The spelling of Pretzel: Ah, I hardly ever spell things right. Must be a bit dyslexic. Still manage to get my name wrong sometimes. :D That's okay though because AA Gill is dyslexic and he's a good writer for the Sunday Times. There's hope yet.
good friends: You get the feeling Josie and Tony were pals before he went all.. blah? 'Cause I remember a really funny bit where they were playing 'helping hands' and he grabbed her boob. She did bite his finger first though. Wasn't just a spontaneous boob grab.
School: Max sounds such a sweetie. I'm not sure which dog produces the kind of forced laughter I emulate. I'll just guess Old English Sheepdog because I do love them. No pets I'm afraid.. I did once have a hamster with the imaginative name of Ham. She was a gentle little thing. I feel mean whinging on. It's not that I dislike my friends. Only my own inability to fit in without feeling the need to change. You are a darling for putting up with my moaning. I've started to chat about things I'm interested in now and although nobody has heard of them they are all lovely and nod their heads at appropriate times. You have relatives over here? Oooh whereabouts do they live? When I am at uni you'll have to come and stay. It'd be so fun! Only that's forever away. My dad keeps slipping in in to the conversation that I might not go to uni what with him losing his job and my mum fighting to keep hers but I think I will. Mum has got money saved to send me there. She's determined that I'll go no matter what.
Rob's twitter: Did you see what he put after that QI episode? :D
Attraction: that wetsuit pic! .. oh dear lord he's looking a lot healthier*cough*and hotter*cough*. Paul did look *very* good not a short while ago and I still think he scrubs up alright now. I seem to have a thing about those foppish haircuts. Although... when I saw the impro chums thing I spent the vast majority of the time perving on richard vranch. What a name. I can just imagine Rob Brydon saying it rolling those rrrrs. Rrrrichard Vrrrranch. Yum.
Summer School:I watched it on youtube! Now I think I do remember seeing a bit of it when I was younger but Rik freaked me out so much I switched over. Aw 'Blondie Bear' that is the cutest. Liking the changing room bits.
Jack : I saw that one t'other day. I'm sure Jack did something about changing the language of his phone to greek? Had to go to bed before Julian came on. I'm guessing he was a delightful as ever. :]
I'm following you on Twitter. I have six followers now! :D One is Bill Bailey
Pretzel: Oh, dear, no - your spelling as far as I can tell from a brief glace is great. I was sitting next to my 16yr old cousin at church the other day and she could barely put two correctly spelt words together in a proper sentence. Just really basic words, as well - it's slightly concerning. Dad shows me the tests he's marking sometimes (he's a teacher) and the amount of mistakes is absolutely crazy. Your name wrong? Hee. Occasionally I find myself writing a random person's name on a paper or something if I'm been thinking about them. "No, Nicole. I don't think this exam was completed by Stephen Fry..." Well, not exactly but you understand. There's always hope! *triumphant music complete with trumpets and harps for the moody stuff*
Good friends - Oh, absolutely. There's several bits of them that makes my perveted wanting-to-pair-people-off mind goes OOH! That moment, for one. There's one episode I love where they keep teasing each other (she kicks him the backside after a song, he makes fun of her etc). They're very cute. There's one weird moment where Josie says she likes what he's wearing and there's a close up of him where he looks almost in tears. It's weird. Another strange moment I seem to recall is during one of those hilarious Helping Hands things and Josie totally goes: "When I get my man home..." and then changes tact. When they were doing Bartender and she made up that awesome rhyme bagging his name out I was dying. The triumphant expression on her face! :D I love watching it when people who are comfortable with each other work together - Tony & Josie and Paul & Josie especially.
Other - Max is great. My first pet was also a border collie (Bonnie) and she was the sweetest animal EVAH. She would just lie quietly next to me, so gorgeous. She got baited and died though at 3yrs so I was pretty cut up about that. Old English Sheepdogs are sooooo beautiful. One of our relatives breeds them and I adore them. Ham? Aww. That is cute. We've had a bad run with pets. Dog got baited, cage of birds broke out of it during storm, rabbits ran away, two guinea pigs got eaten by next door neighbour's cat... Not great record, hey? Hee.
God, you're not mean whining. You seem incredibly reasonable and gracious if you ask me. I'm the bitter old cow! :)I'm glad your friends seem to be so lovely though. It's great that they're not mocking you or anything. I hate it when that happens, them trying to make you feel guilty. Yeah - my grandparents on my Mum's side didn't move over here till a bit after WWII so all my extended family on that side still live in England and Scotland. I don't know much about any of them unfortunately cos they don't really talk much (which is a pity, considering they still have lovely accents...) I know most of Grandma's family is still in Manchester and Grandad's I have no idea.
I will def come stay! If I had money anyway... My family's not exactly that well enough and job's aren't easy to come by right now! Hopefully, after I've finished uni and worked for a bit I'll have enough cash to get over there. You dad lost his job? God, I'm so sorry. That's horrible. What's his profession? I hope all that works out okay - I hate the bloody economical problems at the moment. So, over there, do you need to pay upfront to get into uni or does it work as a loan and you pay it back when you're older and working? Good on your Mum.
Rob's Twitter - I DID! I couldn't stop laughing. He's fantastic. I still can't stop watching him on TOTP, y'know. His dancing and swaying so wildly on the spot cracks me up.
Attraction - !!! I know! I saw it and I was like, seriously, man!!! It's fantastic. he looks so happy and healthy at the moment. See the latest pic on Twitter of him with that little turtle in hand next to Mark whats-his-name. Soooooo adorable. Oh yes - agree on the foppish hair thing. I just want to run my hands through it.... And the little greying wispy bits? Great. How do you feel about Boris' hair then? :) Richard Vranch is fine. I remember first hearing speak when I watched that PM at the palladium thing and was shocked! He speaks and the voice is lovely and calming. And the bikini? I assume you've seen it. If not, get ye to Youtube now... Rolling r's. Mmmmm. Lovely.
Blondie bear is gorgeous, isn't it? They are very cute together. In interviews Ade says the nicest things about her. Very sweet couple.
Jack - yep! That's the one. I was watching it at the library. Pretty good. Julian was delightful. He had two blokes up on stage and had them taking him on a date at a restaurant and quizzing them. Then he got one to take his trousers off and the other his shirt. Julian was veryyyy pleased though when he asked for their occupations - one worked in the terratorial army and the other in the navy!
YAY! for Twitter. I'm trying to figure it out so bear with me. Six? Aren't you lucky? I just checked and I just have these random hangers-on. Oh well. Bill Bailey? Oh, you lucky thing. He's super.
Well I may run out of time for this.. so if I break off suddenly there's more to come. :D
sitting next to the 6yr old cousin at church: Yaay, I go to church too. Because, unlike half the people I know who go, I believe in God. Despite the many lovely comedians who tell me not to. xD
random person's name: I am so bad for this. I don't write the names down I call my friends them without thinking. I was awfull the other day though, I put my hand up to ask a question and instead of 'miss' I shouted 'STEPHEN!'. I'd been thinking about QI. hehe.
Good friends: I always thought Paul+Josie was ever so cute. I can remember which episode or sketch it was but there's a bit in wliia that made me think they were a couple when I first started to watch.
Your pets: I am sorry. Poor Bonnie, how horrid.
There's a girl in my school called Bonnie. Only I didn't know........
