Wordle: Bit of innocent fun

This here’s a Wordle of the front page of this blog. It’s a kind of designer word cloud, artistically arranged, for which you can set colours and fonts. It gives you some idea of the contents on a stream-of-consciousness level.

Wordles are surprisingly engaging electronic playthings. Here’s another:More details and the opportunity to produce your own from any text you like, or blog, here.

Many thanks to Rev John Griffiths for pointing out how brilliantly wordles represent visually what our sermons were actually all about: He gives a link to one of his in the comments below, and I tried mine from yesterday morning (Trinity Sunday & Father's Day):

Load of Old Bullocks

Lucy and I went out recently to check the newly opened Cellars at Hughenden House, and encountered a slightly odd phenomenon in the car park. A gaggle of Bullocks clustered around the (hot) cars, some climbing up onto them and licking the windscreens and lights, even with people in the cars. One or two had broken wing mirrors and wipers.

Has anyone else ever seen bullocks doing this? Why? Is this some kind of Bovine Kinky thing? Are they after the satnavs? or what?

Answers on a postcard...

BNP:Back to the future?

As Britain burns up with European Election Fever, or not, Some Grey Bloke answers the door:

Hallelujah Chorus for Trappists

I was going to have a day off the Blog today, enjoying worshipping in Church as a member of the congregation on a glorious, beautiful Sunday evening. My tweepcount reached 1742 this morning and I had posted the première of Handel’s Messiah as my historical fact. Then The Revd David Lewis sent me something on Twitter that I simply have to record for posterity — the Hallelujah Chorus performed by a choir subect to a vow of silence. Perfick.

PS The fact that David seems to have managed to get this to me from the floor of the Baptist Assembly in Bournemouth only addds to its essential wonderfulness.

Keep those Meetings sweet, now...

As the Annual Parochial Church Meetings deadline of 30 April approaches, I detect slightly raised anxiety levels among colleagues. As far as in everybody lies, I recommend a light touch. If people must be contentious give them custard pies and even contentious can be fun. We all need a bit of inspiration for our APCM’s, so here it is:
Remember, everyone should be home by 21·30, latest. When people begin to take themselves too seriously, Pelagianism crouches by the door. Remember at all times what St Thomas Aquinas said — “Unmitigated seriousness betokens a Lack of Virtue.”

Grand National: Place your bets...

People wonder what the future of Christianity will be in Britain. Is it about getting everything licked into shape with the institutional Church, or adventurous new forms of priestly ministry? Is it about renewing our historic resources to be all they could be? Or is the life at the more sectarian seeming margins? Is it about social renewal?

In today’s Grand National, people can put their money where their mouth is, down the betting shop. Straws in the wind, you may say, but keep an eye out for the following Grand National contenders:

1. No 5: Comply or Die 12/1
   Winner last year, but out of form since
   
   
2. No 10: Priests Leap 100/1
   Solid Stayer — Interesting at a Big Price
   thus the Parish Share?
   
   
3. No 19: Parson’s Legacy 16/1
   Will love this stamina test, but lacks pace
   
   
4. No 21: Fundamentalist 150/1
   Fell 3rd Fence last year. No Chance.
   
   
5. No 31: Rambling Minster 10/1
   Thorough stayer who is int he form of his life
   Note there is only one “i” in the name...
   
   
6. No 38: Idle Talk 66/1
   Reported in great shape, but needs to improve to win

So there you have it. All good Anglicans should, of course, lay Each Way bets, preferably on everything at once. You don’t win anything, but it sure beats making up your mind. Go easy on Fundamentalist though. If it comes in, various of you will feel like leaving the country...

h/t Revds Colin Smith and Richard Watson, and the Daily Telegraph for the form guide.

Telemarketers nemesis — guaranteed

Getting a few calls from 01792 761030. The phone never rings long enough to answer. This is presumably because the caller is paid for quantity not quality of communication. People who have replied tell dark tales of being pumped about mobile phone contracts. Fair do’s, unsolicited marketing calls are part of life, but the persistence of this one has put me in mind of a famous ripping wheeze connected with Mr Tom Mabe: