Can You Feel It?

If Carlsberg Made Ice Cream…

Simba - attractive, apparently

…this is how they’d do it (and if I can manage it, so can you):

Whip 1 pint Double Cream (they probably wouldn’t do this by hand, it took me ~45 mins)

A little at a time, mix in a tin (400g) of condensed milk (they’d probably use the tin opener the right way up too)

Add 5 beaten up Crunchie bars (pretty hard to do this wrong, but pretty easy to make a mess, so in case there are any complete novices thinking of trying this I’d suggest putting the crunchies in a sealed bag before bashing them to bits with a rolling pin)

Put into a suitable container and freeze

Simples.

 

Wondering why there’s a picture of Simba off of The Lion King? I made the ice cream for Pudding & Film Night, and on Friday that’s what we watched.

You Idiots!

This:

is better than this:

Fact.

 

I’m aware these songs aren’t what the public voted on. It doesn’t matter. I used to think Simon Cowell had some sense. It turns out I was wrong.

I haven’t been watching X-Factor this year, but kept hearing how bad Jedward are, and Lucie was one of the couple of initial auditions that I did see, so thought I’d see what all the fuss was about.

Are people deliberately trying to get John & Edward to win just to embarrass Cowell? Whoever is voting for them is spoiling the show for those who think (and I agree) that people who can sing like Leona Lewis deserve a chance at success.

Jesus Camp & The Baby Bible Bashers

I’ve expanded my TV watching from just iPlayer to include 4oD.

Jesus Camp

This sort of thing doesn’t help with the idea that Christianity is just a method of social control by brainwashing people.

As we heard at my church last Sunday, you can (and should) try to bring up your children to live Godly lives and teach them the Bible, but you can’t make them Christians.

But when an interviewer suggested to Becky Fischer that there’s a difference between learning and indoctrination, she said she thinks churches should be indoctrinating their kids more.

Fischer talks about Muslims putting weapons in the hands of 5 year olds and claims we’re at war. Now, the Bible does use language that suggests a battle, but I think she’s got the wrong idea about who we’re fighting and the way to go about it.

It’s kind of scary, I think these people would agree with my definition of Christianity, but they act it out really very differently. Whipping people’s emotions into hysteria isn’t what Christianity is about.

There’s a kid preacher here too, he was apparently saved when he was 5. He wanted more out of life, this life just wasn’t fun. At 5. Do you know any 5 year olds who already find life boring?

Some adult tells him that God has his life planned out (true), then tells him that God has written that he’s going to grow into a preacher that will shake America, “What do you think of that?” (Personally, I’m fairly certain he’s talking out of his backside).

When someone asks the kid what his favourite subject is to preach on, he replies “faith”. What? I think most preachers worth listening to would choose a favourite Bible passage to speak on, rather than say “faith”. In the clips of him preaching that were shown, he was holding a Bible, but talking about what he felt God was telling him, that “this generation is a key generation”. Definitely sounds like he’s just regurgitating what the people running the camp are saying, not much to do with the Bible.

Baby Bible Bashers

(At time of writing this is still available to watch)

This was interesting because I was less suspicious of the way these kids became Christians, but there were other issues.

Despite Samuel claiming to be saved at 3, it somehow seemed more like he’d decided for himself than some of the kids at Jesus Camp. He hasn’t experienced any other ideas though, so I think he’ll face some serious challenges as he grows up.

I don’t think ordering people on the street to repent or go to hell is the most effective way to tell people the gospel. I’m all for open air preaching, but not in the way they were doing it, with a board listing all the people who are going to hell. That doesn’t seem like a good way of getting people to listen.

Terry Durham hears voices that “sometimes sound like me, but I say no, it’s the Lord”. hmm. I can’t find or remember the exact quote, but a friend suggested something along the lines of how amazing it is how often “what God wants” matches the desires of the person who claims to know.

I reckon if it’s not from the Bible, question it. If it is from the Bible, still check it, it’s not too difficult to take things out of context and say pretty much anything you want.

His dad was made to look very much like he’s using his son for financial gain. Good preachers don’t aim for celebrity status. They wouldn’t want to be welcomed onto the stage with a round of applause. But I guess my definition of ‘good’ is different to theirs.

Ana Carolina’s dad is her choreographer. I think that’s enough said really.

Do We Have Free Will To Think About Jennifer Aniston?

In The Secret You (available on iPlayer until 27/11/09), Professor Marcus du Sautoy (a mathematician) goes in search of answers to one of science’s greatest mysteries: how do we know who we are?

It’s basically about the search for a natural explanation for our consciousness. Are our thoughts just neurons firing? or is there something more going on?

In one experiment, where Marcus decided whether to press the button in his left or right hand, the scan of his brain apparently indicated which side he was going to choose 6 seconds before he even knew himself.