I'm bored so I'm going to reply to your lovely message now instead of waiting. Besides, I'm probably forget! You got o church too? Crazy. No-one I ever meet on the nets who I get along with does - most seem to be the most anti-religious, atheistic peeps evah. As you say, like all my favourite comedians. Damn. But most of the time it seems to be the whole establishment of the 'church' rather than Christians themselves they have a go at so... *shrugs*
Random Names: That's seriously fantastic! I find myself in lectures sometimes when I'm just doodling all over my notes just giggling and chuckling away to myself when I think of something I've been watching. Terribly embarrassing. It's not as bad as when you're younger and (dunno if you did it but) you accidentally call the teacher Mum or whatever. I just used to die on the inside when that happened. The teacher should be proud to be mixed up with Stephen! :) Tis flattering.
They were. And are. Have you heard the 4 episodes of Just A Minute that they've done together now? In the first one Josie buzzed to say she didn't like his shirt and the last one that "she thought they were friends" when he buzzed her. The tone of voice was soooo cute. There's one bit I love where they're doing Scenes From A Hat and it's 'Weightwatchers Meeting' or something and Paul just goes up to her and says "No luck then?" She makes the funniest face and then grabs him and they do the cutest little dance kind of thing on the floor, both smiling. Gorgeous.
Pets: I am too! It sucked. I felt worse for my brother though - he's always been an animal fan (loves nature etc) and he was bawling when he found out especially as he found her first. It wasn't nice. Oh well. Max has lasted well, the lucky bugger.
Catch you later then xoxo
PS. Guess what I got today? I'd managed to get Paul Merton's History of the Twentieth Century book on eBay and it finally arrived today. It was dirt cheap thanfully because it's never cheap when it comes to postage but guess what? IT'S SIGNED!!! I couldn't believe my luck. There was a little piece of card inside advertising the book signing he did and a signature. I went mad. I'll post a pic at some stage. Hee - forgive my excitement... See ya
back to the story ........... didn't know there was a girl called Bonnie and when I heard about her and Josh WELL, I honestly believed he'd slept with a dog :S So I didn't speak to him for years. Not that it matters really. Didn't exactly know him. :D
Just a minute: Josie is so sweet on that with Paul. I love the cute voice she puts on. Ooooh to be Josie Lawrence *Sporffle* I love just a minute. Did you hear one recently where paul shouted 'I'M A TRANSSEXUAL' or smomethin' along those lines??
Church: I don't think any of my mates do :D even though this is meant to be a Catholic school. I wish there was a celebrity I respected who didn't think it was a load of balls. Although, as you say, it is more the 'church' the dislike. The Pope doesn't help sometimes. He can come out with some silly things. Says lots of good too .. but that doesn't get reported.
Dad, uni and stuff: Aaah he might get another. Only problem is my mum doesn't think she'll be able to hold onto her job for any more than a year. We'll pull through hey? :D I could always become a famous writer. He was a... computer-thing? I lack the knowlegde to explain properly but he worked for British Telecom and it was something to do with LAN settings.
I think we do get loans but we have to pay some too. Not quite sure of the details. What happens over there??
Rob: There's a small instrumental bit where he does a little dance with his elbows. Awwwwwwww.
hair and Richard: I love Boris' hair very much and I feel like a bad person buuuut.. I don't like his politics. I don't like saying that because everybody seems to love Boris and David now. I'm quite anti-Conservatives.
The bikini ... *thud* Did you see the bunny at the piano thing? He's so musical. He played the guitar when I saw them and 'twas veery good.
PAUL MERTON SIGNED BOOK?
Photo please. :D I'm so happy for you!!
I googled the name scrawled on the bottom of a picture my dad was going to throw out aaand apparently 'R.Percy' is a bit famous. O' course the picture is in bad condition but we might be able to get it restored for 1k and his pictures go for about 5!!!
Dad say's it'll go to my uni fund WOAH! :D
Have a great time reading your books. xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ha! That is utterly brilliant. I'd imagine you mustn't have known him that well or weren't that close to him if you weren't aware of his preference for the canine species... :D That kind of thing would put me off, I reckon!
JAM: I know. She's very sweet. Did you hear the interview she did with Clive Anderson the other day? They were so cute, teasing each other. One of the things I loved the other time was when she got 'catlovers' as a subject and you could tell she was sooooo excited to get it and was so pissed when she lost it again. Hilarious. I did hear him say that - I nearly spat out the water I was drinking. I love it lately that he'll change into some random voice like really educated or loud or whatever and just go on and on. It's hilarious - like when he was going to be king and was rallying everyone. Hee. I have practically every episode he's been on now and adore listening to them as i go to bed (I rotate those, ISIHAC and Masterson Inheritance, actually...)
Church: Practically 90% of my mates do! I've been aty the same church all my life and that's where my group of friends has always existed cos some of them were at my school as well (I went to the local Christian school where my dad teaches). I'm the other, evil, mean side though - Protestant. Dum, dum, dum. I totally agree - I really admire them but I can't fully agree and I hate that. Sometimes I get extremely irritated because a lot of the time people seem to (or choose to) see only the negative aspects of the 'church', usually the authority figures who are 'out there' in the public eye who give christianity a bad press. Lots of the leaders say stupid things sometime (maybe cos they're human... Hmmm, funny that) and they're the bits that always get picked up on. Or a minority view that the average churchgoer/christian/whatever wouldn't agree with.
Uni/Family Stuff: Hope it'll work out. A mate of mine who is a financial planner just lost his job this week too - he'd thought he was pretty safe as well. His wife's at uni and doesn't have a job either so hopefully something will turn up. I hate this economical crisis thing. Oh, do become a famous writer. That would be super! I'll buy your books. :D Even if you could explain it I wouldn't understand. I completely lack any awareness of how computers and technology work. Really, I'm hopeless. I just want it to work when I want it to!!!
Well, I didn't have to pay anything upfront. As far as i can work out, youn can choose whether to pay upfront or get what's known as HECS, which I think basically works so as when you get a job that has a high enough income you pay back the money that was loaned you for uni + a bit of interest on it. It's helpful - not ideal, but helpful.
Hair/Richard: He does have awesome hair. Hee. Pfft. You should never feel bad just because you don't agree with someone's politics. I reckon it's awesome that you would even know anything about politics - the amount my friends know is abysmal (honestly, I don't think most of them would even know who Gordon Brown was...) I don't know enough about any of the main parties over there (seeing as they get basically no media coverage here and the rest I get is practically from the News Quiz and HIGNFY! :) ) so I don't know much. Usually, I find though, that I agree with bits and pieces of various policies and hardly ever can totally align myself with an entire political view that one party has. Who do you support then, if you don't mind me asking?
I gather you liked the bikini then!? :D He was quite good... I loved the others teasing him though. I love that show in its entirety frankly. It's funny and very entertaining. Once again, you lucky bugger getting to see him live! :)
Oh yes. *beams* I was so stoked when I saw it. The seller hadn't mentioned it and I just opened it and whoah!!! Yay. I'll post a pic when my computer decides to co-operate. In the mean time, I gather you haven't read the book? If not, two of my favourite bits for you:
Firstly, from the introduction: Unfortunately there has not been space in this book to include absolutely everything I’ve uncovered. I have, for example, skirted around the great brown suit scandal of the early ‘90s, although I do feel that people should be made aware of the phenomenon in order to stop the horror of brown suits ever happening again. … In writing this book I have used mainly English words and more often than not I have used them in a sensible consecutive order. … In choosing photographs I have generally used the side with the picture on it because this is usually more interesting than the other side which is blank. Any empty spaces you come across in the book, however, will undoubtedly be fascinating photographs that have been printed the wrong way round.
