MEC Resources (ASX: MMR) advises that investee company Advent Energy Ltd (“Advent”) is undertaking an airborne geophysical survey over EP386 and RL1 in the onshore Bonaparte Basin, Western Australia and Northern Territory respectively. The survey will be carried out by Pinemont Technologies Pty Ltd and it is anticipated to commence the week beginning Monday 23rd November.

The object of the survey is to detect transients of secondary magnetic fields associated with micro-seepage plumes and REDOX cells over hydrocarbon reservoirs. In addition to the Weaber Gas Field in RL1, there are a number of leads and prospects in EP386 and RL1 as well as unknown prospectivity in much of the permits. The aim of the survey is to upgrade these various prospects in EP386 and RL1 for further evaluation for drilling.

Advent holds a 100% interest in each of EP386 and RL1.

Click here to view the full announcement.

For further information, please contact:

David Breeze
Executive Director
MEC Resources Ltd
Tel: +61 8 9328 8477

Media Enquiries:
Bill Kemmery
Fortbridge Consulting
Tel: +61 2 9331 0655
Mobile: +61 400 122 449
bill.kemmery@fortbridge.com

Excalibur Mining Limited (ASX: EXM) announces spectacular results for the first two diamond drill holes at Juno, at Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.

Highlights:

• 13m @ 42.84g/t Au from 160m, including 5m @ 102.38g/t Au
• 14m @ 1.24% Cu from 236m
• Further drilling underway

This drilling represents a new discovery of a high grade gold mineralised pod geologically similar to Juno, Nobles Nob, M10 and other deposits in the Tennant Creek region. A follow up RC drilling programme is planned to test the extent of this new discovery.

Click here to see the full announcement.

For further information, please contact:

Tim Lagdon
Managing Director
Ph: +61 8 9322 8000

Media enquiries:
Fortbridge
Ph: +61 2 9331 0655
Luke Dean
M: +61 414 535 433
E: luke.dean@fortbridge.com

There is something oddly familiar with Alan Bennett’s new play, The Habit of Art now playing at the National Theatre. It has nothing to do with Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner, directing another of Bennett’s plays, the last being The History Boys at the National again. It has nothing to do with the subject matter either, a look into the relationship and lives of W H Auden and Benjamin Britten.

No, the reason The Habit of Art is so familiar lies in the content of the play, a rehearsal room, the setting for Bennetts new piece. The play is a play within a play, and the play happens to be towards the end of rehearsal period. (Still following?) The Lytteltons stage is thus the rehearsal room, with the bare bones of a set constructed, and slightly furnished. A small kitchen area is on one side of the stage, and on the other a series of desks, chairs, keyboard and scripts.

The lighting is simple, even the design evokes the reaction that this is all too familiar. Any person who works in theatre, or has had the opportunity to sit in a rehearsal room during a rehearsal will see the familiarities here, and it is executed marvelously. The witty banter between the actors, the assistant stage manager running around setting props and prompting lines, yes, this is all too familiar to me.

There is a slight concern then that, because of the setting of the play, that Bennett has excluded a whole sector of his audience who perhaps don’t know the workings of the theatre and the rehearsal room, yet this clearly is not the case. I might have been chuckling to myself at theatre related jokes, but equally these jokes transferred easily to the audience with great reception.

Richard Griffiths is as always on top form in this. Even the subject matter of playing Auden as a sexually driven, yet equally as boring man is done perfectly. I never thought I’d reach the day when I would find it amusing to listen to Griffiths telling of his delights of enjoying a mans genitals and pleasuring him in such a manner as I heard in The Habit of Art.

The storyline of the play (within the play) is an interesting one, and I do say this in a tone of – I’m not quite sure I like it. However, that’s not the point. For the storyline of the play, is actually that of the rehearsal room, it is the breaking out of character to criticise the playwrights words. It’s the getting thrown off your lines because an actor has yet to have their movement blocked for their short monologues.

What is brilliant about The Habit of Art is Bennetts ability to go, yes I am a playwright, I write, but sometimes we don’t always get it right. And yes, there are actors, who just act, how easy that must be! The director disappears, but the show goes on. It is Bennetts sense of understanding the world he is writing for. He openly mocks himself as a playwright by having a playwright as a character within his play, putting the actors off their lines and arguing with rewrites. Yet equally Bennett makes wise comments upon theatre and actors, comparing them to a solider, they are afraid.

