Disappointing films

Warning: spoilers below

Last week I watched two films: The Illusionist and Kick-Ass.  Both were disappointingly...well, disappointing.

The Illusionist looked good - a bit like The Prestige, but with Edward Norton and Jessica Biel.  It started well and kept me interested.  The problem was that it  just didn't work.
Basic plot: Magician (Norton) and princess (Biel) fall in love, but she is betrothed to the prince.  They fake her murder (by the prince), then the magician puts on lots of shows before running away with the princess.
This doesn't work for three reasons:

1. After faking the murder, the magician hangs around for literally years, for no reason other than to put on shows that involve seemingly conjuring dead spirits.  Why didn't he just run off with her straight away?  No explanation given.
2. Some of the magician's tricks are explained.  Fair play.  But the conjuring spirits thing, which is the main trick in the film, is not explained at all.  Frustrating.
3. Throughout the film we are lead to believe that the princess is dead.  The fact that she isn't is revealed in the final scene as the chief of police pieces together the evidence.  However, he didn't actually discover any of this evidence himself, it just 'appears' in his mind in the last scene.  Completely unconvincing.

Kick-ass was a film I wasn't sure about but I was told it was very entertaining.  Basic plot: teenager decides to try to become a superhero, discovers other people are doing a similar thing, and gets mixed up in battling a gang.

The main problem I had with kick-ass is that it didn't seem to know what genre it was trying to be.  There were elements of superhero, epic action a la Matrix, comedy, romance, spoof, high-school movie.  But none of these held any water because there were so many other things going on.  The only styles that could have really worked were comedy and spoof.  The problem is, it just wasn't that funny.

The frustrating thing about all this is that both films had potential to be decent films.  Both failed to fulfil.  Disappointing.  Does anyone agree with me about these two films?  Or did anyone come to a different conclusion about them?

Injury

Fact 1: I like sport, a lot.  I like watching it and playing it.  This year, I was hoping to do 6 sports regularly.

Fact 2: I have chronic tendonitis in my left knee.  I've had it for about 10-12 years but it's got a lot worse in the last 12 months or so.

Fact 1 + Fact 2 = Decision 3: I went to see a physio, who recommended reducing activity and gave me stretches and exercises to do.

Decision 3 = consequences 4: I am only doing 3 sports, having dropped running, cycling and breakdancing; and 5: I am doing half an hour of stretches and exercises a day.

Fact 6: Consequences 4 and 5 do not seem to be helping, my knee is getting no better.

Fact 6 leads to possibility 7: I need to further reduce sport, to allow my knee to heal more effectively.

Possibility 7 leads to implication 8: I may stop playing football and volleyball, and just play frisbee, until my knee is better.

Implication 8 causes likelihood 9: I will get bored and frustrated.  I am already bored and frustrated at having to drop running, cycling and breakdancing.  I will not be pleasant to be around if I have to drop football and volleyball too.

Likelihood 9 results in requests 10: if you pray, please pray for my knee; and 11: if you have any practical suggestions, either about how to help my knee or about how to deal with lack of sport in my life, please let me know.

The Sunshine Underground

This is a band I recently discovered after hearing one of their songs on Spotify at a friends house. Apart from having a really cool name, they also make quite good music.

To be perfectly blunt, I don't really know how to describe them. Indie-rocky-dancy-techno-ish I guess. Somewhere between the Klaxons and Franz Ferdinand maybe? They're not superb, I'm not going to rave about them as if they were about to become one of my favourite bands ever, but they are definitely worth a listen. They're a lot of fun. Spotify them. The best tracks are: Wake Up, Borders, Panic Attack, Spell it out, Change your mind, Here it comes, One by one, The Messiah.

Unique feelings and GCUFC

You know there are some things that cause unique feelings, that aren't replicated anywhere else?
Some of mine are:
Boxing day
The smell of Hebron Hall
Seeing teenagers worship
The final scene of LOTR
A new season for Grey College Ultimate Frisbee Club

The last one has happened recently.  I'm now in my 8th season playing for GCUFC.  The uni team asked me to join, there were several opportunities to leave, but, although I want to be as good at frisbee as I can, I want to do that with GCUFC.  And I love it at the start of the season when we start playing again after the summer and when freshers turn up to learn how to play.  I love teaching new players and watching them learn and improve.

