November 2007

On the way to work yesterday say a handmade/handwritten sign on the side of the road for the next ‘Underpants on the Outside’ event. Apparently it’s a “comic book and sci-fi swap meet of anything that you would find in a comic store, this includes recent and back issue comics, sci-fi memorabilia, figurines & collectibles and more.”

I have no idea what it’s like but might head along on Saturday and have a look.

UNDERPANTS ON THE OUTSIDE!!!!!
DECEMBER 1ST, Grey Lynn Library Hall!!
474 Great North Road.
9.30am - 2.30pm.

Link to organiser’s MySpace page here.

I have a real soft spot for Dan Dare (along with the old black and white Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon TV programmes). When I was a boy I remember my Dad finding some old Eagle annuals from somewhere and introducing us to the Dan Dare he grew up with in the UK. And then later I followed, for a while, the rebooted Dan Dare in the early 2000AD.

Now the quintessential British hero is getting year another reboot in a seven issue series. Looks good, though I’ll wait for the trade paperback before buying it. It’ll be interesting to see how the values of the 21st century get worked into the 1950s landscape Dare exists within.

More details on the release here at DAN DARE #1 - NEWSARAMA (with some sample pages).

Official release information at Virgin Comics brings back DAN DARE: PILOT OF THE FUTURE with GARTH ENNIS « Virgin Comics Blog

Reviews of the first issue here at Sunday Slugfest - Dan Dare #1 (of 7) Review - Silver Bullet Comics.

One of the reviewers asks some good questions about these sorts of reboots:

1. Why don’t the revivals meet with greater commercial success? After all, they were huge successes when they first appeared.
2. Since they keep failing to become contemporary commercial successes, why do people keep bringing these characters out of mothballs?

Most of the revivals (thinking of Flash Gordon, Tarzan and Buck Rogers here) fall flat, even with reshaping to new cultural conditions, though some, like the rebooted Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica series seem to get it right. Something to think about.

Andii helpfully points to the UK Just Church site.

Just Church is a free programme for use by churches, Christian groups and ecumenical bodies. It’s designed to help you embed a concern for poverty and social justice issues in the life of your community.

It looks like it’s well supported by various church and para-church organisations. The course material can be downloaded free, though printed copies are available for a small fee (and there’s a DVD you can buy with additional material, such as video, to supplement the base course materials).

There’s also a (free) package for doing a Lenten series using the materials. Definitely worth checking out for a look.

We’re not on for a children’s talk at church for a while, but I’ve been trying to thrash out some ideas that work and some that didn’t in advance. I thought I’d jot them down here because, as Steve found out in Adelaide a while back (see e~mergent kiwi: stories of failure), it’s useful to hear of things that didn’t work out as well as those that did.

As always you can see all the posts in this category here.

Jesus as train conductor
A talk I did ages ago after seeing the guards on the train go around the carriage making obviously exhausted school kids give up their seats for fit and healthy adults. The children and I made a big train track at the front of the church using Lego Duplo trains. It’s been a while but I’m sure it included the value of children in the Kingdom of God, Jesus buying tickets for us to ride the train to God, the train stopping anywhere to let people on, and ‘I’m going to ride that glory train’ gospel choir music.

What didn’t work so well: The track took a long time to build (and hence took ‘too long’ for the slot given according to some ‘grown ups’), and I forgot to invite interested adults down to see the train. Several adults and older youth wanted to see the train too, but we had to pack it up. I now often stop and ask if anyone from the back seats wants to have look at what we’re doing down the front.

Hand puppets
It seemed like a good idea at the time to use a zebra hand puppet for the talk. Forgot to work out clearly what the point of the talk was first, and then use the puppet to augment that. I’m sure I had something to work with but it didn’t integrate well. Got the big ‘thumbs down’ from my family evaluation for that one.

House on the sand and the rock
Literally made sand castles and rock piles at front of church and then poured water on them. What happened to them? Also read the parable from “The Lion Storyteller Bible” (Bob Hartman) (which I think is quite good).

