I can’t write my critical review...

...nor can you out there in cyberland.

Can’t get started. Watching videos of Christians fighting over changed door locks and scandalous behaviour at weddings...

Whitney - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ms Houston has left the planet.

Grim, bitter news.

I woke up to the news at two-ish (in the morning)...

My brother texted me - like he did with Michael...

On one occasion, Whitney revealed in an interview that she (or at least her image) had been “manufactured”; and that the trajectory prepared for her had been refused by herself. Once that happened, the support mechanism prepared for her by those in power was whipped away from under her feet.

Will finish soon.

I will personally resent anyone who blames Bobby Brown for her demise. He was, at worst, a symptom of the deeper problems faced by Whitney - certainly NOT the problem itself. Brown, as a man, had to cope with the fact that Osama bin Laden - the CEO of world terrorism - was gunning for his wife. What would that do to any African-American male who was married to Whitney? As a couple, Whitney and Bobby could just as easily have ended up like Beyoncé Knowles and Corey Carter. That is what I would have wished for them - in or out of the church.

Personally, I think she would have been better off if she had remained in the protective bosom of the church. Yasuwa / Yeshua / Jesus remains the best antidote to mental ‘processing’ available. A very present help in times of trouble.

Instead, Ms Houston is dead at 48. An apostolic death as we approach apostolic times.

We have been left with this.

SKOOB - Thank you, o precious second-hand bookshop!

I thought I was going to struggle to find one of the books recommended by our tutor for the Psychology segments of our course. My first port-of-call was the famous bookshop on Marchmont Street. Sadly, they drew a blank this time. No probs.

But SKOOB came good for me. I found just the one I wanted, and the price was even better than Amazon. It’s second time around (ie pre-loved), but I don’t care. It’s in great nick, only very slightly dog-eared on the front cover - and for less than a tenner (even less yet with my student discount)...

RESULT!!!

I will now endeavour to go to my 2nd-hand boookshops FIRST if I need to get a book. Even a cookery book. I must try and support local (to Bloomsbury) businesses more.

Earlier, I even gave Dad an Iceland £1 dinner he liked. But he’s getting up at mid-day... not like him at all (he was always such an early riser).

Still, a good day so far. Now to order Mum the stuff I promised her.

And to read what we are given to read. No excuses now

I am done with ‘Poor Cricket Fan’ web site.

Giles Clarke has been made a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for servies to cricket.
:-Q

High time I used my web site space to promote Christian artists who are pointing to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Tried and tested individuals –

such as .......this artist

and also ......this artist

Not long now.
:-D

I trust that the LORD G_D will give me the funds to run the site for another year if it is HIS Will.

(And / or I get the dream job)

Thank You, LORD

Dear LORD: Remind ME never to set foot in ‘Kevork’s’* Fish and Chippie...

...ever.

On the way back with my huge (too huge) new fluorescent light for the kitchen, I heard someone right behind me hawk and spit very loudly to my right as I walked past. Yes, this happens to me sometimes - more often than not, it comes in waves.

Anyhow, I saw a funny-looking ‘Southern European / Arab / “non Anglo-Saxon” ’ man walk on my right. He had on a very dark green (bottle green) t-shirt on with long sleeves and he continued to hawk and spit as he walked beside me. I held my ground as I walked, like I was taught to do long, long ago. To my surprise as he walks past me, he says “All right? Hiya, all right?” I say nothing, but look at him directly. I have nothing to lose. Because if that f***er really put his hand on me, I have TWO 5' (150cm) fluorescent glass tubes with which to defend myself.

He raced on - toward the betting shop. And I saw on the back of his shirt, “‘Kevork’s’* Fish and Chippie”.

Wow.

He bolted inside, stood right by the door as he wrote out his slip. I smiled, that place must be going down the tubes if he is the owner...

...Dear LORD, thank YOU for reminding me never to set foot inside that establishment. I have been in there once or twice literally, when I first moved in to this friendless area a decade plus ago. Thank YOU, Father, for keeping me safe and conscious of YOUR reality. I can live without fish’n’chips in W9.

Thank YOU again, LORD.

YOURS sincerely,

a humble and loveless servant

(grateful nonetheless that I got my kitchen back, thanks to an oversized lamp)

* to protect the humble...

Will have to get some of Chris Jasper’s tracks...

...this discovery is getting serious.

Which download? Stand Up (on Amazing Love)? You Answered My Prayer (from Amazing Love)? Or that straight-talking Invincible from the album of the same name? Or - dare I say it - Count It All Joy by The Winans (on Heart And Soul)?

As long as the LORD hasn’t given me enough money to get all four CDs, I shall have to buy two downloads with my £2:00 voucher from Amazon.

Why, oh why is Chris Jasper not better known?

I have an inkling as to why Chris Jasper (ex-Isley Brothers and Isley Jasper Isley) is not more widely recognised - either as a Gospel artist, or when his genius was an integral part of the ‘ultimate band of brothers’...

After I discovered that Mr Jasper had become a Christian - I checked out some of his work on youTube and his web site, and (my opinion) it could just be that he mentions the name of JESUS way too often for some record executive’s liking. :-D

There is something else, though.

So much of what I have heard of Mr Jasper (since rediscovering him) has what I call a ‘retro-funk’ feel to it. That is not to criticise him, or his truly distinctive sound; I love its simplicity and flatness, such as is heard on the title track of Invincible.

However - and I say this with the greatest possible respect - Mr Jasper seems a little lonely in his recording studio. It sounds (literally) as if he could do with some company. But whosoever turns up had better be prepared to call on the name of JESUS, and not just say ‘Him’, ‘He’, and the rest like some other artists do.

I’ll back him, no doubt. I am truly glad that he is alive and well, and above all a Christian. So many truly talented musicians will not live to see 2012, even though they may have been less that half the age of Mr Jasper (and earnt a whole lot of money!) ...

(And if Mr Jasper should ever see this, I hope that he can bring some top-notch talent on board to work with him, without losing his integrity and focus. His excellent work for the LORD needs to be brought to a much wider audience in this big, bad world!)