Happiness by Hurts - album review

I discovered this band when I saw my sister and brother talking about them on Facebook. The usual research on Spotify followed, and then a purchase from Amazon.

I'll be the first to admit that Hurts are not my usual sort of band. As my sister commented, they are a bit poppy for my usual tastes. I'm not sure why I took to them really. Some of it (mainly Blood, Tears and Gold, but also Stay) is definitely a bit poppy for me, but most of it I really enjoy. I guess it's just a bit different. Elements of modern pop, but also some nice drum rhythms and cool synth work in there. It doesn't sound like much else.

Interestingly, the second half of the album is definitely stronger than the first. Illuminated and Evelyn are haunting, Better than love so 80s it's amazing, Devotion is on my soundtrack of 2010, to be publicised in a couple of months, and Unspoken and The Water are just gorgeous. Whereas the only standout track from the first half is Sunday.

If you'd like to listen to something a bit different, give Hurts a try. Don't be put off if you don't like some of it, I reckon there's enough good songs in there to make it worth your while and your money, and there are two or three absolute gems.

There are far better reviews than this on the internet - NME's is the best but the link broke just as I was trying to insert it here.  Sorry about that.

3-track sequences

While listening to Bloc Party's 'A weekend in the city' yesterday, I was reminded of how brilliant the three track sequence from tracks 8 to 10 is. The led me to ponder other three track sequences that I adore.

I decided to browse my music collection and note down such sequences. I expected to find maybe 20 or so. I found 88. 88! Insane! Many of those consisted of more than 3 tracks, some even hit double figures, several accounted for entire albums or almost entire albums. And this is not counting the many superb songs I know that just don't happen to occur as part of such sequences on their albums.

I am once again amazed at (a) how much awesome music I own, (b) how lucky I am to own it, and (c) what a huge effect music has on me.

If anyone is interested, the sequences are below. Apologies for the lack of consistency in capitalisation.

Anberlin – Cities – Godspeed/Adelaide/A whisper and a clamour

Anberlin – Cities – Inevitable/Dismantle.Repair/Fin

Anberlin – New Surrender – Breaking/Blame Me! Blame Me!/Retrace

Ash – Free All Angels – Walking Barefoot/Shining Light/Burn Baby Burn

Athlete – Beyond the Neighbourhood – Airport Disco/It's not your fault/The Outsiders/Flying over bus stops/Second Hand Stores

Athlete – Black Swan – Superhuman Touch/The Getaway/Black Swan Song

Athlete – Tourist – Wires/If I found out/Yesterday Threw Everything At Me

Bloc Party – Silent Alarm – This Modern Love/Pioneers/The Price of Gas

Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City – Song for Clay/Hunting for Witches/Waiting for the7.18/The Prayer/Uniform

Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City – Kreuzberg/I Still remember/Sunday

Bluetree – Greater Things – Life's Noise/Burn Me Up/For You

British Sea Power – The Decline of British Sea Power – Fear of Drowning/The Lonely/Carrion/Blackout/Lately/A Wooden Horse

British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music? - Lights out for darker skies/No Lucifer/Waving Flags

Casting Crowns – Lifesong – Praise You in this Storm/Does anybody hear her?/Stained glass Masquerade

Coldplay – A rush of blood to the head – In my place/God put a smile on your face/The Scientist/Clocks

DCTalk – Jesus Freak – Coloured People/Jesus Freak/What if I Stumble?

DCTalk – Jesus Freak – In the light/What have we become?/Mind's eye

Delirious – Glo – God you are my God/Glo in the dark part 1/God's Romance/Investigate/Glo in the dark part 2/What would I have done?/My Glorious/Everything

Delirious – King of Fools – Sanctify/Deeper/Revival Town

Delirious – King of Fools – White Ribbon Day/King of Fools/History Maker

Delirious – Kingdom of Comfort – God is Smiling/Give What You've Got/Love will find a way

Delirious – Mezzamorphis – The Mezzanine Floor/Heaven/Follow/Bliss

Delirious – The Mission Bell – Miracle Maker/Here I am Send Me/Fires Burn/Our God Reigns

