USA Day 5: Sunday

This was the last day at Lake Champion, so packing up was in order, then the final session, before heading off to Washington D.C. We drove for about 5 hours & ended up crossing 5 different states to get there. We arrived at a luxurious house to meet Lee Corder [Vice President of Young Life & Director of the Northern International Young Life Ministries] who we chatted to for a while, about who we were & where we came from etc. Next we headed to where we were to stay overnight, the name of the place I cannot say, but it was a place where many famous dignitaries & heads of state have stayed over the years. It’s a very stately place & extremely secret. It was the origins for the Good Will charity & the National Prayer Breakfast. It’s a very splendid & restful place.

My Grandma would love this place – it’s very much the sort of place she’d thrive in!!

Epic Failz

OK I admit it, I'm a blogging slacker, there's sooo much for me to catch up on with things going on with me at the moment: finishing off the america blog, more about Young Life/jobs & I've been to see Hot Chip & The Mighty Boosh live shows & said nothing about any of this yet.

So I'm pledging to try to catch up asap, so watch this space!

We continue

Day 4: Saturday

Today was more of watching Young Life activities & then had the afternoon off.

Day 3: Friday: Continued Camp

Today; quite busy, seeing the rest of Asian Young Life weekend away. We also helped in the kitchen after breakfast & lunch, before seeing in another weekend away group of about 250 young people, most of who weren’t Christians. The idea was to see a whole weekend of Young Life camp.

Day 2: Thursday: Seeing camp

OK today was a late waking day [jetlag grrr!] & basically had a day to have a look around Lake Champion, taking in their facilities, then went out for a pizza with Randy & the guys. Later on that evening, a group of 50 or so young people came over from Asian Young Life. It was great to see this guy’s ministry & see how he interacts with this young people from Asian descent.

Day 1: Wednesday: Arrival

So it’s Wednesday [OK really it's Saturday teehee!!] & I’ve been up for nearly 24 hours & am totally bushwacked, but here’s the story so far:

Got up at just after 5am & got on the 6:20am bus to Heathrow Terminal 5. With plenty of time I got through check-in & security & had a Starbucks breakfast & chatted to Maddie for a while before I boarded the plane. It was a British Airways 747 flight & nice & comfortable, but maybe not enough legroom for me – my knees properly caned afterwards. Good food on the flight & a couple of good movies kept me occupied for most of the flight, but did sleep [& dribbled!!] for a little while.

When I landed it definitely dawned on me that I’m coming to America [duh!], to meet with some people from Scotland & an American guy called Randy – none of whom I’d met before in my whole life!! Once through the intense security at customs, I got my case & went through the exit door – not know who I was looking for, or even if I could find them! Thankfully when I got through to the terminal, there was a guy asking every person if they were called Simon! This turned out to be Randy Nickel, & waiting for me just outside were 2 Scottish gentlemen - Paul & Graham.

We chatted for a bit & headed into Manhattan [a.k.a. New York], where we took in the sights of Times Square, went up the Empire State building saw the awesome views of the city. Next we had a wicked Chinese banquet & then headed off for a 2 hour drive to Lake Champion. We settled in & went to sleep almost instantly to a great place called Swiss House – the adult guest rooms.

Intro to trip:

This is what happened to get me to America: had a phone interview with a guy called Tom Hammon, from a youth ministry company called Young Life. Now some good friends of mine from CYM [Han & Sparky] both work for Young Life in Hillingdon [London] & had suggested talking to their boss [Tom] who is the head of the UK ministries. But they had also been singing my praises to both their immediate boss & their committee. People seemed pretty excited about me & the possibilities of working with Young Life in ministry. Anyways to cut a fairly long story short, I had a 45 chat with Tom Hammon & I shared a bit about me & my testimony. He suggested seeing if there was space with a group of Scottish guys who were going over to Baltimore & New York city to check out what Young Life is all about. Originally he suggested it was for a trip at the end November, then rang back shortly afterwards & said what was I doing next week! Obviously nothing, so I said why not – managed to get the funds raised for a flight & now I’m here!! What follows will be a series of blogs about what I get up to!

To be continued!

America Blog Part 1…of Many

OK this is going to be a series of old-skool blogger-blog’s from yours truly – what I did, where I went etc. enjoy peeps! Photos will be up on Facebook soon & I’ll try to post every day or so – there’s currently internet where I am, but not sure how long I’m here for! For those who don’t already know – I’m going to/in America for the next week or so.

Six out

What on earth

I have been meaning to post this for ages, but have been a slacker/busy!! So this is written about a week after I meant to!!