There are some other remarkable people to mention in The Habit of Art, pretty much all the actors are strong, funny and play the parts excellently. Frances de la Tour is wonderful, playing the balancing act between the cast and the creatives. The peace maker in the rehearsal room. She is cool and  equally demanding too with her outbursts of “On, go on”, every time the action stops due to casual talking. Alex Jennings plays the role of the composer Benjamin Britten, and whilst he wasn’t someone who greatly stood out for me, his emotional engagement with his story did pluck at my heart strings slightly.

Adrian Scarborough as the biographer Humphrey Carpenter, has some beautifully comic lines, including his exclamation that he is nothing but a “device” in the play. This certainly racked up a few laughs at the National, for most certainly this character is only a device being used by Bennett or rather the playwright in the play to tell the winding stories of Auden and Britten.

It is moments such as this that reminds us once again that Alan Bennett is a master of a playwright, a living monument to all things good about theatre and his ability to write about situations and characters. Witty, heart-warming, and fantastically funny, that is The Habit of Art for me.

The Habit of Art by Alan Bennett is playing at the National Theatre and booking until April 2010. New tickets to be released shortly so check the National Theatre website for details.

According to Klaus Haacker’s The Theology of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, the theology at the opening of Romans consists of in a nutshell: 1) Davidic christology, which is a crucial link between Holy Scriptures and the gospel, 2) a healing or saving performance of the gospel due to the outcome of God’s being ‘right’ in his actions, and 3) the right way of life being the way of faith.

The major concerns of Romans are: 1) proclamation of peace with God and on earth, 2) righteousness redefined, translated into a code of ethics for the church, 3) suffering and hope, and 4) mystery of Israel.

Das neue Semester hat angefangen. Schon vor vier Wochen. Wird vermutlich mein bisheriges Lieblingssemester – mit seinem Schwerpunkt auf NT, während das erste Semester von der Missionswissenschaft und das zweite von der Praktischen Theologie geprägt war. Ich merke, wie sehr mich das Neue Testament mit seiner Botschaft und seiner Geschichte begeistert – und bin mir fast sicher, dass ich mich im Master-Studiengang darauf spezialisieren werde. Auch wenn und obwohl das vermutlich die meisten Kommilitonen machen werden. Aber bis dahin ist ja noch Zeit.

Aus Amerika bin ich natürlich schon lange wieder zurück. Ich bin zwar nie dazu gekommen, meine Beobachtungen fertig aufzuschreiben, habe mir aber Notizen gemacht und werde das (spätestens auf der nächste Reise über den Ozean) auch noch zu Ende protokollieren. Ich habe auch ungefähr 20 Ideen für gute Beiträge, die ich schreiben könnte – wenn ich mich zeitlich nicht so vereinnahmt fühlen würde. Nicht nur muss ich dieses Semester besonders viel für die neue Sprache Hebräisch machen, sondern es winken bis Februar auch an die 800 Seiten Pflichtlektüre und einige vielseitige Seminararbeit. Und diesmal war mein guter Vorsatz, das nicht alles erst im Januar zu machen.
Aber nicht nur das Studium, sondern auch die Familie verlangen im Moment besondere Aufmerksamkeit. Wegen eines unverschuldeten, ärgerlichen Missverständnisses haben wir Probleme mit dem Arbeitsamt. Die Wohnung ist winzig, und wir werden uns entweder eine neue suchen oder noch einige Energie in platzsparende Lösungen investieren müssen. Tristan muss mit seinen siebeneinhalb Monaten nun langsam lernen, was Gehorsam heißt, und dass er nicht immer seinen Willen bekommen kann. Dazu kommt, dass er in letzter Zeit keine feste Nahrung mehr mag. Das heißt für Whitney, dass sie ihn wieder mehr stillen muss, vor allem nachts. Hielt noch vor ein paar Wochen ein gutes Abendessen mehrere Stunden vor, wacht er nun mindestens dreimal in der Nacht hungrig auf – besonders für meine Frau natürlich nicht einfach.