Secondly, see if you can recognise some of the cleverly disguised names in this section: Within a few hours of being charged Oswald was gunned down by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. Ruby himself was killed two weeks later by an unemployed blacksmith called Jim Sweeney, who was in turn murdered the following day by a part-time female impressionist called Mary Kinnie. Three days later, Kinnie was fatally killed by a drunk driver identified by the police as Alice Vranch. Vranch was released on bail only to be crushed to death by a falling ostrich deliberately dropped from a 14th storey window by a drunken construction worker called Joe Lawrence. Lawrence then tripped over a rope and fell to his death. He landed on the ostrich which still had a tiny bit of biscuit stuck in its throat from a previous meal. The biscuit shot out of the ostrich’s mouth and struck a passer-by in the heart, instantly killing him. The passer-by, a Mr Cranston Mullarky, fell into the path of a luxury coach, owned by Simpson Tours, which ploughed into an orphanage killing everybody on board. This series of deaths further convinced sceptics that some kind of cover-up was going on.
R.Percy - Ooh. Who is he then? Hope you get some cash for it - that would be brilliant for you all! :) *crosses fingers, toes and other crossable body parts* Here's hoping for you.
My books are luverly. I got 32 all up for $80 which is probably about £36 I think. I found a Spitting Image book (sort of an annual thing) from 1985 there!!! Pretty funny. At the beginning is a tiny caricature of the people who put it together and Ian is mentioned: it says "Ian Hislop, 12. Writer. Deputy Editor of Private Eye. Very nice fellow. Hallo, Ian mate, have some more money. Great scripts, mate. Crawl fawn cringe." There's one for John Lloyd too (I presume you know who he is...): "John Lloyd, 103. He has since retired to the BBC where he was born, and now whiles away the autumn of his years pruning his beloved old peak-time sitcoms." Got another one too: 'British Comedy Greats.' It's in brilliant condition and looks like it would normally be pretty pricey but (in your terms) was probably about 2 pounds. Has a massive pic of Ian/Paul/Angus and a description of the show but mainly talks about the Angus!controversy in the HIGNFY section. I also got a fair few Spike Milligan ones, 2 Python books, one by Barry Cryer, 3 Stephen Fry novels, 3 PG Wodehouses (which is great, because they’re near impossible to find over here) and a bunch of classics.
Oh, yeah, by the way: quick question. I can hire DVDs from my local library and was looking through them for something new and came across a few series of One Foot In The Grave. Now, I’ve heard of it obviously but never seen it (though I remember seeing Richard Wilson on a couple of HIGNFY eps). Was wondering whether it’s worth borrowing or not and figured chances were you’d have a better idea of what it’s like than I do! So, is it any good?
Had my art exam spread out over this week. Also my brother's come home from uni for easter and reclaimed his computer so I won't be on this very much for a while. Sorry for the maga-long wait. xD
JAM: No no I have not heard this interview. I sounds the sweetest! Oh Paul Merton's rants.. I can just go onnn and onnn burbling out anything. He's so clever. Everything is fantastically funny and it's just from the top of his head. You'd never get bored being mates with him eh? I really like it when he makes a joke and keeps going back to it during shws. :D
Church: Is it nice having friends there? I'm not sure if I'd like it so much. I always look a complete tramp on a Sunday morning. It's nice to know nobody really minds. Protestant eh?? Oooh were were looking at protestants in R.E [Religious Education]. Miss says you were protesting against the corrupt, money-grabbing bishops. Sounds a good reasong for breaking away... What do we do different to each other? I'm not very good at understanding who does what and why. :D I think our school is a bit silly. We didn't do anything for read nose day 'cause some of the money buys condoms. What was it like having your dad at your school?
Uni/Family Stuff: Hope everything goes okay for you friend! Maybe you could will your computer to work? Or find a spell.. *searches for Haryy Potter book*... Repearo?
Hair/Richard: None of my friends have heard of Boris and he's the Mayor of fricken' London! I'm sure you know a hell of a lot more about the politics in my country than I know about yous. As far as I can figure out.. you had a horrible man called John Howard and the person at the moment, Kevin Rudd, is meant to be better. That right?
I don't know who I support really... Vince Cable is great and he's the Liberal Democrat economics minister I think. He's the only one who actually predicted the credit crunch and seems to know what to do now. The thing is though the Lib Dems will never get in. I don't think they're corrupt enough to be honest and they do have silly ideas sometimes. If I was old enough to vote I'd vote Labor. Voting Lib Dem would throw my vote away and I think Labor are the lesser of two evils. I guess it looks like Labor are utterly crap ....but they have done some good stuff. They're really improving education. If the Tory lot get in that money will stop, they've pretty much made that clear. We're still recoverining from the dreaded Thatcher[may she get hit by a bus].
I could rant on forever but I'll stop now. I'm sure you get the picture.
Hi! Don't worry about taking a fair time to reply - I totally understand. Not everyone is as lazy as me! :D How was your exam? Not too difficult? So, was that practical then?
JAM: When I get a chance, I could post some of the interviews I'm gotten my hands on. I've got Josie's one with Clive and two that Paul did (mainly about his Silent Clowns tour). If you'd like, of course. I just find that impro stuff he does amazing on it - he says that it just comes out and you have no idea where it'll end up. And it's nearly always super funny or intelligent (I just get the biggest kick when he uses really complicated words or becomes all authoritative and scholarly about old silent films and other movies...) Yeah, some people seem daft when they go back to jokes/comments made earlier but he ties them in very cleverly, twisting them. It's great.
Church: Dunno. I mean, I don't know any different. They're really the only people I've really known my age all my life. I find it fairly difficult to make friends in real life because I'm very shy and hardly ever have things in common with anyone here my age. They're nice people, though, and if it weren't for them I wouldn't know who to hang with. People judging for what people to wear is just utterly ridiculous - my grandfather used to do that and it made me cross. He's one of those resistant to change. *nods* Yep, Presbyterian to boot! Do you have to do RE at your school then? I did it in my last two years of school (I chose to) and it was pretty interesting though we mainly looked at Islam and Buddhism. I find it all rather fascinating, actually. Yeah, she's sort of right. That's one of the reasons. Basically, it was a bunch of things: the money grabbing thing (mostly to do with people paying the church to pray for dead relatives to get to heaven/spend less time in purgatory and so forth). Also, the actual theology was proving a problem. My church is pretty big on history teaching and we've had the Reformation drilled into our brains. Martin Luther who was a monk realised that what the church was teaching wasn't exactly what the Bible said in regards to lots of things but mainly the ideas of what he called 'sola fidelis' or 'faith alone'. That is, the Catholic church was teaching firstly, that faith in God alone couldn't save you, that works came into it as well. Other guys like John Calvin in Switzerland and John Knox in Scotland were also realising some problems and they started the whole thing off. Sorry for the rambling and probably somewhat inaccurate history lesson.