What didn’t work so well: The activity worked well. The story worked well. Together they took too long. I’d retell the parable while we did the activity next time. Also, using lots of sand and water up the front caused a few of the church managers to worry about the carpet.

Prayers in the darkness
Talked about Jesus being the light of the world, and also about the importance of prayer - both individually and corporately. Used the example of some small tealight candles. One on it’s own in a dark place makes a real difference, but a whole lot make a huge difference. On the whole it worked well, but…

It’s really hard to make our church dark so the effect of the tealights didn’t work so well as I thought it might. Also need another adult to keep an eye on the candles so they don’t get bumped or touched (I had them on a plank down on the floor). Using a gas match allowed the kids to light them safely though. (Also, the odd comment that we’re not Catholic so don’t need candles from adults who missed the point of the talk - sigh).

Who’s loved the most by God?
Kim did this and it worked really well. It was impromptu and the kids all came to the party. Kim had the four kids arrange themselves in different orders - age, height (not the same as age), ticklishness, love of a particular food (I think). And then she had them arrange themselves in the order of who was loved most by her. The kids all clumped together so she could hug them all the same. And so an analogy for God’s love.

Possible problems: If one of the kids is in a bad mood or is feeling like mucking around it might not work. Also they needed to be confident with their mother showing them affection in public. (I don’t think I could have pulled this one off, but Kim did).

Strength in numbers
Got adult ‘volunteer’ from the congregation and put them on a chair. Then wrapped a strong of wool around them and had them stand up. Then repeated it with a bit more wool and had them ‘break free’ again. Finally, wrapped the ‘victim’ in enough wool to immobilize him. Then dressed him in a funny hat, glasses and face paint. The point being that sometimes individuals need to work with others to achieve a task. It’s a pretty general talk, but I’ve adapted it several times to deal with particular things from Scripture that are up for discussion.

Downside: Don’t pick a ‘victim’ who can’t take a joke. Also don’t pick a claustrophobe.

The humanity of Jesus
Did this just after Christmas when my youngest (who was born just before Christmas) was only a few weeks old. Wanted to connect that that Jesus in the Christmas story (who we forget about after Dec 25 often) was incarnated as real flesh and blood. So we counted toes and fingers (and marvelled at their smallness), checked out the clothes and blankets, and talked about babies in general. Just trying to get beyond the Christmas card Jesus to the God who ‘became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.’

Downside: I didn’t check with Kim first about ‘borrowing’ fourth-born for the talk. Ouch!

That’s all for now.

A couple of useful web development and design articles I came across the other day.

A List Apart: Articles: Understanding Web Design by Jeffrey Zeldman (Nov 20, 2007)

Web design is the creation of digital environments that facilitate and encourage human activity; reflect or adapt to individual voices and content; and change gracefully over time while always retaining their identity.

Some good points about thinking about how web content is both similar to and different from other forms of content creation.

A List Apart: Articles: How to Size Text in CSS >by Richard Rutter (Nov 20, 2007) contains some useful reminders that all browsers do not render text the same, even if you’re being careful with the CSS.

Scott Prather, over at swords to plowshares: Major bio-medical breakthrough highlights the recent news of researchers developing techniques that look useful for creating stem cells for therapies from a non-embryonic source. (More details at: Researchers Turn Skin Cells Into Stem Cells — Vogel 2007 (1120): 1 — ScienceNOW).

Scott notes that Lutheran bioethicist, Ted Peters, thinks that even if the controversial nature of using embryonic material as a source of stem cells is eliminated by this process the public controversy won’t die down. Indeed, the discussions over what exactly defines personhood, and possibly the ’sacred’ nature of DNA will continue, I think.

This is the simply the case of different views of what being human and what nature is are played out in the public arena. For example,

It seems conceivable that the intensity of current controversies around genetically modified crops and foods arises in part from the fact that, in their regulation in the public domain, conflicting ontologies of the person are making themselves felt in the politics of everyday life.[1]

[1] Celia Deane-Drummond, Robin Grove-White, and Bronislaw Szerszynski, “Genetically Modified Theology: The Religious Dimensions of Public Concerns About Agricultural Biotechnology,” Studies in Christian Ethics 14, no. 2 (2001): 27.

