tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111007802009-02-21T12:15:20.091ZTo some he's the vicar, Reverend Stuart, on a mission to help people discover the open secret of eternal life. To others he is a writer, thinker, punster and drinking partner. He is Dr Moose - and these are some of his thoughts.Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.comBlogger281125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-33065567688731349672007-09-28T21:32:00.000Z2007-09-28T21:36:23.894Z

Well, after a couple of years, a respectable number of posts and a change of job(s), it's time to change blogs too.That doesn't mean I've actually done anything other than create it, but nevertheless... once I have a few moments (when I'm awake), Dr Moose's random scribblings, reflections and rants will be over at http://2hats1head.blogspot.com but until then I need some sleep!

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-68579334937289836432007-09-21T15:26:00.000Z2007-09-21T15:31:55.808Z

What it says really. We've been here in Northampton for well over a week and courtesy of BT an Tiscali I still have no broadband, and it's driving me absolutely crazy! I don't know how much time I'm going to have to be able to sneak into Internet cafes, and I don't have a university ID yet.Stll, we're alive. Lucy's at school, and settling with plenty of tears and uncertainty. Becky has just about

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-80898120429502407732007-09-05T19:55:00.001Z2007-09-05T19:58:55.728Z

(Cue Bee Gees music!)Still alive, but with a move due on Tuesday, and still having to work through to Sunday, I hope you'll understand why I've not said a lot recently!Greenbelt with the family was a qualified success, but that comes of having a 5 year old and an 18 month old as part of the package. They are not going next year, but I am!Too much happening and not enough time... or motivation at

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-55430796656396464682007-08-23T21:54:00.000Z2007-08-23T21:55:57.054Z

Right. GB here we come. We're all packed. The stress is lifting. See you all at the races!Mine's a pint of Hobgoblin, and if they don't have that, well, I'll just have to stoop to the organic cider at 8% abv.Cheers!

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-4522462799342120742007-08-22T15:47:00.000Z2007-08-22T15:53:10.632Z

Well, it's Wednesday before Greenbelt. The weather here is distinctly odd. The tent can't be properly aired, there's nowhere really big enough to put it. The hire car can't be collected until tomorrow.We are still getting removal quotes. The diocese has gone to sleep. MLPK is pretty much asleep. I want sleep. We still have no confirmation of LM's school place.Am I worried? Strangely, no. But the

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-67527037122102138152007-08-16T10:35:00.000Z2007-08-16T10:37:43.530Z

Not quite what you might expect, but it tickled me. Advanced maths, popular puzzles and theology lite!Good for a Friday, any way!

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-88988906108263693782007-08-15T11:59:00.000Z2007-08-15T12:34:57.046Z

At last! I can now officially tell the world (or that tiny portion of it which reads my scribblings!) that which was the worst-kept secret in MLPK - to wit, I HAVE A NEW JOB! :)In early September the herd of Moose will be striking northwards to sojourn once more in the East Midlands, in Northampton to be precise, which may or may not be a city, depending upon who you ask!On September 23rd I'll be

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-26105323594467653202007-07-20T09:08:00.000Z2007-07-20T09:14:58.411Z

I'm trying to write the latest letter for one of the local publications in MLPK, and have just checked the letters for the last few years. (Whether I'm trying to find something to steal or trying avoid repetition I'll leave you to decide!)However, having read last August's I thought (in my vanity) that maybe it deserved an airing - to prove I'm still alive and, if nothing else, to remind us about

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-43314276253851646512007-07-12T12:30:00.000Z2007-07-12T12:52:25.542Z

What ho! Shocking news, old boy. That well-known purveyor of fascist propaganda, Borders, is up to it's beastly old tricks again. Peddling offensive literature about those chaps of a different skin colour, what?Or put it more simply the Campaign for Racial Equality want to stop us reading Tintin!I should add at this point that I've never been a great fan of Tintin, but this does seem a tad silly.

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-85786911002755680262007-07-12T11:53:00.000Z2007-07-12T12:19:20.317Z

I heard on the radio the other day that a good dairy was one which was written with no real readership in mind. Just written, whether as an obsession, an aide memoire or as a cathartic activity made no difference. Which just about sinks most political diaries these days, like Alistair Campbell's for example.It made me wonder a little where blogging fitted in. Blogging, as has been written by far

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-91751244195443056482007-07-10T20:31:00.000Z2007-07-10T21:22:34.639Z

It's fascinating how words find new, but related uses.Only in the last few years have I come across the use of canon and canonical lifted from the ecclesiastical and into the realm of Role-Playing Games. It seems to be applied especially in cases where there is an extensive corpus of published works, from a variety of sources. Hence there is the Traveller Canon (although I'll have to be a pedant

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-82342051119545817122007-07-10T16:09:00.000Z2007-07-10T16:14:03.677Z

I was in the middle of writing a post, which will hopefully soon appear, about yesterday's peregrinations, when who should appear but GLW, clutching a tasty-looking piece of white chocolate. Except that somebody agreed with me - there being a series of little nibble marks.Yes - we have a mouse!(Should come as a surprise at all - Cat-who-owns-this-human has a habit of bringing them in.... and then

