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Tony Blair is to become the first President of the European Union. At least, that’s what we’re told by people who claim to know these things. Equally, other people, who curiously also claim to know these things, insist that Tony Blair could not possibly become the first President of the European Union. Read the rest of this entry »
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Moving to a new city is probably one of the most exciting things a twenty-two year old can do. The financial burden is relatively insignificant, and there are a thousand and one new things to experience and explore. Consequently, I must offer an apology to regular listeners, if any, who have missed these letters in recent weeks. It turns out I cannot promise to produce every week, but I hope you will excuse me when I fail. Read the rest of this entry »
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I have never met Winnie the Pooh. However, I have met somebody who once met Christopher Robin, a close companion of Winnie the Pooh. Consequently I often tell people that when they are shaking my hand, they are shaking a hand that has shaken a hand that has shaken the hand that once held the paw of Winnie the Pooh. Unfortunately nobody ever seems to get quite as excited as me when I tell them. Read the rest of this entry »
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The second week of August is generally regarded to be the highpoint of what has come to be known as the ‘silly season’. That is the period of a several weeks when all the newsmakers – the politicians, the criminals, the celebrities, the actors, the protesters, the campaigners, the fellows at the national office of statistics – and, of course, those of us who consume the news: all of us are on holiday. Consequently there is precious little news to be found. Read the rest of this entry »
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Some of the more attentive listeners to this letter will be aware that I moved out of Nicholas Street some weeks ago. In fact, strictly speaking, you are currently listening to ‘A View From Parham Road, in Canterbury’. Some correspondents have asked what I plan to do about this inconsistency. Read the rest of this entry »
Political Correctness is a funny thing. It tends to produce the most extraordinary, and often unthinking, responses from the most unlikely of people. I don’t suppose anybody has taken the time to compose a truly thorough definition of the concept, but it seems that everybody has their own understanding of it. Read the rest of this entry »
[You can listen to this episode here, or subscribe by searching 'James Townsend' on iTunes Store]
Perhaps inevitably, those few months that surround graduating from University tend to be a time when many people offer up advice. Some of this advice is tempting to follow, though I sense moving to the Caribbean and setting up a surf shack may have to wait a few years in my case.
Other advice is well meaning, and probably fair, but rather depressing. The main theme of the advice I have received recently has been something like this: Don’t waste time. Once you’ve left university, you won’t have very much of it. Read the rest of this entry »
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Learning how to teach is a fascinating business. Just a few years ago, I was sitting on the other side of the classroom. It all seemed very straightforward then: explain something to the class and get them to copy down some notes about it. If there was any trouble, a bit of shouting and threatening body language would do the trick. Read the rest of this entry »
Crikey, I am exhausted. It’s amazing how active the role of ‘observer’ is.
Last night’s activities in the Synod Chamber were a pretty dry and straightforward discussion of the reports from the Church Commissioners and the Archbishops’ Council. Apart from the perhaps inevitable resentment towards the central institutions of the Church, nothing much to report.
Later, we moved onto the Fringe events. Us CEYC folk Read the rest of this entry »
Just finished a fish supper in Vanbrugh Restaurant. Very frustratingly, I was a nat’s whisker away from eating with the Archbishop of Canterbury (he was just in front of me in the queue) but somebody snatched him away as we put our trays down together. Read the rest of this entry »