Unser einjähriges Hochzeitsjubiläum ist vorbei, und noch immer haben wir keine Dankeskarten, noch Hochzeitsfotos oder richtige Geburtsfotos verschickt. Ich empfinde das als eine lästige Pflicht, obwohl ich natürlich weiß, dass vielen Menschen das sehr wichtig ist. Warum können nicht einfach alle Leute mein Blog lesen und bei Facebook sein, wenn sie sich für uns interessieren? Briefliche Mitteilungen und Rundbriefe sind ein Produkt des 20. Jahrhunderts. Ach ja – Entschuldigung, dass wir damit bisher so lange gebraucht haben.

Seit der Sommerpause habe ich mir nach und nach einige weitere Aufgaben und Verpflichtungen angesammelt, denen ich jetzt auch sehr gerne nachkomme. Beim Open-Source-Projekt Offene Bibel bin ich seit einigen Monaten für die Neuigkeiten auf der Startseite zuständig und habe auch auf dem Planeten (=themenbezogene Blogsammlung mancher Internetprojekte) schon ein paar Mal zur Feder gegriffen. Irgendwann werde ich wohl auch Gründungsmitglied des Trägervereins sein.
Für das entstehende Bibelprogramm BibleZ übersetze ich die Dokumentation ins Englische. In unserer Gemeinde habe ich im Rahmen meines Praktikums zweimal gepredigt und möchte das auch wieder tun. An der FTH mache ich seit kurzem im Technikteam mit. Di bis Fr gibt es täglich 40 Minuten, in denen sich die gesamte Hochschule im “Plenum” im sogenannten Plenarsaal versammelt und verschiedenen Veranstaltungen nachgeht. Das kann ein Gottesdienst sein, ein (christlicher) Vortrag, die Vorstellung eines Missionars oder Ehrengasts. Oder manchmal einfach Organisatorisches und Abkündigungen.

So, das ist jetzt wohl lang genug. Da mir kein runder Schluss einfällt, bediene ich mich stattdessen ganz elegant eines Stilmittels und ende abrupt.

from Robert Jimenez! Well, it’s only part of Philippians, but still.

Edited to add: I’ve finished the first lesson and it was very good! I encourage you to give him a listen.

I’d also like to encourage all of my pastor friends to get at least some of your sermons online for the rest of us to listen to and learn from. And maybe not just us (your friends). Imagine the impact that an online sermon could have. I put my math lessons online on slideshare and I’m amazed that some of them have hundreds and hundreds of views – and that’s just for math! I know God will richly use these sermons.

When I began using online Asperger's discussion boards, I had to get used to all of the commonly used 'aspie' acronyms. I eventually learned all of the most common ones, but it took a little while.

Below is a list of the most commonly-used acronyms by individuals with Asperger's Syndrome.

AS – Asperger's Syndrome

ASD – Autism Spectrum Disorder

NT – Neurotypical (this is often what people on the spectrum refer 'normal' people as being)

PDD – Pervasive Developmental Disorder

PDD-NOS – Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified

If you plan on visiting an Asperger's-related discussion board in coming time, that list will serve as future reference.

(*NOTE* if you like my blog-posts, please share links to them on Twitter, FaceBook, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Mixx etc. )

Posted via email from HikiCulture – A Forum For Reclusive People

Christ and Caesar: The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the Writings of Paul and Luke. By Seyoon Kim. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008. 228 pages. Paperback, $24.

Give back to Caesar the things that are of Caesar, and to God the things that are of God. These were the weighty words, which divided Christ’s kingdom from that of Rome, which at the time was under Tiberius’ rule. In recent years, there has been a surge of scholarly interests regarding the tension between the imperial rule and the kingdom established under the reign of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. With Christ and Caesar, Seyoon Kim, professor New Testament at Fuller Seminary, provides an analysis and assessment of recent trends that juxtaposes Christ and the Roman Empire in the canonical writings of Paul and Luke.

The book is divided into two main sections—one for Paul and another for Luke. Rightly framing both of these sections is Paul’s clash with Caesar in Acts 17:6-7, where Paul and his companion Silas are accused of “acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” The tension is thus assumed to exist. Kim gives an account of the developments of research. As early as 1971, E. Judge described Paul’s possible subversion of Roman edicts, by proclaiming a future parousia, which hailed Jesus as ruler. Since the eighties, scholars concluded by examining the Thessalonian letters that the inhabitants of the city had deep commitments to the imperial cult, especially toward honoring the Roman benefactors (Donnfried, et. al.). Currently, scholars are pointing to a parallelism of cultic ideology: for instance, the parousia of Christ in 1 Thess 4:17, resembles a majestic ceremony, strikingly similar to descriptions of imperial visits, suggesting that the coming of Christ will conquer the earthly realm as well as Rome. There are also implicit counter-imperial tendencies in Thessalonians with the offering of a different eschatology (Harrison), or with a criticism of Roman aristocracy (A. Smith). Wright identifies Phil 3:20-21 to contain a proclamation that Jesus is Lord, and Caesar is not. Kim notes these developments in historical studies.