Delirious – World Service – Rain Down/God in Heaven/Majesty/Inside Outside

Easyworld – This is where I stand – Try not to think/100 weight/Junkies and Whores/This is where I stand/A stain to never fade/Demons

Editors – The Back Room – Lights/Munich/Blood

Editors – An End has a Start – Smokers outside the hospital doors/An end has a start/The weight of the world/Bones

Enya – A day without rain – A day without rain/Wild Child/Only Time

Evanescence – Fallen – Going Under/Bring me to life/Everybody's Fool/My Immortal

Feeder – Comfort in Sound – Just the way I'm feeling/Come back around/Helium/Child in you/Comfort in Sound

Feeder – Pushing the Senses – Feeling a Moment/Bitter Glass/Tumble and Fall

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out/The dark of the matinee/Auf Achse

Heat – Can I See Heaven – One Sacrifice/Can I see heaven/In love with God/To love you more/Arms of love/Arise and Shine/Can I see heaven part 2

Idlewild – 100 Broken Windows – Little Discourage/I don't have the map/These wooden ideas/Roseability/Idea Track/Let me sleep

Idlewild – Make another world – You and I are both away/Ghost in the Arcade/Once in your life/Finished it remains

Idlewild – The Remote Part – You held the world/A modern way of letting go/American English

Idlewild – The Remote Part – Tell me ten words/Stay the same/Scottish Fiction

Idlewild – Warnings/Promises – El Capitan/Blame it on the obvious ways/Disconnected/Goodnight

Kato – Welcome to my world – Natural High/Javaman/Heaven Help

Killers – Hot Fuss – Jenny was a friend of mine/Mr Brightside/Smile like you mean it/Somebody told me/All these things that I've done

Killers – Sam's Town – Sam's Town/Enterlude/When you were young/Bling/For reasons unknown/Read my mind/Uncle Jonny/Bones

Lifehouse – No Name Face – Hanging by a moment/Sick cycle carousel/Unknown

Lifehouse – No Name Face – Only One/Simon/Breathing/Quasimodo/Somewhere in between/Everything

Lifehouse – Smoke and Mirrors – Halfway Gone/It is what it is/From where you are

Live – Birds of Pray – Heaven/She/The sanctity of dreams/Run Away

Matt Redman – Facedown – Facedown/Breathing the breath/Mission's Flame

Matt Redman – The Friendship and the Fear – There is a louder shout to come/Believer/Bowing Down/Deep calls to deep

Matt Redman – The Friendship and the Fear - Knocking on the door of heaven/Once again/Can I ascend/Can we walk upon the water/The way of the cross/I need to get the fire back/The yoke is easy/The friendship and the fear/In the waiting

Matt Redman – Intimacy – The heart of worship/Now to live the life/For the cross

Matt Redman – Passion for your name – It's rising up/The cross has said it all/I will offer up my life

Matt Redman – We shall not be shaken – We shall not be shaken/Through it all/You alone can rescue

Matt Redman – Where Angels Fear to Tread – Blessed Be/Befriended/When my heart runs dry

Mew – And the glass handed kites – Circuitry of the wolf/Chinaberry tree/Why are you looking grave/Fox cub/Apocalypso/Special/The zookeeper's boy

Mew – Frengers – Am I wry? No/156/Snow Brigade/Symmetry/Behind the drapes/Her voice is beyond her years/Eight flew over, one was destroyed/She came home for Christmas/Shespider/Comforting sounds

Muse – Absolution – Apocalypse Please/Time is running out/Sing for absolution/Stockholm Syndrome

Muse – Absolution – Butterflies and Hurricanes/The Small Print/Endlessly/Thoughts of a dying atheist

Muse – Black Holes and Revelations – Take a bow/Starlight/Supermassive black hole/Map of the problematique

Muse – Origin of Symmetry – Plug in baby/Citizen Erased/Micro cuts

Muse – The resistance – Uprising/Resistance/Undisclosed desires/United states of Eurasia/Guiding Light/Unnatural selection

Oasis – Be Here Now – D'you know what I mean/My big mouth/Magic Pie/Stand by me

Oasis – (What's the story) Morning Glory – Hello/Roll with it/Wonderwall/Don't look back in anger

