The Avengers Themed Cocktails

Some fabulous Avengers themed cocktails from The More I Arty for mixologists and cocktail lovers who want to get their geek on....

The Problem with BBC’s The Voice UK

Dear The Voice,

I hear you are having rating difficulties and here is the problem as I see it:

1. Contestants appear too professional. Most of them are (over)confident and have dabbled in the music industry in the past and/or clearly have some experience performing live. I expected amateur, bedroom karaoke divas who are too shy to sing in public, not fallen popstars or failed stage school dropouts.

2. I thought the idea behind ‘The Voice’ was that image was irrelevant, hence why the judges could not see the contestants in the early stages. Well most of them look pretty average-to-glamorous to me. Yes there is the occasional individual with image issues but they are more the exception than the rule. I’m not expecting a freakshow, but I was expecting a few less Rihannas and a few more Susan Boyles.

3. The battle stage quickly turned into a screaming match and there was only so much high-pitched caterwauling that I could take before reaching for the aspirin and the remote control. I don’t want to hear two people repeatedly out-yelling each other for attention. Slip a few gentle acoustic numbers in there.

4. Inject a little humour. At the moment the whole process looks like a chore and it certainly feels like one.

5. I’m not sure that we can take more than 20mins of Jessie J in one sitting.

I won’t be watching again, sorry. It was a commendable idea but it needed a lot more consideration before rolling out. Stop chasing the over-confident Youtube wannabees and root out the silent stars with low self-esteem that are lurking amongst us. The public love an insecure-underdog-ducking-to-swan story and if you can fill a show with them then you’re on to a winner. Call me when you’re ready to make some changes...

A Comment on Academic Publishing

A few weeks ago I uploaded an edited version of my PhD thesis ‘Dragging Down Heaven: Jesus as Magician and Manipulator of Spirits in the Gospels’ to a new blog at http://wasjesusamagician.blogspot.co.uk

I had carefully considered whether to publish the thesis back in 2007 but had decided not to do so because I thought that the subject matter had a much wider appeal than the average academic publisher could reach and I imagined that extending the discussion out from behind the University gates had the potential to be very interesting indeed, particularly given the subject matter. From the responses received so far I am pleased that I made that decision as the website has reached further than I could ever have imagined. I have received messages from academics, clergy, occultists, school teachers, bloggers etc from a variety of continents and around 90% of these responses have included a message of thanks for getting my research ‘out there’. The general feeling appears to be that academics are too insular, that publications are too expensive and ‘us normal folk are left in the dark when it comes to current research’ (to quote one message). In addition, many readers have said that they would not pay to purchase a copy of a published book but they are more than happy to click a link out of curiosity and start reading…and then email/tweet the link to their friends, who in turn send to the link to their friends...

Subject matter aside, the website has provided a very interesting insight into how the public view the dissemination, or rather lack thereof as the case may be, of scholarly research. There is certainly a hunger out there for easy access to current academic research and academics are equally hungry to disperse their work as widely as possible, so maybe the internet should play a bigger part in bridging this gap?

The Bullring Bull Gets A Bostin Make-over

The iconic Bullring Bull has been given a Bostin new look for the summer with his own Royal Britannia-inspired outfit.

His new look was unveiled today as Bullring revealed their plans for a Bostin British Summer, which include a Jubilee picnic and tea party in association with St Martin’s Church, a Bostin artwork masterpiece and weekends of live music in Spiceal Street.

As one of the UK’s most photographed landmarks, visitors to the centre will be encouraged to share their pictures of the Bull with Bullring on Facebook (BullringBirmingham) and Twitter (@bullring) as well as their thoughts about his new outfit.

The Bull, who donned a knitted jumper last Christmas, will keep his diamante Union Jack-inspired outfit on throughout the next few months as Bullring celebrates this year’s Bostin British Summer. In July, Bullring will also launch the search for the city’s most Bostin Postcode as shoppers are encouraged to hop on a treadmill in the centre to raise money for charity.

Louise Hamer-Brown, Head of Marketing at Bullring, commented: “This summer we’re putting the spotlight back on Birmingham and inviting our shoppers and the local community to get involved by contributing to our Bostin art masterpiece, raising money for charity with our Bostin Postcode Challenge or by simply telling us what they’ve got planned for the summer on Facebook or Twitter.

“This summer we want to really showcase exactly why Birmingham is Bostin and we’ve decided to get the city’s favourite landmark, the Bull, involved too. After all as they say, diamonds are a bull’s best friend.”

For more information about Bullring’s Bostin British Summer please visit www.browsebullring.co.uk/bostin.