How better to follow that American extravaganza than with an extravaganza of American data? This might not sound fun, but trust me, it’s fascinating (and not just to a research geek). The data in question relates to dialect used across the US – so ticks several of my boxes: stats, pronunciation and pretty maps – and comes to us thanks to the University of North Carolina (and The Hairpin).

Researchers asked 122 questions, from how to pronounce “aunt” to “do you say ‘expecially’ or ‘especially’?”. To British readers, this will uncover a whole host of fascinating “but why would you say THAT??” moments. Regardless of your country of origin, you ought to find the maps fun to play with – scroll down the list of questions and see how the pronunciation/dialect is spread across the USA (you can also see map breakdowns for each option). I may have discovered this while in a lecture on Saturday and my deskmate and I may have spent some time playing with it gleefully. Here’s a brilliant example:

Why would you refer to a beverage as a ‘coke’ if it had nothing to do with coke??

Next, it’s Friday, so surely there must be some transport fun somewhere? Fear not, my TfL geek friends have kept me amused over the last couple of days. First up, here’s a great slideshow that not only includes disused stations then and now, but also other unseen parts of the underground world of London, such as the Mail Train and my nearest disused bit of London Transport – the Kingsway Tram Tunnel.

Also, if you’re a Londoner, there’s some TfL fun you can join in with. In honour of the tube’s 150th birthday [how I'm longing for this year to last forever!] five Lego tube maps have been created and are on display at different stations across the network. The genius is not just that they’re made out of Lego, but that they’re different versions of the map!!

A glimpse of the map unveiled at King’s Cross yesterday. (Credit.)

The five versions & their locations are:

• 1927 Stingemore map – South Kensington
• 1933 Beck original - Piccadilly Circus
• 1968 map - Green Park
• Current map – Stratford
• Futuristic map (what the network will look like in 2020) – King’s Cross St Pancras

Yes, my mind is now working out how I can hit up all five in the next week! Fear not if you can’t hope to spot them all – they’ll eventually end up at the LT museum.

There you go. Not just something fun to read while stuck in the office on a dull Friday afternoon – something fun to do over the weekend! Enjoy!

This past weekend was our final Vicar Weekend of the year. As was the case last year, we gathered on the lawn of High Leigh for photos, farewells and Pimm’s. On the Sunday morning, we heard each leaver share their next destination, along with their hopes, challenges and prayer requests – 90 minutes of inspiring stories that should encourage the Church of England. It’s also a peculiar moment, because you know that at some point, it will be you up there. It seems to go a little like this:

First year: “It’s so sad I haven’t had longer to get to know these guys… I’m so glad I’ve got another two years before I have to do this!”

Second year: “I can’t believe that we’ll be without all these amazing people next year! How has time gone so quickly? I wonder what I’ll be saying when it’s my turn?” [Meanwhile, every single 1st year will say to a 2nd year at some point "this time next year it'll be your turn!" with a gleeful smirk on their face.]

This year’s 45 leavers pose for a photo. Yes, that’s 45 soon-to-be curates – an impressive total for any theological college. (Not that it’s a competition, obviously.) 

However, that doesn’t account for the many ordinands who only undertake two years of training instead of three. At St Mellitus, everyone does 3 years unless they have a previous theology degree (unlike everywhere else, where you do 2 years if you’re over 32) and in my cohort of 28 ordinands, 12 fell into that category. That’s a lot of people to bond with and then lose 12 months before you’re really ready to!

It just so happens that my formation group (aka ‘officially the best formation group ever’) is particularly hard hit by this state of affairs. This month, 5 of our 12 members will be ordained – that’s a lot of people to lose from a group that’s been a literal Godsend to every single one of us. (Personally, I blame Alex and Phil for being promoted to 2 year students having begun as 3…) Life at Vicar School will be very different next year, and quite possibly, a lot quieter.

Thanks Tonia for this – though I’m impressed that despite yells for everyone to move into the photo, Rich & Phil are still obscured!  (Incidentally, I was violently ill minutes after this was taken, you almost wouldn’t know…)

A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to think about how ‘formed’ we felt – in relation to how we felt at the start of training and how close we were to finishing. Theoretically, those of us at the end of two out of three years should feel approximately two-thirds formed. But did those who had only had two years feel fully formed? Does anyone ever feel fully formed? What am I going to get in the next year that they won’t? Are the departing 2nd years leaving partially formed?

