Diversity Central

I had a birthday last week, and celebrated with a few friends round at our place for a BBQ. From there throughout the weekend there were various and diverse happenings, which I shall briefly describe as we go. Firstly, the birthday get together on Thursday...

A small, select band of partygoers were assembled. Eating, drinking, nattering and laughing were all in evidence... oh, and a small amount of dancing too! Photos were taken, with separate poses for girls and boys for some reason.

Then a complete change of surroundings and company as I joined members of the Northumberland church leaders network for a cliff-hanging prayer session on Lindisfarne on Friday.

During the last few days we have also had the pleasure of the company of our young friend Mandy. We showed her the delights of Whitley Bay (including the compulsory Rendezvous ice cream) on Sunday.
Over the weekend we were dodging the extensive thundery showers, so weren't surprised that our field (the council think of it as theirs!) was shrouded in mist Sunday evening.

Then to underline the range and nature of my diverse lifestyle, I was summoned by friend Nick to take photographs of his fitness training session on Monday for the web site I am developing for him.

I Know Your Type #9 Caslon

Caslon's earliest design dates to 1722. Caslon is cited as the first original typeface of English origin, but some type historians point out the close similarity of Caslon's design to the Dutch Fell types.

The Caslon types were distributed throughout the British Empire, including British North America. Much of the decayed appearance of early American printing is thought to be due to oxidation caused by long exposure to seawater during transport from England to the Americas. Caslon's types were immediately successful and used in many historic documents, including the U.S. Declaration of Independence. After William Caslon I’s death, the use of his types diminished, but saw a revival between 1840–80 as a part of the British Arts and Crafts movement. The Caslon design is still widely used today. For many years a common rule of thumb of printers and typesetters was "when in doubt, use Caslon," particularly if no typeface was specified. (Hat Tip - Wikipedia)

Several revivals of Caslon do not include a bold weight. This is because it was unusual practice to use bold weights in typesetting during the 18th century, and Caslon never designed one. For emphasis, italics or a larger point size, and sometimes caps and small caps would be used instead.

With the rise of hot metal typesetting beginning at the close of the 19th century, existing foundry metal typefaces such as Caslon's had to be adapted to specific typesetting technology. This was true again with phototypesetting, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s, and then again with digital typesetting technology, mostly since the mid 1980s. As a result of that, and the lack of trademark on the name "Caslon" by itself, there are many typefaces called "Caslon" with some other distinguishing element, which reproduce the original designs in varying degrees of faithfulness.

In these shoes?

On Saturday I went to The Metro Centre to buy a new pair of trainers. Being a bit of a creature of habit I got another pair of Nike Air runners, which are lovely and comfy, give good grip and are good for my daily 'power walk' (don't do too much running these days!) As I was dispatching my lovely old trainers to the bin, a thought occurred to me.... how LONG had I had these old friends? After a bit of a check through my old diaries I discovered that I bought them in 1990, for doing the Great North Run that year! So I solemnly took this touching photo of 'left and 'right', as I've come to affectionately call them, before sending them to their maker (well, not actually their real maker, but you get my drift). Here they are...

But I couldn't stop there. I wanted to check out where I had been in these lovely shoes, what adventures they had been on and to which exotic spots they had conveyed me. So here is a rough break down of their... and obviously my, journeys:
1990 - Great North Run, Newcastle / Dublin, Ireland
1991 - Great North Run, Newcastle / Norway
1992 - Greece
1993 - Norway
1994 - Norway / Sweden / Finland / Russia / Canada
1996 - Norway / C2C Bike Ride (UK!)
1997 - Norway / C2C Bike Ride (UK!)
1998 - Sri Lanka / Norway
1999 - Sweden / Norway
2000 - Norway
2001 - Sweden / Norway
2002 - Norway
2003 - USA / Sweden / Norway
2004 - Norway
2005 - Norway / France
2006 - Norway

As you can see.... lots of trips to Norway in these shoes, but not much travelling for the last few years. Note to self.... must rectify that!

WWJS - What Would Jesus Shoot?

This from the BBC web site. A snapshot (pun intended) confirming most of what we already know about the extremes on offer in the church in America.

"A pastor in the US state of Kentucky told his flock to bring handguns to church in what he said was an effort to promote safe gun ownership.

Pastor Ken Pagano told parishioners to bring their unloaded guns to New Bethel Church in Louisville for a service celebrating the right to bear arms.

He said he acted after church members voiced fears the Obama administration could tighten gun control laws."

Notice 'unloaded' guns. So that's OK then... we have no intention of actually SHOOTIN' anybody Godammit! We just want to have the RIGHT to do so if we wish.

This took me back to Charlton Heston's famous chilling statement some years ago ...'from my cold dead hands'. Of course the right to bear arms is written into the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, but you really do think they would have made the connection by now between that right and the number of very dead people there have been as a result of it.

She plays, and we dance to her tune...

Our granddaughter, Angel, recently came for another visit. You'll remember that she was here for a few days earlier in the year, and enjoyed it so much that she told her mum that she wanted to come back again "for TEN days this time"! This duly happened, not without a little trepidation I may add, but our fears were unfounded as she behaved impeccably throughout. Sure, she missed her mum, dad and sisters a couple of times, but overall she just had a ball. Grandma was pretty much on duty most of the time, filling the days with trips to the Ice Rink, Sea Life Centre, Swimming etc etc; and Gracie was very happy to see her little friend again.

When she was once again reunited with the other members of her family on their arrival, we were treated to a recital on her new-found passion... namely, the violin. Vanessa-Mae need not be unduly worried JUST yet, but the latent talent is obvious for all to see. Well, at least WE can see it, and that's the main thing!

Congratulations!

Say what you like about the institute of marriage, but any couple who can get along for fifty years have my deep respect. Our friends Gavin and Rosemary are just such a couple, and the other morning I went along to their church to join in the celebrations for this milestone. G & R have been a big influence on me and the Lady Brenda for many years. They are people who 'walk the talk' in terms of their faith, and their love for God and his world is utterly infectious to pretty much anyone who comes across their path.

The Isle of Tiree

This time last week I was on the Isle of Tiree. I went with my buddy Jason who was engaged to shoot some 360 degree panorama photography for the island web site. We had a brilliant time. I fell in love with the place and can't wait to return. We were hosted by our friends Colin and Susan Woodcock, of Blue Beyond, who moved to the island seven years ago and are now pretty much part of the scenery. They are both artists and run a studio and gallery at Balemartine, in the south west of the island.

Colin set up the 'Shoreline' fundraising art project which I mentioned a couple of posts ago, and to which I submitted a painting. There are still a few paintings left to purchase at £150 each, so why not get over to the site now and snap one up!

Our days on Tiree consisted of wandering around the many and various beautiful beaches, looking for suitable spots from which to take the panoramas. Colin was our expert guide and art director, and Jason was Camera Operator numero uno. I pretty much just had to stand around looking windswept and creative, and from time to time carry the tripod.