Related links:

• Greenflame · Is our DNA Sacred?
• Greenflame · DNA, Stem Cells and Faith
• Hansen, Bart, and Paul Schotsmans. “Cloning: The Human as Created Co-Creator?” Ethical Perspectives 8, no. 2 (2001): 75-89. (Abstract)

The other week I borrowed a friend’s copy of “a genuinely educated ministry”: Three Studies on Theological Education in the Uniting Church of Australia by Andrew Dutney, principal of Parkin-Wesley College in Adelaide.

It’s a collection of Dutney’s three research projects submitted for a course at Flinders University designed for educational administrators and managers. As such, each section reads like an academic report (which may not be your cup of tea), but I found it quite accessible, though each report draws upon common material so sometimes I skimmed ahead.

Each project is oriented around a different question or subject:

Part 1. An historical study of the place of theological education in the inherited traditions of the Uniting Church in Australia

Which looked at tensions that can arise from different views of theological education within Reformed and Methodist traditions

Part 2. Theological education in the Uniting Church in Australia: historical trajectories and the future

Which, in part, looked at how different parts of the church viewed their roles in the shaping and control of theological education, as well as the impact of para-church educators

Part 3. Where do our ministers come from now?

The issues arising from candidates for ministry coming for training later in life, often with prior theological education, and often already established in lay ministry.

That’s only a brief summary of some of the points in the book, but if you’re interested in theological education and some of the issues it faces in this part of the world then it’s well worth the read.

Related links:

• New Books at Parkin-Wesley College
• A couple of Bible studies by Andrew Dutney at the recent Presbytery and Synod of SA meeting: Part 1 (mp3) and Part 2 (mp3).
• I can’t remember if I cited this in the thesis, but I definitely skimmed Dutney’s book “Playing God: Ethics and Faith” and found it interesting.

In what seems now like a lifetime ago, I took a fourth year computer science paper at the University of Canterbury in data encryption as part of the first year of my MSc studies. My memories of the course are a little blurry, though I do remember lots of math (yuck!) and bits of computer science history (yay!). It also included some of the hardest assignments I’ve ever done. I so enjoyed the history bits the best - I think best in terms of themes and events, not bit manipulations.

The history of data encryption (and codes and cyphers etc.) still intrigues me though, and not just that relating to digital computing. So I was interested to see this article - BBC NEWS | Technology | Colossus loses code-cracking race - about rebuilding the WWII Colossus computer, as well as simulating it in software, and recracking a message encoded on a Lorenz S42 machine.

You can find out more about the Colossus project and its history at AlanTuring.net - The Turing Archive for the History of Computing (co-directed by Professor of Philosophy, Jack Copeland, at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch). In particular, look under the section AlanTuring.net - Codebreaking Catalogue.

Some of the presentations at the creation care colloquium I mentioned back in May (See Greenflame · Environment Colloquium - TANSAA and A Rocha) have been written up and published in the November 2007 issue of Stimulus. A couple of the papers are available online.

Practical Ethics is a new blog that provides “reaction to the most recent ethical issues in the news, with a special focus on science related events” from a collection of people associated with the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. Given the presence of commentators from the Future of Humanity Institute, which has strong transhumanist leanings I’ll be interesting in knowing what’s considered ‘practical’ ethics.

I like databases, which means that when I see that there’s a new iTunes-style interface database, Bento, coming out for the Mac (by the same developers as FileMaker (Thanks, Matt)) I’ll sit up and pay attention. See Bento: Mac’s New Database App Is iTunes for Control Freaks:

It’s only available for Mac OS X 10.5, but there’s a preview (Alpha? Beta?) available at Meet Bento

I really, really hope it works well, though the reviewer at TidBITS Home Macs: FileMaker’s Bento: Undercooked and Slightly Fishy is less convinced.

Now, if someone could bolt a Leopard interface on top of MySQL and make it as easy to use as iTunes then that’d be cool.

Matt also notes in the comments that SQLite is lurking as part of Mac OS X 10.4 (see here).

