Harry Potter recently rumbled back into town, and the debates amongst the Christian community arose again. To reject the series on principle: because the entire story is set within a world of magic? Or to place it within the canon of British allegorical writers with J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis?

J.K. Rowling is a great storyteller, and I’m one of many who has been drawn in. Her stories, although set in a fictional world, chime with real-world choices and dilemmas. In 2007, with the final book published, Rowling stated that “the religious parallels have always been obvious”, but had not been made explicit, to protect future storylines. The Deathly Hallows was the most overt, so did this translate on screen?

As with the book, this film is the darkest yet. The film assumes deep knowledge of the backstory. Harry, Hermione and Ron (and friends) work together to fight the power of the horcruxes, those parts of Voldemort’s soul, which, if not destroyed, will give him ‘ultimate’ power. In the film, the ‘evil characters’ are particularly powerful. Throughout, however, it is clear that the magical world itself is deeply flawed, with an unjust power structure. Those wielding power are skilfully depicted as imperfect, false, untrustworthy, and downright dangerous.

The film convincingly illustrates the spiritual power of the undestroyed horcrux. In the fight against these dark forces, faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13) are clearly displayed amongst the friends. In the book, the clearest Biblical references are upon gravestones, including Matthew 6:21: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”. Excluded from the film, this would have explained more clearly Ron’s return, as Dumbledore’s gift guides him back to Hermione.

Great stories. Great conversation starters.  July 2011 still seems a long way away, when the final battles commence – onscreen and offscreen!

Written for AHRC/New Generation thinkers bid , and see the remainder of the bid.

The official trailer… looks a bit “Lords of the Rings-ish”, but hopefully not too much so… Part 1, due out 19th November 2010, Part 2, 15th July 2011

Just watched Camilla on BBC Breakfast yesterday. Has been fascinating watching Camilla rising in the public eye, so keep blogging about her, and love seeing how proud her mum is (and so proud of seeing the new site for Debs come together, hopefully before Christmas!). That “leading supermarket” that Gary referred to is Waitrose – lovely! I’d already downloaded the album from iTunes, so had been enjoying it, but now I can listen in the car too (no MP3 player!) – so thanks Camilla for my signed copy of your album! Hope you got a good sleep after your late night and early start – I wish I’d seen you in concert with Il Divo, but I knew I was never going to fit it in…

“‘Life’ will chronicle the extraordinary patterns of animal behaviour and the ends to which animals and plants go in order to survive.

For the first time on television, viewers will be able to see dolphins creating circles of mud to entrap fish, hunting cheetahs collaborating to bring down prey twice their size, killer whales who have learnt to stalk seals and Komodo dragons trailing buffalo.

The series, which took four years to make, will also include epic spectacles such as millions of fruit bats darkening the Zambian sky, dozens of polar bears feasting on a whale and a billion butterflies cloaking a forest in Mexico.

Produced by the BBC Natural History Unit using state of the art filming technology, the show includes strange creatures such as star-nosed moles and stalk-eyed flies “growing” their eyes.

Martha Holmes, the series producer, told The Daily Telegraph: “We have chosen 130 stories from the animal world and the series is incredibly dramatic, with stories that people will identify with.

“Each tale is told from the perspective of the animal. We aren’t just doing broadbrush nature, we are telling individual stories and new behaviour. This is cutting edge evolution. You think you know what cheetahs do – watch this.”

See Telegraph Article.

Finally, the day that many of us have been harping on about! Camilla Kerslake already has a big following online, so now we’ll see how sales of her album go on. I had pre-ordered one months ago, but then Camilla promised to send me a signed copy, so I’m awaiting that – hope it’s not too long, as I’d love to listen to the whole album!

Disc: 1

1. She Moved Through The Fair
2. How Can I Keep From Singing
3. I Can’t Help Falling In Love
4. Rule The World (Il Mondo e Nostro)
5. Rain
6. Balulalow
7. Pie Jesu
8. Panis Angelicus
9. Closest Thing To Crazy
10. Cavatina
11. In Paradisum
12. Largo
13. Weblink

Disc 2

1. Silent Night
2. In The Bleak Midwinter
3. The First Noel
4. Abide With Me
5. White Christmas

I first came across this particular bar of chocolate (new this year) at Greenbelt, and purchased a bar for £1 (which seemed very reasonable, although there was an even better offer of 6 for £5), just to see (it’s £1.69 in shops)! I LOVE raspberries, so thought I might like this, and I surely did. I bought on the Saturday, and spent most of Saturday and Sunday having the odd piece, and chatting with random strangers and offering them a piece. I had been assured that the Divine chocolate stall would remain open on Monday, but when I went back at 3pm, it was all packed away.

Tracking down this particular flavour wasn’t easy – it was only sold by Waitrose (which has now opened in Winchester, so is an option!). I checked out the Divine website, but only individual bars available, so I emailed them, and received a response that it was possible to purchase cases from the Ethical Superstore. Very impressed with that site also, a wide range of goods (pretty much a supermarket on tap), including one-off fruit & veggie boxes (delivered Fridays).

Think I’ll head back when I have freed up some storage space, and have £60 to spend, for free delivery.

Still following Camilla’s journey (and her mum‘s!) as she’s Gary Barlow‘s first signing to his label! Album to be released on 23rd November, I’ve already got my copy, have you got yours?

After all the excitement of all these activities, there was a chance to sit down, relax, and enjoy some home made food, with a hog roast, cream teas and cakes, local ice cream and smoothies available. Visitors gave much positive feedback, describing it as ‘the perfect free day out for the family’. Tim was keen to stress that the day was not a money-making exercise, and that any profits would be given to charity. The purpose of the day was to demonstrate the links between food and farming, the efforts farmers make to work and care for the countryside, and to give visitors a real insight into farming, rather than the myths and half-truths that surround the industry. The event was staffed not only by friends and family of Lewis Partners, but local farmers and businesses who worked together to ensure that a wider variety of exhibits was available. Businesses to which the farm supplies products, including Dairy Crest, Birds Eye, and Silver Spoon, also provided information packs to demonstrate the steps between farm and plate.