Find the cheapest copy of my book

I got an email from a friend, Stuart, the other day, saying that he’s managed to find buy my book on WH Smiths’ website for £5.61.  Pretty good going, and much cheaper than both the RRP and what Amazon are offering it for.

Can you beat that?  If you can prove you’ve bought the book for cheaper, then there may be a prize.  Of course, who can say how much it goes for in years to come, if anyone still remembers it – so the competition may be never-ending and I’ll be able to avoid thinking up a prize…

In other news, not only are launch details firming up, but also various dates for readings around the country are being arranged.  More on that soon.

Three films

It’s been film season here the last few days, and Nicole and I last night had our third cinema trip in as many days.  It’s nice to have not just a big multiplex on the edge of town but also the excellent Eden Court, which we’ve been visiting a lot since being made “friends” as a result of a wedding present.

Putting on my best Mark Kermode voice, here are my thoughts on the three film we saw.

A Serious Man

The first was the somewhat bizarre “A Serious Man” from American directors the Coen brothers.  Apparently a metaphor for the book of Job, it’s a film about an American Jewish man in the 1960s who struggles to make sense of his life as he faces personal and professional problems that seem beyond his control.  It features some great characterisation in the form of his family, friends, colleagues and wider community, some dark humour, and fascinating snippets of life in the late 1960s and of Jewish heritage and religion.  Indeed, the film kicks off with a prologue (the purpose of which in relation to the rest of the film I can’t yet fathom) set in eastern Europe and filmed entirely in the compelling and engaging sounds of Yiddish.

The story was strange.  It bumbles along with no entire sense of direction, and the ending is – for me – quite ridiculous.  But I am not sure it matters – the film is simply brilliantly directed, with wonderful camera work, engaging portrayals of the various characters, and some wonderful and unexpected humour.  It was far better as a piece of filmcraft than a story well-told, and I imagine film studies students would pour over it.  I’ve not seen any other Coen brothers films in entirety, and would definitely be keen on seeing others.

It’s A Wonderful Life

The second film was Frank Zappa Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life“.  A quite magnificent film which I’ve now seen three or four times, it’s ostensibly the story of a hard-working and selfless family man who, when things get tough, is shown by his guardian angel a world in which he was never born.

Although hugely popular these days, it’s not universally-loved, and was in fact a commercial disappointment on its release.  Indeed, the portrayal of the main character’s downfall at the hands of a greedy banker was seen as potentially Communist at the time.  And one modern-day review quoted on Wikipedia argues:

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people. It is a story of being trapped, of compromising, of watching others move ahead and away, of becoming so filled with rage that you verbally abuse your children, their teacher and your oppressively perfect wife. It is also a nightmare account of an endless home renovation.

Viewed through one lens, that’s all technically true; but it misses out the fact that it’s a delightful story, with a brilliantly-written script packed with loveable characters and great humour; a film that can be seen as a romance, a gentle comedy, a portrayal of pre-war small-town America, an ever-relevant treatise on the excesses of capitalism, probably the best Christmas film ever made, and most importantly to me an embodiment of the Gospel message of the power of prayer and virtue of charity.

Far from being trapped, the main character is liberated at the end of the film by understanding the life-affirming impact his sacrifices have made on others.  That’s a message today’s world needs.

Avatar

Thirdly, last night’s film was the much-hyped Avatar, from James “Titanic… oh and Terminator” Cameron.  Set in the future when humans are attempting to exploit mineral resources on a distant moon, Pandora, Avatar explores a former soldier’s experiences of Pandora and its inhabitants.  On one level, Avatar is a cheesy story with all the cliches and plot holes you’d expect from a Hollywood action-adventure-romance.  But it’s so much more than that, because the film is technologically cutting-edge, with entirely new types of camera apparently used, and the most amazing computer-generated images behind the beautiful setting of Pandora.

A film of great imagination, the native people, animals, plants and scenery of Pandora are rendered beautifully, and the film has as a core backdrop the intrinsic natural link that bonds Pandora and its lifeforms together, with echoes of both the environmental message and commentary on imperialist wars.  The moralising is cumbersome and unsubtle, the characters cliched, but for a film that has jaw-dropping special effects, a passable plot is excusable.  Especially when watched in 3D.

Honeymoon photos

After our wedding, Nicole and I went to Mull on honeymoon, via Oban on the way out and back via Ardnamurchan and Glenfinnan.

We were too knackered and busy (not to mention skint) to go and do anything interesting abroad – maybe a big adventure is forthcoming next year.

The isle of Mull in November may not seem the most alluring prospect – and admittedly, it rained the whole time and everything was shut – but we had a great time exploring, and because it was out of season we had the whole island pretty much to ourselves.

It was a beautiful place to visit – so much amazing scenery, and endless miles of roads where unassuming side roads led to all sorts of interesting places.  Most of my photos are in black and white, to capture some of that abandoned, empty and bleak mood.