Not that I would ever borrow ideas from another blogger...but checking out Mark Oestreicher's blogthe other day, I came across a good template, like a kind of old skool questionnaire [see his original answers here]. I thought the questions were very apt for my own ministry/life/world, so I asked myself the same 8 questions:

the weekend that was: Last weekend was the beginnings of the studio idea [more on that on another blog methinks - watch this space!]

where I am at the moment: Was in Oxford, am now in a place called Lake Champion, in New York state, in America!!!

on my to-do list this week:Was to book a flight to Newark & get packing, but now it's all about checking out Young Life & spending so great times meeting people & seeing how they do ministry.

procrastinating about: Blogging & general geekiness & also what presents to get Maddie from America...oh & should I get some new/decent headphones while I'm over stateside?!

book I’m in the midst of:Jack Higgins' new Sean Dillon paperback: The Killing Ground. Haven't been reading it that much, it seems a little samey as other Dillon books [this is like 13/14th in the series!]. Have also been hearing a lot of the Stephen Fry audiobook forms of the Harry Potter series - a modern classic!

music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Silversun Pickups & Autolux's debut albums [Carvanas & Future Perfect respectively]. However, I've also been learning the guitar & listening to a bit of acoustic stuff - the DVD's for Nirvana: Unplugged in New York & Foo Fighters: Skin & Bones. On the dance side it has to be Adam Freeland's BBC Radio 1 mix [aka 2 hours to Jupiter mix].

next trip:America - NOW!! To visit a Young Life camp with some others from Scotland & see how their ministry runs. Taking in New York, Washington DC & Baltimore.

how I’m feeling about this week:I have been really stoked about the possibilities of coming here to America to see Young Life, but also I had the chance to see the Mighty Boosh - legendary, simply legendarily funny. I had not laughed that much or that hard for a looooong time!! Having said all that, I am really missing my girlfriend, who I haven't seen for a few weeks, but will do when I get home - yaaaaaay!!

That concludes this blog, but expect more in the next week with all my goings-on in America!!

...we continue!

A whole year!

OK this is a quick update for my relationship with Maddie - we've been together for a whole year today! I got her a cute, but fairly grown-up watch from Swatch in Canterbury which replaces her really old one from Disneyland Paris!! She got me loads of small & random presents, like a brand for toast which you press in then toast & it leaves a message - awwwww & some other narly things as well!! & the cards were proper cute as well.

Today we spent the whole day together, sharing meals, looking around Woking & as I type she's making me a romantical dinner - awwwww!! We've not spent a huge amount of monies on each other, but to be honest that's not really the point - we've managed with the means that we have & we've had the day together so that's all that matters.

It's been a great year, being with Maddie & long may it continue ;o)

Six [all loved up] out

HOT CHIP!!!

OK this should be auto-posted by the time I'm down in Portsmouth to visit young Doodles & also to see Hot Chip today - 23rd in the evening at Southampton Guildhall - I'm so very stoked about this & below is a darn good reason why!!

Clubbing & Spirituality - my thoughts

OK here are my thoughts….albeit briefly on the idea of the spirituality of clubbing.

Firstly what do I mean by clubbing? This, I would describe as the culture of dance music; specifically the sub-genre’s of Trance & Hard House. I choose these two specifically because of my own experience in going to clubs where this was the musical genre of choice. However, this can also be expanded to any genre of dance music, but usually with the stipulation that live mixing [that of merging two musical tracks together using either CD or vinyl turntables] takes place. The joy of dance music is that it is continually evolving.

In terms of the spirituality & dance music, I would argue that there is a real sense that when clubbers gather together & in the patterns that they form in the venue that they are dancing, there are at least parallels with how church operates. From ‘greeting’ at the door [bouncers!] & refreshments [all be it alcoholic], to the ‘alter’ that the DJ operates from. There is even a bizarre parallel to the ‘holiest of holies’ - the green room where the DJ’s gather before their performances.

This may not necessarily represent a true, or at least Christian idea of spirituality, but my argument would centre on the idea that there is still the search for spirituality. As a seasoned clubber myself [& one who still listens to a great deal of dance music!] I would suggest that having seen how clubbers behave, I would suggest that there really is spirituality rife in the clubbing world & therein lies a great opportunity for evangelism & to reach out to these people who are searching for something….although they may not know what!!

Classic....but better

I think it sounds so much better with Hot Chip lolz, but here's the original anyways

Cool W-hip VOX

Ideas Factory 3

If this studio idea has some merit, then here is a product which might just help me. It's called the JamVOX & is made by the legendary VOX Amplifier manufacturer.

The idea is that you get monitor speakers, which you can jack your electric/acoustic guitar into. It also has a mic input.

The unit hooks up to your Mac or PC via USB 2.0 & with the software you can change the inputted sound.



The software itself uses various synthesized amplifiers, stomp-boxes & effects pedals to alter the sound. Although it is synthetic, I believe that for recording purposes it could be brilliant.

It will record digitally which will be great for edting purposes.


It is not hugely priced - it is about £150 online at the moment. However, this is not much more expensive than a reasonable practice amp [VOX or Marshall].

Overall, I think that this could make a brilliant start for the idea of a studio & a worthy purchase!

Confused by what?!

OK this might just be me [& please take no offense from this if you feel my quirky sense of humour is, well, just a little bit too quirky for your liking] but attending the grad ceremony yesterday, & it's been something I thought was funny for a while, but it occurred to me how classic we all looked in our gowns & hats. But also just how similar they are to Harry Potter & his crew - of wizards!!! It could of course be my imagination, but you judge for yourself:

All in the name of comedy, or science, or something

OK I've got to add this one - for pure comedy value - I think my grandfather would not be amused - regardless of how funny he looks in my wizards hat!