Hmm. Some differences. Well, firstly, the way the church is run. We don't have a Pope! :D I guess the church structure is a lot less (in our church anyway and not in a lot of traditional High Anglican/Church of England) hierachical. The leaders are elected more democratically generally and all the power isn't centred on one main figure. Presybterian churches for example run with a bunch of elders - teaching (the minister) and ruling (the others who also can preach and make executive decisions and so forth) and a group of deacons (the guys who run finances, help people out etc). We elect them all and agree that they represent us, as it were. We vote on all major decisions though. Another major difference - we don't have confession and a lot of the outward symbolic ritual stuff doesn't go on. There's no fancy dress of any sort, no incense, no alters etc. We also have less sacraments - just Communion (Lord's Supper) and Baptism. Theologically, there's also a fair few differences. We don't pray to saints or anything like that, don't exalt Mary as anything really special (besides acknowledging that God chose her to be Jesus' eathly mother), we don't believe in Purgatory and other things too that aren't coming to my mind right this minute! :D
They didn't do stuff cos of condoms? Seriously? That's, if you don't mind me saying so, stupid. Like that little issue they have comes above the sanctity of life!! What the hell? I don't really understand the big thing the Catholic Church has with condoms. I really don't. It baffles me and small things like that shouldn't come above helping save lives.
It was good having Dad at school. I know I sound an utter loser for saying so but I'm very proud of him. He's a fantastic teacher, all the students love him, he's got the right balance of being firm and having fun. He's able to communicate brilliantly and has the best sense of humour. I really liked having him there, if truth be told. :)
Uni: I took the laptop to the repair guy and he reckons there's nothing wrong with it; it was working for him fine! It refuses to stay on for me than half an hour for me still. WTF??? Grr. Hee. Do you like HP then?
Hair: Seriously? I can understand my friends not knowing who Boris is but yours? Hmm. Actually, my Mum's pretty bad. She doesn't know who our opposition leader is and didn't know the Mayor of Sydney. :D Basically the same, exept she can't use youth as an excuse for ignorance. Your country is a lot bigger and more important on a world scale than mine though! You're actually very good. I'm totally impressed you've heard of either of them. Hee. And you're pretty much right.
That's understandable, not knowing who you support. Got a few years til you can vote anyway, hey? Next election I'll have to seeing as it's complusory over here to vote. No, from what I can figure the poor Lib Debs are forever doomed to be third. We used to have that problem with what we call the National Party (we have the Liberals - John Howard was their leader a while back - and Labor - Kevin Rudd) but they, for national elections join with the Liberals and the leader of the National Party becomes the Deputy PM. No, I understand. The majority of govs do some good stuff. It just so happens the crap stuff they do gets more attention in the press. Only hit by a bus for Thatcher? That's rather generous I must say. There's plenty more torturous ways to go than that if you use your imagination. :D
There was meant to be a second part to that last message. I am disgustingly un-organized. Sadly I might not be able to reply over the next few weeks as the brother has reclaimed his computer. That's why this has taken such a long time. xD
Art was ... bad. I painted a man, or rather I failed at painting a man. I'll upload the pic for you. :3
Oh those interviews do sound good! Paul was on the Paul O'Grady Show t'other day. He was very funny and talking about doing a Paul Merton in Europe. Apparently he will go to Ireland. Maybe that will be when I go in the summer *crosses fingers*
Church: thanks for the lesson it was helpful. I am a complete dunce for all matters historical. Despite my choosing history for GCSE. :D It is nice that your friends share your faith. I often find thinking of my religion and my everyday life as separate things which can't be good.
Everything seems more sensible the way you do it.. with the leaders an' all. I think I like having confession because it makes me feel forgiven, more than I would do if I'd just said sorry in my head.
PURGATORY Don't get me started. Of all the stupid things to believe about the afterlife. I'll allow it's a little better than the awaiting 5000 virgins. Still.. That is one of the parts of my faith I despise with a vengeance.
along with the condom thing. I don't agree with sleeping around loads but condoms are needed.
It is very sweet of you to feel that way about having your dad in school. He sounds like a great teacher. How fantastic would it have been to be one of those kids stephen taught in the year before he went to uni? Sadly o'course one would have to be male... and a teen at a time without hignfy. *ponders*
I do like Harry Potter :D Mainly I like snape because of Alan Rickman being so very indescribably, to one lacking in the correct superlatives, Alan-like.
Now I seem to have drifted away from putting things under headings. I'd better make a heading quick!
Politics: Aw bless your mum! :] Is our country more important? I guess us and America are responsible for the credit crunch? Sorry about that. I thought I only believed we were important because I live here. If I was in Australia I'd pictured myself knowing nothing about the English goings on. Are there any Australian HIGNFYs?
Wow! Our Lib Dems are so different to the Tory lot. I can't imagine them coming together in a million years. Gordon was on the radio earlier. He really seems to be trying hard to make things better for poor people.
Being hit by a bus is only the beginning. There are many things that may happen to her squished remains, that is if she doesn't turn to dust.
Please ramble on. I find your rambles such fun to read. :D
Here, while I remember is the top half of my art picture. It is entitled:
'Blue man with no face and clockwork in his chest'
I must admit to feeling slight pride at his left elbow. I was all for scaling it down so that particular part was all that remained. My teacher was lost to the genius of such a suggestion
After re-reading my last comment I am shocked at the silly mistakes in sentences. Sorry. I should really correct them but I think I'll go to sleep instead.
That's fine. I understand. I'm going the next six days without the internet/dvds which is bad enough but that's because I'm going camping. I'll show you some pics when I get back. I'm even thinking of climbing on of the little mountains there. Maybe... At home when I can't use computer I just go the the library - I can get 4 hours of free internet at my local library every day. It's great!
Art - it's not terrible. I see what you mean, but really, I'd be happy if I could draw/paint anything. All I can do are little doodles and cartoons. I like that arm. How much was that exam worth then? Ha. Very original name!
Interviews: They were good. I'll upload them for you in a week or two if you want. I'm waiting for the Paul O'Grady one to download at the moment. That would be cool if you saw him there, eh? You've got more chance than me! :D
Church: No problem. Just hoping I didn't stuff it up too much! I'm a bit of a history geek so... Besides, that kind of thing has been drummed into me since I was very young. Church history came up a lot. What kind of history do you like? Ancient? Modern? I did both types for my last years of school and they were fab. it's not great but I do exactly the same thing! It's just that the non-religion part of my life probably doesn't take up as much time as others because everyone I know is practically religious.
I think it does make more sense, even biblically, but I'm not going to trash the Catholics - a lot of it has just built up over the years as part of tradition. I get how confession would be like that but it just seems so foreign to me. I see the appeal though. Sometimes, you feel better confiding to someone about things you've done wrong. I guess, the guilt could get to you.
Purgatory - yeah, sorry, that's just crap! I don't even get where that teaching even came from. I mean, really. That and the whole Christ is quite literally in the bread/wine in the Eucharist/Lords Supper/Communion are sooooo strange. No, I reckon the Catholics have gotten it wrong with that. I mean, I don't think condoning condoms and safe sex is necessarily condoning people sleeping around. Really. It just takes a leap you don't need to take.
He is a great teacher. The other day one of the students came and told me how much he appreciated Dad as a teacher and I was full beaming. Dad is really awesome at that. He actually worked in mechanical engineering (at a place called BHP) for about 20 years before he did teaching. Being taught by Stephen? *sighs* That would be bliss. Hee. They are important considerations to have before deciding. I mean, we do have a choice. Hee.
Harry Potter - Alan Rickman. Alan Rickman. Mmmmmm. Um, yeah. I like him... His voice is velvet. Johnny Session's impression of him on QI? I laughed soooo much.