The short answers to the first and last questions would be: no and no. The departing second years are brilliant people who, like all new curates, will continue to be formed in their post-ordination training. In fact, like all clergy (if not all Christians) who should continue being formed throughout their lives. And as for me, I’m grateful I’ve got another year in the comparative security of Vicar School!

Fabulous. (Although, underneath the Facebook post in which I found this, was something of a debate regarding the inclusion of Essex Road as it still functions as a station, but isn’t on the tube.) I shall use this the next time I’m planning a nerd’s day out.

Still on the tube theme  - because, let’s face it, it’s fantastically fun – I discovered a list of ’13 strange facts about the Underground’, which surprised me by containing several facts I hadn’t previously known. For example, did you know that in 1915, Maida Vale station ‘became the first Underground Station to be staffed entirely by women. What’s more they were paid the same salary as their male counterparts, a full 60 years before the implementation of the Equal Pay Act.’ Brilliant.

Finally, on the subject of the tube, here’s a brilliant explanation of why London Transport sometimes lies to us. Trust me, even as a seasoned London commuter, I learnt something from this video – essential viewing! [Incidentally, a friend in New York sent me this link - how had he heard about it before me??]

Continuing with something of a historical theme, what do you think the ladies of Little Women [and Good Wives if we're going to be pedantic because, Americans, there were TWO books, not one...] would say if they’d had the capacity to produce vlogs? Well, fortunately, improv comedy/drama people PERIODS. have created a whole stack of them! This is the first of a playlist of ten – I thoroughly recommend all of them. From Meg giving ‘smokey eye’ tutorials with matchsticks, to Jo ranting about the trials of life as a woman, to Amy modelling her corset and Beth, well, coughing – they’re utterly awesome.

Obviously, I’m a fan of anything that has the nerve to name themselves after a bodily function. I particularly like their ‘Get your periods’ tagline, because I’m a child. Fear not if 19th century literature isn’t quite your thing, as they’ve also produced a series of conversations with God. The first is a corker – as evident in God’s response to the question “What’s your name?”. God replies:

“My name is…God. You can call me lots of different things though. You can call me Lord God Almighty, some call me Jehovah. The Holy Spirit calls me Tim, that’s my real name, but you can just call me Al.” 

If this is all just a little too ridiculous for you, how about a very educational video about the history of typography? I’m sure that might sound dull as dishwater, but wouldn’t you like to know how different fonts came about? Trust me, it’s both fascinating and beautiful:

Finally, because it’s Friday and we need something both silly and musical, here’s a flashmob that took place at King’s Cross station just over a week ago. I’d been let in on the secret, but narrowly missed watching it thanks to a mix up over timing. Famous Doris took part as an accessory for her older sister, whose drama school put on the performance – both are very visible in the video. (Look out for a bleach-blonde girl with a Cath Kidston backpack and an enthusiastic 11yr old in a pink jumper.)

As the eleven year old is called Doris, days spent looking after her have been known as ‘Doris Days’ since she was tiny (though I assume the pun is still completely lost on her). This lent itself well to hashtagging – if only really for the benefit of my mother and sister. [The rest of the Twitter world either didn't care or wondered how I'd suddenly acquired an 11yr old child!] I won’t bore you with the intricacies of our day out, but I will share a few things I discovered along the way…

Evening stroll fun in the sun.

London can be terrifying when you have responsibility for a child.
I collected Doris from her 23yr old sister on the South Bank and, as the sun was not forecast to shine much longer, we made the most of it and walked home via a few classic London sights. (Parliament, Trafalgar Square, a frozen yoghurt shop – the essentials.) However, I’d forgotten that some football thing had been happening, and as we all know, sun + football + alcohol = interesting conditions. As we crossed the Strand, someone threw a glass bottle behind us and something began to kick off. I ignored it and walked quickly towards the safer environment of Covent Garden. I think Doe was oblivious, but when you’re in loco parentis, these things are way scarier…

The London Transport Museum just keeps getting better and better!
Ever since April’s inaugural visit, this had been top of my list for Doris Day – it’s free for under 16′s and my ticket lasts a year. Plus, it was raining cats and dogs, so indoor entertainment was the order of the day. There was a long queue when we arrived, and I resigned myself to getting a bit wet. However, we’d been there barely 2 minutes when a call went out for anyone with annual passes. To my delight, we were escorted from the queue and led straight into the museum, pausing only to pick up an activity book and stamper card. Awesome.