Some grad pics

Me & the old man
Me & the Madd Thoughts, sans silly hat!
Parentals in the same room - a very rare sight
My 'baby' brother
Taking it all a little too seriously?! I think not

Thoughts of a post-grad!!

Well yesterday it finally happened - Brainshare has become a post-graduate!! I picked up my Bachelor of Arts degree certificate for my Youth & Community Works with applied Theology, along with most of the rest of the Class of '08!

It was my first degree so didn't really know what to expect, but it was pretty good - managed to get my old man over from Switzerland [but he missed his flight back & is only now back home!], my mum, brother & grandfather down from Oxford & my dear Madd Thoughts came up from Canterbury. A great day was had by all, with the slight exception of my bro who I'm not sure enjoyed the whole God aspect of the proceedings!!

It was a great day out in London [yes I know I went to Oxford Brookes, but why would that mean graduating in that fair city?!] & it was great to see so many former classmates there.

I'll post up a few pics in a little while, but for now here's the 'money shot' ;o)

Want this one!

I have too many plans methinks, but here is number two [of many hopefuly!]

At the moment there is nothing wrong with my guitar & yet because it cost little monies, I feel that when I have established myself in suitable employment, I might actually get around to purchasing my first guitar. Having thought & researched it a little, I have an inkling that this might be the way forward. I think it will do the job, but I will wait until I can actually play properly.

Idea Factory

Now this sounds a little far-fetched, however, a random idea came to me the other day & I thought I should blog as such. The simplest way to describe this is that I wish to create some form of studio. To grow this as an idea, I shall expand on what I mean.

At the moment I'm still living at home & have wheat I call my lounge downstairs which at the moment just has a TV & DVD surround-sound system in it. I also have a large Apple iMac in my room which has some limited music making capabilities. I've also got my guitar set-up in the lounge. Now my father has offered me a Roland keyboard & another USB MIDI keyboard.

What struck me was that with all this kit, why not put it all together. The potential is that I could get more kit & then get the boys [Nate, Hobbit, AJ/PeteE] round to jam & record some random worship/rock stuff.

Contemplation of the heart

Again having another day to contemplate the meaning of life, love & the universe....ok well one of those at least, it begs me to say how things go in my life - outside of my ministry.

Ahhhh matters of the heart - what can I begin to say?! Forgive this old man for giving into being all lovey-dovey, but hey, it's just what I'm feeling lolz!

My heart overflows with love for my girlfriend & this love grows stronger every day. All I can say is I love you Maddie King...& I always will.

G-rad-thoughts

Graduation is fast approaching for Brainshare & as such, randomly I have some thoughts [there's a surprise!]. It means that I finally get a piece of paper & probably about 1000 photos telling me that I have passed through the Centre for Youth Ministry degree course [relatively!] unscathed & qualified as a professional youthworker.

The only problem with this scenario is that currently I have no job!!

Now although tempting to blame the establishment for this small/minor problem, I feel that I cannot. It's not for lack of trying mind you, I have so far been to 7 interviews so far & have just 1 more lined up so far [St Paul's at St Alban's]. However, it does beg the question - if God has put Youth Ministry on my heart - is it right to give up trying to find a ministry at the present season & try again next year?

I know that with my degree I had to wait a year & this was right as it meant I was more prepared for ministry training. So is the same thing true for the beginning of my full-time ministry?! Even when I've been my best [St Lukes at Brighton, WinVin] I've still not managed to get a ministry at the end. The feedback was that I'd done nothing wrong but one of the other candidates were stronger.

SO how do I progress - keep my hand in at my home church, with the possibility of ministry there when the current youthworker finishes in the summer, & work temping or in an office for the next 6-8 months. Or do I keep trying for places in ministry until I get somewhere. It is a big dilemma for me & one which I cannot answer at present.

Those who understand my calling & ministry would tell me to keep going, those who do not [i.e. family] would suggest coming back to Youthwork later on. It does make one want to scream more than just a little bit!

Comments/suggestions are most heartily welcome on this post!!

Musical Wizz-kidding

Hey bloggites, time for some more random musical stuffs this time it's the Silversun Pickup's aka SSPU.
Now if I've talked rock music to you this year, you'll probably know that this is my band of 2008! I first heard one of their tracks whilst sat, doing some reading for my dissertation, in a Starbucks in Woking - but not, strangely listening to rock - actually listening to the man Freeland - specifically GU32 [see here for my thoughts on that album]. The track was Lazy Eye & I'm not sure why but it definitely struck a chord with my musical tastes.