Politics: Mum is so ditsy sometimes. Yeah, looking objectively at it, your country is definitely more important on the world scale. It's been weird because we've always been so closely aligned with England/USA and that but the geographical distance means that it doesn't really work. There's been a big push lately for a closer relationship with the Asian/Pacific countries round us. I don't know who's responsible? It's just a load of messy crap right now and probably our government wasn't any better than yours and Americas. No, I mean, you're not exactly at the top of your powers as an EMPIRE!!! but you're still important. Both our countries go the extremes - yeah,. we're fab and the world revolves around us or, now more commonly, we're lost it and everyone is more important than us now. It's happening less and less but Australia is fairly aware of English stuff (especially comedy) than a lot of other places, I think, mainly because that's our heritage, that's where we came from so it's had an influence on us. We get that humour. Politically, I don't think we know much but that's understandable - apart from the US not a lot of people these days know much about other country's politics, it seems. There is a version of HIGNFY sort of. It's called Good News Week, started in the 90s, got cancelled and made a comeback. However, it's much closer in content and style to Mock the Week. It's okay but not fantastic, I must say. And the host is soooooooo annoying. I'll stick with the original, cos it's the best! :D
Politics Again: Yeah - our parties, even the ones with the same names as yours, are not the same. That's for sure. The Liberals (as you wouldn't think by the name!) are the most conservative of the lot! :) I hope he goes okay. Even if he's an idiot sometimes, you can't really want the PM to screw everything up since it impacts on so many people. They're not all bad people.
Maggie: Hee! I think they'd be multitudes of people lining up to inflict their punishment on her, hey? I don't blame them.
Glad you like my rambles. I'm ridiculous. I like writing. It's nice to talk to someone.
good friends: You get the feeling Josie and Tony were pals before he went all.. blah? 'Cause I remember a really funny bit where they were playing 'helping hands' and he grabbed her boob. She did bite his finger first though. Wasn't just a spontaneous boob grab.
School: Max sounds such a sweetie. I'm not sure which dog produces the kind of forced laughter I emulate. I'll just guess Old English Sheepdog because I do love them. No pets I'm afraid.. I did once have a hamster with the imaginative name of Ham. She was a gentle little thing. I feel mean whinging on. It's not that I dislike my friends. Only my own inability to fit in without feeling the need to change. You are a darling for putting up with my moaning. I've started to chat about things I'm interested in now and although nobody has heard of them they are all lovely and nod their heads at appropriate times. You have relatives over here? Oooh whereabouts do they live? When I am at uni you'll have to come and stay. It'd be so fun! Only that's forever away. My dad keeps slipping in in to the conversation that I might not go to uni what with him losing his job and my mum fighting to keep hers but I think I will. Mum has got money saved to send me there. She's determined that I'll go no matter what.
Rob's twitter: Did you see what he put after that QI episode?
:D
Attraction: that wetsuit pic! .. oh dear lord he's looking a lot healthier*cough*and hotter*cough*. Paul did look *very* good not a short while ago and I still think he scrubs up alright now. I seem to have a thing about those foppish haircuts. Although... when I saw the impro chums thing I spent the vast majority of the time perving on richard vranch. What a name. I can just imagine Rob Brydon saying it rolling those rrrrs. Rrrrichard Vrrrranch. Yum.
Summer School:I watched it on youtube! Now I think I do remember seeing a bit of it when I was younger but Rik freaked me out so much I switched over. Aw 'Blondie Bear' that is the cutest. Liking the changing room bits.
Jack : I saw that one t'other day. I'm sure Jack did something about changing the language of his phone to greek?
Had to go to bed before Julian came on. I'm guessing he was a delightful as ever. :]
I'm following you on Twitter.
I have six followers now!
:D
One is Bill Bailey
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Good friends - Oh, absolutely. There's several bits of them that makes my perveted wanting-to-pair-people-off mind goes OOH! That moment, for one. There's one episode I love where they keep teasing each other (she kicks him the backside after a song, he makes fun of her etc). They're very cute. There's one weird moment where Josie says she likes what he's wearing and there's a close up of him where he looks almost in tears. It's weird. Another strange moment I seem to recall is during one of those hilarious Helping Hands things and Josie totally goes: "When I get my man home..." and then changes tact. When they were doing Bartender and she made up that awesome rhyme bagging his name out I was dying. The triumphant expression on her face! :D I love watching it when people who are comfortable with each other work together - Tony & Josie and Paul & Josie especially.
Other - Max is great. My first pet was also a border collie (Bonnie) and she was the sweetest animal EVAH. She would just lie quietly next to me, so gorgeous. She got baited and died though at 3yrs so I was pretty cut up about that. Old English Sheepdogs are sooooo beautiful. One of our relatives breeds them and I adore them. Ham? Aww. That is cute. We've had a bad run with pets. Dog got baited, cage of birds broke out of it during storm, rabbits ran away, two guinea pigs got eaten by next door neighbour's cat... Not great record, hey? Hee.
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I will def come stay! If I had money anyway... My family's not exactly that well enough and job's aren't easy to come by right now! Hopefully, after I've finished uni and worked for a bit I'll have enough cash to get over there. You dad lost his job? God, I'm so sorry. That's horrible. What's his profession? I hope all that works out okay - I hate the bloody economical problems at the moment. So, over there, do you need to pay upfront to get into uni or does it work as a loan and you pay it back when you're older and working? Good on your Mum.
Rob's Twitter - I DID! I couldn't stop laughing. He's fantastic. I still can't stop watching him on TOTP, y'know. His dancing and swaying so wildly on the spot cracks me up.
Attraction - !!! I know! I saw it and I was like, seriously, man!!! It's fantastic. he looks so happy and healthy at the moment. See the latest pic on Twitter of him with that little turtle in hand next to Mark whats-his-name. Soooooo adorable. Oh yes - agree on the foppish hair thing. I just want to run my hands through it.... And the little greying wispy bits? Great. How do you feel about Boris' hair then? :) Richard Vranch is fine. I remember first hearing speak when I watched that PM at the palladium thing and was shocked! He speaks and the voice is lovely and calming. And the bikini? I assume you've seen it. If not, get ye to Youtube now... Rolling r's. Mmmmm. Lovely.
Blondie bear is gorgeous, isn't it? They are very cute together. In interviews Ade says the nicest things about her. Very sweet couple.
Jack - yep! That's the one. I was watching it at the library. Pretty good. Julian was delightful. He had two blokes up on stage and had them taking him on a date at a restaurant and quizzing them. Then he got one to take his trousers off and the other his shirt. Julian was veryyyy pleased though when he asked for their occupations - one worked in the terratorial army and the other in the navy!
YAY! for Twitter. I'm trying to figure it out so bear with me. Six? Aren't you lucky? I just checked and I just have these random hangers-on. Oh well. Bill Bailey? Oh, you lucky thing. He's super.
xoxo
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:D
sitting next to the 6yr old cousin at church: Yaay, I go to church too. Because, unlike half the people I know who go, I believe in God. Despite the many lovely comedians who tell me not to. xD
random person's name: I am so bad for this. I don't write the names down I call my friends them without thinking. I was awfull the other day though, I put my hand up to ask a question and instead of 'miss' I shouted 'STEPHEN!'. I'd been thinking about QI. hehe.
Good friends: I always thought Paul+Josie was ever so cute. I can remember which episode or sketch it was but there's a bit in wliia that made me think they were a couple when I first started to watch.
Your pets: I am sorry. Poor Bonnie, how horrid.
There's a girl in my school called Bonnie.
Only I didn't know........
ooof gotta go
finish later
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Random Names: That's seriously fantastic! I find myself in lectures sometimes when I'm just doodling all over my notes just giggling and chuckling away to myself when I think of something I've been watching. Terribly embarrassing. It's not as bad as when you're younger and (dunno if you did it but) you accidentally call the teacher Mum or whatever. I just used to die on the inside when that happened. The teacher should be proud to be mixed up with Stephen! :) Tis flattering.
