The other day, JT, George and I went to the funfair!  I wanted to take some photos of moving light (I am not so big on rides) so that is what we did (as well as playing on silly games and JT and George going on the waltzer!)

This week I am on work placement with the awesome Owen.  We have worked hard, had some laughs and I am learning a lot.

Blonde quote of the week (there have been a few):

Owen: They’ve put some traffic lights in on the A40 and I was coming round the bend and had to slam on my brakes so that I didn’t crash into this car.

Nai: NO. WAY. I nearly crashed into a car at some lights on my way out here, did you notice if they had traffic lights going the other way too?  Oh.. Hang on… I guess they would.

Whoops.

Anyway, I have mostly been creating an A1 poster for a fighting arts expo in the London Docklands (oh how girly!), a competition flyer and am now working on some magazine layouts.  I will keep you informed…

Have you ever dragged yourself out of bed, sat sleepily eating your breakfast thinking “I really should get moving” and then looked at the clock only to find that it is about 45 minutes earlier than you thought?  For a moment you feel cheated, as you could have slept for longer, but this feeling is soon overtaken by a sense of ‘chillout’, as you realise that you don’t have to wash your hair whilst brushing your teeth and put your shoes on whilst putting your T-shirt on.

I knew I was up early this morning when, half an hour after getting up, the fish light came on to tell them that it is morning!  However, I took a minute to look outside the back door and it was really beautiful.  It got me thinking about how much of God’s creation human beings miss out on by sleeping or staring at these screens.  He still goes to so much effort to make incredible beauty even if no one is going to see it!!   The sun is shining, birds are singing, the light is really pretty…  I like it.

Bad pic…

This made us howl momentarily…

“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, then you will never grow!”

I have often wondered about this photo in Burger Star of when the Queen drove past Burger Star in 1991.  I remember the queen’s visit as I was in primary school and had to make a British flag to wave by Cheltenham station as she drove past.  However, it is the random old lady in the photo waving that intrigues me…  Clearly she is not a Burger Star employee, I wonder who she is??  She also has surprisingly large feet….

More naughts and crosses, that made me VERY cross as today’s outrage is to abolish faith-based schools, because some teachers think that segregating children based on their faith is causing hostility.  Fantastic, so we listen to a bunch of teachers who one day come up with a politically correct whim, backed up by zero application of thought, research and logic and say “oh yes what a good idea, you must be right.  Let’s further destroy the application of morality in our country and let’s bow to all other religions who might be offended, APART from Christianity.”  What is with these people??

The first thing about faith-based schools is that they are not exclusive to the faith that they represent, i.e. anyone can attend.  Yes, they teach Christianity but is that really a bad thing?  At least it includes morality, which is seriously lacking in so many other places.  The second thing is that the C.of.E funds a lot of these faith-based schools, which has got to be a bonus for the government.

Now, my old school, a secular LEA school has miraculously just formed a link with the Diocese of Gloucester as finally it recognises the benefits of doing so.  What on earth is the point of stripping this all away again in the name of so-called political correctness?  The next thing will be a plea to teach religious fundamentalism because  it would be offensive to terrorists not to!!  Can people really not see how ridiculous our ‘PC’ system is becoming and that in some areas we are required NOT to be wishy washy and are actually called to have an opinion, a law and a standing for what is right and what is wrong?

If this country calls itself Christian then I DARE the government to admit it.

Usually at this time of year (the most important), I would have a little rant about the abundance of eggs, bunnies, chicks and the lack of crosses about the town.  However, it is something else that has come to my attention and that is that Jesus is in the news an awful lot at the moment in one form or another.  Excellent.

The Echo has a church story every other day, whether it is a positive or a negative one.  However the story that has grabbed me today is that of the embryonic research debate.  It appears to me that our British government have turned into a bunch of utter loons!  For the sake of argument I will call the labour MP’s enforcing a three-line whip that compels party members to vote in line with the party the ‘naughts’ and the Catholic/Christian MP’s who are demanding a free vote the ‘crosses’.  I read the article on the BBC news site and saw the following:

The archbishop told BBC Radio 4: “Those MPs who have approached me over recent weeks have said: ‘Look, I don’t think this is right. I accept the teachings of the Church, yet I am a Government minister, or I am a Labour MP. Can I discuss with you the moral dilemma I have got?’.

I do not see this as a moral dilemma.  “I accept the teachings of the church YET I am a government minister” - how does that work?!  At what point did we so renounce our Christian heritage as a country that a divide could or should be made between rule and authority?  God puts rulers in place under His authority.  There is no moral dilemma here, we should be following the Word of God.  If our government and so-called Christian prime minister do not know what God’s will in this issue is, then why not consult some of His representatives, who are also in positions of authority in the country?  Why are the bishops being totally ignored?

One MP noted that God would want us to use His gift of science.  I agree.  However, where I cannot agree is where we try to build a modern-day tower of Babel by performing dangerous and largely unfounded scientific experiments that mess with human life.  There was little explanation as to why human and animal cells need to be combined to cure ’serious diseases’ and no acknowledgment that  actually there are enough genetic and chromosome disorders out there due to human stupidity and selfishness without adding to the messy gene pool.

The Catholic MP’s will be expected to resign if they oppose the vote.  So much for freedom of speech and the Christian country that we live in.  Come on Gordon, sort it out.

This emoticon reminds me of a face that Tim and I used to make!

George has just reminded me of another Cheltenham eccentric… The flower lady by Millets.  What does she go on about??  She equally makes one jump with her ‘not so tuneful’ “ON YER DAFFS!!  ON YERRR DAFFS!!!! LAAVLY DAFFS!!  THREE BUNCHES FR’A PAYYYYYND!!!!”  Eh?  Sorry why am I “on my daffs”?  She also sells the most peculiarly coloured carnations that I have ever seen, in shades that even Dulux would be proud of… Blue?!  Green?!  Slightly streaky where the dye has soaked up the stems in an uneven fashion.

Somewhere  on this blog I do believe there is a picture of her, as when George and I went out taking Christmas photos one year, the man in a cowboy hat who sometimes helps her out insisted that we take his photograph.