Jeff Wayne's - The War of the Worlds Live

On Thursday night, heavy cough, cold and all, I went to see Jeff Wayne's 'The War of the Worlds' at the Brighton Centre. I have been a fan of this piece of music since I was given a copy by my uncle shortly after it was released back in the seventies. It made a great impression on this young boy I can tell you. The ticket was a present to my Uncle who accompanied me and drove since I was feeling rough.

The show was very impressive with a screen across the whole back of the stage. A 10ft high projection of a digitally animated head of Richard Burton. Justin Hayward and Chris Thompson singing who were on the original. A large string section and numerous musicians, again some of the originals, bringing a big sound and the man himself, Jeff Wayne conducting the whole affair. Two hours of great entertainment with a mixture of live acting/singing, CGI animation and original artwork telling the story with the music.

As much as the music is very much of the seventies it still has somehow not dated either. The audience was both young and old. I guess parents bringing their children, Men bringing their partners, a whole mixture and totally sold out over three nights in Brighton. I recommend seeing it if they do it again next year.

Anyway here is a taster from YouTube:

Teddy Bears, Muhammad and common sense out the window!

So Gillian Gibbons has been charged in Sudan for 'insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs' according to the BBC Website. Her crime, allowing her school children to call a class teddy bear Muhammad. I am sorry to cast judgment and all that but this is the most pathetic thing I have heard in a long time. Believe me I get the whole, not making images of 'the Prophet Muhammad' viewpoint since as a Christian I believe images should not really be made of Jesus Christ lest we fall into revering/idolising an image as opposed to worshiping Christ Himself. No image will ever be accurate of Christ's incarnated body since we don't know what He looked like and the bible is quite clear on creating images and idols etc...

However, to arrest and charge a woman with the above charges on account of calling a teddy bear after a name some school children voted for on account of some of them actually being called Muhammad is just a religion 100% losing sight of its heart. Christians have been as guilty of this as any Islamic fundamental here. I can't speak for Islam that much since I only have a basic grasp of its beliefs but for Christians when works and the trappings of religion become more important than God Himself then you lose sight of the most important aspect. Surely at its heart, Islam is about service, sacrifice of self for others and worship of Allah, not persecuting an innocent woman on grounds of a teddy bears name.

If I heard similar from Christians I would be astonished and ashamed of them. When telling others what they should and shouldn't do, see or say becomes more important than loving God first and foremost, personal holiness then sacrificially loving others, serving others and by doing so bringing them to the foot of the cross to the reality of sin and the need for repentance, then we have totally lost the point of our faith.

Sudanese Government, please see common sense and release this woman and stop this insanity!

One of those weeks......Part II

Well just as I though things were settling down to normality after having the central heating fixed on Monday this morning it all went blah again. I opened the airing cupboard to find everything soaked and water dripping from the ceiling. Fortunately being lazy I had not put the step ladders back in the garage and got straight up on the loft to find the valve on the new pump leaking quite a lot. How long this had been going on I don't know but quite a while it seems.

Anyway the plumber is here now to replace the leaking valve. Just got to wash all the clothes that were soaked and find a place to hang them all to dry. Will have to wait until it has all dried out before I see if any permanent damage to the plasterboard ceiling has been caused. The joy of owning a house!

Lord please may that be the last thing for a while?

(27 Days to Christmas!!!)

One of those Weeks!

Do you ever get one of those weeks where you think everything is against you? Well I am having one of those weeks. Firstly on Monday evening I reversed into a parked car, dented its door and front wing and also smashed up my rear bumber. It was dark, late and miserable weather and I wasn't paying attention enough. I only have myself to blame for this. My reaction in the car on the way home was less than Christian I must admit. Some words passed my lips that should not have and I got really rather angry with myself. Insurance is sorting all this out for us. Ironically it was a couple of hours after I had ordered my new company car. Not sure if there is anything too that!

Secondly, today my central heating has stopped working on a day it is rather cold and I am working from home. Another thing to sort out and pay out on.

