I have had 2 weeks away from the blogosphere! Is this forgivable or justified? I hope so!
I have rediscovered Heroes. I dipped in and out of it when the first series was on but never really got into it properly. Now the second series has arrived and I felt like I was missing out, so I took it upon myself to borrow the DVDs of series 1 and catch up.
I am up to episode 13 or so of 20+ so will hopefully surface again soon with no more TV to watch.
So that's where I have been...
Timmy "Super Blogger" Magic
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
plastic popo
In light of my current favour for all things PCSO, here is a blog written by an anonymous PCSO from a "semi-rural force". The language is a little coarse at times, but the posts are frank and give an accurate view of life on the mean streets from someone with no powers, no equipment and, in some cases, no common sense.
The Plastic Fuzz
Timmy "Plastic Blogger" Magic
The Plastic Fuzz
Timmy "Plastic Blogger" Magic
holiday magic
I need a holiday and can't decide where I want to go!
Please proffer suggestions in the comments section!
Timmy "Bored of Britain" Magic
Please proffer suggestions in the comments section!
Timmy "Bored of Britain" Magic
Sunday, June 08, 2008
army music - on the right track?
In light of my previous post (incidentally my 300th ever) I thought it would be worth sharing these words from a CD review I read this morning. It really set me thinking as to the aims of our musical mission, and what it's all about
At the start of the 20th century, the Salvation Army took the contemporary pop songs of its day, changed the words and hit the streets to see souls saved. Radical stuff! Judging from this, at the start of the 21st century, they now take a fairly boring selection of almost contemporary Christian praise and worship songs (Kenoly, Kendrick et al) and record them with bland arrangements. Wonder what General Booth would make of all of this! I long for the Salvation Army to rediscover its roots and choose to make music that is relevant, impacting and dynamic but this selection is enough to make me weep at how a once vibrant movement has been reduced to badly recording religious music. If General Booth was around today, there wouldn't be a brass band in sight but rather a church whose worship sounded like Fatboy Slim. What went wrong?
It doesn't matter which CD the review was for, as the comments speak for themselves
Timmy "Modern Muso?" Magic
At the start of the 20th century, the Salvation Army took the contemporary pop songs of its day, changed the words and hit the streets to see souls saved. Radical stuff! Judging from this, at the start of the 21st century, they now take a fairly boring selection of almost contemporary Christian praise and worship songs (Kenoly, Kendrick et al) and record them with bland arrangements. Wonder what General Booth would make of all of this! I long for the Salvation Army to rediscover its roots and choose to make music that is relevant, impacting and dynamic but this selection is enough to make me weep at how a once vibrant movement has been reduced to badly recording religious music. If General Booth was around today, there wouldn't be a brass band in sight but rather a church whose worship sounded like Fatboy Slim. What went wrong?
It doesn't matter which CD the review was for, as the comments speak for themselves
Timmy "Modern Muso?" Magic
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
rinkers in guernsey - a little late
So yes, it is more than a little late but here is a brief wander through the weekend away with the Regent Hall Band in Guernsey.
The fun and frolics started at Victoria with my sectional buddy Glen and his billet-stealing wife Lisa as we got the train to Gatwick together. Lisa decided that she needed some new sunglasses as her old ones were a little bent out of shape.
Upon arriving at the airport we met up with a gang of band members and assorted wives, girlfriends, children and other groupies. George, son of Paul and Charlotte, had never been on a plane before and appeared quite excited. So excited that the answer to every question we could throw at him was "airport!"
Once through security and suitably fed by the world famous Scottish beef restaurant (McDonalds), we boarded our winged bus and went on our way across the Channel.
The flight was disappointingly uneventful, with minimal amounts of singing, dancing, auditioning for the cornet section and other silliness. However once we hit foreign(?) soil and were stood on the runway, we discovered that the door to enter the terminal was locked. From the inside. The official looking people were on the outside. This proved to be a slight problem. After some frantic radio messaging and waving, someone arrived to let us in. During the wait on the tarmac, we had watched our bags disappear behind us, yet still had to wait at the carousel for them to arrive.
With everyone's bags safely recovered, we went through the gates and met up with the advance party and our minibus drivers for the weekend.
We took a circuitous route round the island to the main hotel, then onto the smaller hotel, home to the Littles, the Burrows, a Jones and a Gaze for the weekend.
After a swift change of clothes, the four young people (Glen, Lisa, Cameron and I - Alex hadn't arrived!) wandered down into St Peter Port and found a (or the) very nice pizza restaurant in the town centre.
Then bedtime!
Saturday brought another visit into St Peter Port, this time in the car of our new friend Becky. There was small amounts of banter, but nothing of any real interest. After a small luncheon from M&S we conducted one of the world's first indoor outdoor services in the town church. It was a good experience and I have heard some great stories of people hearing the band and recontacting the Army.
The evening's activity was a big band style concert at L'Islet which was well received and very much enjoyed by the band. Quite notable was the great water key/polo shirt combination offered by Paul W mid way through his flugel solo.
After returning to the hotel and chilling for a few minutes, the opportunity arose to visit the opposite end of the island to play some pool. The boys played badly and were shamed by the girls on more than one occasion. Disappointingly I didn't find my form, and neither did Alex or Glen.
Sunday was a standard service for the band at L'Islet and it was great to find out that people had heard us over the preceding day and had made the effort to attend the meeting. We even had some visitors from across the pond (Jersey!)
