Improvised instrumentation

Ace little video that reminds me of some of the stuff that I've seen Rend Collective Experiment do...
At the original Youthwork Summit we saw Rend play one of their songs on their iPhones - it was one of the memorable moments of the day and I was instantly hooked. Since then I've seen them lead a kazoo choir and I love the way they regularly switch instruments among themselves and use unusual items like metal dustbins. Let's be fair, they are not the only band that do this sort of thing but every time I see a group using their creativity above and beyond the music, I'm fascinated...



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Is safe enough?

I was prompted to "put fingers to keyboard" when I heard that today was Safer Internet Day. It made me wonder whether keeping our kids and young people safe online is enough...

"It seems to me that all the 'online' discipleship resources in the world will only achieve so much without an 'online discipleship' resource to back it up"

So, I submitted a guest blog post to The BigBible project's #digidisciple stream, raising some questions and stirring up a little trouble perhaps. You can read it here if you like.

I'd love to hear from you if you know of good examples of people guiding and mentoring young people on how to handle the online world. In my limited experience, it seems to be a question everyone is asking but few (or even no one) is able to answer...

(If you want to know more about 'Totally Wired', please visit the Energize website for more information)
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School prays

Prayer Spaces in Schools Teaser from Prayer Spaces In Schools on Vimeo.

Young people praying in school?! Surely not... This is a really exciting project and I'm told the full version of the video will be available next week so watch this space!
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Flipping brilliant

On a bit of a roll today but can't pack away my keyboard before declaring my undying love for the Flipboard app. I've been using it for a couple of months now on the iPhone but then last week I saw Flipboard for iPad and I, ahem, flipped!!

It's vaguely possible you're not aware of what this awesome app does. You may be someone who thinks an app is something you fill out to get a job interview but if you own a mobile Apple device and you don't have Flipboard on it, you seriously need to consider trading it in for a Nokia 3310. Flipboard turns your web viewing and social media into a personalised e-magazine - and it does it so beautifully that it's well known for people to be gazing at it for hours at a time. And the increased size viewing screen and optimised layout on the iPad version makes it truly breathtaking (albeit that it does your low-resolution Facebook photos few favours...)

It's rare nowadays that I turn Dan on to something like this but this week I gave him a Flipboard crash course and now he's "one of us" too. Stop reading this post now. Go. Get it. Feel complete (well, in a social media sense anyway...)
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'e scribbles

I was prompted, figuratively speaking, to pick up my pen again and resume journaling... Some years after I quit (mainly because DNA no longer made me!). Rarely do resolutions yield such quick and dramatic returns as this one has. I can truly say my new e-journal has turned my life upside down!

Or has it? It might be a coincidence that mere hours after finding a good journal app on my beloved iPhone, I'm experiencing one of the most turbulent, exciting, grueling, encouraging and mind-blowing periods in recent memory. And that's part of the problem - "recent memory" is really all I have without journaling. So it looks like it is here to stay...

I sort of hope it also inspires me to revisit this space more. I miss blogging regularly but time doesn't always permit full expression. Maybe this is God's way of teaching me brevity?! Now, there's a new thought for today's journal entry... ;-)
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A long, long weekend at Watford

"So was anyone else up late on Tuesday hoping their star striker would reject a move away, to a club likely to be joining them in the Championship by the summer?! No? Just me then..."

So it's been quite a while since I've blogged about football - longer still since I've discussed the Hornets - but this past few days have really epitomised what it is like to pour your passion and emotions into a struggling lower league football club. In little longer than an extended weekend we've gone from obscure relegation strugglers, via plucky cup battlers, through to Premier League feeder club. Us fans have ridden the full gamut of emotions too - from hope to despair via "what might have been"...

Tuesday was transfer deadline day. Rarely do I get excited about this over-hyped charade - except to wonder which freebie we'll sign or borrow to swell our ranks - but this time the top sides were sniffing around Adrian Mariappa, our top home-grown defender. First Wigan, then Newcastle & even Arsenal were courting him. But just when it looked like Mapps was staying put, suddenly Bolton came in for top scorer Marvin Sordell - two hours prior to a crucial league match at Millwall...

