gavinf1980

Books

Completed

1. Darker than Night (Owl Goingback)
2. Kairos (Jenny Erpenbeck)
3. Afterthoughts, or Some Pistachios Won't Open (Richard Ayoade)
4. On This Holy Island (Oliver Smith)
5. The Imposs!ble Fortune (Richard Osman)
6. The Let Them Theory (Mel Robbins and Sawyer Robbins)
7. The Light Years (Elizabeth Jane Howard)
8. The Heart of the Matter (Graham Greene)
9. The Intimacy Defecit (Ed Shaw)
10. Wish You Were Dead (Peter James)
11. The Tenth Man (Graham Greene)
12. Stop Them Dead (Peter James)
13. The Four Agreements (Don Miguel Ruiz)
14. The Wolf in Winter (John Connolly)
15. Little Sister (Gytha Lodge)
16. Happier (Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D.)
17. The Vegetarian (Han Kang)
18. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)
19. The Earl and the Pharaoh (The Countess of Carnarvon)
20. They Thought I Was Dead (Peter James)
21. Agatha Raisin: Hiss and Hers (M.C. Beaton)
22. One of Us is Dead (Peter James)
23. Money Men (Dan McCrum)
24. Praying for Sleep (Jeffery Deaver)
25. A Song of Shadows (John Connolly)
26. Hags (Victoria Smith)
27. Authority (Jonathan Leeman)

In Progress

52 ways to walk (Annabel Streets)
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House (Kate Summerscale)
Don't Skip Out on Me (Willy Vlautin)

Planning to Read

The Green Mile (Stephen King)

Films

1. Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)
2. Daehongsu (The Great Flood) (Byung-woo Kim, 2025)
3. Saltburn (Emerald Fennell, 2023)
4. About a Boy (Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, 2002)
5. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Hettie MacDonald, 2023)
6. Labyrinth (Jim Henson, 1986)
7. Borat (Larry Charles, 2006)
8. Transamerica (Duncan Tucker, 2005)
9. Project Hail Mary (Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, 2026)
10. S.S.I. (Gabriella Cowperthwaite, 2023)
11. That Peter Crouch Film (Benjamin Hirsch, 2023)
12. Blank (Natalie Kennedy, 2022)

Seen for the first time: 6
Rewatched: 6

Seen on my walk back to the station one evening; looked fun.

The Mexico section of Disney's World Showcase at EPCOT; visited (once again) with family.

Authority: How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing by Jonathan Leeman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Back when author Jonathan Leeman was younger, his church voted on a group of elders to be appointed; in fact, the same group of elders was subjected to a vote twice, after they failed to get enough congregation members to support them. Leeman was at the time rebellious, and did not agree with the pastor's approach, regarding him as "a jerk and a tyrant", until at a Q and A session, he told the congregation: "I'm asking you to trust me," and the author's view of him was changed.

The Bible has a lot of text on submitting to authority, and especially in today's world, this can seem counter-cultural. The book even makes references to churches who did not want to follow government advice about Coronavirus restrictions, stating that they would only treat God as an authority, while others pointed out how all governments are appointed to God, and therefore they should submit to these earthly authorities.

I quite enjoyed this book; at first, it looked like just a book telling its readers to submit to authority, but I soon realised this wasn't the case. Leeman explains about the difference between good and bad authority, something the Bible is full of examples of, mostly focusing on how authority should be conducted, and emphasises that it should be done with humility and also looking to others, not necessarily in positions of power above us, for support, because a good leader always needs to be respected by those below them.

The last few chapters give examples of authority, including governments, parents, husbands and wives, and the role of the church and its elders. I found it useful that each chapter summed up the points it was trying to make about each, and it did not feel like something solely aimed at those in these positions, for example reminding the reader that it's the job of all the church congregation to pastor to others, and build each other up.

I liked some of the and visualisations that Leeman used in making his points, for example one where he imagined Jesus giving us a sort of job interview to prove our worthiness of going to Heaven. Near the end, the book also put across one of the book's main messages quite simply: People in charge should show authority, but also compassion.



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So, tonight the World Cup 2026 starts; I know not everyone is behind this one because of America being one of the hosts, and Trump's reprehensible behaviour. I've been looking forward to this one a lot, just getting the opportunity to meet up with friends, and I am planning to watch Mexico v South Africa with others tonight.

I'm also going to have my first swim of the year this morning, and I'm going to make sure I have plenty of good food beforehand, to make sure I fill myself up properly I am going to do pasta with tuna and some veg before I go out. I'm just trying to mentally timetable my day so I get things done in time.

Crowd shot from England v Andorra, watched with Dad; it was an impressive win, and there were some guys dressed as the Beatles in the Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club album cover, but there was someone who kept yelling abuse at the players (well, Peter Crouch anyway), even when he scored, and he was quite annoying. I'm not sure why people have to be so negative.

I had Mum around this afternoon; I had a good chat with her, listened to her, and made her a pukka tea. I like to look after Mum when I can, and make sure she's okay. It's been a rubbish day again for weather, with torrential rain and hail at times. I just worked from home after going into town this morning; its been a tedious day but with important stuff to get on with.

On Strava, I have completed Every Move Counts With Oura and the June Ten Days Active Challenge. I have also:
* Logged 3 days for Postcode Lottery: Don8 Days;
* Climbed 304m for the June Elevation Challenge; and
* Walked 68.1K steps for the June Walk 100K Steps Challenge.

There is a new photo_scavenger tag: Saint

(By the way, maybe its just the result of me being impatient, but I'm finding the "insert user" tab on Livejournal to have a very delayed reaction today; so after having clicked on the insert button probably too many times, LJ keeps adding random html to the end of what I'm typing.)

I'm disappointed at the BBC: No Doctor Who Christmas special, and I hope it's not part of a strategic decision to cancel the show, and I hope there will be no playing silly beggars with who the new Doctor is; I think I'll settle with Billie Piper at this point, however weird that seems.

Today's chapter of 52 ways to walk was about walking with a map, something I often do anyway, usually when I am unfamiliar with an area. The book said that it's easier to do in a town where there are more identifiable features, which I think is true; I should also start with a destination in mind, and later return without using my map (I often try to do that once I have scouted out a place). The book did mention bringing a compass to check my bearings, and I admit that I have never done this, probably the reason why I've sometimes taken wrong turns. Using the hippocampus - the part of the brain used for navigation - also causes it to grow, and neglect makes it shrink, something I did not know.

Today, I am leading a walk past some filming locations for film, tv, even music videos, near where I work. I hadn't realised until recently that the Barbican was used in the recent Star Wars TV series.

On Strava, I have:
* Logged 1 of 8 days for a new challenge: Postcode Lottery Don8 Days;
* Logged 8 days for the June Ten Days Active Challenge;
* Climbed 264m for the June Elevation Challenge;
* Walked about 57.8K steps for the June Walk 100K Steps Challenge; and
* Logged 1 hour and 10 minutes for Every Move Counts With Oura.

I have a question today: What made you happy recently?

For me, it was chances to go out and do stuff with friends after work, like the beer festival last week.

Mum took this shot of me while on a day out during the lockdowns, still trying my best to do the social distancing.