I’ve been asked to contribute to what might be best described as a theological dictionary of culture – coming out sometime at the end of the year I think – and one of the entries I’ve take on is football, through the lens of perhaps its greatest player, Pele. Nice to be able to pass of watching this World Cup as research.

There are of course some wonderful parallels between football and religion, and I hope to be able to bounce off some of these: the fervoured congregations, the rules and rituals, the tribes, the high-priests, the pain, the exhilaration, the loyalty… Someone explain to me why football isn’t a fully recognised religion?!

It’s England v Germany on Sunday, so this weekend with either be like Christmas or Good Friday…

Colour synaesthesia is more common: sounds or numbers are seen as distinct colours, and some estimates reckon that around 1 in 23 experience it.

And I just wonder if some of us suffer some kind of soul-synaesthesia. All these sounds, words and senses kick off an involuntary response in the spirit that wonders why and how, and wanders, in wonder…

Sound, on the other hand, is a far more difficult sense. It doesn’t ‘shadow’ well, and is extremely difficult to insulate against, far harder than light. Noise is therefore a far more antisocial thing than colour or design. If my neighbour paints their house fuscia, I needn’t think about it much. If they play loud music, I have no option.

Cities are noisy places, and I think this does contribute in no small way to the general tension, and thus propensity for anger and violence, that cities are also guilty of. Traffic noise is perhaps the most pernicious, particularly since it is almost impossible to control (the infuriating 2-stroke scooter been driven past has long gone before any law-enforcement might arrive) and is also so widely accepted.

But perhaps help is on its way. Mathematicians and scientists have developed a theoretical material which would cloak an object in total silence. The implications for this are enormous. Houses that are properly sound insulated. Engine casings that would render vehicles quiet. Headgear, even, that would drop you into a calm oasis of silence amidst the noise and haste.

I wish them all the best in the trials that are to come. And want to sign up for a sheet of it to go over my back fence. Or round the boom-box in the boot of my neighbour’s car.

MPs voted last night to remove the clause that required IVF clinics to consider the need for a child to have a father and a mother – essentially opening the way for women to have the treatment without any father-figure being present in the prospective child’s life.

And a recent report has found that, despite record investment, youth crime has continued to rise. “The government’s record on youth crime and tackling the multiple needs of children caught up in the youth justice system is less impressive than many would have expected.”

And no one suggested there might be a connection.

I am depressed.

Technorati: Crime | IVF

No need to ask about the reasons – it’s our good old friend National Security. Just a wild guess, but I suspect it would get raided every time a crime occurred, to see if there was anything incriminating out there… and that would mean our everyday PC Plod fumbling around with data… and that would inevitably mean abuse of the system.

This from a government whose track-record on data protection has been terrible.

Oppose this now. Spread the word and raise awareness. Phone your MP. Email them. Write to them. And, if you can, get some of that ‘this message will self-destruct’ paper from the movies.

PS – hello lackey in MI5 trawling through suspect material. Yes I am planning to assassinate Bush, and Brown, and I have links with Al Queda, and Osama’s hiding out at my house. NOW. Perhaps I’m just over-reacting having watched a Bourne movie last night…

Links: How to Avoid The Spies Around Us  ¦  CCTV ‘doesn’t reduce crime’  ¦  The All Seeing Soc(i)ety

Technorati: Civil Liberties | Politics

Thanks so much to Shane and his people for sending me a copy of his new book, written with Chris Haw, Jesus for President. It’s gorgeous to look at and hold, fabulously designed, and perfectly balanced between seriousness and playfulness… starting with the title. Why can’t every Christian book be like this? I just hope people get it, and read it thoroughly as they think about the coming US elections.

Worst case scenario: Shane gets asked to be Obama’s advisor on something. As Campolo is quoted in the book: “Mixing the church and state is like mixing ice cream and cow manure . It may not do much to the manure, but it sure messes up the ice cream.” Stay pure and creamy Shane!

Check http://www.jesusforpresident.org for details / reviews / news.

Technorati: Claiborne | Don Carson | Jesus for President | Politics | Poverty | Power | puppy

Sir: After a decade in which the electorate have been treated like idiots; when alternative political visions became a thing of the past and voting became a choice between different sets of accountants or fund managers; when a prime minister takes us into a catastrophic war based on lies, and is not held accountable, when the terrible results of the most obscene and idiotic schemes of greedy financiers are called a "credit squeeze", the people of London elect a celebrated fool.

This is either a fascinating piece of knowing irony or it is the completion of something far more disturbing.

Hear, hear, Mr Curtis of Nottingham, though, despite irony permeating every bloody area of life and sapping its blood, I increasingly fear it is the latter that is true.

I recall something from a review of a work by Kundera:

"In a world where everyone, in order to attract attention, turns somersaults, the man who stands on his own feet will be taken for an acrobat."

We need these tricksters, with their feet firmly on the ground.

“A street party of stencil art”

Leake Street, London Waterloo. 3-5th May.

Technorati: London

Your one-time minister saying some outrageous things about 9/11,

or being married to a man who had his cigar smoked in the Oval Office?

I don’t get it – surely Bill should be the persona non grata on the campaign trail?

Technorati: Clinton | Obama

And people are still seriously thinking of voting for Boris Johnson? Don’t piss about London – this is serious.

Let’s be clear – I really like Johnson. He’s very funny, and articulate on TV. But he’s simply no idea, or experience, of the complexity of running of major urban economy. The biggest job he’s previously held is editor of The Spectator. While doing so he gave a lot of support and work to one Andrew Gilligan. Gilligan currently works on the Evening Standard, and has spent the past 17 weeks writing the most vitriolic attacks on the current Mayor, Ken Livingstone. The Evening Standard is the only proper London evening newspaper, and their hugely biased campaign has been disgusting.

Ken is no angel – he likes a drink, and a couple of his people have been less than perfect – but Boris would wilt in a day under the same scrutiny. Boris is:

• prone to terrible gaffes, mostly on the issue of race. Not what you need in the most diverse city in Europe.

• a political chameleon, who has u-turned his way through elections since his student days.

• a useless economist, who has screwed up the figures on his flag-ship transport joke policy.

• given to violence. It is well known he offered to sort out ‘disposing of’ someone who had offended a friend.

So, London, don’t piss about here. If you live in London, explore the issues properly and I’m sure you’ll Vote Ken, and put Green at number two. The Boris joke is over. We need more than a monkey in charge. And if you know someone who lives here, make sure you tell them to get out and do something sensible with their ballot.

Technorati: Boris Johnson | Evening Standard | Gilligan | Ken Livingstone | London | Mayor