As I do, I went hunting for that track & to see if there was an EP or an album about on the interweb, strangely there was nothing, so I actually purchased their debut album Carnavas iTunes. From the first play I could tell I was going to love the band, it was great track after great track; here's their track listing:

1. "Melatonin"
2. "Well Thought Out Twinkles"
3. "Checkered Floor"
4. "Little Lover's So Polite"
5. "Future Foe Scenarios"
6. "Waste It On"
7. "Lazy Eye"
8. "Rusted Wheel"
9. "Dream at Tempo 119"
10. "Three Seed"
11. "Common Reactor"

Lazy eye was great, I knew that, but also Well Thought Out Twinkles, Little Lover's So Polite, Future Foe Scenarios, Dream at Tempo 119 were stand-out tracks. I found that the more I listened to their album, the better I liked it! In fact I even got a copy of the album for Maddie for her birthday back in July [see I remembered darling!].

Their sound is often compared to Smashing Pumpkins - which is no bad thing, but for me it just sounded like if I could make/be in a band - that would be how I'd love to play. They have great control over their instruments [especially their pedal work] & such a great energy - this band is one that I really would pay to see live. I mean come on they even supported to Foo Fighters during their last tour - that's a big recommendation to me! They're like a new-wave of grunge & seeing as how much I'm digging that at the moment - is no bad thing!!

All-in-all this is a band that I cannot recommend highly enough - if, like me you're into a bit of rawk - this is the way forward.

Here's a quick vid of them on Jules Holland - check it out:

New Family Guy Feature-Length Episode!!!

First there was Stewie: The Untold Story, next it was Blue Harvest - now it will soon be the time for Something Something Something Dark Side - the second exciting episode in the Family-Guy-does-Star-Wars Saga - am I excited - YESS!! Here's their preview poster:

Sunday Update

Hey blogger-fans, it's time for another update, I've had a very lazy day today as it had been a busy few days! It's been good to chillax & play a little guitar, eat a little food & kick back. The guitar is going pretty good, got my 4 basic chords sorted & now got a full chord book do am starting to get to grips with the ways of the force...oh wait no ways of making chords!!



We continue............slowly!

Hmmmmm

OK now this is aimed at nobody in particular, but check out the trailer for this forthcoming film called The Proud American. I saw the trailer to this upcoming through the great Dave's Trailer Page website & was frankly appalled at what we being presented. Needless to say that I found the self-congratulatory elements almost arrogant. Check it out & see for yourselves.

Freeland Bio

If you want more of Adam Freeland's actual biography [rather than some random musings] check this out

The Man...Freeland...Part 2

Next in this most bizarre of history lessons is the good old GU32.

OK so by this stage I was now hooked on Freeland's style of mixing & choice of top choons! Saw this in HMV in Woking town & it's through this that I got plugged into my band of the year - the Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye!! It's a stonking mix & has some classics like Nowhere Girl, Half an Edit, Floating, Phantom & Paris 400.

My last part of the tale is the last mix I heard from him - his [now legendary] essential mix on BBC Radio 1. It's 2 hours of pure joy - there's stuff from his new album & unreleased stuff & some band called Autolux - which is awesome as it's sprung in a grunge revival for me - excellent!!

So if you've not heard this mix, then you really do need to. Here's the track-listing from Radio 1:

Billy Nayer - Ship Alarm (BSG Records)
Siriusmo - Girls Rock (Bungalow)
Unkle – Restless [loop] (Surrender All)
Evil Nine – They Live (Marine Parade)
Rogerseventytwo – Imagination (Tiger Trax)
Grinderman - No Pussy Blues [Adam Freeland Edit] (CDR)
Adam Freeland – Glowstix (Marine Parade)
Boys Noize - Let's Buy Happiness (Boys Noize Records)
Autolux – Blanket [Adam Freeland Mix] (Full Time Hobby)
Junkie XL - Cities in Dust [Glimmers Mix] (Artwerk)
Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor [Soulwax Mix (EMI)
Shadow Dancer - End Hit (Boys Noize Records)
Alan Braxe – Addicted (Vulture)
U.N.K.L.E. – Restless (Surrender All)
Blake Baxter/Mark Romboy - House Ya [Bootleg] (CDR)
Alex Metric – Pins (Marine Parade)
Crookers - Love To Edit (Crack Crack Records)
Bloody Beetroots – Butter (Crack Crack Records)
DJ Shadow - Right thing/Ztrip - Set off the party (Island)
Freeland – Do Ya (Marine Parade)
Map Of Africa - Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys (Whatever We Want)
Black Strobe - Shining Brightstar [Phones Mix] (Playlouder / Beggars France)
Sebasien Tellier - Sexual Sportswear [SebastiAn Mix] (Record Makers)
Breakbot – Happy Rabbit (Moshi Moshi)
Tepr - Midniut Jacuzzi [Data Mix] (Wall of Sound)
Soulwax – Krack [Nite Version] (Play It Again Sam)
Midnight Juggernaughts - Road to Discovery (Siberia Records)
Adam Freeland – Hate (Marine Parade)
Freeland - How To Fake Your Life (Marine Parade)
Splitter - All Alone [Alex Metric Mix] (Eye Industries)
Can – Mothersky (United Artists Records)
Swayzak - Smile & Receive [Apparat Mix] (K7!)
Simple Minds - Theme for Great Cities (Sanctuary)
Caribou – Niobe [Adam Freeland Edit] (CDR)

All in all - he's a legend & I'm awaiting his next album with baited breath!!!

