Category: Uncategorized

And when the angels leave…

Post author By julesprichards
Post date December 28, 2014

Then the angel departed…
Before Christmas I was asked to read a short reading at the local church as part of their annual Carol Service. Not something I have done often recently, unlike my earlier days when reading in church was commonplace. I was initially quite underwhelmed by the fantastical reading I was given; from Luke 1:26-38 ‘The Birth of Jesus Foretold’ “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent…‘Do not be afraid, …you have found favour with God. …the power of the Most High will overshadow you… For nothing will be impossible with God… ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed.”

The hills are alive…
As a treat this Christmas we took the kids to see ‘The Sound of Music’ at Leicester Curve. A remarkable show! It’s a refreshing re-presentation of something we all think we know well. But I recommend that you review presumptions and supposed familiarity.
For me the unexpected resonance came in the pull between religious peace and worldly distress, and indeed religious distress and worldly peace.
Coincidentally the backdrop to several abbey related scenes was a powerful ~20 foot square representation of the fantastical Annunciation, by Botticelli. On the painting’s original frame is’s written in Latin “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.” Coincidentally from the reading above.

Hope in a story…
During holidays (once holy) we might encounter so many other tales and stories of truth winning over doubt, hope overcoming loss, the innocence of a child’s view washing worry and prejudice aside. I’ve just sat teary eyed through The Railway Children, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and we’ve still got Watership Down, E.T. and Babe still to watch.
In our annunciative occasions above, both Mary and Maria are given situations in which they find glorious beauty amongst tiresome disease.

But after the show…
If you’re privileged as we are to have ‘time off’ over Christmas; If you’re privileged as we are to have the warmth of a Christmassy sunday sofa, snuggled children, cold meats, cheese and a sneaky dandelion n burdock; we come out of a dark month of advent, a time of pregnant anticipation and we’re dazzled by lights, reflections, impressions, illusions, projections, melody and chorus. The nourishment we find at this time of year is swamped in salty riches and cloying delicacies that might cause indegestion and even dis-ease. The obligatory celebrations that accompany the turn of the year are yet to come…

But as Maria, Mary and Caracticus Potts came to realise, when the angel departs, one has to see things as they really are, after all one “has to learn to put those dreams to some practical use, not just sit around and think about them all the time.”?

Tags advent, angels, christmas, sound of music

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An impromptu Silent Night…

Post author By julesprichards
Post date December 20, 2014

An impromptu Silent Night… Happy Christmas everyone…

J, E, A and P.

Tags christmas

Uncategorized

Christmas Fudge

Post author By julesprichards
Post date December 17, 2014

OK the only thing Christmassy about it is that it’s being made near Christmas time.

This year we’ve forgone the Mini Meat Pies, although I heartily recommend them, see here. But we have had a quick play in the kitchen and some Christmas Fudge is on the menu…

Cut to the chase man! Here’s the recipe:

250g soft butter
One tin (397g) condensed milk! Yum – no licking!
175ml milk
2 tablespoons syrup
glacé cherries (chopped in half)
800g sugar
2-4 vanilla pods. (My sister gave me mine for my bday in Nov.) Ta sis.

Line a 30cm tin with foil and lightly grease. (Prepare a glass of ice cold water)

Stick all of the above except the vanilla into a solid saucepan and bring to the boil.

Now, it’s vitally important that you keep an eye on it and stir it constantly. If the bottom get’s to hot it will stick and burn!

Boil the mixture for 15-20 minutes, stirring all the time until it’s gone a light golden colour.
You can test it by dropping some into the ice cold water and it should turn solid but remain soft in the middle.
You’ll know when it turns – keep an eye on it cos it’ll happen all at once.
Depending on the pan’s size and how aggressively you boil it – it could take 10mins or could take 20mins. #patience

It will be very hot so no kids, dogs or mobile phones around to distract you!

When it’s ‘turned’, carefully take the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Using an electric whisk, whisk for a few minutes, the fudge will thicken – don’t over do it*.

Mix in the halved cherries, and pour or push (*depending on the consistency) the mixture into the tin.

Cool it in the fridge for a few hours then cut into squares using a sharp knife.

Cool further in the fridge.

Enjoy! Mheeeery Chrimble!

