Who Dunnit?

(Look, before we start, if you're intending to play the Murder on the Dancefloor game, you might want to skip this post, as I will be giving rather a lot away...)

So, was it the costume designers?

Was it the dancers?

Was it the choreographer or the cricket player?

Was it the newsreader or the judge?

Or was it the bumbling oaf of a TV presenter?

A brief recap...

It was, in fact, the bumbling oaf of a TV presenter. Which was kinda exciting for me, although about half-way through I realised I should at least make it look like I was trying to determine the identity of the murderer. As it turned out I did rather well - not one person guessed it was me, although the clues were there!

And here:

The Clues

1. First I said I was hiding in the cupboard because I liked the feel of silk - later I said it was to go and get my rockclimbing gear.

2. I said I would never enter Crane's dressing room again - but then later I read out a clue I had found in his dressing room bin.

3. I was just generally shifty.

THINK PEOPLE!

After we'd finished the murder mystery, someone asked what we should do next. I, being me, shouted out my automatic answer to this question without thinking:

HUMAN PYRAMIDS!

(If you don't want to make human pyramids, don't ask me what I think we should do: Just for future reference).

And make human pyramids we did:

The stupid ceiling wasn't high enough for the one we originally wanted to make.

Good-o!

Post-Christmas Thoughts... And Happy New Year!

So, doesn’t Christmas seem a long time ago? Here are just a few post-Christmas thoughts to round off the Christmas period. I hope you all had a fantastic and blessed time.

1. Christmas Cake
It’s no secret that Christmas Cake is one of my absolute favourite things about Christmastime. I just can’t get enough. We spent Christmas Day with my uncle and my aunt was entrusted with the job of bringing a Christmas Cake for 11 people. She had been asked to buy one that was not too big. I think she managed it:

I was like... My cube of Christmas Cake didn’t quite satisfy me...

2. Christmas Texts
As we ate Christmas dinner, my aunt (same aunt as above) received an anonymous text which had presumably been sent to the wrong person. It ran along these lines:That kept me entertained for a good long while... (I just don’t believe that the sort of person who would send a text like that would use the word ‘boobs’)

3. Christmas Presents
Now, I’m not one for going on about Christmas presents, but I have to mention one fantastic present I got this Christmas – a Salvation Army shirt from Congo/Angola. How cool is this?! Check the detail:
4. mitchenstein 365
I’ve completed my first month of My Project 365! Although my mum pointed out that there will actually be 366 days next year. Great. I have to find inspiration for a whole extra picture.

5. Carol Singing
Carol singing with the youth is always cool on Christmas Eve – here’s a photo of the gang (not the same one as one 365, as I’m on this photo – the rule with the 365 photos is that I have to take the picture myself).
6. And To Finish...
Have a fantastic New Year. Here’s to a great 2008!

So, as is the way, I ought to write a few New Year’s resolutions (my main ambitions, etc. are always featured in the mitchenstein birthday week. Well, that only happened once, but it’s going to become a tradition).

Anyway, they are these:
1. Lose the stone I’ve managed to put back on.
2. Practise the oboe a little every day... (I’m getting very good now. Well, I can do ‘We Three Kings’ and ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’, but the ‘Pink Panther’ is proving difficult. Those low C-sharps...)
3. Learn Greenlandic (for research purposes). This is going to be hard – here’s an example of a Greenlandic sentence: Kalaallisut oqalussinnaannginnera ajuusaarutigiuarsimavara.
4. Get ‘my’ gospel choir sorted out (it’s on its way, it really is! Watch this space.)

Anyway, take care and I'll speak to you soon. My mind is a little preoccupied with a departmental presentation I'm giving next week (my first), I'm looking forward to it, but I'm finding it hard to think about anything beyond that date!

Merry Christmas!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
Fröhliche Weihnachten! God Jul! Hyvää Joulua! Gleðileg Jól! Gleðilig Jól! Glædelig Jul! Wesołych Świąt! Veselé Vánoce!

Here's wishing everyone a fantastic and blessed Christmas!

