It's amazing how many things we believe without checking for ourselves (No, this isn't going to be an atheist rant, although parallels could be drawn)
In cooking, for example, people are still convinced that sealing meat will keep in the juices. In fact the opposite is true. People still waste time sifting flour to 'trap air in' and still salt their aubergines, even TV cooks now say this is unnecessary.
Brewing is another area, there are all kinds of do's and dont's you hear parroted without anyone actually checking for themselves. Luckily, partly through laziness, I've always been a little sloppy in my brewing techniques and haven't yet produced a bad brew. With only one exception, when my pale malt had been hanging around too long and the resulting beer was rather soapy tasting, I have never produced a beer that wasn't as good as something I've been served in a pub and enjoyed.
My most recent 'happy accident' was when I found I had no yeast left and resorted to a sachet of Tesco bread yeast. It fermented well, as expected, and once cleared it produced a very nice beer. No 'doughy' taste that some suggest would result from it. It had quite a dry taste to it, similar to other beers I have tried. I think the amount of hops I use may have helped the flavor.
My only issues I had with it was that the yeast didn't form a very dense layer in the bottle and stirred up easily when poured, something that is true to other commercial ale yeasts, and it got rather lively in the bottle, priming was certainly unnecessary!
I liked it so much, not least the economy, that I have used some that I collected from the secondary fermenter to start my next brew. This time I will put it in a barrel for a while to clear before bottling and maybe skip the priming. This one will be going with me to Cropredy Festival next month so fingers crossed it will be a good one.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Sunday, 22 May 2011
A few projects.
I have been working on a couple of little projects lately.
First up, a bureau PC case. The bureau was off Ebay, £26, bargain! The PC itself is in the middle drawer. I had to cut a hole for the fan and another to feed all the leads through.
I built a small box to fit one of the pigeon holes and covered it with leather, into this I fitted the DVD drive, card reader, USB hub and 'on' button. It still needs a bit of tidying up, maybe some thin brass rod around the edge of the box to make it look a bit neater, but overall I'm pleased with the result.
Elaine had been on about a padded headboard for a while. When some CD printing kit was delivered to work the other week it was packed in some foam rubber and looked perfect for the job. I cut a piece of board to size, attached the foam rubber and stapled over a piece of cloth that Elaine chose. Not bad for under £20 and 30minutes work and best of all Elaine's happy!
Finally an idea for a cloche I saw on someones allotment . The frame is made form pressure treated wood, the top is a couple of canes, tied to the frame and the netting is draped over. Different sized canes can be attached to change the length according to what I need and it keeps the sparrows and butterflies off my crops!
First up, a bureau PC case. The bureau was off Ebay, £26, bargain! The PC itself is in the middle drawer. I had to cut a hole for the fan and another to feed all the leads through.
I built a small box to fit one of the pigeon holes and covered it with leather, into this I fitted the DVD drive, card reader, USB hub and 'on' button. It still needs a bit of tidying up, maybe some thin brass rod around the edge of the box to make it look a bit neater, but overall I'm pleased with the result.
Elaine had been on about a padded headboard for a while. When some CD printing kit was delivered to work the other week it was packed in some foam rubber and looked perfect for the job. I cut a piece of board to size, attached the foam rubber and stapled over a piece of cloth that Elaine chose. Not bad for under £20 and 30minutes work and best of all Elaine's happy!
Finally an idea for a cloche I saw on someones allotment . The frame is made form pressure treated wood, the top is a couple of canes, tied to the frame and the netting is draped over. Different sized canes can be attached to change the length according to what I need and it keeps the sparrows and butterflies off my crops!
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Eleanor Rigby ukulele
A simple instrumental version of Eleanor Rigby. Unfortunately my webcams microphone sucks!
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Thoughts about a gay daughter.
My daughter read this blog the other day (I'm glad someone did!) and was disappointed she wasnt mentioned. I promised i would rectify the situation and suggested I should share my thoughts on her coming out; so here goes.
I guess the only sign I might have picked up on was that she never had a boyfriend, plenty of boys who were friends, but never anyone special. I know all dads think their daughters are beautiful, but even allowing for that I didnt see why she hadnt found anyone. I didnt know whether to be worried or relieved!