Kim’s response to many of these efforts is summed up with “parrallelomania,” an expression originally coined by S. Sandmel. While the historical studies attempt to find parallels and connections with the data in NT writings, Kim suggests that recent studies have been overreaching with its conclusions. In addition, Kim also notices faulty reasoning: deductions from assumptions, proof-texting, and uses of so-called anti-imperial codes in Paul’s messages. Kim concludes that an anti-imperial interpretation is difficult, because 1) there is no reference or critique of the Roman Empire, and 2) Romans 13:1-7 is an appeal to Christians to be subject to Roman rule. Paul complies with the Roman authorities and makes appropriate defenses of his conduct. His preaching of the gospel simply awaits the coming of Christ.

As for Luke-Acts, Jesus’ ministry is defined in terms of his work of redemption toward his people, which includes, among others: no overthrowing of the Roman Empire, no literal restoration of the kingdom of David, and the exclusive saving of a redefined Israel, the eschatological people of God. The focus of Luke-Acts is not a political resurgence of divine power on earth, but a deliverance from the kingdom of Satan. While the gospel details Jesus’ life and ministry, Acts consists of a history of the church in the “continuous work of salvation in the power of his Spirit and through his apostolic church” (Acts 1:1-2). Towards the end of this section, Kim underscores the lack of any real tension between Christ and Rome with his emphasis on the pax Romana, which Kim sees to be playing a key role for an overall conducive setting for apostolic missions.

Jesus’ famous words teaching the disciples about paying taxes are not intended to wage war, or displace the political regime. Christ does not compete with Rome, but distinguishes himself from it. The importance of kyrios in connection to divinity plays a crucial role in the identification of Christ and Caesar. Kim has provided a good starting point to engage the realm of ancient religions. However, the book may be lacking only in that it is limited to only Christ and Caesar; it misses the aspect of the plurality of ancient religions in the Roman Empire. Christianity did not compete with only Rome, but more so, with the local patron deities, mystery cults, and Jewish synagogues. Since all of these religions coexist in the Roman peace, some additional thought and interaction with these religions may help Kim’s cause in defining the historical place of the gospel within its cultural context.

Excalibur Mining Limited (ASX: EXM) announces further drilling results from the Tennant Creek (Northern Territory, Australia) reverse circulation (RC) drilling program. The RC drilling campaign is part of Excalibur’s plans to upgrade the existing resource base prior to commencing engineering and feasibility studies early next year.

Highlights:

• Revised resource estimate to follow current analysis
• RC program completed with 118 holes for 6,673m
• Successful drilling campaign overall with:
  • Rising Sun – 6m @ 22.19g/t Au from 32m
  • NM4 – 6m @ 7.79g/t Au from 22m
    • including 3m @ 13.23g/t Au from 25m
  • Nobles Nob Tailings 2m @ 5.69g/t Au from 12m
• A number of targets remain open at depth
• Preliminary testing of the Nobles Nob tailings completed
• Diamond drilling continuing at Juno

Excalibur Managing Director Mr Tim Lagdon said that the successful drilling campaign would now allow the company to prioritise the next stage of exploration and drilling, with a more focused concentration of activity and resources as the project moves towards pre-feasibility.

“Excalibur will announce a new resource estimate for the near surface assets following a more detailed analysis of the drilling results. We have also commenced a more comprehensive drilling program on the tailings to quantify the parameters and value of that asset now that we have established that they contain significant grade,” Mr Lagdon said.

Click here to view the full announcement.

For further information, please contact:

Tim Lagdon
Managing Director
Ph: +61 8 9322 8000

Media enquiries:
Fortbridge
Ph: +61 2 9331 0655
Luke Dean
Mob: +61 414 535 433
luke.dean@fortbridge.com

Så kom det til første rejsedag i min “pause” på to måneder.

