Pick of the Week: Positive Russian DashCams

In order to fight insurance fraud, many Russians have fitted dashboard cameras,  known as dashcams, in order to record a viewpoint that may be useful if needing to make an insurance claim, or fight a fraudulent one. A quick Youtube search and  you’ll find dozens of videos, most showing near misses, accidents, or hard to believe footage.

The following video is differnt to the norm, it shows good, positive things happening on Russian streets.

Pick of the Week: Falling Plates

Pick of the Week: HRH Prince Charles’ Message to The BigChurchDayOut

Pick of the Week, and Theologian of the Day, has to go to HRH Prince Charles for being willing to give his time to record a message for the BigChurchDayOut, an annual weekend gathering of several thousand Christians.

“[the spiritual dimension] needs continually to be put back into the centre of our lives.”

Why the Slug?

Why did you kill my friend, Ellie? WHY?

WARNING – this post contains spoilers for the ITV/BBC America TV series Broadchurch.

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I’ve been hooked on Broadchurch. So too it seems have millions of others, and the storyline has been both gripping and enticing, although a little slow in certain places.

But there is one question from the last episode that I, and many others perhaps, wish to question: why the slug?

After finding that it was her husband, Joe, who had murdered Danny Latimer, Detective Ellie Miller walks into her house, once a happy place filled with memories – now the only memory is what her husband has done. Walking into the house, she moves into the living room and, noticing a slug on the floor, moves toward it a crushes it under her foot.

Why? Was there something about this slug that was out of the ordinary? Something that made this slug so special it deserved to be killed; not thrown outside or a slow death through salting, but warranting annihilation through a quick squish.

Clearly and understandably, Detective Miller is under a huge amount of emotional stress. Perhaps she didn’t think what she was doing. Perhaps she saw the slug with a face of Joe. Perhaps the camera angle was misunderstanding and she didn’t even notice it was there. Clearly there is a background to this slug to which we do not have the details at the moment. It may turn out that Joe Miller was into gastropod-ology, the study of snails and slugs. This particular slug may have been his most favourite and prized slug, and after successfully escaping from its pen, Ellie was quick to seek revenge. Now, I’m not fully sure whether snails and slugs would be kept in a cage, pen or a hutch, but in any case, the slug was out on the loose, and Ellie was seeking justice.

Perhaps Joe was very particular with his slugs, breeding them for illegal slug races or gastropod fights to the death. This might have been the strongest and most powerful of his slugs, perhaps even having a name. One might think that if he were to call a slug by a name, it would have to have a name such as Sammy – a non gender specific name as gastropods are hermaphrodites. But even considering this, why was the slug the final thing to die in this show? I would have been satisfied with the last death being that of Joe Miller’s pride and dignity, but an innocent slug?

It is clear from the end of the last episode that there will be a second series of Broadchurch. It’s a little difficult to understand what the main story line could be. I would like to offer a suggestion – as the first series was about a murder, perhaps so too is the second series: why did Ellie kill Sammy the slug?

Does it Matter?

UCB’s I Believe in Easter campaign, seen here on an advertising board on the M6.

I’ve been surprised this year how many people I’ve heard talk about Easter and having ‘it’s roots in paganism’. I’ve heard a lot about Christmas, and for the last few years I hear people and read articles talking about Christmas being ‘rooted in evil practices’, but this for me is the first time, I believe, I’ve heard this about Easter.

My knowledge of pagan festivals, and their traditions, is extremely limited. To be honest, I don’t know about them as I see that I have no need to know about them. What would I rather: knowing about pagan beliefs, or knowing God? For me, Easter and indeed Christmas hold a more important value upon my life than from where they originate or the original meaning of their names. What is more important? The pagan tradition, or the life changing power of God?

Of course, there are negatives to the Easter celebrations, just as there are with any celebration. The amount of chocolate, and the Easter bunny are certainly interesting examples, but the message of the cross is fundamental to Easter; it would be hard to miss it. Up and down the country advertising from churches and other charities show images of Christ being crucified for our sins on a cross. Many churches see Easter as an evangelistic opportunity, and some people may even go to church, just because it is Easter.

There is a great bible verse which has been meaning quite a lot to me recently. It’s not just relevant for the debate over Easter and its roots, but also for everything we as Christians do:

“What does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether through false motives or true, Christ is preached” – Philippians 1:18

As Christians, we sometimes get things wrong and do things wrong. We sometimes hold things of great importance when we shouldn’t, or we don’t hold things with importance when we should. Sometimes our methods are very questionable, and I’ve often cringed at some of the things I have seen churches, including my own, do from time to time.

But does it really matter? Surely our false motives and mistakes pale into insignificance when compared to the preaching of Christ and the gospel? “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil 3:8).

Dyson Release New Technology (Feb 2013)

Dyson today have released their latest technology. Yet again, it’s something that I personally wouldn’t have thought about. Called the Dyson Tap Airblade, the video from my last post gave little indication as to what it is, but the video below shows a Dyson engineer explaining all.

Of the hundreds of different toilets that I’ve been into, and the thousands of occasions where I have been to the toilet, have I ever slipped and fallen on the floor? Not that I can remember, but that doesn’t mean that this is necessarily a product to improve safety. The Dyson Tap Airblade might just be to improve unsightly facilities.
Also, there are many public toilets that, due to size, require some sort of built-in tap-hand-dryer solution. I must confess that most of these that I have used are terrible. The hand dryer comes on before it should, then doesn’t work when you want it to, and of course because it’s not a Dyson hand dryer, it seems to take forever.
I wonder however if this is the first time that Dyson have created a product that could cannibalise their own product line? There may be occasions where a toilet manager may now choose the Dyson Tap Airblade option, rather than going for seperate taps and the Dyson Airblade. This of course does not mean that the Dyson Airblade is obsolete; it does fulfil a fantastic purpose and is always a wonderful sight whenever you see one in a public toilet; especially if there are people there that have never seen them before, or watching a child wash their hands three times, just so they can use the Airblade more than once.
While writing this article, I went to the toilet. This isn’t to disgust you, but just after I washed my hands, turned the tap off and walked to the towel, (which is on the radiator at this time of year) and I suddenly got what Dyson was doing. It’s less to do with hygiene, and more to do with unsightly facilities. Having excess water on the floor, even just a few drops, isn’t very appealing, and some poor person does have to go into the toilets to wipe down the floor on a regular basis, perhaps more often than they are required to do so.
It turns out that the Dyson Tap Airblade is available for home purchase. It would certainly be a talking point with friends, and may also be more hygienic. However, the price is a cool £1000, leaving me somewhat out of the target market.
I wonder though, if Dyson are going to have to recommend a certain type of sink to go with the Dyson Tap Airblade? I’m sure we’ve all seen it on TV and film, if not experienced it ourselves, but there is often that time when the water, due to the shape of the sink, manages to spirt itself all over your clothes, often in an awkward place. Now add the possibility of a high-speed air jet and we’ve got a certain disaster on our hands, or indeed, on our clothes. Time may tell whether Dyson recommend a sink, but I do look forward to the day when I walk into a public toilet and see the Dyson tap for the first time. Sad perhaps, but spare a thought to the poor chaps in the toilet before me when I suddenly exclaim “wow, brilliant!”

A question still remains however for Dyson: where is my kettle?

Pick of the Week: Paperman

Okay, a soppy pick of the week, but a good one.

Somehow, it gives me hope that Disney can still create good stuff and not just rubbish sequels of their original films.