Sarah Toth

Although I'm running the risk of posting a lot, its time for yet another addition. And its a tribute no-less. A tribute to Ms Sarah Toth..

So... Ms Sarah ‘SS’ Toth, Agape ATL extraordinaire. This is a lass known for her love of all things relating to American TV. Indeed, she could even be regarded as a ‘mastermind’ of all things relating to the OC and other similar TV programmes. She is also famed for her love of Coldplay, Guster and other assorted bands. However Sarah is perhaps best known for her highly infectious laugh which has the ability to create the funniest situations this humble author has ever witnessed. And it is marvelous in many unique ways. Ms Toth is also a master of disguise and her repertoire includes among other things ‘The Koala’. Add to that her love of fashion and the great historical text ‘In Style’ magazine, as well as a mean ability to make sweet potatoes with marshmallows, then you have Ms Sarah Toth. Splendid..

A Reflective Day...

So today I've had a bit of a reflective day with some good company and a bit of fresh air thrown into the mix. I started the day pretty early with a much appreciated cup of coffee with Mr Andy Moll.

Ah the incredible view out of Urban Coffee on Smithdown Road, and Mr Moll in deep photographic though...



After that we spent a bit of time in the park, where, as you will notice those elusive daffodils are starting to come out in force. Not all of 'em yet - but getting there...





And then it was on to much appreciated coffee number two, with mr Andy McMinn. Marvellous. Here you will find Mr McMinn and the picturesque view out onto Allerton High Street from Yaffes coffee...

An Announcement...

I'd like to take a wee bit of time to introduce you to a new member of the blogging community and a more prolific blogger.

So the new blogger first. Mr Kevin Hawley, a man who likes to hug things whilst not working for Agape. Kevin has succomed to getting a blog himself and it can be found here:

http://kevinsuccumbed.blogspot.com/

Here is a picture of Kevin hugging a tree.


And then we have Mr Andrew 'Woody' McMinn. Woody is from Birmingham (Ha!) and his blog can be found here:

http://spaces.msn.com/amcminn85/

And here is a picture of Woody.


Now go and read their blogs. Ha. Marvellous.

Commonwealth: Take Two

And yet more sport. Hmm... I reckon Danny T must have put something in that cup of coffee he made me the other day. Or do I secretly just have an affinity for sport?

Anyway the Commonwealth Games just came to an end and England didn't fair too badly, finishing second in the medals table. Of course Australia made us look silly and a bit useless but its nice to be second...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/commonwealth_games/medals_table/default.stm

Ok I hope you are all having an amazingly good day. The picture is of England's gold medal winning badminton players. Marvellous..

Oh When The Saints Go Marching In...

Now if you know me, and if you know me well, then you should be aware that I am not a sporting man. I don't particularly enjoy playing sports, and I won't often go out of my way to watch sports either. However, I do every now and again enjoy having a kick around in the park, and I also have moments when I will watch sport and enjoy it. And I'm having one of those moments right now.

In particular I'm enjoying my home town's rugby team, the Saints, sit at the top of the Super League table having not lost a game, while our traditional arch rivals Wigan languish at the bottom the table.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/table/default.stm (Bare in mind this is correct as of the 24/3/2006 - I will no doubt be cringing in a few months time as Saints begin to slide down the table)

This is a very rare moment indeed as Wigan have in the past, along with Saints, dominated the sport of Rugby League and thus both teams would be normally scrapping it out at the top the table. Its also something to savour given that Wigan and Saints have a bitter, and long standing rivalry. With both teams dominating the sport and coming from towns that are not only very similar in their history and make up, but also less than 10 miles away from each other, there is a lot at stake in which team is doing well and which isn't.

So yeah... Go Saints!!!

Almost daffodils...and Robots???

I'm afraid its back to Sefton Park again, as I haven't really done anything exciting for the past week and a half. I've spent some quality time with some great people, had an interview for Relay stuff and got a wee bit of work done, but otherwise - its been quiet. But still I had my first walk of 2006 in a t-shirt, heading down to the Park. And it was cool. I actually wanted to go and see if the literally millions of daffodils had come out in bloom yet but alas they haven't. Some have managed to get a head start though and here is a few pics of those things...