The Man...Freeland

OK this is a random musical shout-outs, for my favourite DJ's of the past few months/year: Mr Adam Freeland!

He's a DJ & producer who I'd link strongly & usually with the breaks scene. When I started to get into Breaks back in 2006/7 [thanks to Oli Long & First Contact, aka Ed Steele & Kostas from Fresh out the Box for that] one of my immediate favourite's was Freeland's "We Want Your Soul". For me this epitomizes the breaks scene & began to really get me into the whole genre. I then heard his Now & Them album. Check out one of the wicked tracks from it: Mind Killer [choon!]:



Next comes the most bizarre crossovers - I got given a CD, called "Back to Mine" mixed by Adam Freeland. Now this is my most listened to of all the music I own - no word of a lie - over 400 plays on some of the tracks. Now the reason for this really floating my boat is due to the chilled nature of the mix. Also it turned me onto a number of bands, such as Interpol, Autolux, And You Will Know us by the Trail of the Dead, TV on the Radio, Jape, Elliott Smith & Boards of Canada. Some of which I heard of but don't own & some which I was totally unfamiliar with.



To be continued!!

Failing, you have to love it sometimes - it's really funny!!

& one of my all time favourites [stick with it to the end]:

Guitar plea's!!

Oh & I now even have a list of stuff I need for my guitar so if you're getting rid of an amp, pedals, stand, case or even your old electric guitar - let me know!!! ;o)

Guitar Hero?

Don't worry not really succumbed to that fad of playing along with hero's on the 360 [phew!], no in actual fact I have begun to....learn to play the guitar!!

I came across a little electric guitar with no strings & in desperate need of some love, & I asked my good buddy Nate to fix it for me....well he didn't so last Monday me & Hobbit went to go get it, restring it & have a play & check it's all still in working order!

We went on a little jaunt to PMT [no seriously!] on the Cowley Road, just near where I've been having lectures for 3 years! Here I was advised to get some Ernie Ball strings & Hobbit suggested some Jim Dunlop plecks & then we say la piece de resistance a really, really, REALLY small, amplifier:

This is made by VOX [duh!] & is intended for personal practice, without disturbing your room-mates, neighbours, parents, siblings, pets, badgers, etc. & I have to say [even though I truthfully am a total n00b at this] that I was astounded as to how good it was - even through reasonably cheap & nasty headphones. The cool thing is I can practice without people wanting to garrote me with my shiny new strings & it actually sounds like an amp! IT runs with 2 batteries & lasts for like 15 hours [apparently].

Anyways, I've also got a tuner [as I can't tune properly yet - so will have to cheat for now!] & found [literally] a phono cable & dug out my old Absolute Beginner's Guitar book & have learned 4 chords now [so far]. Also Hobbit has been kind enough to chuck me his old guitar strap & has loaned me his beloved Marshall practice amp & a magical effects pedal - so it's a good start - I'll update this bit when I get reasonably reasonable & when I have a little money, but for now this, as it were, rocks!!

P.S. I have to mention my prime coercer into this - dearest Maddie - it's your fault methinks!!

D'oh well!!

Hey blog-peeps, it's been some time so it seems another update is required. You know I don;t think this would be so sparse if I spent any considerable time in Oxford or near my house!! Anyway I digress [meh!]...on with the blog:

OK didn't get the WinVin job, the feedback I got was that I did everything right, checking out the church before the interview, meeting the appropriate people, being communicative with the young people, having a sharing my vision for youthwork & working in Winchester, but in the end there were 3 really strong candidates [including me] but they went with one of the other 2.

I was a little disappointed, as you can imagine, but not terribly so, because like they said there's nothing I did wrong. I take this as meaning that it was down to a simple choice of personalities. When I am being interviewed & throughout this whole process, I've tried to remain as honest, as open & as 'myself', as possible & I don't believe this should change.

However, the issue is not just that I didn't get this one, it;s that it's now coming to the end of rather a long list of places that I have applied for. I now have just one egg left in my youthworker basket - St Alban's.

Or to be more specific St Paul's in St Alban's. This was a big challenge both the application form & the interview are simply huge - the app form was just under 3500 words & the interview is a 3 day affair. All-in-all a big deal. I will keep you posted as to what happens, but I'll also send round more prayer requests.

Chin up...as they say!!

Spore(k)

Ahhh Spore - the new game from the producers of the vastly successful Sim City & the Sims series of games. It's new & it's awesome - got a copy at the slightly reasonable £33 from Morrison's & it works of PC & Mac - shiny.

Basically you create a race of infinitely customizable creatures, from single celled organisms, all the way through to exploring space - it's a vast game, with large elements of individuality - I've not been able to recreate the same creature twice!! It's highly, highly addictive & my buddies over at X-Play have described it as the game of the year - probably the decade. I'm not 100% sure about that but it's definitely one of the best I've played recently. So go check it out!

