Grace Under Pressure 2

  Everything was going so well and I was managing to run incognito. Then my halo switched on automatically.  

Today I had a little jolly out to the theatre to see Small Island at Nottingham Playhouse. Based around the events of th Windrush generation and the problems those first people coming from Jamaica has upon arriving and trying to be integrated in the UK, I didn't think it would be one that ticked many, if indeed, any boxes for TOM.  It is a play that has won numerous awards and received great reviews during its run in the West End, and as tickets prices were 'reasonable' I thought I'd give it a punt. Plus I felt I just needed to do something different for a change. Based on the novel of the same name by Andrea Levy ( I missed the BBC two part adaptation that is still available on IPlayer) this two act play revolves around four main characters, two immigrants from Jamaica arriving here on the Windrush sailings in the late 1940's and two British citizens whose house they come to share.  The first half set in Jamaica introduces Hortense, a young woman determined to es...

  Distances and time difference can make maintaining friendships difficult. Especially when the distance and time difference are literally as big as it's possible to get.  My friend Graeme lives in New Zealand, 12,000 miles away and 11, 12 or even sometimes 13 hours time differenec depanding on whether our respective clocks are being put forwards or backwards. We met on line back during my time in Poynton (2013-18) and we were fortunate to be able to meet up several times when Graeme made trips across to the UK to visit distant family and friends. He is just lovely and despite his visits beign short and sweet we had a great time together. Since then we kept in regular contact using Skype until its sudden demise on 5th May last year. Graeme switched to WhatsApp, I didn't switch to anything not having the requisite mobile phone at the time. Having resolved that issue just prior to my Camino adventure, we managed to re-establish contact but the past 6 months have been a real stru...

  On Wednesday night, under an almost cloudless sky I met up wih my running buddies from Stonehill Runners to set off on what should have been a gorgeous 6 mile jolly through Newstead Abbey and around Annesley Lakes. Please note I said should have been. I dont know what it is but since I chickened out of the Chicken run a few weeks agao I've struggled with running; both physically and mentally.  So much so that I could probably go as far as to say I haven't really enjoyed it. I think part of that is that our groups have been pretty small recently and consisted of runners who are much quicker than I am. Thus I have always been bringing up the rear of the group. On Wdnesday I wasn't just struggling to bring up the rear, I was struggling to catch my breath and after 2 miles of the proposed 6 I realised I had had enough and so quit and enjoyed a rather more sedate and certainly less out of breath walk back to the car. A nd then today to put my pathetic performance into perspect...

  Allowing the medical team access to my pulse just to check i'm still alive  At what could have been my last synod in the Nottingham and Derby district, it actually turned out to be the one where i just switched tables and sat with the folks from what will be my new circuit. Let's be honest I spend enough time as it is meeting with the current lot here.  Plus it is was a chance to agree a signing on fee for my September transfer, which as the moment looks to be as mahoooosive as all the other transfer fess I have received in the past. The positive thing is that the new bunch of circuit stewards look like a good bunch to work with. I am sure there will be the usual strong characters to work alongside but tell me somewhere were those don't exist and I'll gladly move there. As for synod itself, well if I say the highlight of the day was the beautiful drive from Matlock through Ashbourne to Uttoxeter. As for the rest, it was pretty much like every synod I have been too, du...

 

One of the programs TOM and I enjoy watching is Beyond Paradise, one of three in the 'Paradise series (death in and return to being the others. It was  what I call a comfort program, one with likeable charachters, good scenery, storylines and because of catch up TV, the kind of program that gives me the chance to watch an episode ahead of time, see out what did what, and then bemuse TOM by my detective skills when we then watch it together. As if I would do that..lol.  Plus it has a great folk soundtrack punttuating each episode, almost like a character of its own. All of which sent me on a rabbit hole of favourite folk tracks. So hear for your enjoyment today are two of them. First up is Richard Thompson with the gorgeous 'Beeswing'   And then, Spencer the Rover, featuring the fabulous base playing of Danny Thompson and the sumblime vocals of John Martyn, a man whose voice makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Just gorgeous.  