On a very random aside I had an equally random dream last night. In the dream I was attending an Agape conference - at least i think it was Agape - and in our lesiure time we were put into groups and given some very rudimentary supplies. We were then asked to build a robot, but not just any robot - an underwater, evangelistic, attack robot. I mean... WHAT?!?! WHY?!?!? I woke up and just sat perplexed as to why my brain would dream about that. Whats even more random is that the things we were given to build it were so simple - plastic rulers for the frame etc - and yet the end product was 8 ft long and made of titanium. Hmmm... My very odd brain ladies and gents.

Disclaimer: Obviously Agape conferences don't involve the construction of odd robot things and this is just my slumbering subconsious being very odd. Ha!

Star Student... Apparently

I've been inspired by Ms Stephanie Gillette (www.sgillette.blogspot.com) to give you all a glimpse of my brief 'fame' last year. Ha... Well it was fun anyway, and a real blessing to be awarded three awards. Marvellous. Anyway enjoy my rather random picture as placed in the University of Liverpool magazine, Precinct.

Palm House and Sefton Park

I like the Palm House and Sefton Park a lot. I like them for one, as they have been as much a fixture of my time in Liverpool as Steve Attwell and Evans Sarpong, which is saying a lot if you think about it (I've lived with them both for 4 years now).

Infact they have defined my Liverpool experience right from the start (thats 5 years), and it is with great joy that I can now go down to SP not only for a walk, some fresh air and some pondering time, but also to reminisce about the last five years. Five years of ups and downs, of weddings, of firework displays, of strange laser show things, of friends, of snow, of sun, of football, of bikes, of stars, of squirrels, of ice cream. Marvellous. Here is a shot if the Palm House and some ducks in the Park.

Colour...

I've decided my blog is pretty much devoid of colour at the moment. So here is a picture I actually took a few weeks ago on the way down to Sefton Park of some crocus', which i think are my favourite flower. Not that I am much of a flowers bloke but I like em - got a lot of bold colour going on.

And the other is a quick sketch I did of some hills etc, scanned onto my laptop and then coloured in using the microsoft paint package. Its colourful at least...

Snow, Glorious Snow

Another day and yet another blog.

WHAT is going on with all of this snow? It is very,very, very cool. But seriously, what is going on. When people say that you don't get snow in Liverpool or the north west they are being honest.

If you are wondering what on earth I am talking about then it snowed today. As in really snowed. There were a good few inches of proper powdery snow this morning, which made going to Church a bit more akin to an expedition than a Sunday morning saunter.

Evans' post-bike covered in snow...


Neil and I as we headed out into the wilds on the way to Bridge Chapel...


Allerton high street looking an awful lot more like some place much colder and bleaker - Canada say... Ha!


It really was cold waiting for that bus...


And I even ran into one of Mr Pumpernickel's friends, Mrs Tillytop up visiting for the weekend...

Chester

Today I went to Chester with some Americans. Oh and a British person. This is becoming quite a common occurance and I like it. Here are some photos of the day.

They are all in black and white as the light was bad. Therefore bad light=black and white. Good tip for you all there and it also rhymes. Splendid.

To begin one of the last pictures I took, but its of the clock tower on the main shopping street and its also by default probably the most recognisable feature of Chester....

Sarah Toth, Agape ATL, sat in Starbucks looking very pensive. Obviously thinking about the new fashions being discussed in the massive 'In Style' magazine KC's mum had sent over from America recently. Seriously guys that magazine was HUGE... Glad you could take time to chill out though Sarah...

And then its back to scenic Chester. Me and Andy Moll had time for a bit of wander around the city walls and these are some of the results of that walk. This was a fairly nice looking building by the city 'Castle', which is itself a bit of disappointment. But yeah... This is a fairly nice looking building...


The token 'arty' photo... Oooohh... Ahhhhh...