Photo taken from the Trafalgar Square Christmas crib, London

Christmas Comments 2

And here are a few more thoughts before Christmas…

1. mitchenstein 365
My Project 365 is going really well! It’s a little hard finding inspiration sometimes, but it’s really making me look at everything I do and everywhere I go to see if there’s a photo opportunity anywhere. And I’ve done nearly a month now! Check it out!

Photo 9: One of the photos from the mitchenstein 365 project.
2. Der Kriegsruf
The Salvation Army in Germany has decided to rename their magazine, Der Kriegsruf (Eng. ‘The War Cry’). After an online poll, many months of thought and, no doubt copious amounts of prayer, they released the periodical’s new name, to be used from the new year. And that name is: (drum roll) The Salvation Army Magazine. Genius.

3. My Hat
Those of you who have seen me recently will know I have a Salvation Army beanie I picked up in Australia. The weather’s been getting pretty cold recently, so I’ve been wearing it more and more. And suddenly I’m very aware that I’m really like an advert for The Salvation Army. As soon as I put it on, I start smiling at people and being a generally nicer guy (not always easy on the commute to/from London). What would it look like if I didn’t let people through, or let someone have my seat?

I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not… I guess I should always be like that, and it shouldn’t make a difference whether I’m wearing my hat or not. I’m working on it! I also think it’s important to show people that there are cool, young, funky people in the Army (yes, I’m cool, young and funky).

This is me wearing the hat in Slovakia (and they don’t have The Salvation Army there, so that was like a double witness).
4. An Impulse Buy
This week I made a bit of an impulse purchase… It’s part Christmas present (but mostly not). I won’t say what it is, but let’s just say that hopefully after a little practice, I might be able to play Gabriel’s Oboe! (right-hand column)

5. Breath of Heaven
Because it’s Christmastime, I’m giving you a few videos to watch. (Generous, no?) I came across this video by accident, but I really liked it, so I thought I’d pass it on. It’s such a beautiful song, and the woman singing does American Sign Language as she sings. I hope you enjoy it (the sync is a little out).

6. Yodellay-hee
A little while ago, Anna posted the German introduction to the Heidi cartoon on her blog. This was really a big mistake on her part, because I can’t stop watching it! That tune is addictive… I’ve put it in the right-hand column. It’s a little slow starting, but at 0.51 it rocks.

I wish I could yodel.

As Long As They're Still Reading (Christmas Comments 1)

Undeterred by the recent dearth of comments, I blog on. I’m just kidding you – while people are still reading, I’ll still keep blogging. And probably after they stop. But this post is the first of at least two with various Christmas thoughts, although most of them have not a lot to do with Christmas, so they’re just thoughts. And they are these:

1. Carolling
As all Salvationists know, December is the month for carolling. And I love it. It’s when I feel we’re really out there sharing with the people. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been out collecting or something and people have asked me where the Salvation Army band is. People love hearing it (despite what some people in the Army will tell you!) and it’s all good. We have nothing to be embarrassed about. Anyway, here’s a couple of photos from when the band went out carolling the other day.
My brother (the photo is a little shaky because I was only wearing one glove and it was freezing!)
Josh likes carolling.
Me, on the baritone this year (because off-beats are important too).

But carolling isn’t all about bands. Every year the Songsters (the choir) sings at a home for people with mental illness. To be honest, it isn’t the easiest gig in the world, but for every person that tells us exactly what they think of us (we were told to shove something up somewhere… I didn’t quite get it), there are others that just sit there listening to us sing/play (we take a small band with us), and you can see that some of them are really moved by what they hear. Some even sing along, remembering the words they perhaps used to sing as children.

Moreover, it’s important that the staff there know they’re not forgotten either. They do a fantastic job and it’s a privilege to share with them all.

2. Publication!
I had an exciting discovery when I saw that a phrasebook of which I wrote a chapter is available to pre-order on Amazon, so if you know anyone who’s going on a city break to Northern Europe…

3. O Holy Night
In my last post I mentioned the song ‘O Holy Night’ which is my all-time favourite Christmas song… And probably my favourite song of all time, in fact. Anyway, for me, no-one does this song better than Mariah Carey. I know it really won’t be to everyone’s taste, but the video is in the right-hand column. It takes a little while to get going, but it’s stunning. In my opinion.

