Mike's musings

Jo had her first two-course meal today. Bananas and avocado (that's just _one_ course...) followed by blueberries and baby rice (something of a misnomer, as it's just ground up something (rice?) as a starchy thickening agent). She loved it all, anyhow. Just as she's loved some violin concertos (Wieniawski, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky - last movements only), James Brown and Elvis (what _is_ a roustabout, exactly? Thanks, dictionary.com!). Good taste, that girl. She's very fond of the Iris plugin for xmms: it's great for jumping around to, she thinks. She's had another lovely day, rather toothy, but lots of talking, and some more crawling (forward, again). Moo, Jo and I went for a lovely walk (bad nettles, bad!) with Jo in the sling today, and she loved that, too. And just imagine the fun you could have watching the bees in the budleia (why wouldn't daddy let me try to catch them?). It's just fantastic being a dad.

Being desparately keen (and, more importantly, wanting to get it out of the way so that I could do other reading), I've finished off the set (half-)book for the ERMC September weekend: the second part of "Evangelism & Collaborative Ministry" by Sotirios Christou (the "Collaborative Ministry" bit). I started off being very annoyed at it, for the simple reason that it's been awfully badly copyedited (I wouldn't say it had even got to the proofreading stage), so there are missing words, and terribly, terribly badly placed commas. Grr. I got over it by taking one of the chapters (which are very short) and doing the job myself in pencil, which meant that I could then get on with reading it. In the end, I rather liked it - he does quite a good job of pulling in many (largely secular) theories of collaboration, trust and leadership. I wasn't convinced by some of his writing on authority, and got a feeling (unfair, maybe), that he assumed that, in all cases, ordained members of a ministry team should have authority over the lay member(s). Generally good, however, certainly thought-provoking, and it should provide for some interesting discussions at the weekend.

Music today

• Respect - Aretha Franklin (20 Greatest Hits)
• Do Right Woman, Do Right Man - Aretha Franklin (20 Greatest Hits)
• The Old Landmark - The Blues Brothers (Original Soundtrack Recording)
• Dueling Banjos - Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell ("Dueling Banjos" From The FilmDeliverance)
• Weiniawsky: Violin Concerto No.2 - I: Allegro moderato - Joshua Bell (Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto & Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2)
• Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto - I: Allegro moderato - Joshua Bell (Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto & Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2)
• III: Allegro con fuoco - Joshua Bell (Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto & Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2)
• III: Finale: Allegro vivacissimo - Joshua Bell (Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto & Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2)
• Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, op.64: III. Allegrettonon troppo - Leila Josefowicz (Mendelssohn Glazunov Violin Concertos)
• A Mess Of Blues - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• Always On My Mind - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• American Trilogy - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• BONUS: I'm A Roustabout - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• BONUS: Rubberneckin' (Radio Edit) - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• Bossa Nova Baby - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• Don't Cry Daddy - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• I Feel So Bad - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• I Forgot To Remember To Forget - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• I Got Stung - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)
• I Need Your Love Tonight - Elvis Presley (NoTitle)