About Me

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Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
Broadcaster, musician, song writer, tea drinker and curry lover.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Lincoln Brewster live in Grants Pass - 3-13-08

Being a long time fan of Lincoln Brewster and his music, I had been looking forward to his show in Grants Pass for a long time. Having interviewed him again on the radio a few days before, I had forgotten just how easy to talk to he was, and what a lot of fun too, and as it turned out he was just the same at the concert.

As I was co-MC’ing the night I had to meet with Lincoln before the show - oh the hardship! - and I actually arrived in time to catch the sound checks. Lincoln and the band were all very friendly, fun guys and we managed to get some pictures done for the Dove website.

The show itself must rank for me as one of the best I have ever been to - and I’ve been to dozens of concerts over the years. The reasons for this are threefold. First the amazing musicianship (Norm Stockton is no slouch either); second the humor of Lincoln and the fact the whole evening was so enjoyable (there was a 25 minute acoustic camp fire session where Lincoln told stories about his kids - very funny). Most importantly, the whole night was 100% God centered, which is what sets the concert apart from so many of the others I’ve been to.

The band played all the "hits", they played them superbly, the audience sand til their lungs burst, and God was lifted up.

What more could you ask for from a concert? We hope to get them back this way real soon...

August Rush

I really wanted to see this one in theaters, but with one thing and another, it never happened.

My interest had been piqued by the presence of Freddie Highmore, the British kid who’s been in everything (seemingly) since his appearance in Finding Neverland alongside Johnny Depp.

In August Rush Highmore has a pretty convincing American accent as he plays an orphaned musical prodigy who is convinced his parents are alive and out there, and that one day they’ll all be together again.

The movie also stars Robin Williams, pretty much as a baddie, who looks much like I’d imagine Bono to look in ten years time. Dublin born actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers also features as a singer songwriter.
While it is true that you have to suspend your disbelief at a few points in the movie, the musical elements (of which there are many) are brilliantly done. Some great songs and a really uplifting musical theme to the whole thing.

If you are a weeper, you WILL bawl your eyes out, but overall this is a quality movie which deserves being seen over and over.

Freddie Highmore is excellent, but my only quibbles would be some of the cello playing sequences (as a former cellist I didn’t find them convincing) and also the dvd extras are really disappointing. Would have liked more of those.

If you haven’t seen it though, you really should.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Breaking Biological Barriers

Check out this masterful commentary by Chuck Colson on a world gone mad...


"Mary Ann Andree was drying her hair in the Rio Sport and Health Club in Gaithersburg, Maryland, last month when the door to the women's locker room suddenly opened. In came a man, wearing a blue ruffled skirt and make-up.

As Andree later told reporters, "I was very upset. There is a lot he could have seen." Andree is far from alone. A lot of other women in Montgomery County, Maryland, are upset over a new law that demands co-ed locker rooms and bathrooms in all public accommodations.

Montgomery County, adjacent to Washington, D.C., passed the law last November to accommodate "transgendered people"—that is, men who perceive themselves to be women, and women who perceive themselves to be men. The law adds gender identity to the list of protected classes to the Montgomery County Code banning discrimination.

In effect, it means men will have full access to a woman's restroom and locker room. A woman taking a shower after her aerobics class might look up to find a man turning on the shower next to hers. A little girl using a movie theater restroom will now have to worry that a strange man might walk in.

Michelle Turner, who leads a citizens group opposing the law, says, "Any biological male who is willing to wear a dress and who is feeling transgendered at that particular moment can enter the ladies room or locker room."

And what is to stop non-transgendered men from entering the ladies' room? Nothing. A child molester or rapist could put on a dress and go right in. So could pornographists. It is an appalling, shocking law. And get this: There is no exemption for religious schools, book stores, churches, and daycares. As Turner notes, "The act will use the force of law to make these organizations accept transgenders, transvestites, and cross-dressers as employees."

The American Psychiatric Association classifies gender identity disorder as a mental disorder. Supporters of the Montgomery County law refuse to accept this, and they have decided that you and I are not going to be allowed to accept it, either. Dana Beyer, a "transgendered" person employed by the Montgomery County Council, says that if you believe that XY chromosomes and male genitalia make someone male, you are a bigot.

In effect, transgendered persons are demanding that Montgomery County erase the distinctions between males and females. Make no mistake: This is not about the need for co-ed bathrooms. This law is simply being used to normalize gender identity disorder—much in the same way the gay lobby uses laws to normalize homosexuality.

Montgomery County officials passed this law despite the fact that citizens opposed it by an eight-to-one margin. The good news is that concerned citizens have gathered enough signatures to put the issue on the November ballot.

But Montgomery County is not the only jurisdiction passing laws like these. Check out what your own local leaders are doing to protect your privacy rights. And parents, make sure your kids know the difference between the Christian view of sexuality and that being propagated by those who think they ought to be allowed to choose their gender and their bathroom."