It's been some time since I last posted here... In the meantime I have been regularly posting poems over on odefortheday.art and church related material on our church website, wormleyfreechurch.org.uk. Occasional other posts tend to go on social media. Not everything fits them, however, and I'm wondering if I ought to resuscitate this site again?...
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Spectaculars: the review
Great blog post from my friend The Dice Mechanic on a new supers game that I’d certainly play if I got the chance. Not a fan of super crunchy systems for this genre, and this seems to hit the rules lite narrative encouraging sweet spot to me.
Spectaculars is the brand new superhero RPG by Scratchpad Publications, the label under which former D&D fifth edition designer, Rodney Thomson, has been producing games since leaving WotC a few years back. I missed out on the highly acclaimed Dusk City Outlaws when it Kickstarted back in 2017, which offered low-prep heist action. As a big fan of the superhero genre, there was no way I was going to miss out on his next offering when Spectaculars came to Kickstarter in 2018.
It arrived last week and its fair to say I wasn’t disappointed.
Behind the Mask
Spectaculars comes in a big euro boardgame-style box, chock full of cards, pads and dice. The boardgame analogies don’t end with the contents, as the rulebook is kept relatively slim (just 60 pages, in the same large square shape as the box). You can see Rodney’s experience in designing board games as well…
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All Creation Worships God: The Impact of Science on Theology
Catching up with a few articles from this blog which directly speaks into my life as a scientist which is where my career path started out and my life as a Christian minister which is where it ended up!
Woutergroen, 2008; Jens Maus, 2010. Wikimedia
If all truth is God’s truth, then science must have an impact on our theology. This was the central message of theologian Steve Motyer’s seminar in the God in the Lab evening series at London School of Theology (LST) earlier this year.
Having taught theology and counselling for a number of years as part of his role at LST, Motyer is all too aware of the connection between mind and brain. Neuroscience is showing that everything we call ‘mind’, including feelings, instincts and intuitions and spiritual apprehensions, is rooted in brain function. Various parts of the brain are active when we pray or have spiritual experiences. If those parts are damaged, then we can lose the capacity for certain spiritual activities and feelings. So the spiritual and the physical are not separate, but intersect completely with each other.
Motyer then used evolutionary biology as…
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Review: The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare My rating: 4 of 5 stars Another read as part of my Shakespeare course. Read this over the course of a weekend and again thoroughly enjoyed it. This was my first time reading the Merchant of Venice and despite having heard of Shylock I knew little of the plot … Continue reading Review: The Merchant of Venice
A Good Friday reflection from another roleplaying minister I know.
There are many ways to take a man’s life. The quick and the slow, the painless and the agonising. I, Longinus, I should know. In fifteen years under the eagle standard I’ve seen most of them, used many of them. You don’t get to be a Centurion in the Legion if you’re soft-hearted. You follow orders. Your life, the lives of your men, and the security of the empire depend upon it.
Doesn’t make it easy, of course. Some times you have discretion, sometimes you don’t. Crucifixion detail is one of the hardest. Death in a straight fight, that’s the mark of man. Death by dehydration, suffocation, all the while on public display, is harsh, dehumanising and degrading. No discretion. No way out. But as my old instructor used to say, “If you ain’t horrified, you’re doin’ it wrong”. It’s not just an execution, it’s a public warning to others.
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Looking forward to watching this properly later – the classic Waterboys line up. Should be a treat!
There was magic in the air at Park Lodge Hotel in Spiddal on September 2012 as the town welcomed back the legendary Waterboys for two special reunion gigs, which were attended by fans from all over the world.
Mike Scott and The Waterboys spent six months in Spiddal in 1988 when they recorded their iconic Fisherman’s Blues album. In his recent memoir, Adventures of a Waterboy, Mike Scott referred to the impact the village had on his life and music.
However, their first ever formal concerts in Spiddal were in September 2012, when Mike Scott, Steve Wickham and Anto Thistlethwaite reunited for a memorable day and night.
These concerts were organized by the Spiddal based Strange Boat Donor Foundation to raise funds for the National Commemorative Garden in memory of organ donors. This is being planned for Salthill.
Hundreds of visitors from Ireland, Europe, the US, and from as far…
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Just been sent a link to this webpage with some fantastic guerilla stickers on the Underground. Had to reblog….
My friend Darren sent me a linkto these rather excellent alternative London Underground signs…
(click image above for link to original photographers blog)
Apparently they’ve been appearing for some time now, but like 99% of passengers, I’m sad to say I’ve missed them..
They’ve been done so well, that to a regular commuter, their utter familiarity as part of an accepted, everyday visual clutter, results in them becoming almost invisible, losing all meaning beyond their colour and shape..
Well it’s a lesson learnt for me. I usually pride myself on at least attempting to see beyond the day to day, and resist the automatic filters that city life can generate.
Rest assured, that I will certainly be keeping a much sharper lookout for these signs from now on… How I would’ve loved to have noticed Shepherd’s Pie, overground, Gas mark 4 on a journey into work, it would have…
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Review: Fables: The Good Prince
Fables: The Good Prince by Bill Willingham My rating: 5 of 5 stars Although this is the first compilation of Fables comics that I've listed on Goodreads.com, I've read all of them to this point, and I have to say that I enjoyed this one as much as the best of the rest. A cracking … Continue reading Review: Fables: The Good Prince
Maintenance
Alongside the old Blogger version of this site, I have just imported a couple of other blogs that I have run in the past to keep everything in the same place. One is a site where I used to post my sermon notes following a Sunday service, the other a site dedicated to a highly … Continue reading Maintenance
John 1 – Carol Service Talk ’08: Into the Light!
Notes from an All Age talk from our Carols by Candlelight Service on 21.12.08So what do you think of the lights tonight!All around us, people have their Christmas lights on.Light is an amazing thing. Can do incredible things. One of the things light is, is fast!(Hand out following numbers on sheets of A4, one digit … Continue reading John 1 – Carol Service Talk ’08: Into the Light!
Much More Than Near 