Tags christmas, food, fudge, recipe

Uncategorized

Advent-ure

Post author By julesprichards
Post date December 4, 2014

Advent: “Reaching out to grasp eternal things” (Alfred Delp)

Like when you come in from a frosty day and the warmth of the room causes tingles and a buzzing glow to your skin, the vibrancy of life can be incandescent, the warmth of true simple joy can be fervent and intoxicating;

…from the fragrant zest of an orange to the dark dearth in evening shadows, from the faces of children to the silence of a stranger, from the energy released in simple live music to the wisdom imbued in beautiful writing…

Yeaaaa! I have recently been in a position to remove the blanket that I’ve had for the the last three years and i’ve returned my brain’s chemistry to it’s ‘natural’ {?} state. It’s a balancing act but after experiencing an extensive period of mood-altering drugs I think they have served their purpose (for now).

I have first noticed that I am again emotionally up & down like a yo-yo in a lift – this is good as long as you can find ways to manage it. I have also been dreaming like a trooper, like I used to do #greatfun. While taking citalopram I very rarely remember dreaming – very rarely did I struggle to sleep. Yes, it seems that in my daily happenings I am noticing enhanced interest in stuff, as I say emotionally up & down, and probably creatively up and down. Having worked on developing ways of seeing things differently and of managing stuff differently, I’d rather be up (and yes down) than stuck on ‘floor three’ forever (I think). That said, I would recommend following trusted professionals’ advice if they suggest a stint of medication is wise, it was wise and essential for me.

TheWarmthOfTheSun

The ammunition, enlightenment, wisdom, tools and insights that I’ve found from numerous sources over the last few years has been invaluable and I am eternally thankful for those near and far that have helped.

Some simple advice from Brian:

Four simple steps, slowly
1. Stop. Bring yourself to a halt. A proper one. Be still. {this might take a considered while…}
2. Relax. Notice if you’ve any physical tension, and let your body relax.
3. Breathe a little more slowly and deeply.
4. Smile. This is a good and important {amazing} thing you’re doing…

Reach out to grasp {glimpse} eternal things…

If you don’t get it first time {I didn’t}, try again another time.

Tags advent, citalopram

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The advent of festooning chiaroscuro…

Post author By julesprichards
Post date November 23, 2014
1 Comment on The advent of festooning chiaroscuro…

Have you ever seen festooning bees? Nature?

Advent approaches, the advent of a time of expectation…
A season of warmth and cold, light and dark… (in Britain anyway)
A season of emotion and sharing…

Three words resonate in my brain:

Chiaroscuro; the use of contrast between light and dark…

Festooning; remarkable natural collaboration between bees when building, creating…

Oxytocin; a remarkable neurochemical which among other things helps motivate us to put others first… (or love?)

The recognition that neurochemicals play a big part in our lives has helped me over the last few years. After diagnosis with clinical depression four years ago, a mix of cognitive behavioural practice, physical activity, and disciplined psychological grounding (as well as numerous other ideas) have helped me stay sane-ish. On top of this, for 4 years my serotonin levels have been balanced by the drug Citalopram. After serious consideration, I am now going through the process of stopped taking this SSRI… as Mr H. says “some of us need a coat when the climate changes”.

Will you festoon this winter? Studies have shown that physical activity, emotive interaction, physical expression etc all help balancing neurochemicals. Yes it’s a scientific fact that chemicals control our lives, but, to a certain extent, we can help control our chemicals, by good old fashioned ‘natural’ ways.

I am well aware that philosophically the ‘natural way’ is debatable, but it can’t be denied that the natural act of breathing is the difference between life and death.

I have found that; breathing, being, striping our pretence and plastic fabrications back to the essence of being alive has helped me immensely.

Stop. Breath. Walk, exercise, talk, sing, see chiaroscuro…

“Wake up“, as the the teacher said, “get up and walk”…

Advent approaches, the advent of a time of expectation…
A season of warmth and cold, light and dark…
A season of emotion and sharing…

Have you ever seen festooning bees?

Tags advent, Chiaroscuro, Festooning, Oxytocin

Uncategorized

We Sang for Hope…

Post author By julesprichards
Post date November 16, 2014

“What a fantastic evening!” That’s what I keep hearing from people.

And yes, that’s what it was for me. An evening filled with unexpected triumphs!