Jeg tog toget kl. 7.12 som jeg plejer. Den kørte til tiden. Jeg kan forstå på de andre rejsende at afgangen om morgen har været plaget af forsinkelse i de forgående dage. Noget med at der er blade på skinnerne så de bliver fedtet. Det betyder at de nedsætter hastigheden da de ikke længere kan bremse så godt. Men dagens afgang gik heldigvis efter planen. Den var fremme kl. 7.34 så et blev en tur på 22 minutter. 1 minut hurtigere end iflg. planen. Bussen holdt der da jeg kom ud fra stationen og kørte kl .7.38. Den var på AAU kl. 7.58. Så det blev en tur på 20 minutter. 2 mere end iflg. planen.

Hjemturen startede kl. 15.45. Den var på stationen kl. 16.05. 20 minutter er 2 mere end iflg. planen. Toget kørte med lidt forsinkelse kl. 16.17 (den skulle køre 16.15). Den ankom til Skørping kl. 16.38 hvilket er en tur på 23 minutter helt efter planen. Og det på trods af forsinkelsen i afgangen.

Dagens nøgletal er:

Rejsetid DSB: 45 minutter

Forsinkelse DSB: 11 minutter

Rejsetid NT: 40 min

Forsinkelse NT: 4 min

Forventet total rejsetid: 82  min

Faktisk total rejsetid: 85 min

Escolhi as que tenho maior afinidade.

Absoluto:

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Langt om længe kom så opdateringen for d. 30/10. Jeg poster et nyt indlæg med opsummeringen for oktober måned på et senere tidspunkt.

Dagen startede med toget kl. 7.12. Det ankom til Aalborg kl. 7.36, så det blev en tur på 24 minutter. Kun 1 mere end iflg. planen. Bussen holdt der da jeg kom ud fra stationen og kørte kl. 7.38. Den var på AAU kl. 7.58, så det tog 20 minutter. 2 mere end iflg. planen.

Hjemturen startede med bussen kl. 15.43. Den var på stationen kl. 16.07. Så det blev en tur på 24 minutter. 6 mere end iflg. planen. Toget kørte kl. 16.15 og den var i Skørping kl. 16.38. Så det var en tur helt efter planen dvs. 23 minutter.

Dagens nøgletal er:

Rejsetid DSB: 47 minutter

Forsinkelse DSB: 1 minutter

Rejsetid NT: 44 min

Forsinkelse NT: 8 min

Forventet total rejsetid: 82  min

Faktisk total rejsetid: 91 min

Dette bliver næste den sidste opdatering i 2 måneder. Jeg rejser dog måske med offentligt transport hver torsdag så måske kommer der en opdatering for torsdagene. Men ellers så vender jeg tilbage til vanlig rutine i 2010.

Matthew 12:9-14 He left that place and entered their synagogue; a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?’ so that they might accuse him. He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.’ Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

Here again, as in the previous passage, Jesus is not doing away with Sabbath, but instead challenging our understanding of Sabbath. Personally I bristle at the statement Jesus makes, “How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! ” That is so anthropocentric! Isn’t this part of what has brought us to this place? We think that we are the pinnacle of creation and that somehow makes exempt from the laws of nature. We don’t have to deal with the repercussions of the way we treat the earth because somehow we’re more important than sheep and animals.
Well, as always, it would serve us well to read the Bible in context. The original hearers would certainly not have read (or heard) that into the text. They were agrarian people who depended on the land. Jesus in fact points out that saving an animal on the Sabbath trumps the rules about resting precisely because the Sabbath is about life, not rules. So, this passage might actually be highlighting the dependence of human beings on creation. It’s our modern mind that reads such a technocratic elitist idea into the text.
Perhaps Jesus’ words about the value of human beings is also to point out the inhumane way in which people treated other people, the sick, the lame, the blind, etc. Jesus restores humanity to the man with the withered hand by rightly relating people to each other and to the Sabbath. Remember that the Sabbath commands are about economics and ecology, our relationship to the earth and to each other. In other words, Jesus says, “You would break Sabbath in order to be rightly related to that which you depend on for sustenance. Recognize that you depend equally on being rightly related to your fellow human being. This is the meaning of Sabbath.”