At one point she was attending a local evangelical church with a friend. One afternoon we were watching 'Will and Grace' and I commented that the church she was going to probably wouldnt approve of it because of the gay characters.
"But people are born that way, how can it be wrong?" she asked
"I know its silly, but because it says it somewhere in the Bible they think its true"
A couple of weeks later civil partnerships were legalised and that Sunday she came home and said "You were right, they started going on about the 'great sin' that Elton John had committed. Its lucky they couldnt see my face!"
I think that was the last time she went to church.
It was some time later when she was at college that we found out what was going on.
I got home from a late shift one evening and She came downstairs, obviously distressed about something. Elaine and I assumed that maybe something had happened with one of her friends. Once, when one had been taken into care she was very upset and the way she was acting seemed similar.
"Why is this so hard?" she asked as we tried to get her to tell us what was on her mind.
"Maybe you could try Charades?" I suggested
"Dad, there's not an appropriate mime for it!"
She took a deep breath and said,
"I'm gay"
I, of course did what any supportive, liberal dad would do in this situation, I laughed! In my defense we had had this joke before and I assumed this was the ice breaker before she admitted she was pregnant, an addict, a creationist or tory; or whatever horror she could have been hiding.
"No dad, I'm serious, I'm gay"
I must admit, it took a couple of minutes to take it in. Life had suddenly changed for us. I'm glad to say I wasn't upset or disappointed. I loved her just as much as I ever did but, but the information still took a little processing.
The three of us sat on the settee and chatted about it.
"How long have you known?"
"The last year for definite, but I think I always knew"
"You could have told us before, you know we wouldn't have been upset"
"I know, but its difficult"
"I got this tattoo because I love you" said Elaine, indicating the flower fairy she had recently had done "and I still do"
"Yes" I said "I'll get the brillo pads and bleach!"
"Is this my fault because it was me that got you watching Xena?" I inquired.
It was a relief that we could joke about it!
The hardest part was not being able to tell anyone else, only her closest friends knew at this point and she wasnt ready for anyone else to know.
Thankfully this changed after we went away for a weekend and she had the house to herself and held a party. She finally got the courage to tell all her friends and was relieved to find none of them were worried by it. We were then able to tell her grandparents and the rest of the family. Thankfully, no one was phased by the revelation and all have been supportive.
This was a couple of years ago and now its so much a part of our lives that we rarely comment on it. She is at Uni now with her girlfriend and I think the social seen up there has helped her to come to terms with herself.
One thing that did surprise her was that one of the first theology students she met is a lesbian, I think that was a bit of an eye opener for her!
The only time I get annoyed is when I hear of people trying to use their religion to justify their prejudices and I shudder to think of what it must be like for a gay person brought up in a family that holds homophobic views.
It seems that attitudes are changing for the better in this country, I hope it continues.
I guess the only sign I might have picked up on was that she never had a boyfriend, plenty of boys who were friends, but never anyone special. I know all dads think their daughters are beautiful, but even allowing for that I didnt see why she hadnt found anyone. I didnt know whether to be worried or relieved!
At one point she was attending a local evangelical church with a friend. One afternoon we were watching 'Will and Grace' and I commented that the church she was going to probably wouldnt approve of it because of the gay characters.
"But people are born that way, how can it be wrong?" she asked
"I know its silly, but because it says it somewhere in the Bible they think its true"
A couple of weeks later civil partnerships were legalised and that Sunday she came home and said "You were right, they started going on about the 'great sin' that Elton John had committed. Its lucky they couldnt see my face!"
I think that was the last time she went to church.
It was some time later when she was at college that we found out what was going on.
I got home from a late shift one evening and She came downstairs, obviously distressed about something. Elaine and I assumed that maybe something had happened with one of her friends. Once, when one had been taken into care she was very upset and the way she was acting seemed similar.
"Why is this so hard?" she asked as we tried to get her to tell us what was on her mind.
"Maybe you could try Charades?" I suggested
"Dad, there's not an appropriate mime for it!"
