The Nativity Story

So I went onto the web the other night to look up local showing times for this new Nativity Story movie so that I could plan a babysitter so the wife and I could have one of our few trips to the cinema.

When I went searching I was disappointed to see that our local cinema (the Odeon in Kilmarnock) are not showing it at all. The nearest cinema is Glasgow Quay. That's alright I thought, we can live with that, we'll just go after work one night. But no, that's not possible because the film is only showing once per day at 11am! (it has since changed to different times throughout the week but all still during the day). I read some of the customer reviews and noticed that several other people have encountered the same problem and have questioned the fact that there is a showing at midday on Sunday when a large proportion of the people who would like to see this movie are at church!! I read comments like "please tell me why, with a population of 250,000 it is thought that maidstone would not be a big enough town to show a film about the greatest event in history, at the very time of year, when we all remember it."

Not to be put off I checked out some other chains: Showcase (Paisley) and UGC (Glasgow). All have the same story to tell.

How disappointing. Especially since this is not exactly a small budget movie, it comes from New Line (the studio that brought us Lord Of The Rings) is directed by Catherine Hardwicke (of Thirteen fame) and stars Keisha Castle-Hughes (from Whale Rider) and Ciarán Hinds (who was in Munich).

If you would like to read the customer reviews I mentioned they can be found at:
http://www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/film_info/s101/Kilmarnock/m10391/The_Nativity_Story/

 

Film Night

hey great night was that film night last night

Upgrade

Hi everyone!

Blogger being now part of Google, they've had 'Blogger Beta' (the next version) being mentioned for some time now, and it means two things:

We can do more stuff with it (I'm particularly interested in the 'labels' feature - so you can group your posts by topic).

We have to upgrade our sign in. It means creating a Google account - or if you already have a Google account, then you can merge it with your Blogger account. Sorry if this means more geek-hassle for you guys, but as far as I can see we'd have had to do it sooner or later, so I reckoned sooner was better.

Dave

Reminder - Film Night

I can't find the email, but I'm pretty sure our next event is a film night on Monday at the manse.

See you there!

Dave

Just a thought

Rather than address a topic why not just use this space to share generally things which might crop up during a day. Just a place to perhaps let off steam? something beautiful happen? speak freely and openly, no requirement to contribute but if a blog appears which strikes a chord then join in.

At the moment I am finding the very real requirement to conform in my place of work can sometimes mean compromising my personal principles. This is problematic since it means that I'm not being true to myself and my beliefs but, the food needs to be put on the table and the mortgage met. It's all very well to say do the right thing at all cost. On the other hand reality can be stark, better to engage and influence or withdraw and complain about the state of the world as an observer. I knew someone once who gave up a job in sales because of this type of conflict he couldn't live with the daily deceit . I admire his courage and feel that perhaps I might be selling out, the alternative is to stay, stand by my principles and risk being ostracised..............

So ..over to you .... anyone identify with this sort of situation......what did you do? what would you do? is there a balance to be sought? where would that balance be? how far is too far? etc etc etc............

Conference?

Hi, just found out about a one-day men's Christian Conference held at Jordanhill in Feb. It seems to have been going for 8 years so some of you may already have come across it.

The Commission

Do we want to think about going as a group? Cost for the day is £18 if booked by 30 Nov, otherwise £22. This covers teas/coffees and lunch. It's on Saturday 10th Feb from 10-4.

I'll send this by email too so that everyone gets a chance to see it.

Discussion Topic: Fatherhood

Not that I want to be the main person posting on this blog, but thought it might be an idea to suggest a topic to discuss and see what people made of it.

So, Fatherhood. What do you make of it? I know that some of us are fathers and some are not, but what do you think about being a dad? Do you have thoughts to share about your own dad? What excites you about it, or what scares you?
What about God the Father - is that a helpful image for you or not?

(As always, don't share anything you don't want to, or anything you wouldn't like the whole web to [potentially] read)

Personally, I love it. I'm still getting to grips with it (expect that will take 18yrs+...) and there are things that scare me too, like protecting your child from harm, yet allowing them to grow up and learn from mistakes. I worry about doing the right thing, about being sufficiently involved as a parent while still fulfilling other responsibilities... Anyway, don't want to say too much in case I say everything that everyone else might say. Post a comment, short or long, or tell me why this is a bad topic to start with and we can choose something else.

Karting/Bowling Review 14 Nov

Some of us met up this week at 'The Garage' - not the Glasgow nightclub but a bowling alley and go-karting track with fast food joint and bar attached.

When I arrived, I had missed a game of pool 'of the highest quality' or so I am told!

We then had a go on the karts... Modesty forbids me to be entirely forthright about how I did (ok so I came 6th - out of 6) but it was a great time.

We did 32 laps (and they went so quickly!!!) in two sessions - 3 on the track at a time. I think I probably hold the record for being lapped most often. Keith took the top spot by lap time but only about half a second in the lead.

After a period of refreshment... during which we tried to establish plans for the future (including the fabled ski & sun trip to California) we began our bowling. Phil was the most skilful and consistent in the early stages, notching up a few spares in the early rounds, then others started to get strikes which mixed things up a bit. Towards the end, Mark got strikes in the 8th and 9th rounds and everything was a lot closer by this point. I bowled a double strike and a 9 in the last round, which (after an inconsistent game) (I felt) got me to a score I was happy with - I used to do ok-ish but haven't bowled for a while. But Mark won the game in style and indeed finished the night with THREE strikes (FIVE in a row!) - so that makes him a Five-Bagger (apparently. Or is that what you score rather than what you are? Answers on a comment please).

Anyway, it was a good night, I reckon. Anyone got any pictures/video to add? Could be added to this post by editing it or added under a new posting. Also feel free to add your comments or indeed edit the review above if you feel strongly that my perspective needs embellishing!

Welcome

Welcome, Fullarton Blokes, and others!

Since we've recently started to meet together under the banner 'Blokes Blog', I thought - why don't we create a blog for it too?

We can post thoughts, pictures, reviews of previous meetings, plans for the future etc.? Not really sure myself - this is more of an experiment, but it may be especially good to keep in contact when not everyone will be able to get to every meeting.

Also, we can perhaps make connections with other men's groups - I have linked to The Mandate which is a conference held in Belfast every November. This year seems to be sold out, but it could be an idea for next year? (You know, before we do our trip to California!).

I think I've left it so that everyone can make amendments to the template as well as post entries, but am happy to add material if you'd rather send it to me.

Please let me know what you think of this idea and if anyone already does their own blog, let me know and we can link to it from this one.

God bless,
Dave