4. The Blogosphere at Christmas
And finally, just to mention what else is going on in the blogosphere at the moment. Rather impressively, Glyn is posting a different Advent poem every day in the lead-up to Christmas (with some very good ones!), meaning that in December he’s blogged more than in June, July, August, September, October and November combined. But I’m well impressed. Katie has also posted two fantastic videos on her blog (Video 1 and Video 2). Check them out!

Ég er kominn í jólaskap!

('I'm in the Christmas mood!')

So it's nearly here. 12 days. How exciting!

A few months ago, it was announced that a (so-called) thinktank had decided that Christmas should be downgraded. It was receiving too much attention compared to the festivals of other faiths.

I was furious. I sat down and began writing a letter to complain about this shoddy treatment and how incensed I was about the whole thing.

That's not actually true.

My actual reaction was more like this...

The sooner these people realise that Christmas and the meaning behind it and its significance for millions and millions of people the world over is bigger than they are, the better.

"Winter Wishes!"

What's that about?!

But it did make me determined to celebrate the Christian aspects of Christmas more than ever this year. I can't help but think that Christmas is actually a bit of an ugly occasion without the beautiful story of Jesus coming to earth at the centre of it.

Anyway.

I resolved to come up with ways to put the 'Christ' back in 'Christmas' this year (how overused is that phrase?) (Obviously, I'm a lifelong Salvationist/Christian, so it's always been the centre of Christmas for me, but you know what I mean. It's easy to be taken over by all the other stuff).

So this year:

1. 'O Holy Night' is my mum's and my favourite Christmas carol of all time. I love it. So this year I made an 'O Holy Night' advent CD - a CD with 24 versions of that beautiful song by a range of big and less well known names. Only good ones of course (there are more than enough bad ones to choose from. Don't get me started on Christina Aguilera...). Every day a different version has been played and it's really added something to the advent time.

Obviously that's not a CD you want to leave on continuously, or you'd want to kill yourself.

2. This year I'm only sending religious Christmas cards (that's actually something I've been doing for a few years, but never really consciously). Admittedly, you have to look hard for ones that don't suck, but I found some good'uns at SP&S this year... No dogs in tiaras or 'December greetings' for me!

And, I've left it kind of late now, but does anyone have any other ideas?

Moreover, this year I have been looking to see how much the real meaning of Christmas is mentioned. And it really isn't as little as you'd think.

1. I don't know how many religious Christmas carols I've heard walking round Oxford St. doing the Christmas shopping (which I've finished by the way!)

2. I went to Trafalgar Square to see the Christmas tree and right in the middle was a giant nativity scene (maybe they have that every year, I don't know). And although it was a weird one (is that Joseph chilling out at the side?!), you couldn't help but notice it.

(Unfortunately a strange, but admittedly friendly, lady saw I was looking at it and come over to tell me that we were selling ourselves to the European Union. I'm afraid I'm not really the right person to talk to about that, love. Hopefully she didn't say that to everyone who was looking at it...)

3. And apparently Clintons has got its biggest ever selection of 'religious' Christmas cards... Admittedly that's like 4, and they're all pants, but still! Up the ante, Clintons!

Anyway, here goes - the countdown continues, and I'm definitely having my best advent yet.

Enjoy.

Old Friends

As most of you know, back in 2004-05 I lived in Umeå in northern Sweden for seven months as part of my undergraduate degree programme. I had a fantastic time.

Anyone who's done a stay at a foreign university will know that you end up meeting heaps of interesting people from all over the world, but that it's hard to stay in touch with all of them. Fortunately, I've managed to keep in close contact with a few of the Umeaners, and it's been great that some of them have even visited in the past few weeks.

First came Jóhanna from Iceland with her boyfriend, Arnar. They only had a day in London, but as both of them had been before, we could have a relaxing day strolling around, looking at shops, eating, and walking for forty minutes through heavy rain because they'd shut the flippin' underground (see Project 365).