A few tweets:

“Wow!!! What an incredible night!! Thank you to everyone for being there. Totally brilliant.”
“What an incredible performance!! So proud!!”
“What a FANTASTIC thing @WeSingforHOPE surprised by a fantastic experience! Haunting Infectious Beautiful more more…”
“What a fantastic fantastic fantastic evening! #singforhope #fantastic”
“We’re gonna sing our socks off! #globalharmony #singforhope”

Together with just under half of Global Harmony Choir, I ventured forth to St James the Greater in Leicester for “Sing for Hope” a Community Choir Challenge in aid of local charity Hope Against Cancer.

Nobody quite knew what to expect, this is not something we have done before and as an extra to our scheduled performances we hoped we could put on an appropriate show. With the show’s 500 seats sold out, the venue of St. James the Greater Church was one of the most resounding spaces we’ve been to.

As you may know we are an a cappella community choir that aims to truly sing from the heart and as such we don’t use sheet music in practice or performance. Perhaps we learn by trying to ‘becoming the sound’ after repetitively ‘sharing’ the parts, (see Natural Voice Network http://www.naturalvoice.net/ for more info) as they say “celebrating the voice you were born with, rather than trying to train it to an ideal of perfection”. And so faced with fellow choirs with sheet music in hand I wondered if we were a tad out-of-place. The word ‘choral’ was being repeated… is that us?

Any fears we may have had were unfounded. The evening was filled with diversity and variety – perhaps that’s what community choirs are about; a conduit where people from all backgrounds, choirs and stages of life can join together in a common practice. Yes, it was a challenge and not without worry, anxiety and apprehension as people said “what about this”, “what about that”, “i’m worried about this…” a microcosm of life captured in an evening.

We’d practiced, we’d performed these songs before, we knew we could sing our three songs but apprehension filled the air; unknown elements, unfamiliar surroundings, seven other highly competent choirs; 200 singers and 500 spectators, and not to mention the gaze of 4 professional judges.

The other choirs put on fantastic performances from an octet to a full-bodied stage, we experienced minutiae and superlative with songs from the jolly and joyful to the cuttingly personal.

Who knows how or why but all I can say is after our performance I ‘felt’ we’d done our utmost best. Yes, it’s a personal reaction but after six years and many different enjoyable performances I have to say I have never been more proud of the choir I sing with, we did our thing, in the only way we know how. Perhaps some of the professionalism and je ne sais quois from the evening infected us, but I felt that the choir responded to our MD Liz beautifully. She helped our sounds dance with her embracing metering influence. As I say, I’ve never been more proud. Choirs: simple complex things!

A few words about the winners: Kibworth Ladies Choir performed superbly.
From a beautiful “Carol of the Bells” to a hyper-personal anxious “Creep”, their sound came out as one voice from a choir of about thirty people. A homogeneous single sound from multi-parted complex arrangements. The conductor did so much more than conduct. It seemed her voice came out of the choir! I would look our for concerts by these ladies in the future!

Thanks Global Harmony !

…and thanks to The Spectaculars from Burton Overy,
The Willow Singers from Blaby,
Humberstone Choral Society,
The Foxton and Gartree Community Choir,
Kibworth Ladies Choir,
The Vale Choir from Rutland, and
Dunton Bassett Community Singers.

And thanks Helen Alloway! …as judge said Ken Burton said ‘genius’!

Tags choir, community choir, global harmony, Sing for Hope

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It shouldn’t be a struggle…

Post author By julesprichards
Post date October 26, 2014

Struggle, is that the right word? probably not…

Being brought up with the idea that a supreme being escorts our world has always been a hard thing for me to accommodate. However, the culture that accompanies the belief has been a hard thing for me to dismiss.

I was NOT brought up with the bells and smells of Anglicanism or the rituals and tradition of Catholicism. It’s not religion that I am talking about. I am far from religious. Religion has it’s own issues.

I was brought up surrounded by a culture and tradition of 1970’s Cornish Methodism. I think the regional character is significant. I experienced communities displaying a very social faith. Families and individuals demonstrative in their beliefs and customs. The Cornish ‘contented’ spirit added to the personal and social faith. A very happy place! I have never been able to forget or negate it’s role.

Times move on and of course we found that the world is bigger than Cornwall. Ironically, Cornwall knows that. Cornwall is surrounded by big sky, big seas and has a big rocky heart. Memory of the ground that nurtured me remains at the root of my being.