Of course, it would be hugely more colourful in the summer but also – from what we’ve heard – jam-packed with tourists.  So I think we got it just about right.

Velvet Elvis

On the train back from Edinburgh on Friday, I finished off the last couple of chapters of “Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell.

Rob Bell is a well-known American pastor, speaker and writer, and is influential in a lot of very modern explanations of what Christianity is all about.  I first started reading Velvet Elvis at least a year ago, and it basically got a bit lost in the book-time continuum and I only got around to finishing it off.

It subtitles itself as “Repainting the Christian faith” and aims to go back to basics, explaining where Christianity came from and what it’s all about.  It rips away a lot of the paraphernalia, the “religion”, and strikes at the heart of the message.  While it’s powerful stuff, it’s often hard to read, and this is why I think I ended up taking so long over it.  In an attempt to write in a very contemporary way, his overly-conversational language is a bit hard-going, his tendency to write in short sentences often impeding the ability to be free-flowing in his message.

I might be being a bit harsh – I actually can’t remember much of the first half of the book (other than one or two very helpful explanations of the culture of the Jews at the time of Jesus), and so perhaps should go easier.  Let me conclude by quoting a very powerful comment from towards the end of the book, with my emphasis added, about what the church is actually for (and what it’s not for):

The church doesn’t exist for itself; it exists to serve the world.  It is not ultimately about the church; it’s about all the people God wants to bless through the church.  When the church loses sight of this, it loses its heart.  This is especially true today in the world we live in where so many people are hostile to the church, many for good reason.  We reclaim the church as a blessing machine not only because that is what Jesus intended from the beginning but also because serving people is the only way their perceptions of church are ever going to change.  This is why it is so toxic for the gospel when Christians picket and boycott and complain about how bad the world is.  This behavio[u]r doesn’t help.  It makes it worse.  It isn’t the kind of voice Jesus wants his followers to have in the world.  Why blame the dark for being dark?  It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn’t as bright as it could be.

Amen to that.

Holiday!

The snow is here.  Lots of it.  Thankfully I got back from Edinburgh on Friday before it got too heavy, and have now finished work for 2009.

Not that things are now quiet – indeed, there are several things I need to do, all of which have been waiting for me to finish work.

Stand by for a flurry of blogs in the next few days…

Thoughts from the dark

I’m on the train to Edinburgh, blogging via the handy WordPress app on the iPhone, Mogwai in my ears, and having already done some work.

We’re somewhere near Pitlochry, it’s pitch black outside, and it’s not even 8am.

So why do the two women across the carriage from me feel the need to be ploughing through a bottle of Bucks Fizz?

Honestly, alcohol at this hour would churn my stomach. Mind you, simply being awake at this hour churns my stomach, but that’s not my point.

Why do some people find it impossible to undertake a train journey without enough booze to feed a street party?

I’ve seen obnoxious Weegies tucking into pre-breakfast cans of Special, hen parties and gangs of day-tripping women drinking wine before most folk have had their tea, and even on one occasion a Highland League football referee set about no less than twenty bottles of post-match beer, aided by a belly that indicated significantly greater ability at drinking than refereeing.

Oilies fresh from a month of rig-based abstinence can be excused their tin or two of Export, and I don’t deny having had the occasional drink myself if coming home very late at night after a long day away.

But to automatically compute that train journey equals lots of drink indicates either an addiction, extreme claustrophobia or an inability to entertain oneself.

Train journeys (metaphorically) fly by for me, as I always have work, a book and my iPhone. But maybe I am just jaded. Or smug. Or both.

Now, I wonder if there’s a Buck Fizz app on the iPhone…?

Wedding photos

It seems ages ago now, but it’s still less than a month since our wedding day.

Our two photographers, good friends Kieran and Allan, have sent us our photos and we have put a big selection of them online on my Flickr.

You can see them via the shortcut web address of http://tiny.cc/varwellwedding.

My next challenge is to go through and upload the honeymoon photos…

High-speed rail

There has been a number of articles in the news in the past while about the forthcoming development of high-speed rail in the UK (most recently this one).  And for those who don’t know what high-speed rail is, it’s rail transport that goes at a very high speed.

The rest of the world has it, and the UK has lagged about a century behind, apart from one small stretch in the south-east of England connecting to the Channel Tunnel.

The plan, it seems to be emerging, is for a link to be built in stages, probably London to Birmingham first, then perhaps – and ideally – a split into western and eastern lines that would take in the big cities of northern England and finish up in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Eventually.

It will be many years before the work starts, and many, many years until it reaches Scotland, as the above article notes.

Many other countries throughout the world have high-speed rail and have had it for ages.  It’s helping people get places faster than old-skool rail, and more comfortably and environmentally than by air.