She took a deep breath and said,
"I'm gay"
I, of course did what any supportive, liberal dad would do in this situation, I laughed! In my defense we had had this joke before and I assumed this was the ice breaker before she admitted she was pregnant, an addict, a creationist or tory; or whatever horror she could have been hiding.
"No dad, I'm serious, I'm gay"
I must admit, it took a couple of minutes to take it in. Life had suddenly changed for us. I'm glad to say I wasn't upset or disappointed. I loved her just as much as I ever did but, but the information still took a little processing.
The three of us sat on the settee and chatted about it.
"How long have you known?"
"The last year for definite, but I think I always knew"
"You could have told us before, you know we wouldn't have been upset"
"I know, but its difficult"
"I got this tattoo because I love you" said Elaine, indicating the flower fairy she had recently had done "and I still do"
"Yes" I said "I'll get the brillo pads and bleach!"
"Is this my fault because it was me that got you watching Xena?" I inquired.
It was a relief that we could joke about it!
The hardest part was not being able to tell anyone else, only her closest friends knew at this point and she wasnt ready for anyone else to know.
Thankfully this changed after we went away for a weekend and she had the house to herself and held a party. She finally got the courage to tell all her friends and was relieved to find none of them were worried by it. We were then able to tell her grandparents and the rest of the family. Thankfully, no one was phased by the revelation and all have been supportive.
This was a couple of years ago and now its so much a part of our lives that we rarely comment on it. She is at Uni now with her girlfriend and I think the social seen up there has helped her to come to terms with herself.
One thing that did surprise her was that one of the first theology students she met is a lesbian, I think that was a bit of an eye opener for her!
The only time I get annoyed is when I hear of people trying to use their religion to justify their prejudices and I shudder to think of what it must be like for a gay person brought up in a family that holds homophobic views.
It seems that attitudes are changing for the better in this country, I hope it continues.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
It Never Rains!
A good start to 2011, our back doors lock is broken, the head gasket on my car has gone and the heating engineer has told us our boiler needs replacing! I think I need a drink!
On the bright side I did order a new lens for my camera, a sigma 18-250mm. I've been after one for ages. Thankfully it was ordered before all the unexpected expenses. I feel guilty but I'm sure I will get over it!
On the bright side I did order a new lens for my camera, a sigma 18-250mm. I've been after one for ages. Thankfully it was ordered before all the unexpected expenses. I feel guilty but I'm sure I will get over it!
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Some Background.
I feel I should make it clear from the start that I have no problem with people holding religious beliefs. I have met many wonderful people who are religious in one form or another, as well as some who were thoroughly unpleasant. I have met people who's lives have been turned around by their religious experience, were in others it seems to feed there psychological problems. I feel in some ways my time within the church has improved me.
The reason for these posts is more a way for me to get my head around the changes I have been through and not to try to prove everyone else wrong or try to damage other peoples faith. If there is one thing I have learnt it is that there are few absolutes in life. I am quite open to the possibility of my views changing again in the future.
I hope I may attract readers from all worldviews, whether militant atheist, fundamentalist Christian, or any of the many shades of gray in between. I hope I will learn something from everyone.
So, where to begin?
My parents are religious people of the "hatch, match and dispatch" type. They describe themselves as Christian, but only attend church for those all important family events. Neither has any real knowledge of theology and I have never seen either read a bible at any time. My father was for many years a Freemason, which does take some of its ideas from scripture. My mother has a fascination with mediums, psychics and the like.
I converted to evangelical Christianity shortly after my brother did and began to attend a local Nazarene chapel. I was very shy and withdrawn and lacked confidence so I think that the feeling that I was part of something so big had an obvious attraction. Suddenly I had gone from being a quiet kid who got bullied a lot to someone who was friends with God! Sadly I still got bullied a lot but I did start to get more confident.
I got involved with the local Youth for Christ group and even got involved in street evangelism. I joined a Christian rock band, the other members were Pentecostals and and much more extreme than my church. They even got me into speaking in tongues, arguably the lowliest of the gifts of the Holy Spirit but so much easier than anything useful like words of knowledge or healing the sick!