Job Update

Hey all you bloggerites - here's an update on my job situation.

Went for an interview at Winchester Vineyard Church [WinVin] on Wednesday & it went really well, will hear about it after the weekend, but if you read this pray for me - as I'm really stoked about this one - it appears the best yet!!! It's a spirit-filled place & the crew seem great, as do the facilities & most importantly; the youth seem friendly & fun!!

We continue

Ministry Vision

Check it people!!

I would like to work with various young people from any cultural background & by the process of listening, get to know & understand their individual cultures. Then from a place of relevance & understanding, bring these young people to the knowledge & love of God, actively seeking Him & wanting to be saved.

If they already know & love God – fantastic! I want God’s grace to shine through my ministry & have a real impact on the lives of other young people, encouraging them to pray for their friends & begin their own ministries to the wider world.

Over a period of months & years, I want to grow in my own spiritual life, fulfilling my calling to Youth Ministry. I believe, wholeheartedly, that I can do some really good Kingdom work in this place.

EVEN moar update

KO moar updating - this time it's teh job hunting scenario!

Riiiight this is what's happening in the world of [or waldorf] me trying to find my first post-grad job in the field of youthwork.

So far...how shall I put this - I've looked at a great many with no success so far. I have a long old list of interview places, applied to & yet to be applied to places - predominantly from that old classic - Youthwork Magazine.

It all gets a little depressing if I look to see how many times I have 'failed'. However, as some very wise people [Maddie, Val, Phil, Jane, Julia & Matthew - you know who you are ;o)] have pointed out - each of these places are unique in that they are looking for an very specific type of person to be their youthworker - just because I'm not necessarily it should not dishearten me.

To be continued....

JNC Winning

I can haz JNC now k thnx bi?!

Moar Updates

OK bloggerites, here's some more updates as to what's going on with me right at this second!!

Diss/Uni/CYM update:

After the panic of my Diss, I managed [with a little help from Lego (nods appreciatively)] to resubmit my dissertation, & then last week rang Linda at CYM to confirm if I'd passed it - the most exciting news is I PASSED w00t w00t.....W00T!!!

This means that I ge tot graduatify on 8th October - now all I've got to do is to send off me forms, & books some robes & a silly hat - will post pix when I can.

Another excitement with this is that I'm going to finally have all my fambily behind me for getting my papers - both parentals, my baby bruv, my grandfather & the Maddie all supporting me in this last great hurrah of my degree! But for now.....


....mischief managed!!

FailTube??

This is a quick shout to say that I'm finally coming round to the idea of YouTube [oh snap!] it's still annoying & it's still a waste of my energy & low res. for the fail, but I've signed up & have added fav's etc. so check me out if you want to. Also more on other silly things coming up in teh not too distant future!!

Monday Update

OK here's what's going on; it's Monday & 10:10am & I'm in Woking & sorting out some applications for some more youthwork jobs - I'm still unemployed & searching for my first post-graduate youthwork job. So far I've sent in many applications & got nowhere - had interviews but still nowhere. What I've done is to go back to the drawing board with what I'm trying to achieve - let's wipe the slate clean & start again.

After much discussion & advice gleaning from wise & learned people I believe I've struck up on the answer to why I've not any further than the interview stage. The problem is a lack of vision - not of knowing where to go - but of what I'm going to do when I get there. This was present in my first interview [Morden Parish, London] but perhaps missing ever since [with the definite exception of St Luke's, Brighton].

I now believe that I'm going to need to do some serious thought & contemplation before getting more interviews!!

Now to waaaar!!

Lord of the Catapults

OK this had me actually crying with laughter - it's highly inappropriate & may well contain swearing so if you're easily offended - don't click it, but for everyone else [especially if you've seen Lord of teh Rings] it's a classic!!

Much happier stuffs!!

It was my girlfriend's birthday on Friday 18th July [yaaaaaay!!] & we had some great times, including seeing a little film which I've been banging on about for months - Wall-E. Here's what I thought about this film.

OK firstly this is an animated movie from the always-reliable Pixar & according to Empire it's a 5 star movie [check out full review here] which is normally a good recommendation but I digress!

The first thing that struck me was before the film even began - Pixar have a great habit of making a short [only a few minutes] animation before the feature presentation & this one was called Presto. This was definitely the funniest animated short I've seen as well as cleverly put together & perfectly animated. I won't spoil the plot but it had me & our party in stitches even before Wall-E had been seen!!

OK the main event - overall it had great comedy, moving moments, brilliant characters, as well as a distinct [& rather dark] message about technology. What I liked heartily was that the key characters only had a very limited vocabulary - Wall-E could not talk to begin with, then learned new words including his own name! This meant that with limited dialogue all the story-telling needed to be done with actions & gestures but this was done superbly & it was a memorable story - definitely one for the DVD collection when it arrives!!

One final thing to say was about one character called M-O [his entire vocabulary = MO] he was a robot with a cleaning obsession [well it was his job/life!] he was really funny & reminded me of many people who like to clean like they were obsessed [no names mentioned at all!!] Here is a pic because of the cuteness!!