They were. And are. Have you heard the 4 episodes of Just A Minute that they've done together now? In the first one Josie buzzed to say she didn't like his shirt and the last one that "she thought they were friends" when he buzzed her. The tone of voice was soooo cute. There's one bit I love where they're doing Scenes From A Hat and it's 'Weightwatchers Meeting' or something and Paul just goes up to her and says "No luck then?" She makes the funniest face and then grabs him and they do the cutest little dance kind of thing on the floor, both smiling. Gorgeous.
Pets: I am too! It sucked. I felt worse for my brother though - he's always been an animal fan (loves nature etc) and he was bawling when he found out especially as he found her first. It wasn't nice. Oh well. Max has lasted well, the lucky bugger.
Catch you later then
xoxo
PS. Guess what I got today? I'd managed to get Paul Merton's History of the Twentieth Century book on eBay and it finally arrived today. It was dirt cheap thanfully because it's never cheap when it comes to postage but guess what? IT'S SIGNED!!! I couldn't believe my luck. There was a little piece of card inside advertising the book signing he did and a signature. I went mad. I'll post a pic at some stage. Hee - forgive my excitement... See ya
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...........
didn't know there was a girl called Bonnie and when I heard about her and Josh WELL, I honestly believed he'd slept with a dog :S
So I didn't speak to him for years.
Not that it matters really.
Didn't exactly know him. :D
Just a minute: Josie is so sweet on that with Paul. I love the cute voice she puts on. Ooooh to be Josie Lawrence *Sporffle* I love just a minute. Did you hear one recently where paul shouted 'I'M A TRANSSEXUAL' or smomethin' along those lines??
Church: I don't think any of my mates do
:D even though this is meant to be a Catholic school. I wish there was a celebrity I respected who didn't think it was a load of balls. Although, as you say, it is more the 'church' the dislike. The Pope doesn't help sometimes. He can come out with some silly things. Says lots of good too .. but that doesn't get reported.
Dad, uni and stuff: Aaah he might get another. Only problem is my mum doesn't think she'll be able to hold onto her job for any more than a year. We'll pull through hey? :D
I could always become a famous writer.
He was a... computer-thing?
I lack the knowlegde to explain properly but he worked for British Telecom and it was something to do with LAN settings.
I think we do get loans but we have to pay some too. Not quite sure of the details. What happens over there??
Rob: There's a small instrumental bit where he does a little dance with his elbows.
Awwwwwwww.
hair and Richard: I love Boris' hair very much and I feel like a bad person buuuut.. I don't like his politics. I don't like saying that because everybody seems to love Boris and David now. I'm quite anti-Conservatives.
The bikini ...
*thud*
Did you see the bunny at the piano thing?
He's so musical.
He played the guitar when I saw them and 'twas veery good.
PAUL MERTON SIGNED BOOK?
Photo please.
:D
I'm so happy for you!!
I googled the name scrawled on the bottom of a picture my dad was going to throw out
aaand
apparently 'R.Percy' is a bit famous.
O' course the picture is in bad condition but we might be able to get it restored for 1k and his pictures go for about 5!!!
Dad say's it'll go to my uni fund
WOAH!
:D
Have a great time reading your books.
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JAM: I know. She's very sweet. Did you hear the interview she did with Clive Anderson the other day? They were so cute, teasing each other. One of the things I loved the other time was when she got 'catlovers' as a subject and you could tell she was sooooo excited to get it and was so pissed when she lost it again. Hilarious. I did hear him say that - I nearly spat out the water I was drinking. I love it lately that he'll change into some random voice like really educated or loud or whatever and just go on and on. It's hilarious - like when he was going to be king and was rallying everyone. Hee. I have practically every episode he's been on now and adore listening to them as i go to bed (I rotate those, ISIHAC and Masterson Inheritance, actually...)
Church: Practically 90% of my mates do! I've been aty the same church all my life and that's where my group of friends has always existed cos some of them were at my school as well (I went to the local Christian school where my dad teaches). I'm the other, evil, mean side though - Protestant. Dum, dum, dum. I totally agree - I really admire them but I can't fully agree and I hate that. Sometimes I get extremely irritated because a lot of the time people seem to (or choose to) see only the negative aspects of the 'church', usually the authority figures who are 'out there' in the public eye who give christianity a bad press. Lots of the leaders say stupid things sometime (maybe cos they're human... Hmmm, funny that) and they're the bits that always get picked up on. Or a minority view that the average churchgoer/christian/whatever wouldn't agree with.
Uni/Family Stuff: Hope it'll work out. A mate of mine who is a financial planner just lost his job this week too - he'd thought he was pretty safe as well. His wife's at uni and doesn't have a job either so hopefully something will turn up. I hate this economical crisis thing. Oh, do become a famous writer. That would be super! I'll buy your books. :D Even if you could explain it I wouldn't understand. I completely lack any awareness of how computers and technology work. Really, I'm hopeless. I just want it to work when I want it to!!!
Well, I didn't have to pay anything upfront. As far as i can work out, youn can choose whether to pay upfront or get what's known as HECS, which I think basically works so as when you get a job that has a high enough income you pay back the money that was loaned you for uni + a bit of interest on it. It's helpful - not ideal, but helpful.
Hair/Richard: He does have awesome hair. Hee. Pfft. You should never feel bad just because you don't agree with someone's politics. I reckon it's awesome that you would even know anything about politics - the amount my friends know is abysmal (honestly, I don't think most of them would even know who Gordon Brown was...) I don't know enough about any of the main parties over there (seeing as they get basically no media coverage here and the rest I get is practically from the News Quiz and HIGNFY! :) ) so I don't know much. Usually, I find though, that I agree with bits and pieces of various policies and hardly ever can totally align myself with an entire political view that one party has. Who do you support then, if you don't mind me asking?
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Oh yes. *beams* I was so stoked when I saw it. The seller hadn't mentioned it and I just opened it and whoah!!! Yay. I'll post a pic when my computer decides to co-operate. In the mean time, I gather you haven't read the book? If not, two of my favourite bits for you:
Firstly, from the introduction:
Unfortunately there has not been space in this book to include absolutely everything I’ve uncovered. I have, for example, skirted around the great brown suit scandal of the early ‘90s, although I do feel that people should be made aware of the phenomenon in order to stop the horror of brown suits ever happening again.
…
In writing this book I have used mainly English words and more often than not I have used them in a sensible consecutive order.
…
In choosing photographs I have generally used the side with the picture on it because this is usually more interesting than the other side which is blank. Any empty spaces you come across in the book, however, will undoubtedly be fascinating photographs that have been printed the wrong way round.
Secondly, see if you can recognise some of the cleverly disguised names in this section:
Within a few hours of being charged Oswald was gunned down by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. Ruby himself was killed two weeks later by an unemployed blacksmith called Jim Sweeney, who was in turn murdered the following day by a part-time female impressionist called Mary Kinnie. Three days later, Kinnie was fatally killed by a drunk driver identified by the police as Alice Vranch. Vranch was released on bail only to be crushed to death by a falling ostrich deliberately dropped from a 14th storey window by a drunken construction worker called Joe Lawrence. Lawrence then tripped over a rope and fell to his death. He landed on the ostrich which still had a tiny bit of biscuit stuck in its throat from a previous meal. The biscuit shot out of the ostrich’s mouth and struck a passer-by in the heart, instantly killing him. The passer-by, a Mr Cranston Mullarky, fell into the path of a luxury coach, owned by Simpson Tours, which ploughed into an orphanage killing everybody on board. This series of deaths further convinced sceptics that some kind of cover-up was going on.