RHCP – By the way – Cabron/Tear/On Mercury

RHCP – Californication – Around the world/Parallel Universe/Scar Tissue/Otherside/Get on top/Californication/Easily

Sabio – Escape – Mother/Frozen/Carry me

Santiago – Dance – Fade/Ne Puritans/Pyrotechnophobes

Sigur Ros - () - Vaka/Frysta/Samskeyti

Sigur Ros – Takk – Takk/Glosoli/Hoppipolla/Meo Blodnasir/Se Lest/Saeglopur/Milano/Gong

Sixpence none the richer – Divine Discontent – Still Burning/Melody of you/Paralyzed

Stellastarr* - Harmonies for the haunted – Lost in Time/Damn this foolish heart/The diver/Sweet troubled soul/Born in a fleamarket/On my own

Stereophonics – Roll up and shine/The bartender and the thief/Hurry up and wait/pick a part that's new

Steve – Falling down – Zealous core/My ever my all/M/Fine/Falling down/Divine design/Smile/Hunger/Hey now/I am here

Strangeday – Blink and miss it – Lead me on/Fearfully, wonderfully/It'll be alright/Trust in you/Wonderful

Tait – Empty – Spy/Talk about Jesus/American Tragedy

Tait – Empty – Carried away/Empty/Unglued

Tim Hughes – Here I am to worship – Maker of all things/May the words of my mouth/Here I am to worship

Tim Hughes – When Silence Falls – Beautiful one/You/Consuming fire/Giver of life/Whole world in his hands

Tom and Olly – Tom and Olly – Little things/Daydreamer/Trouble/Let me tell you

Tom and Olly – Tom and Olly – Love at the disco/Sun is shingins/Dream of change/Paint a smile/Jamie/City stars/Falling

U2 – Achtung Baby – Zoo station/Even better than the real thing/One/Until the end of the world

U2 – All that you can't leave behind – Beautiful day/Stuck in a moment/Elevation/Walk On/Kite

U2 – All that you can't leave behind – New York/Grace/Ground beneath her feet

U2 – How to dismantle and atomic bomb – Vertigo/Miracle drug/Sometimes you can't make it on your own

U2 – How to dismantle and atomic bomb – City of blinding lights/All because of you/A man and a woman/Crumbs from your table

U2 – The Joshua Tree – Where the streets have no name/I still haven't found what I'm looking for/With or without you

U2 – Gloria/I fall down/I threw a brick through a window/Rejoice/Fire/Tomorrow

U2 – War – Sunday Bloody Sunday/Seconds/New year's day/Like a song

World wide message tribe – Techno intro/Reach for heaven/In my life/Alleluia

World wide message tribe – The cross/Life/O come all ye faithful

I wish kids were more confident

This week, I had PCC (PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education), Careers and Citizenship) with my form - yeah, that's why we call it PCC.  It really boring, except for the times you get to talk about sex drugs and rock'n'roll.
Anyway, at the start of the new year I decided to do a lesson about looking back on last years achievements and setting targets for the future.  At one point I got them all to write down, individually, 3 things they were good at.  They then showed the list to a friend, who was to add one more thing to it.  I then asked for some volunteers to tell everyone what was on their list.  No-one volunteered.
My form aren't particularly shy, and it was very unusual that no-one wanted to speak (though, in this circumstance, I wasn't surprised).  I asked then why no-one volunteered.  Various answers were 'it can come across as arrogant', 'people might disagree with you' and 'it's not very modest'
This frustrates me - that kids aren't confident enough to admit to others what they are good at, and that they worry about what people will think of them if they do.  I know it's important not to brag about one's attributes and skills, but I think it's important to be able to acknowledge and admit them.
It's partly the old 'British modesty' thing, and it's partly that people just aren't confident enough about themselves.
If I could change one thing about the world, I would raise everyone's self-esteem. 

The crux of deathbed regrets

A post from the master of graphs and Venn diagrams, Jessica Hagy.

http://thisisindexed.com/2010/09/the-crux-of-deathbed-regrets/

If you can get your head around it, it's a good point well made.

Twilight

I read the Twilight Saga this summer. I wanted to know what all the fuss is about. Now I've read them, I'm still not sure what all the fuss is about.