I even became quite keen on training as a Pastor and visited the Nazarene College to see what I thought of it. Luckily it put me off!
The cracks in my faith started to appear quite early, but i plowed on regardless, I suppose I was scared to let go of what I thought I had gained and also scared of possible judgment if I was wrong.
My main problem was with the central theme of our beliefs. That God had created us perfect and that we had supposedly rebelled as a species and now deserved eternal punishment in hell unless we repented and believed in the Jesus that the evangelical church believed in.
I remember reading a letter in a bible study booklet that I had been given. It was written by a young girl of around 8yrs who was scared that her parents would got to hell because they weren't Christians. It really upset me at the time (and still does now, maybe Dawkins does have a point about religion being child abuse) and it seemed so wrong that a loving God could be that cruel.
Another time I listened to a sermon by a more moderate Nazarene Pastor who talked about the old argument of what happens to people in distant tribes who have never heard the gospel. Many I had met said they would go to hell unless we went and converted them, something that did not fit with any definition of a just deity I could think of. But this Pastor said they would got to heaven, by default if you like. I spoke to him after and asked why we bothered sending missionaries to convert them if they were already going to heaven and weren't we actually making it more likely that they would go to hell, as many would reject our message. It seemed this had never occurred to him, but rather than giving him pause for thought he just laughed at me.
Once I was stopped by a street preacher who asked me if I wanted to hear the good news. "Its OK" I said "I'm a Christian already" to which he replied "Do you speak in tongues?" I told him I didn't, by this time I had left behind that fad. "Then your not a Christian!" he told me. I asked him where the bible said that and he admitted it didn't but every time someone became a Christian in the New Testament they spoke in tongues. I pointed out that Paul had said "Do all speak in tongues, do all prophesy" his obvious point was that no they don't. At this point he appeared to become bored with talking to someone who had half a clue what they were talking about and went to find someone else to annoy.
I was beginning to realise how varied peoples beliefs were and how absolutely certain they were that there view was the only true one. I also realised this was true of other religions as well, and who was I to say they were wrong?
Other things worried me, the churches attitude to homosexuals, how can you condemn someone for the way they were made? My certainty that I had been miraculously saved from a car accident when I was eight (the car I was in flipped over and I was thrown out onto the motorway and the car landed on top of me, I suffered some bruising and have a blind spot in one eye as a souvenir!) when so many others die, surely God didn't love me more than them?
It took many years for me to finally reach the point were I totally rejected religion.
It was a quote from Gene Rodenberry that finally made me realise I was not alone in my reasoning.
He said "We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."
This summed up all I had been thinking in one simple sentence. As I continued read other atheists quotes and articles I was amazed to discover that nothing I had been struggling with was unique to me.
When I finally realised that I know longer believed in god I was surprised at how easy it was to let go and how much happier I am without it.
I do sometimes get that nagging "what if I'm wrong?" feeling, but as I have already said asked it just as often as a Christian. The only difference is that when I asked it as a Christian I struggled to find a satisfactory answer, now I find it easy to think through my doubts and reject those doubts.
Some believers will no doubt argue that as a christian my doubts were caused by the devil and I have been fooled by him and that now my doubts are the "still, small voice of God". It amazes me how weak and powerless they feel their God is compared to the Devil!
So, that is essentially the story so far. I have rambled a bit and there is much more I could have written, but I think I have covered most of the main points. I will be interested to see what reaction this gets.
The reason for these posts is more a way for me to get my head around the changes I have been through and not to try to prove everyone else wrong or try to damage other peoples faith. If there is one thing I have learnt it is that there are few absolutes in life. I am quite open to the possibility of my views changing again in the future.
I hope I may attract readers from all worldviews, whether militant atheist, fundamentalist Christian, or any of the many shades of gray in between. I hope I will learn something from everyone.
So, where to begin?
My parents are religious people of the "hatch, match and dispatch" type. They describe themselves as Christian, but only attend church for those all important family events. Neither has any real knowledge of theology and I have never seen either read a bible at any time. My father was for many years a Freemason, which does take some of its ideas from scripture. My mother has a fascination with mediums, psychics and the like.
