Author: pilgrim

Best of British: Part 9

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I can’t believe I forgot these two shows when I previously shared my favourite British comedies…

Black Books

When I was living back in Cheltenham, “Black Books” was a shared love between myself and my flatmate, Amit.

The show is set in a book store, which obviously immediately made me love it. The shop is owned by Bernard Black, a drunken slob of an Irishman. Manny, played by the musical genius Bill Bailey, is Bernard’s shop assistant/lackey/human pet. The cast is completed by Fran, Bernard’s long-time friend/drinking buddy and owner of the store next door.

Over the course of the three seasons I would say that that the comedy style changes quite a bit and becomes increasingly farcical. I initially found this a little off putting. I don’t think it matters though; you really can’t help but love these three misfits.

The clip below comes from the second episode of the first season, where Manny arrives for his first day working at Black Books:

Spaced

I remember when the show “Spaced” being released in the UK. I didn’t like it at all. It was all just a bit random and a little too weird for my tastes at the time. However, a few years later, with an evening to spare and nothing on TV, I sat down with my flatmate’s Season 1 DVD and watched the entire series in one sitting. I absolutely loved it.

This programme is really a show for geeks. If you love star wars, video games and cult classic movies, this is the TV show for you!

Top Five Tips for Parish Websites

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Yesterday I wrote a post about the importance of parish websites and how they can play a key role in attracting people to your parish and integrating them into parish life.

Today I would like to follow up on this topic and speak a little bit about some of the thought which should go into the construction and structure of your website. Having a website is not enough. It must also be functional and engaging.

With that in mind, here are my top five tips for parish websites:

1. “When’s Mass?”
If I’m going to a parish’s website, chances are I’m looking for the Mass and Confession times. Please don’t make me have to click around for five minutes and dig into submenus before finding them.

Mass Times

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Parish Websites

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rantOkay, small rant alert…

Bad parish websites. They have to stop. Seriously.

I never fail to be amazed at how little time, attention and money is devoted to the websites of some Catholic parishes. It’s 2013 people! Bad parish websites are now simply unacceptable.

If you arrived at a parish for Mass for the first time and you walked through the front door and are greeted by 70’s decor, peeling paint and a sparsely populated notice board containing only out-of-date notices, what conclusions would you reach about that parish? Well, having no website or an extremely poorly produced or out-of-date website is the digital equivalent of that today. A parish’s website, or lack thereof, is the first impression most people will have of that parish.

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Praying for Osama

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I meant to post this blog entry a long time ago, but it became one of the many posts to hide itself away in my Drafts folder. I came across it yesterday and, given the recent horrific events in Connecticut, I thought it was an appropriate time to finally post it.

An unusual prayer request

Back in May of 2011, there was a great stir after a parishioner of a parish in Florida requested a Mass to be said for the soul of Osama Bin Laden.

Osama Bin Laden

This request caused all kinds of uproar among other parishioners:

“I think it’s totally wrong, he doesn’t belong in the Catholic religion. For what he did to Americans, he doesn’t belong anywhere…”

“It’s unconscionable, it’s sacrilegious…”

While I can understand the gut reaction of those who objected to this proposed Mass intention, how compatible are these statements with the Catholic faith?

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