R.Percy - Ooh. Who is he then? Hope you get some cash for it - that would be brilliant for you all! :) *crosses fingers, toes and other crossable body parts* Here's hoping for you.
My books are luverly. I got 32 all up for $80 which is probably about £36 I think. I found a Spitting Image book (sort of an annual thing) from 1985 there!!! Pretty funny. At the beginning is a tiny caricature of the people who put it together and Ian is mentioned: it says "Ian Hislop, 12. Writer. Deputy Editor of Private Eye. Very nice fellow. Hallo, Ian mate, have some more money. Great scripts, mate. Crawl fawn cringe." There's one for John Lloyd too (I presume you know who he is...): "John Lloyd, 103. He has since retired to the BBC where he was born, and now whiles away the autumn of his years pruning his beloved old peak-time sitcoms." Got another one too: 'British Comedy Greats.' It's in brilliant condition and looks like it would normally be pretty pricey but (in your terms) was probably about 2 pounds. Has a massive pic of Ian/Paul/Angus and a description of the show but mainly talks about the Angus!controversy in the HIGNFY section. I also got a fair few Spike Milligan ones, 2 Python books, one by Barry Cryer, 3 Stephen Fry novels, 3 PG Wodehouses (which is great, because they’re near impossible to find over here) and a bunch of classics.
Oh, yeah, by the way: quick question. I can hire DVDs from my local library and was looking through them for something new and came across a few series of One Foot In The Grave. Now, I’ve heard of it obviously but never seen it (though I remember seeing Richard Wilson on a couple of HIGNFY eps). Was wondering whether it’s worth borrowing or not and figured chances were you’d have a better idea of what it’s like than I do! So, is it any good?
xoxo
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D:
Had my art exam spread out over this week.
Also my brother's come home from uni for easter and reclaimed his computer so I won't be on this very much for a while.
Sorry for the maga-long wait.
xD
JAM: No no I have not heard this interview. I sounds the sweetest!
Oh Paul Merton's rants.. I can just go onnn and onnn burbling out anything. He's so clever. Everything is fantastically funny and it's just from the top of his head. You'd never get bored being mates with him eh?
I really like it when he makes a joke and keeps going back to it during shws.
:D
Church: Is it nice having friends there? I'm not sure if I'd like it so much. I always look a complete tramp on a Sunday morning. It's nice to know nobody really minds. Protestant eh?? Oooh were were looking at protestants in R.E [Religious Education]. Miss says you were protesting against the corrupt, money-grabbing bishops. Sounds a good reasong for breaking away... What do we do different to each other? I'm not very good at understanding who does what and why. :D
I think our school is a bit silly. We didn't do anything for read nose day 'cause some of the money buys condoms.
What was it like having your dad at your school?
Uni/Family Stuff: Hope everything goes okay for you friend! Maybe you could will your computer to work?
Or find a spell.. *searches for Haryy Potter book*...
Repearo?
Hair/Richard: None of my friends have heard of Boris and he's the Mayor of fricken' London! I'm sure you know a hell of a lot more about the politics in my country than I know about yous. As far as I can figure out.. you had a horrible man called John Howard and the person at the moment, Kevin Rudd, is meant to be better. That right?
I don't know who I support really...
Vince Cable is great and he's the Liberal Democrat economics minister I think. He's the only one who actually predicted the credit crunch and seems to know what to do now. The thing is though the Lib Dems will never get in. I don't think they're corrupt enough to be honest and they do have silly ideas sometimes.
If I was old enough to vote I'd vote Labor. Voting Lib Dem would throw my vote away and I think Labor are the lesser of two evils. I guess it looks like Labor are utterly crap ....but they have done some good stuff. They're really improving education. If the Tory lot get in that money will stop, they've pretty much made that clear. We're still recoverining from the dreaded Thatcher[may she get hit by a bus].
I could rant on forever but I'll stop now.
I'm sure you get the picture.
oh second part later
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JAM: When I get a chance, I could post some of the interviews I'm gotten my hands on. I've got Josie's one with Clive and two that Paul did (mainly about his Silent Clowns tour). If you'd like, of course. I just find that impro stuff he does amazing on it - he says that it just comes out and you have no idea where it'll end up. And it's nearly always super funny or intelligent (I just get the biggest kick when he uses really complicated words or becomes all authoritative and scholarly about old silent films and other movies...) Yeah, some people seem daft when they go back to jokes/comments made earlier but he ties them in very cleverly, twisting them. It's great.
Church: Dunno. I mean, I don't know any different. They're really the only people I've really known my age all my life. I find it fairly difficult to make friends in real life because I'm very shy and hardly ever have things in common with anyone here my age. They're nice people, though, and if it weren't for them I wouldn't know who to hang with. People judging for what people to wear is just utterly ridiculous - my grandfather used to do that and it made me cross. He's one of those resistant to change. *nods* Yep, Presbyterian to boot! Do you have to do RE at your school then? I did it in my last two years of school (I chose to) and it was pretty interesting though we mainly looked at Islam and Buddhism. I find it all rather fascinating, actually. Yeah, she's sort of right. That's one of the reasons. Basically, it was a bunch of things: the money grabbing thing (mostly to do with people paying the church to pray for dead relatives to get to heaven/spend less time in purgatory and so forth). Also, the actual theology was proving a problem. My church is pretty big on history teaching and we've had the Reformation drilled into our brains. Martin Luther who was a monk realised that what the church was teaching wasn't exactly what the Bible said in regards to lots of things but mainly the ideas of what he called 'sola fidelis' or 'faith alone'. That is, the Catholic church was teaching firstly, that faith in God alone couldn't save you, that works came into it as well. Other guys like John Calvin in Switzerland and John Knox in Scotland were also realising some problems and they started the whole thing off. Sorry for the rambling and probably somewhat inaccurate history lesson.
Hmm. Some differences. Well, firstly, the way the church is run. We don't have a Pope! :D I guess the church structure is a lot less (in our church anyway and not in a lot of traditional High Anglican/Church of England) hierachical. The leaders are elected more democratically generally and all the power isn't centred on one main figure. Presybterian churches for example run with a bunch of elders - teaching (the minister) and ruling (the others who also can preach and make executive decisions and so forth) and a group of deacons (the guys who run finances, help people out etc). We elect them all and agree that they represent us, as it were. We vote on all major decisions though. Another major difference - we don't have confession and a lot of the outward symbolic ritual stuff doesn't go on. There's no fancy dress of any sort, no incense, no alters etc. We also have less sacraments - just Communion (Lord's Supper) and Baptism. Theologically, there's also a fair few differences. We don't pray to saints or anything like that, don't exalt Mary as anything really special (besides acknowledging that God chose her to be Jesus' eathly mother), we don't believe in Purgatory and other things too that aren't coming to my mind right this minute! :D
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It was good having Dad at school. I know I sound an utter loser for saying so but I'm very proud of him. He's a fantastic teacher, all the students love him, he's got the right balance of being firm and having fun. He's able to communicate brilliantly and has the best sense of humour. I really liked having him there, if truth be told. :)
Uni: I took the laptop to the repair guy and he reckons there's nothing wrong with it; it was working for him fine! It refuses to stay on for me than half an hour for me still. WTF??? Grr. Hee. Do you like HP then?