I know neither of these things is hign on the life threatening, very important scale but it is very easy to let yourself start feeling very miserable when little-ish things stack up. It just reminds me of two things. One, that God does not promise a stress free easy life, that is not what being a Christian is. Secondly that He is my source of hope and life and joy, not what happens around me. Nothing that happens to me in this life changes who He is and who I am in relation to Christ. Nothing can separate me from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:39).

Sorry for the slightly depressing post and lack of posting recently. I have found myself so busy recently at home and with the extra duties of stand in Cell Group Leader at church that my mind has not be inspired to write much. I hope that changes soon and that life calms down.

PS: 32 days till Christmas!!!!!

Stardust Film Review

Stardust is a film based on a book by Neil Gaiman. I cannot comment on how closely the film sticks to the book as I have not read it. So this is an unbiased, seeing the film cold review!

A brief synopsis of the film is (taken from the BBC Website Review):

In the village of Wall, next door to fairyland, shop-boy Tristan woos the village beauty by promising to fetch her a star they see fall. On his quest to retrieve said star, which turns out to be a lovely, if angry young woman - the two encounter murderous princes, wicked witches, and lightning-poacher sky-pirates. Plus, of course, the essential fairytale ingredients of true destiny and hearts' desire

I have to say I really enjoyed the film. It is beautifully filmed, well written and acted with pretty flawless special effects. The lead of the film, Charlie Cox, is very good and ably supported by a host of Mostly British acting talent. The two American supporting actors deserve praise. Michelle Pfeiffer is brilliant as the witch Lamia, lapping up the evil sorceress role. Robert De Niro is, as one would expect, excellent as the Tough Pirate captain with a large Camp secret. The king of hard men dancing about in a dress is an eye opener. Claire Danes plays the fallen star Yvaine. She is slightly irritating for a large amount of the film, but I think she is meant to be. She is a star learning about Love for herself and she warms towards the end as she falls for Tristan. Lastly, of the main supporting actors, Ricky Gervais doing what Ricky Gervais does!

The main story is of a young man, of noble birth who, at the start doesn't know his lineage and is directionless and without purpose and looking in the wrong place for love. Throughout the story he finds his courage, a reason and something to fight for. He is taken in and mentored by the Pirate Captain, if only very briefly. Eventually he realises who his true love is and finally his destiny and lineage as He inherits the Kingdom.

A good description of the human condition. We are sons of Adam yet if we turn to God are inheritors of the kingdom of Heaven as co-heirs with Christ. We are made in the image of God, albeit a broken image. What greater nobility is there than that. Our journey is to go from looking for satisfaction in this world to finding it in the only true source of life and love, Jesus Christ. To laying our lives down for a noble cause worth fighting for and finally yo inherit that which is promised to us by God.

Sounds like a fairytale but it is the greatest truth you can ever discover!

Rush Live at Wembley - October 10th 2007

I went to see Rush at Wembley Arena last week on the 10th of October.

The fans are looking older and less and less Rock as the years go on. I am sure they are garnering new fans around the world but the UK fans don't seem to be any younger. Having not been to Wembley for a few years I hadn't seen the refurbishments before. The new atrium on what was the back of the arena and the stage now at the opposite end. I have to say it made a difference and makes the arena reasonably pleasant to go to.

Sadly the sound hasn't been improved and the acoustics inside were as bad as ever. Having last seen them 3 years ago for the 30th Anniversary Tour and suffering Tinnitus ever since I was prepared with my ear plugs this time around! Now they weren't nearly as loud as that last show but after 3 songs I decided I had to use the plugs. It actually made an improvement to the sound. Ok, so I lost the top end frequencies but I could hear the bass and drums better.

