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Up Pompeii

Pompeii was stunning. To walk into the town in the morning sun was quite astonishing (especially as we beat the rush).

We didn't actually see it, but there is evidence to suggest that Christians lived there (or at least those sympathetic to them - would there be a difference then?).

Pompeii felt very different from the rather (for me at least) "hostile" environment of much of Rome (I will spend eternity with people who did not have a happy final visit to the Colosseum). The houses, shops and other businesses were cheek by jowl and, even though the 79AD eruption ejected material that pushed the seafront back some 400 metres, a port is visible too.

The closeness of the buildings and the clear distinctions in terms of wealth and status are also obvious, which I find quite puzzling bearing in mind the stark divisions in the society. Sex, as they say, sells. And it seemed to have done then too. Up from the harbour is a house of ill repute with a rather functional design and graphic frescoes to boot. It seems the employees would have been slaves and external graffiti on the building would have advertised their race. The girls were slaves - not much of a life at the best of times. The obvious point here is the extent to which we live quite happily alongside the injustice and dehumanisation that is part of our own systems and world-views. Presumably for those young women the possibility of change was unthinkable.

But, as we now know, change came very quickly for these inhabitants - a little more slowly for the rest of Rome, but it came. Many died protecting their children as best they could from the inevitable, so there was humanity in these people too - just not as we know it.

Also really interesting was the law court area, with the layout and design that in later years Constantine would use as the template for his basilicas and which we still seem to think of as the normative design for a Church building.

Sadly no sign of a blue plaque commemorating the house where Lurcio lived. Salute.

Rev

I found that the first episode of Rev is now up on iplayer. Didn't catch it on Monday because I was working and can't watch it now because...I'm sure you can guess.

Am a little worried by colleagues who regard it as an accurate depiction of their experiences in ministry. I just caught a few minutes of the start - a hangover and jumping a red light on a bike. Perhaps some of my colleagues lead more exciting lives than I do.

Other than that could be fly on the wall from what I could see.

Oh, and our Archdeacon doesn't wear gloves.

Isn't this a case in point?

Synod discusses religion in the media. There are two elements in the debate stated on the C of E web site. Firstly there is the question of the quantity of religious broadcasting;

the overall reduction in religious broadcasting across British television in recent years

and then a second portion referring to the quality of religious output;

to create and commission high quality religious content across the full range of their output, particularly material that imaginatively marks major festivals and portrays acts of worship

Both of these I would support. I have posted previously I'm sure about the tame stuff that gets transmitted, and then usually cut across in a news bulletin by a negative soundbite from the National Secular Society.

I suspect that many broadcasters seem to classify all sorts of cobblers as 'religious broadcasting', including the seemingly obligatory Good Friday or Easter Day Channel 4 debunking of the Christian story...

...but what do we get on the front page of the BBC web site this afternoon?

Have your say "Should there be more Religion on television?" Well if that's the level of religious broadcasting then I'd say Q.E.D.

The Box

The idea of The Box, a BBC sponsored container going on a year long voyage around the world to highlight globalisation, sounded really fascinating. The container will travel as containers do, and a GPS locator allows us to follow it on a map here.

Sadly, though, for the last couple of hours the container has been stationary somewhere south-east of Crewe, and the destination of this leg is (according to the map) a whisky bottling plant in Strathclyde.

So if you're in the market for 10,000 bottles of knocked off Scotch just look for the only container with BBC splashed all over it.

Shocked...

...and stunned.

Farewell then...

...Ronald Magill, better known as Amos Brearly from Emmerdale Farm.

I recall from School somebody explaining how the prophet Amos was a farmer (Amos 1:1) and somebody shouted out "I'll not have it Mr Wilkes, not on these licensed premises"

You probably had to be there...

Heroes

Finally watched the first episode of Heroes which was on BBC2 the other evening, but I've only just got round to sitting in front of.

First impressions are that it is a mic of the "mystery" of The X Files with the puzzled plot of Lost plus the comic books of my youth. Certainly the characters are as everyday as the producers can make them; a cheerleader, an on-line stripper (not sure of the technical term if there is one) who is in serious debt, a druggy artist, a nurse who has nightmares about falling and a geeky Japanese man who sees no irony in his descriptions of himself. Added also is the X Files type mysterious people following others around.

The thing which struck me was the interconnectedness of the characters, even though they were not aware of this. The male nurse is caring for the dying father of the girlfriend of the druggy artist, the geek Japanese man ("Hiro") is best friends with somebody who is watching the on-line stripper and the taxi driving Indian man is being followed by the father of the cheerleader.

The second thing is that if these people are the heroes of today just how messed up their lives are. Gone are Superman's boyhood good deeds in Smallville, or Peter Parker's care and respect for his Aunt (good ol' family values). These are replaced by suspicion and an awareness of something wrong with the world. This mixes in some of the Morpheus stuff from The Matrix.

In September I am doing another talk on the cultural values of today and I am planning to start by using the video for Danny California by the Chilis. What Heroes reminds me of (ok, after only episode one) is the self-containedness of contemporary culture. It has jettisoned many of the reference points of the culture within which Church as we know has developed in the last four hundred years, and needs no outside triangulation points by which to navigate its course for the future.

I did enjoy the first episode and will watch the next one (also recorded). I did a talk some time ago based on The OC (subject given me rather than chosen) and I struggled through half an episode of total garbage to work out the characters. With Heroes I suppose my comic reading youth has some common ground.

Jobs not to apply for...

Another "soap" wedding last night (I only caught a few minutes - honest!). I'm sure there's a PHd somewhere in the representation of occasional offices on soap operas. I'm up for it if you've got the cash to waste.

I saw a bride approaching a Church on Coronation Street, and knew we were in for trouble. This time lots of anguished moist eyes as she arrived and was escorted to the front, and then lots of "what shall I do?" style lip biting and tears, before the bride responded to the priest that she was not willing to be married, etc etc. Her anxiety was clear to the viewer, so why the heck didn't the hopeless vicar notice? He's only standing a couple of feet away!

Who'd apply for a job in Weatherfield, Emmerdale, Albert Square? If you do then you've only yourself to blame.

BB6

So, the contestants for Big Brother 6 have entered the house. Still haven't seen any, but I'm fairly sure it will still be on when we get back...

Looking at the pics on the BBC site I think I could have guessed which one came from Huddersfield without being told.

The Monastery

What an astonishing programme!

I watched the first and last episodes. Sorry, but I couldn't face last week - I had just too much on my plate and in my head.