and art meet in film, sculpture and installation. Not my sort of thing but a clever and well put together exhibition.

Finally it was up to Sarah Sze “Tilting Planet”. Have to admit this was the sort of contemporary art that I just don’t get but which is very clever.