I guess they're easy to read, which helps with the whole popularity thing. There's kissing and fighting, so maybe something for everyone?

But generally, I found the series unfulfilling, disappointing and unconvincing, mainly for the following reasons.

1. 
   
   The classic vampire mythology (coffins, stakes etc.) is dismissed as (I quote) 'all myth', allowing Meyer to set up her new 'sexy vampire' mythology. This is convenient but flawed, because now I could write a book about vampires and dismiss classic vampires and Meyer's vampires as 'mythology' and write that real vampires are actually made of jelly and smell of lavender, and actually prefer a diet of lettuce and rubber. That Meyer shows such disrespect for the fantasy/horror genre mildly insults me, and I'm not even a particularly ardent fan of that genre. Compare with (inevitably) Rowling, who takes the original mythology of ghosts, werewolves, dragons, sphinxes etc, and applies it to her stories, while maintaining the integrity of the original myths.
2. 
   
   The story centres around the relationship between Bella and Edward, which is fine – it's basically a romance story. Not particularly my thing, but that's ok. But their relationship is portrayed as so perfect! When they're together, they never seriously argue, or if they do it's written in a very light-hearted way. Also, Bella's descriptions of Edward focus on his 'perfect, godlike body' and 'flawless, angelic face'. Only once that I can remember does she describe what she likes about his character, and that is only when someone directly asks her. This is all both vomit-inducing and unrealistic, and basically emotional pornography.
3. 
   
   The story, while easy to read, is mostly slow paced. For large sections, nothing actually happens. There's no pace or excitement, which is a bit of a problem for novels that try to mix the genres of romance and fantasy. Only for a few chapters part way through book 4 was I really gripped, and that was possibly because the focus was off the two rather boring lead characters and on Jacob, who is way more interesting but gets much less page time.
4. 
   
   Several times, questions were set up and kept me pondering, and then never actually answered. For example, the question of exactly why Bella smells so good to both Edward and James is set up in book one, as though it will be revealed later and will form a vital plot point or twist. In fact, it is never revealed. This is very disappointing. Again, contrast with Rowling, who sets things up in one book and reveals their importance 4, 5, 6 books later.
5. 
   
   Most of the story is written first person from Bella's point of view. A short section is from Jacob's POV – this is a really nice change but unfortunately comes across as gimmicky because it is the only other POV used and is relatively short. If the books had had several POVs, or if Jacob's POVs had been more like 40-50% of the series, it would have worked. Written as it is, it doesn't.
6. 
   
   There are so many deus ex machinas! For example, how the two alpha's discover they can communicate, how Nessie can communicate to Bella and not get stopped by Bella's shield, and, the massive one, how Jacob imprints on Nessie (disgustingly and unconvincingly convenient) – I thought Meyer was having a laugh and was about to say 'only kidding, that would be stupid!'
7. 
   
   By the fourth book, the series had become something of an X-men ripoff. Every other vampire has some sort of superpower (the origins of which are disappointingly not explained) and all the talk is of how to combine the powers to win the battle and how to take out the enemy vampires with key powers etc, etc. All very well but painfully unoriginal.
8. 
   
   There is no payoff at the end of the story, no climax. Everything is set up nicely for a big confrontation, and then they all say sorry and go home! No-one even dies (well, only one minor character who we've never actually met before and therefore have no attachment to). An incredibly weak ending.

Overall, a big disappointment. Ok, so I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, but I also wasn't expecting to be so continually disappointed and bored. It seemed as though some author somewhere had written some really good books, and I was reading some trashy fanfiction based on them.

Reviews such as 'Move over, Harry Potter' are at best laughable and at worst blasphemous, and I side with Stephen King, who said "the real difference between J.K. Rowling and Meyer is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can't write a darn.  She's not very good."

Lifehouse Intros

I have a friend called Joe. There are many reasons that I like Joe. One reason is that he doesn't get annoyed by my habit of creating lists and rankings of bands, songs, films, books, sports teams etc. A second reason is that he actively encourages me and does the same himself. It often gets silly – a couple of weeks ago we were debating the 'Five Greatest Lifehouse Intros'. After some cogitation, here is my ranking – not just 5, but 10 (I am so cool...).

