headwayyouth- phil smith's blog

Manchester Passion

As Zoe and I trailed the streets of Manchester in search for wedding rings and a new hairdrier, the BEEB were out in force gearing up for Manchester Passion, a modern retelling of the last hours of Christ's life through Mancunian culture.

The show was a bit rough round the edges, the singing was a bit rusty in places, M-People's songs are as bad as they were ten years ago but that gave something back to a story which has become a bit cliched and well produced so I quite liked it. To quote this today's Guardian, "It all has something of an am dram feel, but that is part of its charm."

I have to say it wasn't what I was expecting. Keith Allen, who narrated the whole thing (as well as playing Pontius Pilate) was brilliant, began by quoting John 3:17- "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him"- and that was the tone of the whole show, unashamedly making it clear that this was and is the most incredible story.

The narrative was on occasions broken up by interviews with people following the procession about what the story means to them. I thought that bit was going to be a low point but it worked really well, even the Christian's spoke well!

Overall a huge thumbs up. Not just for the production but for the notion- for all the theologians out there this is surely contextualisation at it's best???

He was a skater boy...

Nothing humours me more than creative scientific explanations for Jesus' miracles...

Did Jesus walk on water - or ice?

The Sea of Galilee - subject to a cold snap at the time?

Jesus may not have walked on water as the Bible claims but rather skated on ice formed through a freak cold spell, a scientific study has suggested.

Rare atmospheric and water conditions could have caused ice to form on the freshwater Sea of Galilee.

The research shows a period of cooler weather swept what is now northern Israel from 1,500 to 2,600 years ago.

Sub-zero temperatures could have caused the formation of ice thick enough to support the weight of a man.

BBC

Happy Birthday!

Just realised that yesterday was the first birthday of headwayyouth blog... whoopie!

Any Questions Answered... you'll like this!

If you have ever found yourself with a frustratingly unanswerable question then AnyQuestionsAnswered is for you. Text your question to 63336 and you'll get an answer quick snap! Two friends came to visit zoe and i over the weekend and we asked AQA what we should do, they recommended a walk in the countryside to blow away the cobwebs and it turned out to be a jolly enjoyable stroll- thanks AQA!!! Could be much fun me thinks!

$!*&%

It would appear that I am an absolute egit... although it was indeed reported in the Guardian that Chris Martin has switched political allegiance, my mother-in-law has just pointed out that the article was written by Olaf Priol and published on April 1st thus making me the most gullible (and embarrassed) inhabitant of the blogosphere...

Still you've got to respect the fact that I didn't just withdraw my previous post altogether- though perhaps that just highlights my stupidity???

The end of trendy leftism...

Today's Guardian reports that Chris Martin has declared his support for the Tories... no honestly...

"But it was the wind generator on his roof that clinched it," Martin said. "I realised that whatever Labour said about Kyoto, you were never going to see a windmill on the roof of No 10. Dave's given me an absolute assurance that he's committed to saving the planet."

Read more at Guardian online or if you're game for a laugh download Talk to David, which is either very sad or very funny, you decide!