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-31483812970501886742007-07-10T14:24:00.000Z2007-07-10T20:31:22.622Z

Very tired today after "investing" my day off in a trip to Grand-Parental Midlands City. It's not that I mind driving, I don't, but the M1 and the M25 are a rather potent combination, although moreso coming South than going North. I'm very glad I had a reasonable run up and a good time there, because it felt like we crawled en masse all the way between the M1 and well-beyond the M11 junctions of

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-36108315757980882362007-07-03T09:12:00.000Z2007-07-03T09:16:34.341Z

Some excellent stuff from St Casserole.Done for laughs, but as with all humour many a true word is said in jest.Go read, and don't forget the comments.On a more serious note: why don't I ever think in these terms? Answer: because I'm burning out and need that change.

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-12964816541913809792007-07-03T08:23:00.000Z2007-07-03T08:42:43.949Z

Funny things, labels. They tend to stick. To the exclusion of anything else. Names and associations from the Bible still have weight, embedded in culture, even if the culture has apparently moved on. For example, have you ever met a Judas? I haven't.And today the Church remembers another labelled individual. Thomas, rarely referred to without his prefix, "Doubting" Thomas. The one apostle who as

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-59510630258952909402007-07-02T07:46:00.000Z2007-07-02T08:02:07.009Z

It's probably the sign of a fizzing brain - which is a very good thing on a Monday morning as I might get some quality creativity done - that I picked up on the following point on the news.The body representing Fertility Specialists across Europe is calling for a harmonisation of standards across countries to enable equality of access to services. Which is all well and good, I suppose (although

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-10124438202427704842007-06-27T12:28:00.000Z2007-06-27T12:33:32.940Z

I have just heard, via the delights of email, that GrandParental Midlands City post wants me for interview. Not bad for the day after applications closed! (What do the others know that I don't?)The only real question in my mind is... will the other candidate be another middle-aged woman? (Not that I have anything against middle-aged women, of course!)This is unquestionably Good News. Prayers

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-15298223087054503822007-06-24T20:13:00.000Z2007-06-24T20:16:47.343Z

You will either get this or you won't... but I think I'd book a place (if GLW would let me!):)HT to Darran at The Tavern

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-41538542891706340692007-06-23T13:41:00.000Z2007-06-23T14:16:07.945Z

The title says it all really. I have a talk for Tea Time Worship, but that's usually a little less difficult since I tend to use only the one text. Sunday mornings are, however, a different matter. Since I see scripture as important we tend to use the three readings (although not, in common with much Anglicanism to my experience, the psalm... but that's a separate point).It's not that the

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-88524443869237030672007-06-17T21:55:00.000Z2007-06-17T21:58:13.725Z

NERD!(apparently)I have to admit to being slightly surprised, but nevertheless...

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-10458155483058363272007-06-15T09:44:00.000Z2007-06-15T15:41:28.073Z

I had earlier this week one of those things that has been increasingly rare of late. That was a trip into London. As a man who is on record as saying that he would rather work abroad than in London that may seem a little strange. Maybe I've changed, but I still wouldn't want to have to commute into the Big Smokeless.The occasion for the trip was our annual Deanery Chapter excursion. The first one

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-17732225830056440272007-06-15T09:14:00.000Z2007-06-15T09:39:13.832Z

(with apologies to Bill Bryson)I think that most people who know me would consider me a relatively gentle soul. I mean, I have been known to terminate bluebottles, wasps and ants with extreme prejudice, but generally speaking I rarely wish ill on any one or anything for very long. Even as I write this I've had to stop and rescue a sparrow from the claws of the cat. (Not enough sparrows around if

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-51393549099085994892007-06-10T10:31:00.000Z2007-06-10T10:45:11.767Z

While I would hesitate to call myself a townie, I'm not really a country lad either. My home stomping ground in the Midlands had farmland within easy walking distance (in fact even in sight of my bedroom window for the first few years).But my passing acquaintance with dairy farming doesn't stretch to the phenomenon seen each year here, as scores of foreign teenagers descend on eurosceptic Kent to

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-25965646227016128092007-06-09T16:23:00.000Z2007-06-09T16:46:20.721Z

Just a quick reflection. Here in MLPK there was a "Family Fun Day" today, an event organised by the Traders'/Tenants' Association as a fund-raiser for the local hospice, and, incidentally to raise the profile (and hopefully the income of the traders, despite the presence of a small "market").I'm not one for fairs, fetes and markets, and yet here we have a re-invention of the community-building

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11100780.post-40625855042783589662007-06-05T08:53:00.000Z2007-06-05T08:58:17.688Z

Almost in response to my last post, comes this from the CofE website.And what are we going to do about it? Where can I get several dozen egg-timers from, and more to the point, would I get up to get those who catch the 0530 train to London?Guilty as charged?

Dr Moosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01027877685848693649noreply@blogger.com0