Obviously scientists like things to have a natural cause, and this seems to indicate that our thoughts are predictable, and hence that our concept of free will is a bit messed up. I began to wonder if a criminal could argue that he wasn’t in control of his actions based on this, but the guy did insist that our subconscious is obedient to our conscious wishes.

In other experiments, people were shown a load of pictures, and the response of a certain neuron detected. With one patient, out of 100 pictures, it only responded to the 6 pictures of Jennifer Aniston, and only when she was photographed on her own, it didn’t respond to a picture of her with Brad Pitt.

There was other stuff in there like sticking spots to babies’ faces and giving Marcus an “out of body experience”, and I found it very interesting, but in conclusion, there’s still plenty we don’t understand.

Not A Dream Anymore

It’s been out for 3 weeks now, Paramore’s Brand New Eyes, long enough for me to get some idea what I think of it.

It’s weird, the bottom line is I like Paramore more now than I did before, but I don’t actually think the album is all that great.

None of the songs on it are bad, there are some that I really like, but I don’t think it’s as consistently awesome as Riot!.

My Top 3 songs off of Brand New Eyes would be:

Ignorance – Nice & loud, what you expect from Paramore, but without sounding exactly the same as other songs.

Misguided Ghosts – I like the softer songs on this album, I think mainly because I like Hayley’s voice sounding more relaxed.

The Only Exception – Probably my favourite. I think this sounds like it really means a lot to her. “I’ve always lived like this, keeping a comfortable distance, and up until now I had sworn to myself that I’m content with loneliness, because none of it was ever worth the risk. Well, you are the only exception.”

Looking Up is really good too (where I took my title from), one of several songs that are clearly about the band getting through some difficulties.

It’s not just the songs that have increased my liking for Paramore though. The songs are more enjoyable knowing a little bit about the people playing them.

In her thankyous, Hayley quotes 2 Corinthians 12:10: “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”, and thanks God for being everywhere and in everything.

All the others also “thank/praise” Jesus, their “saviour”/ for his “loving grace!”

Ministry of Food, Week 1

I’m notorious amongst my housemates for being an incredibly lazy cook.

A typical week would probably include 2 pizzas, a microwave curry, and one night of each of: sausages and chips, burger and chips, and Birds Eye chargrilled/reggae-reggae/peri-peri chicken with chips. Some weeks would be potato wedges instead of chips.*

This year I’ve resolved to do at least slightly better. I’ve bought myself Jamie’s Ministry of Food, and since I have no lectures on a Friday this semester, I figure I should have plenty of time to cook one decent meal a week.

So yesterday I cooked fajitas. I had actually done these once before using an Old El Paso pack, but this recipe didn’t just tell me to add the sachet of spices. I think the 19 minutes suggested in the book is a bit ambitious for someone like me, it was more like double that. They were good though. I did regret the decision not to bother buying the sour cream, I normally wouldn’t bother with it when my mum cooks fajitas, but the salsa turned out to be pretty powerful stuff, so yeah, next time I’ll know better and listen to Mr. Oliver.

I also made the Vanilla Cheesecake with a Raspberry Topping. After walking round Sainsbury’s for ages looking for “Cream Cheese” I eventually gave in and asked someone where I could find it. He wasn’t sure either, but after consulting someone else he informed me that I wouldn’t find “Cream Cheese”, but Mascarpone would do the job. Well, I’m clearly not the only cream cheese noob, so I reckon this is “instructions for beginners” fail #1.

The requirement to put the base in the fridge for an hour, and then the completed cheesecake back in the fridge for another hour meant I arrived at pudding & film night 3/4 of an hour late and everyone was already full, so I still have most of it. Not that I’m complaining, it tastes pretty good to me, but I’m thinking I probably shouldn’t eat the lot. It serves 8.

Lessons learned from Week 1:

• Whipping cream using just a fork is hard work.

• Whoever said cooking from scratch works out cheaper is an idiot. Just the ingredients for the Fajitas (serves 2) cost £11.65, admittedly there were some spices in there which will last a while, but it would still be £9.25 each time. The cheesecake ingredients cost £11.08, which was mostly the raspberries at £4.99 for the 500g suggested. Is this because they’re out of season? Jamie did suggest alternatives if this was the case, but again, I don’t know that sort of stuff. “Instructions for beginners” fail #2.

• Avoid being in Sainsbury’s at 5pm on a Friday.

*I do get a decent Sunday lunch. My church has a rota for student hospitality, meaning in term time (once it’s organised for this year) I get to go to a different house each week.

All Animals Are Equal, But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others

First, if you don’t recognise the title, you need to read Animal Farm. Not that this post is really anything to do with the book, you just should read it.

It's only available 'til 8pm Thursday, so get watching

I watched Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Born Equal? the other day.

How many times have you heard that religion is clearly evil because of all the wars it’s caused?

As if the Theory of Evolution is harmless.

