GeorgeW’s blog

The archbishop of Canterbury has stepped into the media spotlight again after being quoted as saying elememts of Sharia law are inevitable in Britain.

Last year we had a similair attempt by a religous body to gain special exemption from a law they disagree with. The Catholic church wanted to avoid the law requiring adoption agencies to consider same-sex couples as adopters

It is a dangerous idea that any religion/interest group should have special laws, apart from the rest of the country.

Britain is a secular democracy and it is imperative that any laws apply equally to all regardless of belief or lack thereof. .

The possible consequences of this could lead to the breakdown of society.

How would it be decided, who was subject to which laws? If an area became dominated by members of a religous faith, would they have the right to decide what other members of the community could do? E.g. free Church of Scotland insisting no shops, television or papers on a Sunday.

People can still choose to use religous/community groups to act as arbitrors in personal disputes. This of course would be subject to conforming to the laws of the land.

For the record I describe myself as an atheist but would strongly object to any law that restricted the rights of people to worship their God, as long as harm is not caused.

Finally got a chance to see this band in action. Son was despatched to a relative in Greenock while my wife and I attended. This band were once described by Froots magazine as English roots 1st XI., and they lived up to this.

An acoustic band based around the duo of Jon Boden and John Spiers, it also includes,Benji Kirkpatrick (son of John, who played with SteeleyeSpan among others).

With their large line up including 4 brass, and playing around 25 instruments beetween them, we were treated to a wonderful collection of protest songs, morris and other English dance tunes, songs of death and love, which was over far to soon.

Unfortunately, the venue, while excellent for this type of performance, also doubles as a night club and o band had to be off-stage by 10 p.m. Hope next time they get a longer shot.

I pinched the title of this post from a Philosophical Society of Glasgow lecture I attended on Wednesday. It was delivered by Prof. John Wallace, principal of Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. The basic tenet was that music can be freedom giving, both from the emotional response point of view and also in the political sense. He illustrated with some trumpet playing (he is a distinguished classical trumpeter) and some music on CD,.

This got me thinking about how music effects myself emotionally. Unfortunately, I never learned any instrument at even a basic level, and am probably too set in my belief of non-talent to change that.

Over the years i have acquired a taste for music in a variety of styles, including classical, rock, folk, blues and world.

It is amazing to think about all the various times I have walked out of a concert on an emotional high, just because of the sheer emotional intensity provided by the players.

I once saw the final concert in the RSNO proms at the Glasgow Royal Cocert Hall, which included a performance of the 1812 Overture by Tchaichovsky (apologies if my spelling is bad). At the climax with the cannons, they used a number of small cannons dotted round the hall to give a surround sound effect.

At a WOMAD event in Morecambe I saw the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan with his party of musicians. Although this was Sufi spiritual music, even this confirmed atheist, was moved with the sheer spirituality of the performance.

My main musial hero is Richard Thompson and the countless times I have seen him perform, from solo acoustic sets, through to an eight piece ban, he has never failed to leave me astonished at the sheer guitar virtuosity, that he so easily exudes. (If that last sentence is bad English, it is just difficult to express myself clearly).

Due to circumstances I have not seen much live music recently, bu in May, my wife and I travelled to London to see The Waterson's "Mighty River of Songs" concert. This was primarily various combinations of 12 voices singing mainly folk music. From the moment their voices started with "The White Cockade" through to the encore the sheer quality of the harmonies was mesmerising. 

The common denminator in all these, and plenty of other occassions, is the sense of  euphoria and freedom from the day to day concerns of life.

On Friday, I am going to the ABC in Glasgow, to see Bellowhead as part of the annual Celtic Conections festival. This is an 11 piece acoustic folk band, built around the duo of John spiers and Jon Boden. If the CDs I've heard and the recent pictures from Cambridge Folk Festival on BBC4 are a guide, I should be walking out with that wonderful feeling yet again.

I am new to blogging, but hope I will find sufficient of interest to spark some comment.

The above question arose from a conversation with one of my sisters. She had asked her husband, "What are you thinking about"? His reply was "nothing".

She then asked me did I ever just switch off, while concious, and not have something running through my mind. To the best of my knowledge I am always thinking. I lay awake that night till about 2 in the morning cogitating.

The question then is as above. I do not beleive so, but then I could be fooling myself, and being unaware of "downtime".