Hair: Seriously? I can understand my friends not knowing who Boris is but yours? Hmm. Actually, my Mum's pretty bad. She doesn't know who our opposition leader is and didn't know the Mayor of Sydney. :D Basically the same, exept she can't use youth as an excuse for ignorance. Your country is a lot bigger and more important on a world scale than mine though! You're actually very good. I'm totally impressed you've heard of either of them. Hee. And you're pretty much right.
That's understandable, not knowing who you support. Got a few years til you can vote anyway, hey? Next election I'll have to seeing as it's complusory over here to vote. No, from what I can figure the poor Lib Debs are forever doomed to be third. We used to have that problem with what we call the National Party (we have the Liberals - John Howard was their leader a while back - and Labor - Kevin Rudd) but they, for national elections join with the Liberals and the leader of the National Party becomes the Deputy PM. No, I understand. The majority of govs do some good stuff. It just so happens the crap stuff they do gets more attention in the press. Only hit by a bus for Thatcher? That's rather generous I must say. There's plenty more torturous ways to go than that if you use your imagination. :D
Oh goodness. I have been rambling. So sorry!
Catch you later on
xoxo
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That's why this has taken such a long time.
xD
Art was ... bad.
I painted a man,
or rather I failed at painting a man.
I'll upload the pic for you.
:3
Oh those interviews do sound good!
Paul was on the Paul O'Grady Show t'other day.
He was very funny and talking about doing a Paul Merton in Europe. Apparently he will go to Ireland. Maybe that will be when I go in the summer *crosses fingers*
Church: thanks for the lesson it was helpful. I am a complete dunce for all matters historical. Despite my choosing history for GCSE. :D
It is nice that your friends share your faith.
I often find thinking of my religion and my everyday life as separate things which can't be good.
Everything seems more sensible the way you do it.. with the leaders an' all. I think I like having confession because it makes me feel forgiven, more than I would do if I'd just said sorry in my head.
PURGATORY
Don't get me started.
Of all the stupid things to believe about the
afterlife. I'll allow it's a little better than the awaiting 5000 virgins. Still..
That is one of the parts of my faith I despise with a vengeance.
along with the condom thing.
I don't agree with sleeping around loads
but condoms are needed.
It is very sweet of you to feel that way about having your dad in school. He sounds like a great teacher. How fantastic would it have been to be one of those kids stephen taught in the year before he went to uni? Sadly o'course one would have to be male... and a teen at a time without hignfy.
*ponders*
I do like Harry Potter
:D
Mainly I like snape because of Alan Rickman
being so very indescribably, to one lacking in the correct superlatives, Alan-like.
Now I seem to have drifted away from putting things under headings. I'd better make a heading quick!
Politics: Aw bless your mum! :]
Is our country more important?
I guess us and America are responsible for the credit crunch?
Sorry about that.
I thought I only believed we were important
because I live here.
If I was in Australia I'd pictured myself knowing nothing about the English goings on.
Are there any Australian HIGNFYs?
Wow!
Our Lib Dems are so different to the Tory lot.
I can't imagine them coming together in a million years.
Gordon was on the radio earlier.
He really seems to be trying hard to make things better for poor people.
Being hit by a bus is only the beginning.
There are many things that may happen to her squished remains, that is if she doesn't turn to dust.
Please ramble on.
I find your rambles such fun to read.
:D
Here, while I remember is the top half of my art picture.
It is entitled:
'Blue man with no face and clockwork in his chest'
or
'The epic art exam fail'
hope the link works.. tell me if not.
http://pics.livejournal.com/quaint_idea/pic/00008bby
I must admit to feeling slight pride at his left elbow. I was all for scaling it down so that particular part was all that remained. My teacher was lost to the genius of such a suggestion
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After re-reading my last comment
I am shocked at the silly mistakes in sentences. Sorry.
I should really correct them but I think I'll go to sleep instead.
Very tired
:D
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Art - it's not terrible. I see what you mean, but really, I'd be happy if I could draw/paint anything. All I can do are little doodles and cartoons. I like that arm. How much was that exam worth then? Ha. Very original name!
Interviews: They were good. I'll upload them for you in a week or two if you want. I'm waiting for the Paul O'Grady one to download at the moment. That would be cool if you saw him there, eh? You've got more chance than me! :D
Church: No problem. Just hoping I didn't stuff it up too much! I'm a bit of a history geek so... Besides, that kind of thing has been drummed into me since I was very young. Church history came up a lot. What kind of history do you like? Ancient? Modern? I did both types for my last years of school and they were fab. it's not great but I do exactly the same thing! It's just that the non-religion part of my life probably doesn't take up as much time as others because everyone I know is practically religious.
I think it does make more sense, even biblically, but I'm not going to trash the Catholics - a lot of it has just built up over the years as part of tradition. I get how confession would be like that but it just seems so foreign to me. I see the appeal though. Sometimes, you feel better confiding to someone about things you've done wrong. I guess, the guilt could get to you.
Purgatory - yeah, sorry, that's just crap! I don't even get where that teaching even came from. I mean, really. That and the whole Christ is quite literally in the bread/wine in the Eucharist/Lords Supper/Communion are sooooo strange. No, I reckon the Catholics have gotten it wrong with that. I mean, I don't think condoning condoms and safe sex is necessarily condoning people sleeping around. Really. It just takes a leap you don't need to take.
He is a great teacher. The other day one of the students came and told me how much he appreciated Dad as a teacher and I was full beaming. Dad is really awesome at that. He actually worked in mechanical engineering (at a place called BHP) for about 20 years before he did teaching. Being taught by Stephen? *sighs* That would be bliss. Hee. They are important considerations to have before deciding. I mean, we do have a choice. Hee.
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Politics: Mum is so ditsy sometimes. Yeah, looking objectively at it, your country is definitely more important on the world scale. It's been weird because we've always been so closely aligned with England/USA and that but the geographical distance means that it doesn't really work. There's been a big push lately for a closer relationship with the Asian/Pacific countries round us. I don't know who's responsible? It's just a load of messy crap right now and probably our government wasn't any better than yours and Americas. No, I mean, you're not exactly at the top of your powers as an EMPIRE!!! but you're still important. Both our countries go the extremes - yeah,. we're fab and the world revolves around us or, now more commonly, we're lost it and everyone is more important than us now. It's happening less and less but Australia is fairly aware of English stuff (especially comedy) than a lot of other places, I think, mainly because that's our heritage, that's where we came from so it's had an influence on us. We get that humour. Politically, I don't think we know much but that's understandable - apart from the US not a lot of people these days know much about other country's politics, it seems. There is a version of HIGNFY sort of. It's called Good News Week, started in the 90s, got cancelled and made a comeback. However, it's much closer in content and style to Mock the Week. It's okay but not fantastic, I must say. And the host is soooooooo annoying. I'll stick with the original, cos it's the best! :D
Politics Again: Yeah - our parties, even the ones with the same names as yours, are not the same. That's for sure. The Liberals (as you wouldn't think by the name!) are the most conservative of the lot! :) I hope he goes okay. Even if he's an idiot sometimes, you can't really want the PM to screw everything up since it impacts on so many people. They're not all bad people.
Maggie: Hee! I think they'd be multitudes of people lining up to inflict their punishment on her, hey? I don't blame them.
Glad you like my rambles. I'm ridiculous. I like writing. It's nice to talk to someone.
xoxo
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