Now that's the kind of job I want. The one that Liam Rosenior has at Chelsea. Or should that be HAD at Chelsea. THAT job. The one that offered a 5 and a 1/2 year contract at 4 million pounds a year but which actually ended after three months. Meaning there is the possibility that he might get close to 20 million pounds for less than 100 days work. Now THAT is a proper job. And even if a break clause was inserted into his contract he will still end up quids in.  And it's not the first (or I suspect last time) Chelsea have got it so spectacularly wrong. Jose Marinio, Carlo Ancelloti, Graham Potter, Enzo Maresca and Mauricio Pochettino have all received large financial packages after being sacked by the club over the last few years. Now I am a great believer in setting a low bar and so am quite confident that I could be equally as bad at managing Chelsea as previous recent managers for that amount of cash.  

Today instead of having my usual team talk here in the NNE circuit I ventured 10 miles north to spend a couple of hours getting to know the staff team from my new circuit. A change from 4 presbyters, two deacons, two lay workers and a student deacon to just three presbyters but in many ways it made a pleasant change. Less voices means more time to actually chat to / with each other and about things that are important rather than get distracted down multiple rabbit holes of little significance. With less than three months to go it definitly feels as if I am treading water now. There are things to punctuate the next 90 days, quizes, testimony services and ordinations to attend, care home services and bible studies being the most obvious. Plus leaving as much as I can in reasonable order before I vacate, for I will be too close to not be contactable. Five new churches will take some time to both get to know / used too and also to juggle especially given the geographical spread. What I am ...

    Arsenal attempt to make a quick buck from cash rich North Londoners with new club merchandise as season threatens to implode in spectacular fashion. 

  Today has been a pretty busy day. With a 10.45am service, a church lunch, a 6pm service and then a funeral visit my diary was fuller than it might well be on most Sundays. So full in fact that I forgot to write into said diary that at 3.30pm I should have been down at church showing the latests film in my explore Faith through Film series. You know the series that I organise, publicise, promote and run. FFS. I have no idea why this happened. Just a complete mind melt. By the time I found out that I hadn't shown up, leaving those that had metaphorically sitting in the dark, it was too late to do anything about it, much to my embarrassment. It is not the kind of thing I would like to repeat. Unlike the film which I am now going to have to repeat next Sunday. 

  On Friday I went to do a bit of a meet and greet with the folks at what will be my 5th church when I move circuits in September. It was an invitation to 'press the flesh' but in a manner that wasn't a safeguarding issue.  This particular family of faith has been added to my 'portfolio' since my initial stationing visit back in November after the decision of one of the churches I visited to close or 'cease to meet' in official Methodist terms within 2 hours of me meetng them, something I will certainly add to my CV should a future move arise. As it was the visit went fine. I think they are very much a Sunday church with a congregation limited by numbers, age and enthusiasm to do more than the couple of social events they already run. No housegroups is always a worry but as I will be juggling 5 different churches come September I am not going to try and make work where work doesn't need to be done. So perhaps just one new venture will suit everyone.

With the straights of Hormuz now open / closed / open / closed on a repeating 30 minute cycle depending on who has put out the latests tweet, Oil companies across the world are thinking very, very, very hard about arranging a series of very, very, very hard meetings to plan for beginning the very, very, very difficult, complex and protarcted process of bringing down the prices of petrol. Many experts feel that this will occur at the same speed a feather falls to the ground from a great hieght as opposed to the very, very, very easy, uncomplicated and lightening fast process they all agreed upon to jack prices through the roof with the speed of an Artemis Rocket take off as soon as the first bomb fell on Tehran.  Oil Company executive, Ivor Bigwell, revealed to Grace Under Pressure, "It's not quite that simple to bring prices down. I mean we have to think of our company profit margin, our share price, our shareholders annual dividend, my salary. These things can't be adjust...

in breaking news, staunch redneck and Republican supporter, Gizza Gunn, is convinced she has found the very first public proof of Donald Trump's divinity.  In an exclusive interview with Grace Under Pressure, Gizza Gunn revealed, "It's not as if I wanted it to appear, although I sure did, but I just couldn't help but see the image of my lord and savior, Donald J Trump, just materialise on my toast. I know its not the first catering related miracle  that has been recorded , thats goes to the loaves and fishes, but it is probably the biggliest one." "I had to just run next door to my close family members,  Earl, Elmer, Buford, Cletus, Homer, Harlan, Jethro, Levi, Lyle, Merle,  Darlene, Earlene, Arlene, Jolene and Charlene to share in this divine appearance. It sure had melted a little bit but the appearance is unmistakable. I'm sure its only a matter of time before it gets Paypal approval what with Donald and Leo speaking to / at each other every day....