I converted to evangelical Christianity shortly after my brother did and began to attend a local Nazarene chapel. I was very shy and withdrawn and lacked confidence so I think that the feeling that I was part of something so big had an obvious attraction. Suddenly I had gone from being a quiet kid who got bullied a lot to someone who was friends with God! Sadly I still got bullied a lot but I did start to get more confident.
I got involved with the local Youth for Christ group and even got involved in street evangelism. I joined a Christian rock band, the other members were Pentecostals and and much more extreme than my church. They even got me into speaking in tongues, arguably the lowliest of the gifts of the Holy Spirit but so much easier than anything useful like words of knowledge or healing the sick!
I even became quite keen on training as a Pastor and visited the Nazarene College to see what I thought of it. Luckily it put me off!
The cracks in my faith started to appear quite early, but i plowed on regardless, I suppose I was scared to let go of what I thought I had gained and also scared of possible judgment if I was wrong.
My main problem was with the central theme of our beliefs. That God had created us perfect and that we had supposedly rebelled as a species and now deserved eternal punishment in hell unless we repented and believed in the Jesus that the evangelical church believed in.
I remember reading a letter in a bible study booklet that I had been given. It was written by a young girl of around 8yrs who was scared that her parents would got to hell because they weren't Christians. It really upset me at the time (and still does now, maybe Dawkins does have a point about religion being child abuse) and it seemed so wrong that a loving God could be that cruel.
Another time I listened to a sermon by a more moderate Nazarene Pastor who talked about the old argument of what happens to people in distant tribes who have never heard the gospel. Many I had met said they would go to hell unless we went and converted them, something that did not fit with any definition of a just deity I could think of. But this Pastor said they would got to heaven, by default if you like. I spoke to him after and asked why we bothered sending missionaries to convert them if they were already going to heaven and weren't we actually making it more likely that they would go to hell, as many would reject our message. It seemed this had never occurred to him, but rather than giving him pause for thought he just laughed at me.
Once I was stopped by a street preacher who asked me if I wanted to hear the good news. "Its OK" I said "I'm a Christian already" to which he replied "Do you speak in tongues?" I told him I didn't, by this time I had left behind that fad. "Then your not a Christian!" he told me. I asked him where the bible said that and he admitted it didn't but every time someone became a Christian in the New Testament they spoke in tongues. I pointed out that Paul had said "Do all speak in tongues, do all prophesy" his obvious point was that no they don't. At this point he appeared to become bored with talking to someone who had half a clue what they were talking about and went to find someone else to annoy.
I was beginning to realise how varied peoples beliefs were and how absolutely certain they were that there view was the only true one. I also realised this was true of other religions as well, and who was I to say they were wrong?
Other things worried me, the churches attitude to homosexuals, how can you condemn someone for the way they were made? My certainty that I had been miraculously saved from a car accident when I was eight (the car I was in flipped over and I was thrown out onto the motorway and the car landed on top of me, I suffered some bruising and have a blind spot in one eye as a souvenir!) when so many others die, surely God didn't love me more than them?
It took many years for me to finally reach the point were I totally rejected religion.
It was a quote from Gene Rodenberry that finally made me realise I was not alone in my reasoning.
He said "We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."
This summed up all I had been thinking in one simple sentence. As I continued read other atheists quotes and articles I was amazed to discover that nothing I had been struggling with was unique to me.
When I finally realised that I know longer believed in god I was surprised at how easy it was to let go and how much happier I am without it.
I do sometimes get that nagging "what if I'm wrong?" feeling, but as I have already said asked it just as often as a Christian. The only difference is that when I asked it as a Christian I struggled to find a satisfactory answer, now I find it easy to think through my doubts and reject those doubts.
Some believers will no doubt argue that as a christian my doubts were caused by the devil and I have been fooled by him and that now my doubts are the "still, small voice of God". It amazes me how weak and powerless they feel their God is compared to the Devil!
So, that is essentially the story so far. I have rambled a bit and there is much more I could have written, but I think I have covered most of the main points. I will be interested to see what reaction this gets.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
The wonders of technology.
Just testing to see if I can post from my android phone.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5
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