This is a rather spiffing shot of the River Dee...


A building with a great message...


And after all that walking around the walls and the city, we went home on a state of the art British train... Awesome.

Danny Temlett...

Every once in while the time comes to record something of great importance. And today is one of those moments as today is the day in which the great man Daniel Temlett will be blogged. Ah yes, yes, yes innit.

Daniel James Temlett is man with many guises. In the most recent years he has been referred to as 'Grampy Limps' (not sure where you were going with that one Brit, but hey) and 'The Big Baby'. But he is an ancient man, and like all ancient men is therefore a man of many depths and many other names. However I think i will be poked to death if I list the name he went by at Bridge Chapel a few years back. Feel free to ask him though...

Mr Temlett is one of my housemates, a veteran of two years in the Chateux de Hallville, and its a privillege to live with him. His old age has granted him an immense amount of wisdom, and his faith is often an inspiration to us meer youngsters.

However, it is Danny's age that is the most frequently discussed topic, and this is visible in his relative lack of hair - ha! It also brings with it many interesting quirks such as Ugg Boots, his old man jumper and his 'unique' levels of fitness when he plays sport. Ha.. Just kidding Danny - you are indeed much fitter than me, but still... You need to take it easy old chap.

So that is a very short written description of Mr Danny T. Now for a specialist in-depth look at Danny in the house. Over the last few months Danny has developed a love of all things relating to cheesy bagels.

The cheesy bagel..


It is almost impossible to note here of Danny's love for all things cheesy bagel, something that in the last few weeks has accounted for 98% of his weekly diet. So instead i will show you the lesser-spotted Daniel preparing and enjoying his favourite delicacy...

Firstly, we find the Daniel carefully placing delicate slices of cheese on the sliced bagel...


Then Danny, in a feat of 'daredevilism', places the bagels under the lighted grill with his eyes closed! Don't try this at home though folks - this man is a cheesy bagel specialist...


Using his expertise the Daniel succeeds in placing the bagels on the grill, but is so excited at the prospect of eating them that he is unable to leave the cooker unattended, never letting those tasty morsels out of his sight..


And then, after a few short minutes the bagels are ready, the highlight of Mr Temlett's day. Look at the evident joy on his face...


Mmmmmmmm.... Bagels....



And that folks is a wee insight into the world of Daniel J Temlett.

Letters from America

Well, although I am very fortunate to be in a position whereby I can talk about 'letters' or 'e-mails' that I have recieved from US, that isn't what I want to talk about here.

Rather I'd like to give you a few quotes from a book i've been reading called 'Letters from America' written by a bloke called Alistair Cooke. Cooke was an Englishman born-and-bred (and a northern one at that), but moved to the US in his early twenties to work as a correspondent for the BBC. He liked it so much that he stayed and even became an American citizen, continuing to report back on American life for the BBC. And the excerpts that follow were made by him as an American citizen, beginning in the 1940s - the book itself goes on to 2004. Enjoy:

'One of the most irritating troubles about Americans, in violation of the best advice of the best English divines, is that they just don't believe that whatever is uncomfortable is good for the character.' This made me laugh as I am forever reminding KC that things are 'character building'. For example the British weather, or walking around this lake when it was very cold...


'The Americans, who were then in the downy youth of their nationalism, being only twenty-seven years old, had an itch to flex their muscles and get into a fight with the Champ - Great Britain, need I say. They had neither the army, the navy nor the money to fight anybody, and the British regulars landing in Maryland joined up with the British Marines stationed in Chesapeake Bay, who broke their snooze, yawned slightly and walked forty miles to Washington. There they calmy burned down the Capitol, the White House - then known as the President's Palace - and the rest of the new public buildings that in those days were all that distinguished Washington from a fishing town on a marsh. It must have been a very humiliating event, for the President and his wife had to lodge in a boarding-house, and Congress was forced to meet in the Post Office, which had (in the general boredom of the undertaking) been overlooked.' This is talking about the 1812-1814 War, something that doesen't even get taught in Britain (we are too often preoccupied by the fact that we were fighting the French at this moment in time), and again it just seemed a very amusing description of a very rare event.

