Random Thoughts About Essays and Reviews

This blog has for some time featured more reviews of other people's work; books, films, and music than it has of any original creativity (aside from photography - and these are all responses to beauty rather than initiators of it anyway). I have written a few little essays about various things in these unillustrious pages, but these were of little real consequence. I was recently made to think about the value of reviews however, and to explain my constant reviewing, so this piece is a little justification of the humble review - which will include some laboured cricketing analogies, for which I apologise.

The first reason I review is that I have a bad memory. I read, watch and listen - and gain a few valuable things from each experience, and need somewhere to record them. I am honestly not that worried if anyone reads them or not, I find the discipline of the review makes my mental intake less passive and more critical and analyitical. Writing the key things down also helps me remember the most significant points and helps me recall important links to other material which occuer as I read. I am by nature a prodigious note-taker, and sometimes even the shortest reviews exist on the back of reems of notes on paper or on my PC.

The second reason I review is that I am not a great original thinker. I'm not even, to be honest, even a good second order discoverer of original thinking, or of its distillation and circulation. What I think I can do reasonably well is to sift and recycle things of merit, through the prism of my own view of the world; which as anyone who reads this will know is that of an over-educated, under-employed, husband, Christian, father and sometime writer, based in Scotland.

There is an even more important reason than this though. Writing essays is like golf, but writing reviews is like batting in a test match! (I did warn you about the cricket anaology). In golf, it is a requirement that the ball remains still until struck. Anyone hitting their second shot before their first has come to a complete lie, is in violaton of the rules. Furthermore, if it is so windy that the golf ball will not stay still, but has to be followed across the course, then you should pack your kit away and head straight for the 19th hole (mine's a Bruichladdich, no water, no ice; thanks for asking). Golf is about accurate, and precise hitting of a stationary ball. This is much like the essayist who sits with a piece of original thought, or research, in front of blank screen and delivers their thoughts to the page. It is prepared, meticulous and heavily planned. No-one else need get between the individual and the challenge before them.

The test batsmen, on the other hand, is there not in front of a stationary ball, but up against the moving one. All his skills and preparation are marshalled in the instant, to respond to what he is bowled; be it a short pitched hostile bouncer, a fiendish leg-cutter or an inswinging yorker. So too, the humble reviewer. He has his views and his pen; and his job is to make the best of what he is presented with. I was recently asked to review some secular books for a Christian magazine called Solas. This was a rather joyous prospect, and felt like going in to bat. I have been presented with some easy deliveries to face, some of which were straight down the mythical 'corridor of uncertainty', and one or two which were as hostile as Colin Croft in a bad mood. Marvellous.

Over-extended cricketing anologies aside (and I promise there are no more), it is simply sometimes more interesting to face incoming deliveries, and see what I can make of them; rather than simply write my own thoughts. There is sometimes something more 'three-dimsensional' about my thoughts and world view in interaction with external stimuli, than there is in the contents of my rather average mind alone. The resulting review is the product what has been sent my way; and how I have managed to handle it. It is perhaps why sports such as football and cricket gain greater viewing figures than bowls. It is certainly why I love writing reviews, and will continue to do so.

Where the words have gone......

I haven't written much here recently. There's a few reasons for that. One is that I've been extremely busy. The other is that a couple of magazines have asked me to write for them, so I've been directing my writing there, rather than posting it here. A couple of in-depth interviews with significant Christian leaders have appeared/will be appearing in Scottish Christian Broadcast Magazine, while some book reviews on matters such as politics, history, religion etc. are scheduled for publication in Solas Magazine.

WAPPED!

Blogger recently launched a new toy to enable it to compete with the likes of Wordpress -a WAP facility for the blogs they host. This means that when you are viewing the blog on a small device like a phone it presents (posts-only, no side-bar) it in a smaller, more suitable format. Anyone want to try my blog on a phone and tell me how it looks?

TTFN

Once again I am starting my annual blogging-break. As the kids get ready to break-up from school, and lots happening - it's time for a rest. TTFN, THM.

Album Cover 2 - The Blog!

Credit to Kecske Bak for so delightfully contorting the "Album Cover Game"!

Signs

Over the last few years loads of people seem to have given up blogging. For many people Facebook has taken over as a place to post brief messages and pictures, while Tweeting less than 7o odd characters is time-consuming enough for others. I have always been disappointed when favourite blogs begin to slow-down, then are only updated erratically and then grind to a complete halt. This has happened several times with blogs that I always linked to from here and read enthusiastically. The latest one which seems to have ground to a halt was an intriguing photographic blog called "1 Pic a Day", based in Singapore. I don't know the photographer but have enjoyed her quirky and imaginative pictures for a few years - it's the latest apparent end-of-blog disappointment.

Hello World!