Lunch was taken thereafter, consisting of a splendidly nice BBQ in the back garden in the company of a couple of people from the church. A good deal of banter was had, as well as some interesting discussions about banding, the Army and faith.
Candie Gardens was our next port of call for an open air service. The weather was excellent and we had a good time. Adding to the fun was the presence of a mad bloke in a silly uniform, and, oddly enough, it wasn't one of the bandsmen! A gentleman sauntered up in full military garb and asked how we were going to fight the fuzzy wuzzies with instruments.
A concert in St James' concert hall was the musical conclusion of the weekend and took the format of the regular Saturday night festival. The atmosphere was great, particularly during the singing of the Guernsey anthem "Sarnia Cherie" and the finale of Montreal Citadel - something that will not be forgotten soon.
We then were invited up to the house of some of the guys from church for fish and chips and computer games. By 2am it was firmly established that I rock at Buzz (regular and sporting editions) and that it was probably sleeping time.
Monday was a day of fun on the island and we took a tour round the sights of the small chapel, a wood turning place and a gun emplacement with the campest cannon ever.
After a lovely lunch at L'Islet and some fun and frolics on the beach we headed off to the airport.
The plane was late. By about 3 hours! Free food appeared to placate a hungry band, pool was once again played and the boys, once again, got beaten severely by Kate. Once we returned to the airport, now armed with Chinese takeaway, the plane arrived and we headed home, more than a little tired but glad of a fun weekend away!
I am, at present, not able to upload photos but I will try and stick them together in a video in the next week or so!
Timmy "Rink Oversea(s) Tourer" Magic
The fun and frolics started at Victoria with my sectional buddy Glen and his billet-stealing wife Lisa as we got the train to Gatwick together. Lisa decided that she needed some new sunglasses as her old ones were a little bent out of shape.
Upon arriving at the airport we met up with a gang of band members and assorted wives, girlfriends, children and other groupies. George, son of Paul and Charlotte, had never been on a plane before and appeared quite excited. So excited that the answer to every question we could throw at him was "airport!"
Once through security and suitably fed by the world famous Scottish beef restaurant (McDonalds), we boarded our winged bus and went on our way across the Channel.
The flight was disappointingly uneventful, with minimal amounts of singing, dancing, auditioning for the cornet section and other silliness. However once we hit foreign(?) soil and were stood on the runway, we discovered that the door to enter the terminal was locked. From the inside. The official looking people were on the outside. This proved to be a slight problem. After some frantic radio messaging and waving, someone arrived to let us in. During the wait on the tarmac, we had watched our bags disappear behind us, yet still had to wait at the carousel for them to arrive.
With everyone's bags safely recovered, we went through the gates and met up with the advance party and our minibus drivers for the weekend.
We took a circuitous route round the island to the main hotel, then onto the smaller hotel, home to the Littles, the Burrows, a Jones and a Gaze for the weekend.
After a swift change of clothes, the four young people (Glen, Lisa, Cameron and I - Alex hadn't arrived!) wandered down into St Peter Port and found a (or the) very nice pizza restaurant in the town centre.
Then bedtime!
Saturday brought another visit into St Peter Port, this time in the car of our new friend Becky. There was small amounts of banter, but nothing of any real interest. After a small luncheon from M&S we conducted one of the world's first indoor outdoor services in the town church. It was a good experience and I have heard some great stories of people hearing the band and recontacting the Army.
The evening's activity was a big band style concert at L'Islet which was well received and very much enjoyed by the band. Quite notable was the great water key/polo shirt combination offered by Paul W mid way through his flugel solo.
After returning to the hotel and chilling for a few minutes, the opportunity arose to visit the opposite end of the island to play some pool. The boys played badly and were shamed by the girls on more than one occasion. Disappointingly I didn't find my form, and neither did Alex or Glen.
Sunday was a standard service for the band at L'Islet and it was great to find out that people had heard us over the preceding day and had made the effort to attend the meeting. We even had some visitors from across the pond (Jersey!)
Lunch was taken thereafter, consisting of a splendidly nice BBQ in the back garden in the company of a couple of people from the church. A good deal of banter was had, as well as some interesting discussions about banding, the Army and faith.
Candie Gardens was our next port of call for an open air service. The weather was excellent and we had a good time. Adding to the fun was the presence of a mad bloke in a silly uniform, and, oddly enough, it wasn't one of the bandsmen! A gentleman sauntered up in full military garb and asked how we were going to fight the fuzzy wuzzies with instruments.
A concert in St James' concert hall was the musical conclusion of the weekend and took the format of the regular Saturday night festival. The atmosphere was great, particularly during the singing of the Guernsey anthem "Sarnia Cherie" and the finale of Montreal Citadel - something that will not be forgotten soon.
We then were invited up to the house of some of the guys from church for fish and chips and computer games. By 2am it was firmly established that I rock at Buzz (regular and sporting editions) and that it was probably sleeping time.
Monday was a day of fun on the island and we took a tour round the sights of the small chapel, a wood turning place and a gun emplacement with the campest cannon ever.
After a lovely lunch at L'Islet and some fun and frolics on the beach we headed off to the airport.
The plane was late. By about 3 hours! Free food appeared to placate a hungry band, pool was once again played and the boys, once again, got beaten severely by Kate. Once we returned to the airport, now armed with Chinese takeaway, the plane arrived and we headed home, more than a little tired but glad of a fun weekend away!
I am, at present, not able to upload photos but I will try and stick them together in a video in the next week or so!
Timmy "Rink Oversea(s) Tourer" Magic
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