Scroll back a week or so and Watford manager Sean Dyche, reflecting on just one league (own) goal scored in 2012 said we needed "more firepower". No Hornets fan would argue with that - but there was still time for a key attacking signing in the January transfer window. Couldn't have helped to see a former "loan star" Michael Kightley tearing it up at parent club Wolves. In these moments fans tend to favour pessimism. Except for us, a slight twinkling of hope awaited - a plum FA Cup tie with high-flying Tottenham.

Personally I never expected to beat Spurs but one can always hope. The head says close-run but ultimately futile defeat but the heart can always picture those fantasy tabloid headlines generated by a cup upset. In the end a bit of luck here and chances hitting the woodwork there meant that Watford were praised but not successful. The tinpot outfit had made high-flying Spurs look distinctly average. As a fan I felt that curious mixture of deep pride and aching frustration at what might have been. On top of that, highly assured performances from Mariappa and Sordell can't have failed to catch the attention of higher placed teams, just days before the end of the transfer window. It wouldn't bode well for us. Chances are the final day of the window would be a good deal more tense than usual.

Tuesday. Not only were we sweating on rumours of sales but in the midst of it all we have a game at The Den. Something of a 6-pointer. But we've not scored away since the last time we won away (in November) so things are not looking hopeful. Then just before kick-off top scorer Sordell is withdrawn ahead of a potential transfer. Things are not looking good. But despite all these circumstances, Watford went on to win. The two goalscorers were Sordell's stand-ins (including a first ever goal for Joe Garner) and even the troubled keeper Loach saved a penalty - ironically from a former Hornet, Darius Henderson, whose penalty took us up to the Premiership in 2006...

As I sat watching the updates come in during the final moments of the transfer window, desperately hoping Sordell and
Bolton would fail to agree personal terms, it got me thinking that the need to "add firepower" had found us with one less quality striker than when we started. And yet, perhaps his departure was just the opportunity that those waiting in the wings had been waiting for. When you support a team with limited finances, players get sold. Heroes are sacrificed. Others - more by necessity than choice - move in to take their place. The odd thing is that we lost several of our star players in August, including the promising young manager, and Sordell had barely had time to climb into the prime position of "cult hero". He was another product of our investment in youth and for no other reason, he will remain a favourite son (as will Mariappa, when he inevitably leaves in the summer).

So, hope flirts shamelessly with despair and we get horribly used to that feeling of resignation. The survival of the club that we care so deeply for - that has become part of our lives and our identity - far outweighs the short-term buzz we get from seeing exciting players develop and flourish (not least because they usually leave soon after this point). That doesn't stop it from hurting though - but then I guess it wouldn't hurt so much if we didn't pour our heart and soul so much into those guys in gold...
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Time rolls on

"Hi, I'm Paul and it's been over two months since my last blog..."

No excuses really. Just got out of the habit. Sorry that I've neglected this particular space - I promise to do much better in the future... 2012 is the time for the return of the blog!!
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Graveyard fugitives

It's not something I hear often in conversation. Especially not when standing in a graveyard, in the gathering early evening gloom but Kieran genuinely said "Now all we need is the armed police unit to arrive...!"

Once a month, we record a short video message from our boss, Matt - perhaps you've seen them? - and Wednesday was the alloted day for November. We've become aware that the recent videos have all been a little samey, location-wise, so we decided to take this one, all about fear, out into the cemetery across from Urban Saints' offices. The autumnal afternoon light was closing in and we knew we'd have to shoot fast if we were going to get it done.

As we entered the graveyard, carrying all the camera kit with us, a guy cycled up and asked us if we'd seen two guys come past "because his girlfriend had just been mugged". We hadn't. Just as he cycled away, another man and, ever the suspicious one, I began to feel uneasy, as if we were actually being scammed. I kept a tight hold of the camera bag and a weather eye on the horizon at all times as we continued up the hill to our location. We set up, but I was still on edge, buzzing around looking out for people - not least for Matt to arrive as the light was disappearing fast.

When he did arrive, with Kieran, we realised that there was a police helicopter hovering around the cemetery. The combination of the fading light and the background noise meant they we would have to postpone until another day. As we packed down, being careful not to make any sudden moves or look like we're fleeing(!), we joked about the potential newspaper headlines. When the police car, with two armed officers pulled up, the joking turned to further unease. Fortunately, though, we weren't whisked off to the station for further questioning but it was a very surreal thing for 4 Christian guys to be approached, while making a video in a gloomy graveyard, by armed police, with a surveillance helicopter hovering overhead...
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