Astute observers will have noticed that the little map in the column to the right recently lost all its little red dots, as every year or so the clustr map resets itself. Each visitor to this blog makes their little mark, or adds to the size of one of the dots already in place. People (or machines pretending to be people) have called in here from all over the place - remarkable really. Most surf in and out, some stay for a while, the bizarre few (you know who you are), seem to come back repeatedly; one or two even leave comments. One development over the last year has been the way in which more interactive social networks like Facebook have taken over from Blogs - if the level of responses to photos and posts is anything to go by.

Pause

With the kids off school, and life madly hectic, it's time once again to have a rest from blogging, for a few weeks. See you soon.

Tagged!

I was tagged by Sara! in a photographic blogging memory-lane thing! The idea is to look back in the archives and re-publish the sixth photo you posted on the blog. Well, here's 5&6, which are here again together because they belong together and were originally published under the title, "It's Better Than Watching TV!"

Anyone else want to play?

East Lomond with old friends and new

West Lomond from East Lomond

Across the 'cleavage of Fife', perhaps?

Once upon a time Doonhamergeordie had the misfortune to be one of my flatmates when we were students in Dundee. We shared a hovel on Cleghorn Street, which had no heating, frayed carpets and windows which would sometimes fall completely out of their frames into the rooms. In our first winter there, I remember it being so cold that the water in the toilet and sink froze solid. One morning I also recall Doonhamergeordie announcing that we had gained double-glazing during the night. The secondary glazing was of course a layer of ice on the glass. Happily the landlord, despite his various aliases, tax-dodging scams, and his abhorrence of maintenance, charged very little for our slum, where we spent several amusing years.

After Uni, and our respective marriages to fellow students, he settled in NE England - adding the 'geordie' bit of his nom de plume. Following that he became a blogger (you can read his adventures here), although his literary output has been somewhat curtailed by the growth of their family, all of whom descended on us the other day. With six kids in tow we went out for the day - after some lengthy discussion about where to go and what to do. The suggestion was raised that we could 'do one of the Lomonds', which as the forecast was reasonable seemed like a good way of ensuring that childrens' energy would be constructively (and non-violently) expended. The thought of 'doing a Lomond' filled me with a childhood horror however- not that I grew up within sight of a Lomond, either East or West let alone a Ben Lomond! Rather, when I was in my third year at Clarendon School a teacher called Mrs Rutledge had a huge stack of books filled with tedious and ever-more-tricky arithmetic exercises. These books had a photo of a Scottish peak on the front cover and were called "Lomond Maths". I can still hear Mrs Rutledge admonishing me: "get on and do your Lomond'.

Happily the childhood personality scars associated with Lomond weren't so deep that I needed psychoanalysis in order to drive to Falkland, and take the little road from the back of the village up to the car-park on the ridge - nestling between the respective Paps of Fife. Its an easy road to miss in the village, and the Doonhamergeordie's and ourselves had a bit of a hunt around the place looking for the correct turning. Once on the road the car-park is unmissable, in that it is host to Scotlands most malodorous public cludgie, evidence that attracting tourists is a low priority for Fife Council.

After successfully meeting up with the Doonhmergeordie clan, and introducing our respective children to each other, we took to the path along the ridge towards East Lomond. Countless drivers on the M90 between Edinburgh and Perth are treated to a fine view of the Lomond Hills (and the smaller Bishop's Hill) as they pass Kinross, few of them probably realise that these hills provide easily accessible, pleasant walking on gentle hills with wonderful views. The ridge to East Lomond from the car-park is broad and gentle, and only becomes steep when the summit cairn is reached, and little hands demand to be held - and the smallest people demand to be carried. The pull to the top is quickly rewarded however with views across the Forth to the Pentlands, Bass Rock and Berwick Law, to the West across the Ochil ridge, North to the lower hills around Perth and into the vast tangle of peaks in highland Perthshire, and Eastwards to the Sidlaws and their distinctive radio-masts marking the skyline by Dundee. In the immediate foreground the the land slumps steeply and ominously away to the pretty and ancient village of Falkland on one side and towards ghastly Glenrothes, that 1960s new-town and full-frontal assault on aesthetics, on the other. But as is often noted from the top of the hills, with such a glorious backdrop, 'even Glenrothes looks nice from up here'. High praise indeed.

With the noise, chatter, silliness, and occasional tears which mark a hilwalk with six-young children we enjoyed the view, some snacks and took photos before clambering back down the hill. Then the rain came, soaked us, chilled us and made the little ones a bit grumpy. Once at the car it was decided to halt the proceedings (the playpark at Loch Leven can wait) and adjourn to our house for hot chocolate and a serious assault on the chocolate cake which Mrs Hideous had taken the precaution of baking the previous evening. Time was short and they were too soon forced to head back to Falkirk, where food and grand-parents awaited. But it was great to catch up with old (and not-seen-for -years) friends and to finally meet their entertaining kids!

Pause!

I'm having a short blogging holiday, the pause button has been pressed. The reasons are many and varied, and include the busyness of the 'end of term' stuff, the kids being off school next week and needing more of my time, a huge list of books I want to read and the long overdue application of the maxim, "when you ain't got nothing worth saying, just shut up!"