So here are a couple of photos (Arnar was evidently very happy to be in England!)
A quick Merry Christmas to Jóhanna and Arnar, because I believe the first Icelandic Santa Claus comes tonight (they have thirteen - how unfair's that?)

Then Grit, Philipp and Christoph (who brought me 24 Mars bars) came over from Germany and spent the weekend here (you'll be happy to know that the English weather excelled itself here too).
We went down Southend Pier one evening (how dramatic does the sky look?!)

We missed the train back, so, rather than walk back up the pier, we decided to take photos of ourselves... (In the second one we were supposed to look like H&M models... I think I managed it the best).
Until the wind broke Christoph's camera and we had to stop...

The way we were (a few photos from 2004):
Christoph and Philipp balancing ON the Arctic Circle:

Launching...

mitchenstein 365

a photo for every day of the year

Several people I know have started 365 projects - an attempt to take one photo every single day of the year - with varying degrees of success.

And here, today, I launch my project 365 (imaginatively named mitchenstein 365) on a separate blog. This next year looks like it could be a good one, and I thought it'd be kinda cool to catalogue it in some way. I have no idea whether or not I'll be able to manage it, but why not try?

So have a look from time to time!

mitchenstein 365

To launch it, I want to show you the best picture I've ever taken. This is from Norway in 2004 (from a moving car):

I Don't Care What Andy Says...

Old time Salvation Army uniforms are cool!

Check out the uniform which I made myself (by 'made myself', I mean borrowed a tunic, wore my own trousers and shoes, turned an old red t-shirt round and stuck a tambourine sticker on the front, but the initiative was all mine).

As promised, here's a couple of pictures from our old time London night:

Anna, with an off the shoulder number.

Danni went all out for her costume!

Stacey and Danni - it was a little bit embarrassing for Stacey when she arrived, because she'd forgotten it was supposed to be fancy dress.

And I don't think Oscar was quite prepared for how bright the camera flash was...

In other news:

1. No-one pick up that the word cromulent (in my previous post) is, in fact, not a word at all? I wanted to see whether I could get away with it, and I did.

2. To the right, I've added a video by the group All Angels. Now this is not really my thing usually, but they sang this song live at the Rememberance Service at the Royal Albert Hall and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. This video is, however, pants. So, enjoy it, but don't watch it.

Brainstorm

The word 'Brainstorm' isn't really a good title for this post, but the other day someone told me we're not allowed to say it anymore, and that just made me want to use it all the more... I'm like a child.*

So, for this post - to be a little different - I thought I would just write down all the thoughts I had today. They are somewhat random, because that's what thoughts are like. Every time I had one, I wrote it down in my phone. And here they are:

Every song should have an alternative Amy Winehouse version.

How does Katie Melua keep a serious face when she sings those lyrics?

Why do so many people in London have paint on their trousers?

Is there a British film without Jim Broadbent in it?

While looking for Christian Christmas cards, it dawned on me that it's hard to find stylish ones. Then the lady standing next to me picked up some cards showing a dog wearing a tiara and I realised that maybe I'm just looking for the wrong thing.

(This wasn't the actual picture, but what a gem, eh?)

Lisa Harries and myself made a deal that we'd get married when we're 40 if neither of us is married by then. I wonder whether she's remembered that and how she's doing...

If all the raindrops WERE lemondrops and gumdrops, oh what a rain that WOULD be.

Someone at uni told me Ace of Base were rubbish. I still haven't gotten over that yet.

In the previous thought, I used the word 'gotten' and that is an Americanism which is becoming more and more common over here... It should be GOT!

When you give someone from Southend a drama script, why do they always become Cockneys? (cf. 'Ere, you seen'at Jesus fella?' for example... Always starting sentences with 'ere. Someone should research that phenomenon. I choose Andy).

Why do people insist on carrying their iPods in their hands while walking around London?

I can't take anyone seriously who rings the bell on their bike.