An impressive piece of engineering. A single carbon-nanotube molecule that serves simultaneously as all the essential components of a radio — antenna, tunable band-pass filter, amplifier and demodulator. Wow!

See World’s First Nanoradio Could Lead to Subcellular Remote-Control Interfaces

A list of the top re-read books in the UK. I was surprised at how many of them I’ve re-read.

See booktrade.info - Book Trade Announcements - Oops…I Read It Again!

A really interesting segment on last weekend’s This Way Up on Radio New Zealand National looked at professional video gaming in South Korea and its public following.

You can listen to the audio here (MP3) or here (WMA).

The best way is probably through the podcast feed here though.

Received my first email a couple of days ago denouncing the upcoming screen adaptation of Philip Pullman’s novel, ‘The Golden Compass‘ (or ‘Northern Lights‘ if you’re not in the US) as having the clear objective “to bash Christianity and promote atheism”. I’m surprised that it took this long for such an email to arrive, given that the movie and books press a range of ‘conservative Christian’ buttons - fantasy, magic, critique of religious authority and religion in general, and a challenge to the Narnia stories.

Darren has posted the copy of the email he got at planet telex » The Golden Compass (and the Catholic League) and it appears to be cribbed from a longer post available here (which contains that classic ‘folk theology’ argument, “I heard that…”)

However, because it’s perceived as a children’s movie, and perhaps not as heavily marketed as ‘The Da Vinci Code’, maybe it won’t generate all that much heat.(?)

Now, I’ve read the three books in the ‘His Dark Materials’ series (’Northern Lights’, ‘The Subtle Knife’, and ‘The Amber Spyglass’), and thought they read well. However, I was prepared to take them as they come, to have my imagination stimulated, to engage with his critique of oppressive religious authority, to know how Christian doctrine of God, and particularly creation, differs significantly from his portrayal (particularly in the third book), and to know why I disagree with some of the themes in the book - rather than just reacting to the prompting of others.

What I would like to see is some way in which the themes in the book can be used as a springboard for examining our own conceptions of religion, creation and God, as well as a vehicle for engaging with the movie with a view to mission and listening to others’ critiques of us. (Similar to Steve’s use over at e~mergent kiwi: preaching the Da Vinci Code). Things like:

1. Acknowledging that religious institutions (both local congregations and wider communities) have had, do have, and will continue to have problems with the abuse of power - whether that’s temporal or spiritual. And we shouldn’t ignore that, we need to deal honestly with it, and we need to continue to be proactively aware that it happens around us and people get hurt. And to be part of the solution.
2. The books portray effectively a Gnostic form of creation with ‘God’ or ‘Creator’ as an somewhat less than omnipotent demiurge - a more finite and fallible creator. This should enjoin us to make sure that we really have a good handle on how we perceive the relationship between God and world around us - and what biases we bring to that discussions. Furthermore, revisiting an understanding of God’s plans and purposes for material creation would also be useful.
3. Looking for how Christ would challenge the religion portrayed in Pullman’s world. While the email ranted against it’s anti-Jesus message, the religion portrayed in the books and film has little to say about a Jesus Christ figure at all. Looking at how Jesus challenged religion oppression (including those who assumed they were the ‘righteous’ ones), might serve to help us remove any logs from our own eyes first.
4. Also, the last time I checked, C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books hadn’t been included in the biblical canon. And yet, they appear in some circles to be beyond critique - even though ideas of atonement, eschatology, and who gets ’saved’ found in them might not square easily with typical evangelical emphases.
5. A discussion, perhaps, of the role of imagination in living the Christian faith.

However, I await the typical rants and sermons around the place about yet another attack on the Christian faith, of ‘Culture Wars’, and little constructive engagement. Sigh.

Anyway, here are a range of links (including some that deal constructively with the material). In particular, the Damaris/Culture Watch web site has a large range of articles etc. that deal with Pullman. (I’ve only included one or two here from that site - more links there).