Seeya!

Reading

Not been blogging of much late, and not simply due to post-operative discomfort and sympathy- seeking either. In fact this week I have been reading more than writing, which I suppose could be the bloggers equivalent of the biblical maxim to be 'quick to listen and slow to speak'.

Here's a few thngs that have caught my eye recently:

Total Abandon the story of a contemporary martyr over at Unashamed Workman.

Dominic Smart's address at the 'Preach the Word' conference last week.

Reformed Theological Seminary in the States has made a huge number of their course lectures available free on iTunes. I have gone through the four-part series on the theology of Karl Barth, which is a useful introduction to his thought from his reaction to 19thC liberalism, his conflict with the Nazis, and his development of Neo-orthodox existential dialectical theology.

Endlessly Restless over at his blog "Of Dreams and Visions" has been running a series of contemporary reflections on a biography of Luther.

While Adrian has had a few posts on the spirituality of John Owen

The Scary Internet

If you need any further proof that the Internet is a scary place, read on. I have just noticed that the hits-counter on this little blog has gone through the roof. An alarming number of people have been here over the last few days. In order to discover the reason for this sudden, unexpected and undeserved popularity, I have checked to see when the sudden deluge of visitors began.

It seems to coincide almost exactly with the appearance of a post here entitled 'gonads'. Obviously a key word for the search engines............ scary.

Parked

I believe it was Tory politician Norman Fowler who quit Thatcher's government in order to (as his statement of the time read) "spend more time with my family". When he appeared back in Major's government, satirists were not slow to ask if he had had quite enough of them and now wished to spend rather less time with them.

This is all a rather long-winded way of saying that I am having a break from blogging, a rest, a sabbatical, a fast, a cessation of banalities, call it what you will. This is actually in order to "spend more time with my family" especially over the summer when they will be off school and requiring a lot more hands-on, and not delegating my parenting responsibilities to CBBC so that I can blog!

So - the blog is parked for now, but may be resurrected in the new term.

Thankyou and goodnight!

Playing Blog-Tag!

Brodie has tagged me in a game of blog-tag entitled "tell us seven things about yourself" under the headings: (1) a baby (2) beer (3) girls (4) time (5) dislikes (6) hobbies (7) tomorrow. Not wanting to duck such a challenge here goes:

1) As a baby: I was greedy - incredibly greedy. In the hospital the staff were concerned that I wasn't feeding enough and was then being sick. Careful monitoring however revealed that I was guzzling twice what I needed in half the time and shedding the surplus.

2) Beer: I am a big fan of English Real Ales, such as Bishop's Finger, Spitfire, Adnam's Broadside and Fuller's London Pride. Like Brodie I have developed a taste in Scottish Single Malt Whisky, however this is an expensive habit to cultivate and gets saved for special occasions.

3) Girls: There are two in my life; my wife of nearly 11 years, and my two year old daughter. Prior to getting married I had had two serious girlfriends - thank goodness I married the right one!

4) Time: Time is a weird thing. I used to laugh when adults told me that time was not a fixed thing but that years, months and weeks get shorter as you grow older - but I have discovered that they are right. I can remember when a six-week summer holiday from school lasted years!

5) Dislikes: Rudeness, Nescafe, Reality TV and soaps, Dirty Nappies, Lager, oh the list goes on and on and on!

6) Hobbies: Hillwalking whenever possible - which with the demands of family life and commitments at church is far too rarely. Getting to the occasional gig is a rare pleasure, and my wife and I love good food

7) Tomorrow: We're going to spend tomorrow with some really good friends who we haven't seen for over a year because work took them abroad. Can't wait!

OK now then:

Lins

Simon

Doonhamergeordie

Andy

Your turn!

Someone Actually Reads This Drivel!

"Does anyone actually read your blog?". I have been asked this question many times and I have always replied, "Er...... dunno!"

Now however, my brother-in-law Simon who has a degree and a job in all things I.T. and nerdy, has shown me a free tool from Google that can answer that question. "Google Analytics" not only tells you if anyone has read your ramblings but puts the results into happy little graphs for you to enjoy too. It's easy to download and use, just register and cut-and-paste some code into your site/blog and away you go.

Much to my surprise the graphs show that some people actually read this drivel!

The Blogs of War

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/pip/ruqlt/

The BBC has broadcast a deeply revealing documentary on Radio 4 called "Iraq Online". It reveals the way that the present ghastly conflict in Iraq is being reported daily by soldiers blogging from the front line - a completely new development in the long history of war-reporting.

Some of the soldiers blogs are factual, some political, some subversive and shut down by the military. I was not surprised to hear these, what shocked me was some of the gung-ho patriotic bloggers whose appetite for violence was admitted without any self-censorship, let alone shame.

This is worth listening to while it is still avaiable on the BBC's 'listen-again' service. Many of the blogs featured in the programme can be found by typing 'Iraq Blog' into Google.

Iraq's pain is captured all over the internet. Photos such as these are too distressing to comprehend.