Kidnapped by a tribe of mini sloths…

This evening we watched the excellent film Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. We’re thinking about using it as the theme for Camp so I challenged everyone to theologically reflect on it as we watched. Sadly, although they enjoyed the film (and why wouldn’t they) there were only a few suggestions about how it could be used. Fear not – I managed to make a whole page of notes.

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown – Scrat Scenes

After the film the group disappeared to play Table Tennis whilst Petra and I set-up for Easter Cracked. We were delighted to welcome Lizzie Sellers and Matt Dungate back from Uni, and Hannah back after a short break. Congratulations to Hannah on passing her driving test a couple of weeks ago!

Next Week: as it’s the end of term break we should have access to the Youth Hall all evening, so we’ll have some music in the coffee bar area, some light refreshments and games in the hall.

Week After: on Wednesday 11th we’ll be having our second Amicus Music Jam. Musicians and singers welcome for a bit of fun and the challenge of learning some new songs which we will hopefully introduce to the Church in the coming months.

Random Weekly Video: Dice Stacking [pointless skill but awesome!]

Bahamian Rhapsody…

Tonight we were promised access to the Youth Hall from 8:00pm as the Brownies were leaving early, and they delivered. So we started in the Multimedia Room (with newly installed blinds) and played catch-up with each other, then spent some time exploring poverty and the numbers game involved. Then we moved to the coffee bar area where the girls had a civilised drink whilst the boys played Table Tennis. Then the girls joined in for a while before we decided to have a manic game of Unihoc. We were joined by Simon, Nicci and Chris who were back from Uni after completing assignments and dissertations (well done!).

“That was a really good catch – for a girl” – Simon Bradley (said of but not heard by Nicci)

At the end of the week Simon and Nicci are off to the Bahamas for a surprise party – and I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that Nicci’s Aunt isn’t a regular follower of the Amicus website. If she is, I’ve spoilt the surprise and I’m in big trouble.

Note: There is a Camp Staff Meeting on Sunday at Lovat Hall from 8:00pm for anyone who will be staff at Camp 2007.

Next week: we’ve reached the end of our programme again. Come along next week and find out what we’re up to.

Random Weekly Video: Bethlehemian Rhapsody – the story of David and Goliath told through the medium of song, specifically the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody:

My ears won’t line up…

[ Just a quick update this week I'm afraid as I'm in the middle of my University deadlines $ ]

This evening was our second attempt at Balloon Modelling and this time we had more balloons and more ideas – but when we started we still only had on balloon pump and one person who could tie the balloons. However two of us managed to learn how to tie them by the end of the evening – and were feeling very smug about it too. We had some very odd and very creative models this evening. Thanks to a prompting by Petra I managed to get some pictures of the weird and delightful creations – but I don’t have time to upload them now, sorry. Watch this space…

Inspired by the strangely brown balloons this evening, here’s a story about how to get a free swim at your local pool…

In honour of the impending Easter invasion of our University friends, here’s a tip for every serious student out there…

Please keep Alyssa and family in your prayers as she was recently re-admitted to hospital for tests.

Next week: might be music practice for the Parade Service on 25th March, but probably won’t be. We are expecting to see some of our University friends back – so just come along and see what we get up to. We’ll have access to the Youth Hall from about 8 so we might be able to do some sporty activities.

Simultaneously at the same time…

We swapped the programme around a little to accommodate James’ absence for his school production – so this weeks activity was “Games Console Tourament”. We agreed at the start of the evening that driving games were enjoyed by all, so we started with an easy Rally game and quickly learned that “easy” wasn’t the right word to use to describe it. In fact, we also learned that girls can’t drive as well in video games as boys [I know that sounds like a sexist comment, but it was agreed by everyone present]. Frustrated by the inability to control the Rally car we moved on to a slightly easier game: Smugglers Run. It was ideal because although it features roads and tracks you are free to drive wherever you like:

Future Amicus Activity: I think we could rig up something like this using the crane currently in Fenny Stratford.

Next Week: hopefully balloon modelling, if we can source some balloons in time.

If you were a dog I’d call you patch…

Tonight was another chance to be creative and make your friends look foolish as we embarked on Face Painting. We started by reviewing some photos which we hoped would inspire our painting. The pictures are of people who have painted their hands to look like animals – and they have to be seen to be believed. We’d be lucky if we even came close to that kind of quality – but that didn’t put us off.

We were set the challenge of painting each other’s faces following the theme of animals. We stretched the point a little by including a butterfly and a fish but the three cats (tiger, lion and tabby). Once Alex arrived the make-up style changed to include gross movie injuries and subtle “Pat Butcher” tones. Pictures from tonight are now online. Warning: some of them are not suitable for the squeamish {hi Geoff}. If you’re a Flickr user you can comment on the individual photos, if you’re not you can add comments below (go on – give it a go – just to prove it works).

I almost have the new mailing list ready and it should be online next week. During this week you should receive an email from Google Groups to confirm that you’re included in the new list. Don’t panic – you shouldn’t have to do anything with it.

Quote of the night:

“If you were a dog I’d call you patch.” – Steph Dungate

Future Amicus activity: Designing and creating chairs from Champagne corks.

Random Weekly Video: Pingu goes Pop!

Get Well Soon: Andy is recovering from tonsilitis at the moment – we wish him a speedy recovery.

Next Week: Video Game Evening with James – bring along your console and games.