So I am all in favour; and it’s great to see some movement from the UK government on this front at last, largely via the brilliant Lord Adonis whose passion for a world-class transport infrastructure, and admission that privatisation is why we’re decades behind other countries, makes him one of the few decent politicians Labour has got.

But of course, the chances of high-speed rail going further north of Glasgow or Edinburgh are probably somewhere between laughable and zero, which is a real shame as it will see Scotland being left behind.

On Wednesday, I am off to Edinburgh for work for a few days, and it’s a journey of three hours and fifteen minutes (at best) on line which is often single track and barely faster than the traffic on the A9.  It will seem a long way away from the much-vaunted advantages of high-speed rail travel.  Further, even, than it seems for the rest of the UK.

The next Scotland manager

There is quite a bit of speculation out there about who the next Scotland football manager will be, and no doubt that will increase as the SFA continue their attempt to get someone in place by February, when the next European Championships qualifying groups are drawn.

First up, though, it’s a shame that George Burley’s performance warranted his departure. I was hugely keen on him getting the job as his Hearts tenure suggested he’d have Scotland playing attractive, positive and successful football. Quite why this never materialised, I have no idea, and it is sad that he has had to move on (though it was the right move).

Who next? There are a number of names being touted around, and one big question is whether Scotland should go for a foreign coach.

Dan Petrescu and Csaba Laszlo, among others such as Nevio Scala, have thrown their names into the hat, which are both interesting names. Petrescu has little knowledge or experience of Scottish football, and I am not sure if he would be suitable on that basis; while Laszlo, despite heroically surviving a season at Tynecastle, probably hasn’t convinced enough people of his own merits, other than his ability to talk extensively at press conferences.

Not that I oppose any foreign appointment (Big Phil or Guus Hiddink are of course welcome to the job), but there are more realistic options within Scotland.

People have touted Walter Smith as one option, but the way he dumped the job last time to run back to Rangers won’t have endeared him to the fans, nor crucially has he made himself available. Craig Levein seems to be one of the main favourites, although I’d oppose him for two main reasons – firstly, his current employers Dundee Utd would demand a massive compensation deal, the SFA can ill-afford; and secondly, he’s an excellent manager doing a great job at the moment in challenging the Old Firm hegemony, and the moment he leaves, Old Firm fans will be celebrating. The same would go for other talented managers in Scotland right now like Mark MacGhee and John Hughes.

In an ideal world, we’d go for a Scot like Gordon Strachan, Alex Ferguson or David Moyes – they would be passionate about Scotland but would back that up with top-class management skills and European contacts and experience. Strachan would have been great, but he’s not long into a new job.

One suggestion has been that a big name like those currently plying trades in England might accept the job part-time. This has been criticised as being down-grading the job and not giving it the status it warranted. But as I read in an article recently somewhere (I can’t remember where now), Andy Roxburgh and Craig Brown were both part-time managers – working also in the role of SFA technical director – which is something I never knew. Apparently, Berti Vogts said he’d take the job only on a full-time basis hence the recent precedent. So if Roxburgh and Brown can take us to World Cups as part-timers, so could someone else. But I do feel the chances of tempting someone like Ferguson or Moyes away from their clubs even part-time, or persuading their boards to let them go, would be a tough task, and the wage demands would be massive.

Therefore, that leaves me to tout my preferred choice – former Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood. All the above shouldn’t suggest I am simply favouring him by a process of elimination; I actually believe he stands strong as a candidate on his own merit. For instance:

1. He’s taken Aberdeen into Europe in three out of his five seasons there.
2. He has strong international connections, particularly with the Netherlands.
3. He has helped clubs punch significantly above their weight – Aberdeen and Dunfermline peaked under his management. This chimes perfectly with the demands of the Scotland job, which is to do good things with scant resource.
4. He’s out of work and therefore there would be no compensation required.
5. He’s interested, and instantly available.

That’s my hope; though my money would actually be on Craig Levein being tempted away. The national team’s gain; but a loss to the competitiveness of the SPL and to the coffers of the SFA.

But we shall see…

Long day

Thank goodness it’s Friday.

I rounded off a busy week with a long day in Thurso – leaving in the dark and not really seeing sunrise until I’d crossed two county boundaries, seeing the sun peep out of the North Sea and bathe the east coast of Sutherland and sky above it with beautiful, fiery redness.

Add to that the Bladerunner-esque sight of rigs in the Cromarty Firth lit up against the pre-dawn, and the haunting scenes of wind turbines, abandoned and lonely buildings and thick forests all backdropped by thick, atmospheric fog which has dogged most of Scotland, and it was a pretty sensational journey.

Shame I was driving and didn’t really have the time to stop for photos.  You’ll have to take my word for it that it was one of the nicest drives up the rollercoaster that is the A9 north.

You’ll also have to take my word for it that “backdropped” is a real word.  It’s been a long day so I feel I am allowed some creativity with the English language.