1. Quasimodo
2. Take Me Away
3. Disarray
4. Blind
5. Smoke and Mirrors
6. Just Another Name
7. Spin
8. Anchor
9. Easier To Be
10. Unknown

Inception

Warning: Some spoilers below. If you haven't seen this film, don't read on. Watch it instead. At least twice. Here's the trailer, if you're interested.

Inception, directed my Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cillian Murphy and Ellen Page, is the story of Dom Cobb (DiCaprio), an 'extractor', who can enter people's dreams and extract information from their minds – kind of psychological espionage. Cobb and his team, including Aridane (Page), are hired to perform 'inception' – the opposite of extraction – the planting of an idea in a target's (Murphy) mind without detection.

It's basically a crime/action thriller, with some psychological stuff thrown in. There is plenty of action and suspense, but with a very complex plot that makes the heist in Ocean's Eleven look painfully obvious. Added to these are brilliantly conceived ideas about how dreams work and a very personal story following DiCaprio's character.

The film was well received by critics and the public (87% on Rotten Tomatoes). In my opinion, it is about 50 times as good as Avatar and an early contender for film of the decade. It is genuinely one of the best films I have ever seen. That's one reason I saw it 3 times at the cinema (an honour only otherwise given to the three Lord of the Rings films). The other reason is that there's so much in the film that second and third viewings were necessary – the second to completely get to grips with the plot and themes, and the third to look out for hints about a theory a friend and I had about the film.

I will now attempt to explain exactly why the film is so good.

1. The plot. The storyline is involved and gripping. It is complex but well-explained. It makes you concentrate but doesn't make concentration a chore. There is plenty of suspense, but it is genuine rather than forced and interspersed with humour.
2. The concept. The idea of sharing dreams and extracting and planting information is interesting but fairly unremarkable, but the way Nolan incorporates so many features of dreams (e.g. they seem real while you're dreaming, they seem to last a lot longer than the 5-minutes or so of real time that you dream for, you start in the middle of a dream and can't remember how you got there) is very clever and makes the concept convincing. Combined with the complexity of the plot, this makes you think a lot and gives plenty to talk about.
3. Ambiguity. The ending is ambiguous and open to interpretation, but not in intriguing rather than an annoying way. In fact, the whole film can be interpreted in various ways. This has given rise to multiple internet discussions and theories in a very similar way to The Matrix about 10 years ago. Again, this makes you think hard, which most people don't do enough.
4. Cobb's story. Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) has a very personal motivation for taking the job offered to him, and his story (and backstory) gives the film a very personal angle as well as the standard heist/action stuff, and also adds a lot of suspense and tension, shown in the interactions between some of the team.
5. Score. The music is by Hanz Zimmer, who I consider to be one of the top 3 composers in film. In many films the music is good but nothing to write home about, but Zimmer's score is excellent and really adds to the mood of the film.
6. Effects. One effect in particular – a hotel corridor with gravity that keeps changing direction, filmed in a revolving set. This produces one of the coolest fight scenes ever.

Seriously, make sure you see this film – you won't regret it.

Films of the decade

Having produced a series of 'Albums of the Decade' posts at the end of 2009, I thought I should also produce a 'Films of the Decade' list. I tried to do this, but couldn't get 10. I either got stuck on about 4, or, having included a few more, rapidly shot up to about 15. So instead of going for the best films of the noughties, I've picked out 10 films from that decade that, for various reasons, you should watch. This is not my top 10 (you'll notice an absence of Stardust, Shrek 2, The Prestige, Equilibrium and others that would have been contenders). Instead, it's just 10 films I recommend that you watch, if you haven't already. Films in alphabetical order. Links take you to trailers.

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Because it's some of the best writing and acting of the decade and because it's a superb portrayal of John Nash's life.

Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

Because it's jointly the most moving film I've ever seen (with Return of the King) and because its message is an important one.  Review here.

Gladiator (2000)

Because it's just awesome - acting, script, action, music...you name it.

The Lord Of The Rings (2001-2003)

Because it's the best damn film ever. Do not argue with me!

Memento (2000)

Because the storytelling style is so unique and because it will make you think hard, which is something you don't do enough.

Moulin Rouge (2001)

Because of it's unique wackyness and because it's actually a really good film too.