As Tom Hanks entertainingly demonstrated, we all might have our ‘Wilson!’ moments when left without focus or reason. Yes I’ve skirted evangelical christian subcultures and the warmth of their community served a purpose at the time but some strong closed opinions couldn’t stand up to close inspection. It’s a volleyball after all.

Yes, Mssr. Lyotard, theoretically there is no more meta-narrative only paralogy, but in practice there is rarely space for paralogy only… us… enchantment, hurt, charisma, loss, joy and fear.

! But does it all matter, can’t we all just go an have a beer? Yes we can. But what then? What about injustice, the broken, the lost, the frail, the lonely…

We are all ultimately answerable for our actions. We are privileged to be alive.

What might we do with this privilege? How might we share the energy we have?

Are we in a position to help, better, support and enliven our community?

How on earth can we play an effective part?

What I always return to consider is the reality of a bigger power that can be shared, celebrated, and exercised. To bring healing, growth, cleansing and ‘love’ – generally creating good where there’s bad; nurturing life where there’s no life. Jesus of Nazareth (designated Christ) said something like “I have come that you might have life in all it’s fullness”. Jesus was no volleyball. The essential truths that Jesus taught were challenging and beautiful. Alas, the dated stories are all we have to go by. Some have twisted ideas to their own ends. Others have built on his teachings. Few can top the selfless truths shared by this (sadly, over rendered) Jewish rabbi.

What are the effects of our choices and actions?

What do we feed ourselves, how do we entertain ourselves, what do we build…

What do we teach and leave for our children…

How do we work together to be part of a better community/world…

How can we develop and maintain life simply, naturally and ethically…

How can we combat negativity, fear, hate, greed, pride…

Where can we embrace love, joy, peace, tolerance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…

Can we really do this alone or is it wise to acknowledge something bigger than our meagre breath.

It shouldn’t be a struggle…

Corn1100881

Tags Cornish Methodism, cornwall, Struggle?

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He was Mark…

On Friday I was lucky to see the penultimate performance of “I Am Mark” a contemporary theatre piece created and performed by Applecart Live.

Taking the Bible’s book of Mark as it’s text, they play with its context, themes and stories, rendering it in distinctive layered ways using new imagery and language.

They use characters and monologue, humour and tension, words and imagery, and they very effectively wrap the scenes in effectual song and sound.

All four of the cast were strong yet sympathetic and relayed powerful yet real performances. Both action and musical performances were extremely accomplished yet this talent did not detract from the text being shared.

In the story we hear of ‘The Crowd Gatherer’ sharing subversive truths and disturbing the political and religious powers. We hear “Change your thinking”, “close the distance”, there is “Deep Wisdom”, as the script employs new terminology in place of loaded traditional terms. The baggage of the 2000 year old story is lightened and indeed enlightened.

It’s a rich multilayered experience that left me thinking about glimpsed importance and feeling splashes of hope. Throughout, the drama was punctuated by a prospect of terror. A vignette from existent 🙂 demons humorously and sharply refocuses a perspective of evil. The final scene quenched the assault of query and troubled souls with… something special.. ? humanity? hope? …poured from a jar, an imagined intimate interaction with the audience.

There was a brief hiatus when nothing happened…

When Applecart offer this again, or indeed something new, I recommend keeping an eye our for them!

A doodle of mine…

Tags applecart, bible, iammark, Mark, theatre

Bike Uncategorized

Flat pedals

Post author By julesprichards
Post date October 14, 2014

After no response to a call for advice about good pedals for commuting, I went and bought a cheap pair that had good reviews.

I am not a cyclist. In the same way that I am not a driver or a cook. (I ride a bike to work, I drive the kids to everywhere, I cook food.) However, I possibly ride a bike more than some “cyclists”.

Hence the parts on my bike get a fair bit of wear and tear. I am not interested in pedals for high-performance, mountain-climbing, clip-less, SPD or special shoes etc. I just want to ride a bike from a to b. It should be easy.

The last pedals on my bike were always poor in the wet and slippery with basic trainers, and so when one broke recently it was an excuse to get a new pair.

OK they are only cheap so they may not last years but they could last a few seasons – we’ll see and I’ll let you know.

After two days of downpour rain, and four 8 mile commutes, I can safely say my feet have not slipped once using the new MKS Comfort Lite City pedals. Great! It surprised me somewhat because they don’t look like they’d be that effective in the wet. The old ones were always slippery when wet.

I’ll let you know how they go.