I really need to post the pictures from the London night... It was cool. I made my T-shirt myself. I ALMOST looked cromulent.

I saw a TV programme about a woman who said she was psychic. She said she once had a vision of a plane crash, and the very next day, a plane crashed off the coast of Hungary. 'That's impressive', I thought to myself. Even more impressive would be finding the coast of Hungary.

It doesn't matter who it is - a bodybuilder, a tough bouncer, a rock 'ard biker - as soon as someone takes homemade sandwiches out of their bag, they look vulnerable somehow.

Relating to my previous post:

As I was in Waterstones this week I saw a book entitled 'You Can Get Arrested for That' by Richard Smith (now there's a unique name). I have no idea what it's like, so I'm NOT recommending it, but it's about two guys who cross America trying to break stupid laws. Topical. The three mentioned on the back cover were:

It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep in a cheese factory (South Dakota)

It is illegal to play a trumpet with the intention of luring someone to a store (California)

and, my personal favourite:

It is illegal to catch a fish with a lasso (Tennessee).

Sweet.

*Apparently the PC term is 'thought shower', which I find completely stupid. However, that may have actually been more appropriate here...

Oops...

I think of myself as a pretty law-abiding kinda chap. But today I discovered that I have actually broken the law. And more than just once. In fact, I break the law fairly regularly. And I enjoy it.

And how?

I eat mince pies. And I eat them on Christmas Day.

I'm sure some of you will have known this, but did the rest of you have any idea that eating mince pies on Christmas Day is actually against the law? Thanks to Oliver Cromwell. that law was created in the 17th Century (now, you can't say you don't learn things from mitchenstein).

I love these old obscure laws. And have done ever since I learned that it's illegal to eat more than three sandwiches at a funeral in Norway (oops). Just what was going through people's minds when these laws were created?

1. It's illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.

2. Placing a postage stamp upside down is an act of treason.

3. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour.

4. A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself wherever she wants.

5. It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (?!).

6. If a dead whale washes up on the coast, the head automatically belongs to the king, while the tail belongs to the queen.

While the above laws are definitely true, the following ones are rumoured to be true, but the BBC was unable to verify them:

7. In Florida, it is illegal for an unmarried woman to use a parachute on a Sunday.

8. In Florida, it is also illegal to get fish drunk.

9. In Switzerland, it is illegal to flush the chain after 10pm.

(10. I have also heard that it is illegal for men to stand up to use the toilet after 10pm in Switzerland - Anna, I take back anything I've ever said about Switzerland, these people are clearly on the ball).

11. It is legal to shoot a Scotsman within the city walls of York, as long as a bow and arrow are used (I've heard the same thing about a Welshman in Chester, but for that it has to be after sunset).

Furthermore:

12. In the UK, it is technically illegal to fly a kite.

13. And to use a sledge on snow.

14. And don't even think about gambling in the reading room of a library.

Does anyone know of any others?

In other news:

I'm a bit of a fan of Wikipedia - I know it's not the most reliable source on the internet, but it's still pretty useful at times. However, ever since I read that Stacey's mum in Eastenders sang backing vocals on Madonna's latest album, I'm just not sure what to believe anymore.

Ripped Off...

When I was ten years old, a group of us at school decided to make a band. We had it all planned out. We were going to hit the big time (apart from Stuart who used to sing behind the bookcase because he was too nervous to sing in front of people's faces).

One playtime, Joanna and I sat down to write our band's first song. It was called Never Again and it was actually very good (I wrote the verse and she wrote the chorus - my part was better). Later on, when Joanna wrote Don't Leave Me, I realised we were just heading in different directions musically.

Anyway, I digress. We used to have band practices every week (even with a keyboard) and the future looked bright for us. Until Gemma and I realised that the others were holding us back and we ditched them.

And that was it for us. The world missed out.

But why am I telling you this?

Today, I was sitting listening to Maroon 5's otherwise very good album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long.

As track 5, Nothing Lasts Forever, began to play, I realised that Maroon 5 had completely, unashamedly, ripped off Never Again. Now, who do I call about that?