They started around 7:45 and played for around an hour and ten before having a 25 minute break on the grounds that they are getting old! The second set was much longer and all the way through until nearly 11:00pm. I was a little disappointed with some of the song choices. They played about 5 new songs in a row at one point which I felt should have been spread around a bit more. Yes they played some great classics but the trouble with having 30+ years of history is what to play live. I know you will never please everyone and that is fine. I did feel there were too many of the new instrumentals which aren't a patch on the old ones. They did finish with YYZ which is always great to hear live. No La Villa sadly which surely is the greatest instrumental they have.

Obviously being a drummer, I was anticipating Neil Peart's drum solo. Every tour he changes what he plays without losing some fundamental patterns that are always there. This one I thought was a little, how can I say it...... dull! It just didn't do it for me sadly. Technically brilliant and all that but it just didn't seem to flow well and seemed bitty. Whilst on the subject of Neil Peart's drumming I was a little sad that the only time he used the rear V-Drum kit was during the solo. Being a V-Drum player myself I missed seeing him use them during some of the songs. I think there are v-drum triggers more integrated around the main kit so as to remove the necessity to rotate the kit.

Other highlights were the South Park intro to Tom Sawyer. I am not sure if this was from an actual show or made especially for them but it was very funny. Instead of tumble dryers this time around behind Geddy Lee was a rack of Roast Chicken machines. Weird huh, they even had a chef come on a couple of times and check them!

Overall though it was enjoyable and is always a treat to see the 3 of them play. Geddy and Alex always seem to be having fun on stage and enjoy being there, unlike Mr Peart, but that is another story. I first saw them in 1988 for the 'Hold Your Fire' tour. This was my 4th time seeing them at Wembley. Who knows one day I may see them at a venue that has decent sound.

Take That - Rule the World Video

Well I never thought I would post I video by Take That but hey a good tune is a good tune. Here is the video to 'Rule The World' written for the new film Stardust.

I review of the Rush concert I went to a week ago will follow soon! (Rush and Take That in the same post, another first!)

This Man!

Just saw this video on YouTube. I knew the song very well but put with scenes from The Passion of the Christ it is all the more powerful. (Copyright infringments aside :-)! ) Song by Jeremy Camp!

Warning: Very Graphic scenes if you haven't already seen the film!



This song is one of my favorite songs by Jeremy Camp, simple and honest words!

Blogging Lite!!

Yes I know I have been woeful in the amount of posting recently. This is partly due to being busy at work, being tired and not wanting to sit in front of a computer.

Also I have just bought a new Roland TD12 drum kit so am spending much time working out how to get the sound I want out of that.

I also have this week and next week off work so am spending time with my wife and doing jobs. So don't expect too much writing in the coming weeks, but I will return, fear not!

Transformers (Robots in disguise) the Film!

Well yesterday I finally saw Transformers at the cinema. All I can say to start is wow and I really enjoyed it. I was never a great fan of the cartoon version as I think it was a little after my time as a child, however I always liked the idea. I was vaguely aware of Optimus Prime and Megatron and co. but don't have a great attachment to the original comic or cartoon versions. This I feel was good as I didn't bring any baggage to watching it.

I only noticed one bit of ropey CGI which was a point when Bumblebee turns back into the car and drives off. Apart from that I was very impressed with the special effects. The plot was thin but who cares. Bib powerful life giving cube, lost on earth, Autobots and Decepticons are after it for different reasons. Boy connected to it through grandfather etc...

I thought the humour was well pitched against the action. Particularly the Autobots trying to hide in the back garden while Sam's parents are giving him a hard time about parental type stuff. Great big robots trying to bend into corners and around the house in an effort to not be noticed, brilliant. There was plenty of eye candy for the boys and girls in the audience and I am talking about the older ones here. Ladies, apparently the main soldier bloke is particularly gorgeous! Yes my wife came and watched it with me and did enjoy it and not just because of him! I thought the analyst girl plot strand was wasted and I hope she wasn't just there for the men in the audience. Of course if big hunking robots slugging it out is your thing then there is plenty of that too, oh yeah.

Anyway, getting carried away here so go see the film if you want to more or less switch brain off and be very entertained for a couple of hours.