Povey Prattle

I am having a major computer upgrade, so will take a leave from "blogging" until Tuesday 8th or Wednesday 9th July 2008 Please miss me! jmp

On this “Fourth” I read the Declaration of Independence, as I do every year. Once I had done that I felt ready to hang “Old Glory” in front of my home. Today for you, simply a brief quotation from the best President who never was. “Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” Adlai E. Stevenson

One of my favourite Church bloggers has decided to call it quits. I do not blame him. You can read about this at http://frjakestopstheworld.blogspot.com/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++ I was at Res. House this a.m. for the Thursday Prayer service. On Thursdays I lead this service, and usually also cook a big pot of food to supplement the carb/sugar rich pastries which are the staple diet of Res. House guests. I made a “mess” of pork, turkey sausage, peas and pasta all held together with some “Campbell’s” cream of mushroom soup - enough to serve 40 people. It was greatly appreciated. There were ten at the Prayer service. At least two were (bless them) “Rice Christians”, who hoped for a handout after the service. They were not disappointed as I slipped them each $10, enough to buy a pack of cigarettes and a McDonald's dinner - good indeed if you are homeless. I do not give a shit that they were “rice Christians” - indeed they each prayed with evident honesty. “K.S.” was also th...

Otto the strange: The champion who defied the Nazis Otto Peltzer was a German track hero in the Twenties, was vilified and jailed for his sexuality in the Thirties, survived a death camp in the Forties, then found a remarkable new life in the Sixties. Tim Pears tells the unknown story of the world-record holder who stayed true to the amateur ideal * Tim Pears * The Observer, * Sunday June 29, 2008 In 1962 the male athletes of East and West Germany toured Asia. At the Rome Olympics two years earlier the united team had won six track medals, including gold in the 4x100m and silver in the 4x400m relays. Now the Teutonic superstars travelled the East, displaying their prowess to one undeveloped sporting nation after another. India was one of those nations. India sent few athletes to the Olympics. They only ever won one medal per Games - although it was generally gold - in the men's hockey. The Germans arrived in Delhi, for a two-day competition, and found to their surprise...

Well, I was wrong when I suggested to my friend (The Revd. Dr) Ian Douglas last week that GAFCON (the Global Anglican Futures Network) was fizzling out. GAFCON claims to be "A Church within the Church"? Well there is nothing new about that. Evangelicals in England with their Church Society, and their patronage trusts (Church Pastoral Aid Society, Simeon Trust etc) functioned as such in the C of E Anglo-Catholics did as much with the old Anglican Congresses and their own Patronage Trusts. I am sure that good friend Andrew McGowan has seem the same in the Australian Church, not the least in his Diocese of Melbourne. In fact much of the English Missionary endeavour in Africa was "Church within a Church" depending whether you were an SPG (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) Diocese, a UMCA (Universities Mission to Central Africa) Diocese, a CMS (Church Missionary Society) Diocese, or God help us, a BCMS (Bible Churchman’s Missionary Society) Diocese. Tang...

I was at my Doctor's Office today, and I saw this sign. "All patients who have an appointment with Dr. Dunn or Lynn Griffin please proceed to the check-out area to check-in" It makes complete sense, but I found it to be quite funny. Why was I at my Doctor's Office? I saw her cos I was feeling unwell. Turns out that I have bronchitis.

First, do you know that the words “impending”, “pendant”, “pendulous” and “pendulum” have common roots. Look them up in your dictionary and you’ll get the hang of it. Second, there are impending shortages. The shortages will be due to over-use. There will be a shortage of exclamation marks. Demand for these exceeds supply. Here is an example from the lid of a can (tin) of Bumblebee Tuna fish. Our best albacore ever! Packed with more tuna! No vegetable broth added! First to experience the shortage will be writers in Spanish. For they use two exclamation marks (one inverted), whilst writers in English use only one. Ease off you writers in Spanish. You are using more than your fair share of exclamation marks. There will also be a shortage of rhetoric. Greedy advertisers are using more than their fair share. Here is an example from a packet of “Whisker Lickin’s” cat treats: “There’s A scrumptious Variety For Every Mood! When you curl up with your cat, something truly sp...