Diss Update!

AKA Frustration 1 over.......Frustration 2 just beginning!!

Had a meeting with Si Davis [Oxford CYM Centre] & went through my dissertation resubmission 'issue' on Monday & I basically have to do a total redraft for the diss, in the next 2 weeks w00t fricking woot!! The key issue is that I went from an empirical to library-based & back again & as such my overall style seems really sketchy.

The bad news is that I have little drive or desire to do all this work for effectively getting 2 marks to bring my where I was originally marked at [twice grrrr!]. Also it looks like a massive battle, as I need to add in a methodology & some deeper & more specific definitions, as well as shift the entire diss to be more empirical. Seems a lot of work & I need to get it done before MWCC [2nd August].

The good news is that I've come up to see Maddie for a while, so I can make a constructive start [I'm currently sat on her lounge floor lolz!] & she's had a flick through & has given me a good start & now I can sit in my preferred working place [Starbucks lol] to try to get this darn thing done. Also I've managed to get some funding to keep me caffeinated for a couple of weeks [thanks mon grand-pere]

Expect a couple more blogs as things develop oh & if anyone wants to proof this bad boy - let me know ;o)

Disser...what-the-heck-is-going-on...tation

OK got some fatal blow news late on Tuesday - my dissertation needs to be resubmitted as it got a 38RC. Basically this epic failure [hence the pic!] caused me to panic/stress/smash things with hammers/grrrr/etc. Big shouts to Lego for giving me some comedy & a hug lolz! Then tried to get it sorted on the Wednesday, but there was nobody in the CYM Oxford office to try to sort out aaaanything. Frustration therefore continued for the whole day & evening - fail!

So went to see YouthBlog to try to get some advice & then went in to CYM Oxford on Thursday to retrieve my diss. To be honest it's not something which looks very major & I think that a very minor change will improve it. Basically my question for the dissertation was:

"How do young people view the Christian faith, as a faith or as a culture or subculture"

However, the chief criticism is that this looks like I should be looking at 3 separate
ideas, whereas in the introduction, my question changed to:

"How do young people view the Christian faith, as a faith or as a culture/subculture"

Obviously this looks massive/minor depending on how you look at it, but I think a small change or even losing the whole subculture idea might just tip the balance. We shall see on Monday when I meet with the head of Ox CYM.

Finally a big shout out to RevMiri & YouthBlog for their assistance & giving me sage advice on how to sort it.

CYM Completion

As we speak [ok blog!] I've finished all the work for my degree from CYM!!! This is great because it means no more writing journals or essays or [dare I say it] dissertations!

However, they were a great bunch of peeps the class of '08, so I though I'd give a celebratory shout out to them all for great & memorable times over the past 3 years.

So does this mean I'm done with education of the mind....you know what I don't think so - doing this degree has really given me a thirst for knowledge. But I don't think I need another degree or [dare I breathe it] masters, rather I think I should look closer to home...my bookshelf for one. I have collected a mass of books for both youth ministry & theology & I think I should start by really getting stuck into them, not for quotes, but for practical & realistic ideas!!

Watch this space for some actual random musings - come on it's about time!!

We continue

where have you been?!

OK bloggers it's been faaaaaaaar to long since my last blog - so I think it's about time for some updates - check back soon for what an earth has been going on!

Zidane Revengwe

ok & 1 more Zidane - he's so cool - he's my Heroes:

Young people...they like comedy to - cool!!

OK here is some comedy from teh youth of North Leigh - courtesy of m@r+ & t0m & YouTube. If you feel you might get offended by comedy...DO NOT PRESS PLAY!!

Just a quick blog to share a random link whilst on my dissertation interweeb usage have a look at this scary website. It's a anti-Christianity website with 50 "proofs" that god is "imaginary". In their own words:

"Billions of people attend millions of churches around the world to worship God. Yet the God they worship is completely imaginary. Their belief represents a delusion. It is easy to prove that God is imaginary. Start at the beginning with Proof #1 [prayer]"

This is quite anti-apologetic in its approach & reminds me of another militant atheist approach from Mr Richard Dawkins]

Six out

Dissertation

Dissertation blog

OK blog-fans, just a quick update about my dissertation. It’s going pretty good, am over 7000 [out of 8000-10500 limit] but am being severely challenged to keep motivated, so here is the run-down of what on earth I’m talking about;

1] Home situation; This is a tricky one, my home environment, after much reflection & processing has become just about the worst place for me right now.

After a recent lecture about eating disorders [specifically anorexia & bulimia] I was reminded about how I was in my teenaged days how underweight I was [6 feet tall & well under 10 stone – you do the math] – yes I was before you start on my belly size :oP So anyways, I got to thinking about my eating habits…or lack of them!

I basically don’t eat breakfast, sometimes skip luncheon & normally eat dinner. This could be described as slightly unhealthy [ya think!]. Yet the reasons are not simple. What I have to contend with is my phenomenal grandfather, who has the unnatural ability to not comprehend how humanoids work. Basically I can’t use the kitchen on the basis that it a] never has any food b] if I cook ANYTHING it is too smelly [even though his main food seems to be fish – go figure] c] his entire diet consists of bread, cheese, fish, vegetables & fruit – all very commendable, but there are other people in the world, who have different tastes.