Mother Courage and Her Children

Mother Courage and Her Children has been built into my nervous system since a young age. Programmed and modified in vigorous lessons at GCSE’s, A Level and Degree level of teaching. Therefore I think it’s fair to say that it was about time that I actually went and saw the Brecht production for myself. As you can imagine, I hold the play quite dear to my heart, and actually rather like the themes that run through it. Nothing beats an epic war spread over many years, and the loss of people to that war. Judging from several reviews of the show already it would appear not everyone likes an epic proportion of a play, and quite a few people were lost to the tragic tale.

Let me set the scene, the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre, a vast stage exposed to the audience, blasts of sound effects and sound scopes echo around the auditorium. Stage managers, actors, scenery, and props are littered everywhere and anywhere. This is the start of a war, and Mother Courage the protagonist of Brechts play leads her cart of war supplies across what we know now as Europe with her three children, from three different fathers. This opening scene is quite dramatic, explosions going off, lights whirling beams around the stage, and Fiona Shaw standing on top of her cart singing an almighty song of war.

The production is going to epic, I could just tell, but the real question is more, did it live up to the epic proportions of the play that Brecht once wrote?

Fiona Shaw as Mother Courage

What I admire about Deborah Warner’s production of Bertolt Brecht’s, Mother Courage and Her Children, is how true she sticks to some of the Brechtian methods of alienation and distancing of the audiences, at no point is there a cause for emotion when Brecht is around. Huge banners and voice overs announce the start of new scenes and what happens within. “…her honest son dies” – This is what I love about Brecht, the fact you are told beforehand what to expect, and thus when it happens you are absent minded about any form of emotion.

Warner’s direction of Mother Courage for me stays true to the ways of Brecht, even down to the bursting of songs, which are delightfully played by Duke Special and band. Perhaps it’s all a bit theatrical, with the use of hand held microphones, but then once again it reminds us that we’re just watching a show, and as Brecht said: “I don’t want the audience to come into the theatre and hang their minds up with their hats”, or something close to that nonetheless.

Warner has brought the production up to speed rather (despite the three hour running time) with a contemporary feel to the production. It’s something about the staging, the scenery that is erected to symbolise but to not actually fulfill. It’s in the costumes and props, and maybe down to the swearing that is littered in Tony Kushner’s new translation.

Despite all of this, I can’t help feel that there is something missing from Mother Courage and Her Children, it lacks a heart, a keystone that completes the show. It’s as if it is missing a limb that it can’t function without. Don’t get me wrong, there is much to praise in this slightly risky production for the National Theatre, but after 3 hours I wanted more. I wanted full on explosions and blood and guts. I wanted to see the despair of Mother Courage as she loses her last child.

I just wanted more.

From a production with such epic proportions, you would have thought Warner would have pushed the piece beyond the comforts of ‘let’s keep this nice for the audience’.  Alas, that wasn’t the case.

Mother Courage and her Daughter

Fiona Shaw plays the lead here, and she does so with compelling conviction. She is rugged, and honest, witty and smart. I actually rather liked her singing, compared with some of the comments I’ve read! Personally I think she makes a fine leading lady and I can’t help but to feel that the pressure was on for her to push this piece constantly forward as she is rarely off the stage during the show. However she does so commendably, and I’d actually rather like to see her in future shows, she is certainly one to watch.

Another person to shine in this production comes from the slightly stupid and forgotten character of Swiss Cheese, played beautifully by Harry Melling. He manages to capture everything possible about this character, from movement, voice and presence. At times I found myself caught in his performance more than I did of Fiona Shaw.. and that’s something!

A note on the length of the production. It has been discussed at length at how long this production of Mother Courage and Her Children is. Yet I approve of the running time, it easily reflects that of the context of the play, being set over a war that lasts years upon years. A war that never truly ends. The length of the production reflects that of the length of the lives of the characters living through a war that never ends.

My advice to people would be to check out the performance, it’s entertaining, fresh and really bold, just don’t expect to be completely drawn into the action and leave bowled over by the magic of theatre, because if anything, Brecht is far from making theatre like this.

A bold and challenging piece that brings the light out of a classic Brecht play.

Mother Courage and Her Children is playing in the Olivier Theatre of the National Theatre until 08 December 2009. Check the National Theatre website for details

Berlin, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ — Native Instruments today introduced SCARBEE MM-BASS, a new software instrument that provides an authentic rendition of the distinctive Musicman Sterling electric bass. MM-BASS is based on the acclaimed Scarbee Black Bass library, and is the latest release in the partnership between Native Instruments and sampling expert Thomas Hansen Skarbye.