Shrek (2001)

Because it's the one of the cleverest films of the decade, and also very funny and moving.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Because it's almost the perfect action film, and because Christopher Nolan deserves to be on this list twice.

The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Because even though I'm not very into this sort of film, this one gripped me, and because the lead actors are superb.

Up (2009)

Because it represents so much about Pixar – excellent animation, the ability to make moving films about animated characters, and their strongest theme of unlikely friendships.

Playground games

I'm just wondering...what are your top five playground games?  I think mine are:
1. Bulldog
2. Forty-forty home
3. Build up tag
4. Off-ground tag
5. What's the time, Mr Wolf?

...and all the Kings men

About a year ago, I read a book called 'Why Men Hate Going To Church', by David Murrow. It was basically about why and how the church is geared more towards women than men. One thing the book discussed was the relative proportions of women and men attending church services.

I decided to find out what sort of 'gender gap' my own church, Kings Church Durham, has. Each Sunday service from September 2009 to July 2010 I counted the number of over-18 men and women at Kings. I decided on the over-18 cutoff because young children are generally brought to church by their parents, rather than of their own accord and, while teenagers tend to have more choice, I had to make a cutoff somewhere.

I counted numbers at each different type of Kings meeting – Morning Worship, Crux, Connecting with God, prayer evenings, evening services, evening guest services and the AGM. I used the numbers to produce a simple percentage – the percentage of the congregation that were male. I also calculated a 'minus team percentage' – the percentage if the 6 female and 10 male staff and interns are discounted, as they are required at the services as part of the job.

All this resulted in many Excel spreadsheets and graphs, but the most important are below:

The average totals for each service are interesting but not that unexpected. For reference, the most people at any service was on 11^th October, at 313 people. This was the first Sunday of the student year. The highest at Crux was 48, Connecting was 149 and prayer meeting was 52.

The male percentages are much more interesting. Here they are in table form:

Service type	Male %	Male % minus team
Morning Worship	43.26	41.5
Crux	61.32	60.48
Connecting	41.61	38.59
Evening (joint)	39.66	34.51
Evening Guest	42.59	40.41
Prayer meeting	49.87	42.19
AGM	55.56	51.72
Average over all services	43.9	41.31

So, overall, Kings has averaged 43.9% this academic year (41.31 excluding team). Morning worship is typical of this percentage. Connecting, joint evening services and evening guest services are slightly lower. Prayer meetings, the AGM and Crux get successively higher, up to 61.32% male at Crux (60.48 excluding team).

A few comments:

• 
  
  Surveys seem to show that male % in churches is generally below 40%, so Kings is doing better than average, but still well below 50%.
• 
  
  Possible explanations for the variations in services are: Connecting and similar services have lower percentages because they are more 'emotional', crux is higher because it is more 'academic', prayer meetings and AGM are higher showing a balanced (or even male dominated) 'core' in the church but a female dominated periphery or studentdom.
• 
  
  This survey does not examine male percentages within certain age groups.
• 
  
  This survey is purely attendance based, it does not look at involvement in cell groups and other church activities (though I would hazard a guess that the only church activities which are male dominated are setup and worship).
• 
  
  The December 2009 address list give a male % of 44.29%. The most up to date cell list gives 43.93%. These are consistent with average service attendance.
• 
  
  Not all services were counted. Sometimes I was either absent or not in a position to count.

The overall message?

1. 
   
   Kings, like almost every church, needs more men.
2. 
   
   There is something about Crux, prayer meetings and the AGM that attracts more men than women.

Hebron memories

Long time, no blog. It's been a busy few weeks with moving house, my housemate's wedding and the end of term. But here are the summer holidays. 6 weeks until school restarts.

At this time of the year, I would normally be in Dinas Powys in South Wales, a few miles outside Cardiff, leading a Scripture Union camp called Hebron. I've been to Hebron ten times, but 2009 was the final time we ran it. For various reasons, it was decided that Hebron would cease to run from 2010.

I heard this news in November 2009. It has taken me this long to write about it because I wanted to let the news sink in completely first. This has taken a while because of the deep impact Hebron has had on my life over the last decade.

I first went to Hebron in July 1999. I'd had a rough year at school (year 9), and did not enjoy my church at all. I was vaguely adolescent which just made me feel weird too, as it does to all teenagers.