   Opening the door of my house to be greeted by sheets of rain bouncing down onto the road did make me question what on earth I was doing as I set off towards Blidworth woods for a planned 10kn jolly. By the time I arrived it was still raining and the temperature had dropped from 16 to 9 degrees in the space of my 15 min drive. Thankfully by the time of our appointed start the bible black clouds had started to roll away on the breez Whilst running in the rain isn't anyones idea of fun, running after it had rained is another matter altogether. Everything just feels and smells to fresh and alive. We had gone from torrential to tropical in the space of a few mins. So tropical that even the flamingos apeared (my shorts) My head cold still hasn't fully cleared up meaning that I ran with a nose that transformed from bunged up to running tap almost at will. And the route was one of multiple false summits and turns in the trail that always seemed to lead further away from the car par...

  Softly the morning light, Softly the dew, Softly my soul will bend, As she comes in view, At dawn she is delicate, And burning by noon, The end of the day will come soon. And the stars in my lonely sky, Are infinite bright, And the stars know my soul will fly, They're holding it tight. There she is rising now, My heart it might break, The birds in her warmth will fly, My soul it will ache, And the world comes alive for her, In awe at her gaze, And suddenly the sky is ablaze, And the stars in my lonely sky, Are infinite bright, And the stars know my soul will fly, They're holding it tight. Say not her name to me, For I live in the shade, Briefly I see her, As she starts to fade, In silence we pass, Our path is well worn, In silence I wait for the dawn. And the stars in my lonely sky, Are infinite bright, And the stars know my soul will fly, They're holding it tight. Calmly I drift along, Oh I will endure, I only belong to her, Of that I am sure, Will I ever hold her,...

    Every horse who ran in the Grand National now claiming... 'I am Maximus'

  In an amazing reality check Grace Under Pressure can reveal that perhaps for the one and only time in his presidency, Donald Trump was actually correct.  Castigated far and wide for uploading to TruthSocial a picture attempting to put himself alongside, if not slightly better' than Jesus, Donald Trump attempted to deflect the scorn of the world by saying he was actually trying to look like a doctor rather than the actual Son of God. Now hundreds of thousands of doctors have defended the US President by insisting that this is indeed how they dress and that the tie at the waist tunic with matching off the shoulder red cloak was in fact standardised medical wear for the modern lifesaving healthcare professional. Surgeons get given an additional halo that can act as an emergency light in theatre. Speaking in an exclusive to Grace Under Pressure, Dr Stetha Scope, revealed, "due to the high cost of insurance people are demanding more for their buckthese days. They are no longer sa...

No words needed. This is The Lumineers and their stunning version of Just like Heaven by The Cure.  

    Sometimes a picture is enough to remind myself why it's worth all the effort

 Just life a dog is for life and not just for Christmas, so Easter is a season and not just a day foreating chocolate eggs. And this is Marillion with their fantastic song entitled 'Easter'. Obviously      

  So my first evening run after the clocks went forward. I know what took me so long I hear you ask. This involved a litte trip across to Blidworth to meet up with the Stonehill Runners possee for what I can only describe as a 'beautifully horrible' 9km of undulating sandy trails.  What didn't help was that looking at the other assembled runners I quickly realised that they were all part of the fast(er) group which meant that even their 'nice and steady' pace would leave me floundering off the back of the pack. Which it did. Add to that a head cold, a barking cough (which really confused the three dogs) and it was a rather brutal return to evening trail running. But the fact that it was warm, dry and light just about overshadowed all the negatives. 