Just to top it all off, I’m either ignored or complained at, at all times – too lazy, not working hard enough, always on the computer, socially recluse, always playing games, cooking putrid food [oh really I thought it was called spag bol!]. For f@%k’s sake I’m a student, youthworker, outgoing, very sociable, amicable & a people person!!


2] Sickness; OK since I’ve started my dissertation; here’s what I’ve had to contend with; sore throat, instant-runny nose, stomach bug, diarrhoea, flu, headache, head cold, pain in my kidneys, bladder, prostate, back, knees, ankle & just to top it off a distinct lack of sleep!! What doesn’t help is stopping my pain suppressants [on the basis of wanting to work harder, faster, more!] but I don’t think I can keep that up – am going have to go back to it – d’oh! I reckon most of this is stress related, but to be fair if you don’t get stressed about a dissertation there’s something fundamentally wrong with you!


Right I can think of only one person trying to get in my way of finishing this dissertation, so if you read this – PRAY!! I think I need all the prayer I can get, many of you are already, but the more the better.

OK enough rambling [I’m doing enough of that in my dissertation lolz!], back to my dissertation…rambling!!

Note: Please treat this as reflective, non-offensive & with a degree of confidentiality & sensitivity.

& some more!

Right seriously - I need to go play Lego....I mean do some work!!





Six over & ouT

Yeah well!!

Winter Lolcatz:

Mooooore!!

More combedy!

Fail.

OK one more - I couldn't resist!!!

Reflection on Dissertation [Part 1 of.....many methinks!]

OK this is [probably] the last post of today but I thought I’d share a little of what is holding most of my attention – my dissertation! It’s about the following quandary:

Do young people engage with Christian faith as a faith, or a culture [or subculture]?

What I had mostly done was to do a shed-load of reading around my subject [which fried my brain rather well!] and make loads of notes! The plan was to research not just books but interview people as well. Then the intention is to write up my findings into between 8’000-1’1500 words.

But here’s the catch- it ain’t exactly easy!! I’ve got a supervisor who I’m meeting next Wednesday and hopefully he can kick my butt back into gear and get me focussed on getting this thing finished by the close deadline 23rd April – aaargh!!

Right enough blogging, I need to chillax, the go see my Maddie!!

Six ouT

Combedy!

Ahhhh lolcatz:

Reflection on Easter

Also I went back to my home church this morning & there as a good preach, but it affected me a bit more than I thought it would – a section from the Gospel of John [the Resurrection section]. But it wasn’t the Resurrection itself, but more a part about Nicodemus. It really interested me, as it almost described my feelings at the moment, going through the motions & doing religious things, going to events, etc. but not really ‘feeling’ it. I guess I‘m just not feeling spiritually fulfilled. Reflecting on this a bit more, I checked out more about Nicodemus, more specifically John 14-21:

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Full context John 3.

I think that in this time of having to work really hard, I need to work on staying right with God; after all I have got to finish this degree, get a job, & work out the rest of my life [in so far as I can] – time for a little bit of reliance!!

[more-reflecting-than normal] Pikachu Out

Lego?

Also I have started my dissertation properly [more on that later!!] and to take a break from it I got my Xbox 360 back from Hobbit and TC, & got a new game to while away the hours of necessary downtime. It’s called Lego Star Wars.

Again it’s childish and silly, but so addictive lolz!! It’s not too difficult, very funny and a good productive use of my time! It’s easy enough for anyone to play, but I reckon I might be even able to actually complete the darn thing – well at least it will take my mind off my dissertation when I need to!

Six ouT!

Nerf Herder!

OK this is showing my regression back into childhood, but hey, what can you do!! I’ve recently bought a Nerf gun called the Maverick
& loved it so much I thought yeah let’s get a second!



Then I checked out the Nerf Website [insert link: http://www.hasbro.com/nerf/] & found some much more interesting stuffs, like the Recon



And then something else caught my eye a fricking sniper rifle called the Longshot.

Check it out - how rad it that!!



It’s sad, it’s childish, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun!!!

Six ouT

Silversun Pickups Live

& if you need further convincing, here's them on Jules Holland!!

Must see/hear!!

OK this is my top choon of the past few weeks it's from a little-known band called the Silversun Pickups & it's called "Lazy Eye". I first heard it on Adam Freeland's "Global Underground 32: Mexico City" album & it's been rocking my socks ever since - here is the video from YouTube, or go check them out here. Stick with it [especially from 02:45 it makes my hair stand on end still!!]

Enjoy!:



Six out!

Banksy Winner!!

Some more genius from Banksy!!!

Boosh are Winners!!

Well done to those crazy Mighty Boosh guys - getting a couple of awards at the recent NME awards lolz!

Oh & please excuse any offense by the nature of the winning gongs & cans of beer, but come on it's NME people!!