Even better, they had special half-term activities taking place, so Doe and I got to work with a lump of clay and a challenge to re-create something from the LT posters around the walls. I was rather proud of our results. (Apparently most of the other kids just made animals.)

Never underestimate the excitement of a simple tube journey.
Well, strictly speaking not the tube, but the DLR. Having driving tubes and buses at the museum, we then positioned ourselves for the driver seat position on the trains with no drivers. It may have been raining and docklands may not be hugely attractive, but it was certainly fun.

The Emirates Skyline seems fairly pointless, but it is fun.
Have you ever been to Royal Victoria DLR station? No, me either. I’m not sure who would want to travel between it and the O2, but I guess someone must, else they wouldn’t have built this rather cute cable car over the river. Its got to be said that, on a grey and wet Tuesday, our glimpse of the glowing London City airport runway was a highlight.

She was happy, honest. 

The O2 is a brilliant location for an indoor picnic.
Wet days are a nightmare as far as picnics are concerned. Yes, we ate some lunch (aka a lot of Pringles) on the train, but what we were really in need of was a good sit down after a busy morning. The O2 proved to be perfect. Yes, it’s full of over-priced eating establishments, but it also possesses many benches that are ideal for sitting on and pretending you’re outside. I marvelled at the genius of my idea.

Catching the boat home from Greenwich is always a good idea.
Yes, it takes an hour and the tube would be quicker, but the river! The bridges! The opportunities to correct other people’s inaccurate London knowledge… [To explain: a father near us was telling his daughter all about 'London Bridge' - only snag was that the bridge in question was Tower Bridge. I didn't correct him, I just told Doris the story of the American who thought they'd bought it instead.]

Quintessential London, from the boat. 

11 year old girls can eat – especially when it comes to cake! 
Hot chocolate and a huge slice of chocolate fudge cake demolished in mere minutes. I was impressed.

Thank-you Caffe Nero loyalty cards…

You can NEVER have too much London Transport in one day.
Not only did we visit the LT museum, we also took a tube, two DLR’s, the Skyline, a Thames Clipper and a bus. The only Oyster card accessible transportation we didn’t use was the Overground and the tram. (There was no way we were going all the way to Croydon for the sake of a tram!) Doris wasn’t entirely satisfied though. She felt we ought to have been able to take a plane…

Fake bus &  fake tube driving; in the driver’s seat of the DLR; on the Skyline; aboard the Clipper; and finally, on a bus back home. 

I’m not tremendously au fait with the calendar of saints’ days and remembrances, so this came as something of a surprise to me during college worship yesterday morning. Within minutes of the service beginning, we were listening to a recording of Ugandan singing. I shut my eyes and was instantly transported back to the church in Ogongora, where I’d heard near identical singing just three months ago. [Funnily enough, I'd only been remembering on my way to college that today marks exactly three months since we returned.]

Dave’s video of the singing at Ogongora church.

It’s highly appropriate that this date falls at the beginning of a week in which the IF campaign holds a massive gathering to highlight the issue of global hunger and injustice in the final weeks before the G8 summit begins. This Saturday, thousands will gather in Hyde Park to campaign for an end to hunger and poverty. (Sadly, I can’t be there thanks to a Vicar Weekend.) Next Saturday, a similar event will take place in Belfast, prior to the summit beginning on June 17th in Northern Ireland.

This connection wasn’t lost on the person leading the service, as we meditated on the Feeding of the Five Thousand and prayed for those in Uganda who still face the injustice of poverty today. I saw that injustice at first hand on our trip – like the nursery school children whose lunch (provided by the church) might be their only meal of the day. The children whose chances of making the most of their education is negatively impacted by the fact that their parents can’t afford to give them breakfast or lunch. The grandmother who goes hungry so that her grandchildren will be less hungry.

Lunch at Ogongora Nursery 

If you’re able to get to Hyde Park this Saturday, or Belfast’s Botanic Gardens a week on Saturday, then DO! If you can’t, you can ‘show your face’ in support of the campaign, via this link.

The work we saw as part of the PEP programme in Uganda is making a massive difference – but it’s not enough.

What IF there was enough food for everyone?