Kester Brewin

Merry Christmas, dear readers.

A couple of weeks ago my daughter broke her leg. Ouch. I have to say, the A&E (ER) department at the local hospital were brilliant, and the treatment she’s received has been second to none. But as for the administration… Today I had to take her for a follow-up X-ray and consultation. We arrived in [...]

I just watched the Liverpool Nativity on BBC3 tonight, and it was quite brilliant. This was no cynical re-telling, but a contemporary, serious, politically aware take on the Christmas narrative, writ large as public spectacle. Thousands and thousands had turned out to the Dockside to join the spectacle, performed live throughout the city. What is [...]

[Update: following extraordinary scenes where the US contingent were booed by the rest of the delegates when it was announced they would reject the compromised plan, they performed a dramatic U-turn and have agreed to adopt the 'road-map' (wouldn't 'path way' be greener?!). A huge relief. Now we just need some non-automobile metaphors :-] Gore [...]

The usually so-antagonistic-its-almost-funny Time Out seem to have mellowed this year. They gave Greenbelt a great write-up as the ‘best family festival’ and this week have an actually really good series of pieces on religious London: Muslim speed-dating, living in a London monastery, Kensington Temple and a trip behind the scenes at the stunning Shri [...]

On the train to this little drinks thing for an education weekly I write some stuff for, just a couple of stops. Three guys sitting in seats across the aisle: “So, we go from the pub to the match, and then from there onto another pub, and I’m so wasted by now, and then we [...]

Ramping up the fear at my local railway station. Technorati: Crime | Fear

The wonderfully monickered Zoughbi Zoughbi, director of the fantastic Wi’am Palestinian Conflict Resolution Centre in Bethlehem just sent me this short meditation: Every homeless refugee, desperate for a bed for a night, understands the agony of Joseph of Bethlehem. Every frightened teenage girl, pregnant and lost, comprehends the bewilderment of Mary. Every executive, trying to [...]

Andrew Jones posted yesterday about the imminent release of the first film of the Philip Pullman trilogy ‘His Dark Materials’. (Why the hell has is been re-named? Durrr…. ) In the post he leans to siding with Matt Barber, who has written that Pullman’s anti-theist stance is a strong theme, and thus Christians should avoid [...]

A strange and beautiful weekend. We were down in Bristol, seeing some good friends. In one of those marvellous moments, I found myself taking the complimentary tickets of a multi-Oscar-winning animator to see the World Premier of the new score to the 1920′s classic He Who Gets Slapped. Will Gregory, of Goldfrapp fame, had written [...]