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Matthew 12:1-8 At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.’ He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests. Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”, you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.’

Sabbath has been a pretty regular part of the conversation here about Food in the Bible. How do we read this passage in light of extending the sabbath to include the Sabbatical year (Deut 15) and Jubilee (Lev 25)? Or in light of the Sabbath being about remembering our place within the creation story?

I’ve read this passage in the past as another exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees (which it is) in which Jesus triumphs over those legalists showing them who’s boss. The sabbath is primarily about taking a day off and following the rules and Jesus is breaking the rules in order to show them how stupid their rules are. But this is not quite what’s happening is it?

Jesus is not getting rid of the sabbath. He’s reclaiming and redeeming it for its rightful purpose. He uses two examples from the Hebrew scripture (the only Bible around at the time) to show them that had missed the point of the sabbath. In fact, the disciples plucking heads of grain is reminiscent of the sabbatical command to allow the poor and wild animals to glean from the fields.

Jesus’ example of David taking the bread of the Presence when he was hungry reminds me of the way we treat the elements of communion. Denominations have different versions of the same thing. Basically the “bread” and “wine” are considered “holy” and off limits except during the particular ritual of the Eucharist. In some churches the bread and wine have to be finished off, poured down a particular drain or disposed of properly because of their sanctity.

In light of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11 about divisions at the agape meal and his warning about taking communion unworthily which follows, he seems to imply that taking Eucharist unworthily means not sharing your food with the hungry. If that is the case then every time the elements (especially if it’s a loaf of real bread) are disposed of or gorged on by someone in order to fulfill the letter of some traditional ritual, we may be partaking unworthily of the Lord’s Supper. (further discussion will be shelved until we get to 1 Corinthians sometime in 2050).

Finally, Jesus reorients the understanding of sabbath by putting the commandments in light of God’s desire for “mercy and not sacrifice.” This is a helpful guiding principle for following Jesus and interpreting the Bible. If mercy is not the driving force and guiding principle then we will end up with empty legalism and broken relationships. Jesus identifies himself as “lord of the sabbath,” meaning not only over the particular command to rest on the sabbath day, but also over the command to let fields rest, to free slaves and return land, in essence over the equality and justice of the created order as God intended.

I was keen to see this play as it is based on Hanif Kureishi’s powerful second novel, The Black Album. First introduced to Kureishi’s work via film his move into concentrating on being a novelist was a brilliant one. I still remember the thrill I felt reading one of his first short stories ‘With Your Tongue Down My Throat’. It was brilliant and vital. The Black Album as a novel was equally so. Adapting a novel for the stage is a tricky business and to be honest this production feels like a rather pale imitation. I felt the novel was better at making you sit up and take notice.

There were some great things about this production, especially the performances from Jonathan Bonicci as Shahid and Shereen Martineau as his sister-in-law. I particularly liked the set design – a simple three sided room in white on which projections changed the location and added weight to the subject matter.

Somehow, though, it never quite got to grips with the subject matter. The final scene made up for the sense that there was the story in the play and then there was the real world, as it would become – altogether more alarming and more dangerous.

But having said all this, it was great to see and to re-visit The Black Album. I would have preferred a set that drew the audience in more and allowed for a more physical interpretation.

I will certainly re-read the novel and see if I was just wrong about the sense that the play missed so much of the textual quality in Kureishi’s writing.

Hanif Kureishi's The Black Album

Så blev et endnu engang mandag. Dagen startede vanen tro med toget kl. 7.12. Den kørte til tiden og var i Aalborg kl. 7.35, så det blev en tur på 23 minutter helt efter bogen. Bussen kørte kl. 7.38 og var på AAU kl. 8.01. Så igen her var det en tur på 23 minutter hvilket er 5 minutter for meget.

Hjemturen startede kl. 15.37. Bussen var på stationen kl. 15.55, så det var også helt efter bogen. Toget kørte kl. 16.15 og var i Skørping kl. 16.38, så det blev også en tur på 23 minutter helt efter bogen

Dagens nøgletal er:

Rejsetid DSB: 46 minutter

Forsinkelse DSB: 0 minutter

Rejsetid NT: 41 min

Forsinkelse NT: 5 min

Forventet total rejsetid: 82  min

Faktisk total rejsetid: 87 min