Yes, people have done some seriously bad things in the name of religion, but I think you’ll find in most cases (certainly in the Christian ones) those people were twisting their religion to justify their own ambitions. Hence, a Christian will tell you to look not at Christians for an example of how to live, but to Jesus.

Meanwhile, whether Darwin would have approved or not (I’m sure he wouldn’t, but), the goals of the Nazis actually made some sense in relation to the Theory of Evolution.

I’m thinking that’s quite a controversial statement.

Of course, perceived evil doesn’t have any bearing on whether a religious belief or atheism is true or false. It’s not a valid argument either way.*

I do wonder why we should think anything “evil” though. You know, if there’s no such thing as right and wrong.

*I know, I know, evolution and religion aren’t mutually exclusive, but this is a comparison of evolutionary thinking with religious belief. I’m thinking of atheistic evolution, let’s ignore the theistic evolutionists for now, their views are too confusing.

The Invention of Lying

So apparently the loser does get the attractive* girl occasionally. Lovely.

*I don’t like criticising people for things that aren’t their fault (such as looks), but it looks like Jennifer Garner has had some junk pumped into her upper lip (as if she wants to be Angelina), it makes some of her expressions look a bit silly.

I went to see The Invention of Lying yesterday. If you don’t want to know what happens, stop reading now.

I think it’s supposed to be a comedy, there were some really funny moments, but overall I thought it was actually better in terms of asking interesting questions, and I quite enjoyed it, despite a bit of mockery of Christianity.

What would the world be like if no one had the ability to lie? Well, pretty depressing according to the film, the only films and TV shows would consist purely of a person reading a history book.

As someone who believes that a perfect world would not contain any lies, this made me think. Would that sort of world really be all that much better?

Ricky (I can’t actually remember the character’s name) did use his new ability to make people feel better, but funnily enough, telling people what they want to hear, rather than the truth, doesn’t bring them lasting happiness.

He did have some morals too, nobody else understood the concept of telling something that wasn’t true*, and he had the opportunity to convince Jen (again I can’t remember her character’s name, that’s probably not a good commendation of the acting) that his new fame and riches changed his DNA, so their children wouldn’t be short and fat with snub noses, but decided it wouldn’t be right.

*This makes you wonder if anyone ever made any mistakes in this world. We can often tell what we believe to be the truth only to find later we were wrong, but as far as you could tell the people in the film were immune from this problem.

Ricky (maybe his name was Mark) makes up the idea of heaven because his mum is afraid of eternal nothingness when she dies, and because everyone believes he’s telling the truth, he becomes famous and the whole world wants to know more, so he comes up with the Man In The Sky. (I really hope it’s not supposed to be a realistic theory for how belief in God could have started.) He also has to explain who gets a mansion in the afterlife and who goes to the really bad place, so decides that you’re allowed 3 chances to be good (you know, don’t do anything to hurt someone else on purpose). I’m fairly certain this is supposed to be based on Christianity, and to be fair, I think a lot of people who would say they’re Christians do think like that, but it’s not what the Bible says.

“the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” – Romans 3:21-24

Love

Manly people like me don't say stuff like this, but in the video (click the picture) she looked even more adorable than in this screen capture.

This post was prompted by a friend who responded to my facebook status when I said I missed the ginger hair, by claiming he’d “never quite understood the obsession” with Hayley Williams. I don’t think he was saying I’m obsessed, but that some people go a little overboard with the Hayley-love.

I’d already sort of been thinking about whether obsession could be understood.

I had a pretty long discussion with someone else about whether it’s reasonable to believe supernatural events could have occurred. He was arguing that even the most improbable natural explanation for any perceived event is preferable to an explanation involving the supernatural. His field of expertise is Psychology, so he has natural explanations for the widespread belief in a God or gods that don’t actually exist.

This made me wonder if people who have a natural explanation for all their own thoughts can believe in things like love.

I’m far from well qualified to write on this subject, but I imagine if I told someone I ‘loved’ them and then went on to describe in detail how the feeling could be fully explained by natural causes, that they would not be particularly impressed. It would be a bit like programming two robots to be ‘in love’ with each other. It seems to me that kind of the point of love is that there’s something about it that can’t be explained, but I could be wrong.

This would be reflected in God’s love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). If he’d waited for us to turn to him, no one would’ve been saved.

Hopefully you’ve got that, as lovely as she is (as far as I can see), the point of this post is not to declare that I’m in love with Hayley Williams. She’s already got a man anyway.

I think she would agree with the above, in her thankyous for Riot! she thanks Jesus for “blessing me even though I definitely don’t deserve it”. (I’m still waiting to receive my Brand New Eyes, despite pre-ordering it nearly six weeks in advance.)

Hayley, if you somehow end up reading this, I hope you enjoyed it more than that thing about your acne.

Don’t take too much of what I say totally seriously, some of the above is supposed to be mildly humourous.