• Apple - Trailers - The Golden Compass - Final Trailer
• Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog: Rowan Williams, Philip Pullman and His Dark Materials
• The Dark Materials debate: life, God, the universe with Philip Pullman and Rowan Williams.
• His Dark Materials - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Third Way: Heat and Dust - interview with Philip Pullman.
• Damaris - Culture Watch
  • Culture Watch - Philip Pullman: the most dangerous author in Britain
  • Culture Watch - Interview with Philip Pullman
  • Culture Watch - Interview with Philip Pullman (part two)
• “Dark Matter: A Thinking Fan’s Guide to Philip Pullman (Thinking Fan’s Guides)” (Tony Watkins)
• Fernando’s Desk » Aimless Culture Wars - Round 769,873

In the wake of PhD submission and graduation I’ve been interviewed a couple of times by the University of Auckland about being a theology PhD student. In particular, having four PhD graduates in September from a such small school/faculty has been reported on the front page of the university’s fortnightly internal magazine, and then the Alumni has a current spiel which I’m interviewed in, along with fellow PhD grad Brian Harris. (Brian features in this promo video for BTC in Perth here).

See Record number of Theology PhDs - Alumni and Advancement - The University of Auckland

Also got interviewed a while back for the university’s postgraduate campaign ‘In our own words’, and now I know why people hate seeing themselves on television. First time I’ve ever been interviewed on camera and now I know bit more about not what to do
Postgraduate study at The University of Auckland - In our own words and A Doctorate from The University of Auckland.

Video footage lurking on The University of Auckland - In our own words - Meet our students and supervisors.

An article (useful mainly for the links) that talks about how to set up a default set of useful applications (Office, email, browser) to carry around on a flash disk should you need to borrow a computer and still have the tools you like to use. Web-based applications are okay, but if you only have dial-up (or no internet) then having tools that allow you to compose email or edit documents offline can be life-savers.

See: Carry Your Desktop Anywhere with Portable Apps / Wired How To’s.

In the past month or so I got rid of the old stereo turntable that broke and thought that it would never need to be replaced. I may have been premature in my assumption.

• Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD’s Coffin

• Testing Vinyl CDs: Groovy Up Top, Optical Down Below | Listening Post from Wired.com

And what’s the story with USB turntables (like this one)? Do they have both analogue and digital outputs or are they simply an easy way to get old LPs into MP3 format?

Noticed in the latest PCANZ - Bush Telegraph (November 2007) that the Assembly sponsored resources under the Social Justice and Advocacy section of the web site are starting to be filled out. From the newsletter,

The first in a series of four group study resources produced by Assembly Office is hot of the press.

Copies of Coming of Age: bring on the baby boomers will be available from your parish minister. Ageing is something that affects all of us. As you reflect on the issues raised in the resource – elder abuse, financial hardship – also consider what actions you and your congregation might take to make life better for ageing Kiwis in your community.

Look out for the next resource in the series (due out in December), which is on youth wellness.

Coming of Age: bring on the baby boomers is also available as a PDF download.

Which probably also means that as CASI (Churches’ Agency on Social Issues) begins to wind up the resources on that web site might start disappearing. You can check out their latest news in the Bush Telegraph here and also at Broadsheet - Index - Churches’ Agency on Social Issues - New Zealand.

does my ADSL internet speed slow significantly (a crawl?) when it’s raining hard?

I’ve seen the ads, my daughter has mentioned them in passing, and I’ve suffered major “sticker shock” when I saw how much they sold for, but somewhere along the line I hadn’t picked up that they could serve as a mechanism for regulating who a person could chat to online (using the proprietary ‘Secret B Chat’).

Barbie Becomes an Authentication Device for Pre-Teen Friendship | Threat Level from Wired.com

Just wanted to note these links to various things relating to library information technology (including some open-source OPAC systems) for my own reference.

oss4lib | open source systems for libraries:
Infolibrarian

A new comic book on the religion in comic books radar, Some New Kind Of Slaughter, or Lost In The Flood (And How We Found Home Again): Diluvian Myths From Around The World from Archaia Studios Press, which juxtaposes several ancient flood stories (e.g Noah, Atrahasis) with contemporary narratives of global warming and rising sea levels. Will be keeping an eye out for it.

There are some sample pages over at SOME NEW KIND OF SLAUGHTER #1 - NEWSARAMA