I was in my local Borders store last night and picked up a copy of “Shadowmancer” from the shelf to peruse. My first reaction was “Oh no, not another author poking a sharp stick at Christians” having ploughed through the dreadful “DaVinci Code” and “Angels and Demons” by Dan Brown recently.

The nemesis in “Shadowmancer” is an evil vicar Rev. Obadiah Demurrel. As I read through the first 5 chapters I was happily surprised to see a comparison between institutionalized religion and true faith being played out as we see the heroes contending with the schemes of the antagonist. It reminded me of the addage “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The priest is evil, yes, in the same way that people throughout history have (in the name of religion) pursued their own agenda by whatever means necessary, totally ignoring the tenets of their particular faith.

Reviewers have already noted that there are Christian references in the book, though not explicitly labelled “Christian” - the call to adventure that the main character Thomas receives is from a figure whose words come right out of various places in the bible, an obvious Christ figure. I was surprised, especially since the book wasnt in the “Christian” fiction section of Borders!

The book’s setting was also a treat - localized to a small section of the coast in northern England. Its nice to see an author limiting their scope unlike, say, Stephen Baxter who’ll write a book spanning a million years and encompassing the entire universe.

Quick bit of research today turned up an official website for Shadowmancer with an illuminating latest news page that gives details of the book and its author. The setting of the book and its Christ figure were self evident once I saw that the author is an ex-vicar himself. The Guardian newspaper talked to the author last July about the success of the book. Rumours are flying at a possible Hollywood movie starring Sean Bean.

Hmmm. Grouch longer than usual - seems I cant get into the dentist until Saturday morning.

File this under OUCH - sitting there eating the beginning of my lunch at my local St Louis Bread Company (also known as Panera Bread Company in other parts of the USA) and munching on some nice crusty sourdough bread I felt more of a crunch than usual. When I checked to see what happened I realized I’d snapped a tooth clean in 2.Their website says,

As you break open the loaf, there should be a hearty crackling sound from the crispness of the crust. Slowly tear pieces of the crumb. The sound is much quieter, but can still be heard.

To which I have to add

Now bite into and savour the cruchy crust, listen to the cracking sound and pay careful attention to not swallow the fragments of tooth.

Needless to say I’m going to be a grouch and a pain to live with until I can get into the humane dentist that one of my wife’s coworkers suggested.

Found this today - made for interesting reading:

Super Organics
Forget Frankenfruit - the new-and-improved flavor of gene science is Earth-friendly and all-natural. Welcome to the golden age of smart breeding.

(from Wired magazine)

Interesting how Monsanto is painted in a negative light, yet the whole idea of the bioinformatics software that we’re writing on our project is to support natural processes as described in the article from Wired. Strange how our software has ushered in “a new era of breeding technology” (to quote an internal announcement) yet Monsanto isnt referenced with respect to the genetic marker assisted breeding the article talks about. Bias? Certainly, but its nice to read something about the technology I’ve been spending my working life on for the last year and a half!

I can feel the pull of a blog-post inside me. We have the men’s retreat this weekend and stress levels are high. I am planning to arrive at the retreat centre about 8 hours early - men are arriving in the evening, I want to be there in the morning - with the stress and work involved with making sure that the whole thing runs correctly I dont expect to get much “retreat time” myself. On the other hand I do expect to get to speak/preach briefly, to minister to these guys, and to see lives changed as a result of the efforts that the retreat team (and I) have put in.

Im crazy - nuts - I decided to release a new version of Chronicle Lite in the run-up to the retreat also. Still it does mean that I have less on my mind to worry about!

Wow. The random “blog snob” links have turned up a gem - a blog called “Hot Abercombie Chick“. The first post that I read - called Natural Evil - has a veritable storm of comments (at last count, 91) with wide ranging viewpoints.

VLI is teaching us about doemstic and cross-cultural evangelism. The lesson this week has begun to outline issues of worldviw and appologetics. As if I needed an example of differing world views! Its almost like “someone” (read: God) decided I needed a little example of worldviews other than my own - a view outside my comfort zone, exposure to a world of anger and vitriolic atheism. Amanda, the author of Hot Abercombie Chick did a good job in remaining calm and thoughtful as she answered the idiots. Nice job!

First serious session of yard work for the spring / summer season over. Phew! We decided to remove the pampas grass growing on the front corner of our front yard. The thing was an ugly mess and is now no more! The root system is there so it’ll probably sprout again. On the other hand the liberal spraying (pouring) of Roundup should fix that!

I couldnt help but link this:

BBC NEWS [Health] - Guinness good for you - official

The old advertising slogan “Guinness is Good for You” may be true after all, according to researchers.

What I found interesting is at the end where it says,

The original campaign in the 1920s stemmed from market research - when people told the company that they felt good after their pint, the slogan was born.

In England, post-operative patients used to be given Guinness, as were blood donors, because of its high iron content. This practice continues in Ireland.

Pregnant women and nursing mothers were at one stage advised to drink Guinness - the present advice is against this.

People always react with a little skepticism when I tell them that my mother was prescribed Guinness by her doctor while pregrant. She was, at the time, anemic and needed the iron. Of course there are also those who hear the story, look at me and laugh telling me “that explains everything.” Oh well!

Funny, the things you find linked from a fan-fiction website - the writing challenge generator will kick out from 1 - 20 random writing challenges. For instance,

A character is negative throughout most of the story. During the story, a character inherits some money.

A character will prepare for a religious ceremony. A character is hungry throughout most of the story.

During the story, there is a letter delivered. The story must have a technologist in it. The story must involve a sceptre in it. A character is attracted to someone throughout most of the story.

The story takes place in the early morning. During the story, a kidnapping occurs.

The story takes place twenty years in the past. The story must involve a carpet in it. A character becomes hateful during the story.

There are other generators on the site, like the Harry Potter story namer that suggested:

Harry Potter and the Barbarian’s Infinity
Harry Potter and the Death Legends
Harry Potter and the Infinity Forever
Harry Potter and the Scribe of Transformations
Harry Potter and the Spy’s Dreams

Now there’s no doubt where the Harry Potter series names came from! Or, you could always use the disease generator next time you call in sick - think your boss would let you have the day off if you suffered with

Black Pustules
Cat’s Rock Veins
Great Ague
Terror Decay
Whooping Malady

Mine would want me working, I have no doubt of that!

Take a look Star Wars fans: Star Wars: Episode III | Making Episode III Webdocs Archive … what more can I say but Wookies