I would just like to note here that Americans are great, and that I, and Mr Cooke have a real affinity with a lot of things about American life. But these two comments just made me chuckle. There you go...

Snow...

What is going on with all of this snow in Liverpool? So very, very odd. Nice. But odd.

I awoke today to again find white stuff on the ground. And on my car, and in the road. Hmm... Odd.

An Epic Post...

So todays post is going to be a biggie. I had a great day today. Infact i've been having a good few weeks. The Lord is good. I feel blessed, and after a long, hard few months I feel that i've returned to some semblance of normality. It makes me want to let out a collective sigh of epic proportions, sit down in my big comfy chair in my room with a cup of coffee and read an enjoyable book. Which conveniently is what i have been doing. I finished Band of Brothers the book yesterday and loved it. A great story and in much greater detail than the tv series (which I still think is brilliant). And... I have another two cool books to read yet. 'The Screwtape Letters' by C.S. Lewis, and 'Letters From America' by a British guy called Alistair Cooke who lived in the US reporting on life there to people in Blighty for nigh on 50 years. Intriguing.

Anyway. So today was a lot of fun. I woke up in the morning to find lots of snow outside (a very rare thing in Liverpool) and that my backyard had entered some form of time-warp, making everything appear as if it was in the 1950's, including this snow covered postman's bicyicle in black-and-white.


Odd, but I thought nothing of it, re-entered the world of colour and headed up to Hope Uni to hear KC give and excellent talk on how historical events have given people the wrong idea of Christianity. Nice... After that though things started to get odd again.

Me, Andy, Kev and Steph decided to head towards the bus via Calderstones Park, it having snowed and all. So a nice stoll in the park then? Hmm... Kind of. It was a bit strange when we started to come across strange shaped stones in a colourless world (What is it with all this lack of colour?!?!)...


Making it past the strange stone, we happend around a corner into a magic garden, surrounded by trees and high hedges. Stunned at first, we gazed outward trying to decipher the hidden meaning in the letter shaped bushes to the right...


But then we heard noises. Big, SCARY noises... Coming from the trees... Oh no!! What were we to do? It could have been anything...even...even...the four original members of the beatles tribute band 'Sergeant Peppers Salty Heart Club' who disappeared in the 1980s, and now out for revenge! The guys were terrified - Kevin was even seen hugging a tree for safety - but fortunately Steph remained steadfast...


... and led us to saftey. But was it 'safety'? As we left the secret garden Calderstones Park now looked much more like the Siberian wastes. Andy and Steph stood trying to work out what on earth was going on, but Kevin boldy stepped out into the unknown...


...and found a snowman named Mr Pumpernickel...


Being the hard working Agape man that he is, Kevin thought nothing of the weirdness of this situation and shared the Gospel with Mr Pumpernickel...


And then, all of sudden our adventure came to an end. We stumbled through some bushes and found ourselves back in Allerton, got on a bus and headed into town for Movement Prayer.

But that doesen't mean that the day became any less interesting. Movement Prayer was cool, and involved making a prayer walk around (in our case) Liverpool Uni's campus. And as I sat in the beautiful surrounds of Abercrombie Square it reminded me in particular that there is still a University out there filled with lots of students to whom Christianity means nothing. Here is Abercrombie Square...


After Movement Prayer me, Andy and Angie got the bus back and walked up Penny Lane, all of us enjoying being tourists for a second as Angie had her picture taken by the famous sign the students nick on regular basis...


And then we went to the Richmond for a nice meal. Quality.

After that I came home and watched the Bourne Supremacy which is an amazing film, and now I find myself sat here at my desk... Hold on. I hear something. What...what is it?! I'm scared... Somethings at my door...


NO-WAY!! Man this is scary. I'll get my camera so you guys can see it.. Hold on a sec.. Ok...


Its a big baby in black and white. And he's coming closer... Oh NO! I hope you guys enjoyed this post. It may be my la..........