In a rapidly tweeted expletive laden post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump appears less than impressed with the Artimis 2 mission to the moon.  Despite the relaunch of the first lunar mission for 50 years, President Trump has revealed in his own unique way that despite having achieved something that has been half a century in the making, the three main achievements of the flight have not been achieved. In a virtually true exclusive Grace Under Pressure can reveal Trump's tweet which stated, 'the only reason I agreed to fund the biggliest lunar launch ever was to dispell fake news and bring back definitive proof of the three things that will define my second presidency. And those 4 astonauts, such losers, have failed their primary objectives." "Did they bring back any information about what type of cheese the moon is made off? No. Did they manage to find the man on the moon who we all know is hiding on the dark side? No. And as for the cow that jumped over the m...

 

Lying in bed at 11pm listening to the rain lash against my bedroom  window and the howlign wing upturn three of my bins, sending than carrearing down my drive and into the garabe door with an almight bang did not bode well for the 6am sunrise service today. And I couldn't help but wonder how many people in a similar situation would simply forget to set their alarms for an early start. Unfortunatly as I was leading the service I didn't have that luxury. Thankfully we were greeted by a calm almost cloudless day with a fantastic picture of the moon hung in the pre dawn sky and thoughts of the 4 astronaots on board the Artemis rocket curren;t about to disappear behind its far side. The assembled masses although a litel slow to arrive did swell so that by the 6am start there was a good nemuber present from across the various denominatins of Hucknall, Linby and Papplewick. As for the service itself, which I thought was a really good start to the day,  well we reclaimed the Easter eg...

Working my way down another rabbit hole the other day I came across this; a gorgeous tune by someone I had never heard of before, a singer called Eddie Dalton. It features a fabulous groove, wonderful guitar work and a voice to die for.  I quickly searched to see if I could discover more of the mans music. amd what a discovery I made. I discovered that the mysterious blues singer, Eddie Dalton had taken the iTunes charts by storm with a string of viral hits. In fact 'he' had three songs in the iTunes top 10 in the UK, Australia, Germany, Canada and the Netherlansd, incluiding this one, 'Running to You' But that was not 'the discovery' The discovery was that Eddie Dalton is in fact AI generated and the man behind the music, including this one is entirely artificial. Eddie Dalton  is believed to be the work of Dallas Little, a content creator based in Greenville, South Carolina, who has been producing AI music and videos under a roster of fictional artist names....

    Versatile actor Martin Clunes has already signed himself up for a quick 6 week course as a radio presenter all ready for the phone call that must surely come his way to play a recently sacked Radio 2 DJ in the soon to be produced, top of the chart, no 1 smash hit called 'Rumour Mills'. Often referred to as this years Micheal Sheen for the chameleon like way he is able to slip into other people, Clunes has already mastered playing a man behaving badly, being a GP and more recently another  man who behaved badly  reading the news from an autocue, so how difficult can it be to play a few tunes and witter on and on with Rylan about Eurovision once a year.  But the question on everyone's lips is did Carol Kirkwood just leap before she was pushed? Did she fear a warm front was coming her way? Were her tighly packed isobars about to be looked at more closely?  Weather we will ever find out out is pure guess work, a bit like her forecasts have tended to be for ...

I am, I have to admit, not the biggest Beatles fan despite their influence on pop music. And yet I have to confess this particular dittie from Paul McCartney has found a soft spot. It reminds me very much of the latter recordings of Johnny Cash, recoded when his health was failing and his voice, perhaps past its best, was world weary and revealed all the hidden pain of his life.  Now at 78 perhaps 'Macca' realising that his time on this mortal coil is limited has taken a little trip back down memory lane as he looks forward to the future. Written, recorded and produced all by himself this is Paul McCartney and 'The days we left behind' Lovely.      

Remember the good old days when you flicked through your newspaper of choice to try and identify which of the articles contained within its hallowed covers was actually an April Fool's day spoof. Well today its just not so easy to spot the factual from the fictional, the real from the 'really!' In the past it just used to be one day a year, and then only until midday that attempts could be made to pull the wool over peoples eyes   as befuddled readers scoured unsourced and unverified articles in red tops and even the occasional broadsheet with a careful eye, keen not to look utter mugwump by being taken in by some made-up bollocks. Now with everyone seeming to be a part time content creator, blogger or even worse Vlogger, workign out the answer to 'would I lie to you' is no longer as easy.  Especially when articles in many main stream newspapers often leaving me shakign my head in bemusement or hitting the keyboard my self to forward this virtually true, fact free s...