I went to Hebron that year with 2 friends, Daniel and Tom. I won't try to describe what the camp was like, partly because I am nowhere near eloquent enough to do it justice, and partly because each Hebron year tends to fade into several others. But I remember a few things specifically, from that first year and the following two.

1. I met a whole bunch of people who were in the same situation as me – struggling at school, trying to hold together a faith, and just looking for some support or even just someone to say 'me too'. Rob, Kirsty, Jo and Paul are all people with whom I am no longer in touch, but they had a deep effect on my life over those three years.
2. My friends from camp, and also the leaders, loved me for who I was. This sounds cliched, but I hadn't reached the stage at school (an all-boys grammar school) where proper friendships had formed. At Hebron they did, and I was accepted for being me, not bullied into being someone else. The leaders in particular were inspirational in their love, service and respect for us.
3. I really connected with the worship times at Hebron. The worship at my home church was a complete turn off but at Hebron, like at Spring Harvest, I met with God in ways that I didn't elsewhere.

Hebron 99, 2000 and 2001 saved my faith, for the reasons above and for other reasons. It changed my life. I remember the 5-a-side football competition, the puppet workshops and performances (Heavenly Pie!), the BBQ on the lawn, round the table table tennis, going to see Shrek and The Phantom Menace at the cinema, visiting the Big Pit, Nexus, Rob climbing inside the pool table, buzz groups, wallball (the greatest game you've never played), Paul's hair, the shadow wall at Techniquest, breakfast talks, pitch and putt at Barry Park, Colin yelling 'Freedom!' and nearly giving us all a heart attack, Phil and Becky just sitting with me for about an hour on the last night of 2000, Matt's underwear theft, signing notebooks (in the days before MSN!), trying to sneak into the girls corridor, and last-night testimonies showing how it was my no means just me who owed their faith to that camp.

For the next seven years I returned to Hebron as a leader. I'd done a bit of youth work before, I was in love with Hebron, and I felt like I owed about 50 weeks of leadership and service to it. I knew leading would be different and tried not to draw comparisons with being a camper. But, me being me, I inevitably compared and the conclusion was clear. Being a leader was what it was all about for me. I was wired just right to be a leader on that camp. It was completely natural for me, and, while I've done youth work in lots of other contexts, I've never felt the same way about it as while I was at Hebron. Many of the most emotional times of my life have been when leading at Hebron. What made it so significant?

It was a chance to give back to the place, the people and the event that had changed my life. It was a chance to work with teenagers, who are far more interesting and exciting than adults. I worked on a team with some great friends like Becky, Dan, Dave and Ruth, Paul, Jenny, Amy, Matt and Phil. And worked under two of the most amazing Christian leaders I know, Colin and Margy, learning from them and being guided and encouraged by them. I could to use my gifts in preaching, organising and puppetry(!). I saw so many lives changed over those seven years. I saw people meet God for the first time, meet him in new ways, recommit their lives to him, discover his calling on their lives, grow in knowledge and giftings, and build such strong friendships with each other.

I remember blaring music on the minibuses, powerboating in Cardiff bay, the prayer tents, death swimming, shower pranks, washing up teams, the animal game on the sofas, running the bank, building towers of squash bottles, trying to learn the names of 65 teenagers on the first day, wandering round Cardiff city centre, sardines, football on the beach, piggy-backs in the sea, telling the doughnut story and explaining that God owns all your jeans, late night walks with other leaders, early morning prayer meetings, booking cinema tickets for 80 people, getting a turkey at tenpin bowling and beating Tom by a point, sleepovers in Rising Brook church, finding out that Dan lived with Aaron from Strangeday, Father Abraham, the prayer evening in 2007, sleeping in the tiniest room with Dan and Paul, the lying down game, fancy dress parties, Phil's 50^th birthday. Most of all I remember watching kids worship. This is still one of the things that is most guaranteed to make me cry – seeing teenagers worship. My favourite photo in the world is of one of the worship times at Hebron 2005.

Hebron had an unexplainable impact on my life. Colin and Margy were like parents to me when I was there, and I can't thank them enough for all the support and opportunities they gave me. I am still very sad that Hebron is over, but very grateful for the effect it has had on me.