Radcliffe

Why Go to Church?: The Drama of the Eucharist
$16.95
I read this book with great interest. It is a super book that brings out clearly the meaning of the parts of the communion service. It is a perfect study book for Lent- you will understand Easter far more deeply after reading it.

I did not find it easy reading, but that may mean I was assimilating new material as I was reading. It is an easy paced book, and is well suited to being read in small portions over...well 40 days would be about right. I ended up with an impression that the author would be very likeable, and that I would enjoy hearing him preach. I learned a lot from reading him.

I can recommend this book to Christians who want to deepen their understanding of the communion service, and our community.

Super Baby Cakes
$27.98
2009 collection that celebrates the Soulful side of the famed '60s songwriter, producer, arranger and performer. Radcliffe was covered by many from Aretha Franklin to Tom Jones, Ray Charles to Eric Burdon, and in the late 1960's had his own production company, Baby Cakes. The collection has been put together by Jimmy's son Chris, taken from the Radcliffe tape vaults with all tracks appearing on CD for the first time. Chris has been busy promoting his fathers songs and productions resulting in several film placements and a Ford Mondeo advert in recent years. 20 tracks. Shout.

Harry Potter & Sorcerer's Stone [VHS]
$24.99
Let me just assure everyone that I have read the book of this movie and am not a government spy bent on brainwashing people to love terrible movies. I must confess though I watched this movie before I read the book and I could actually tell what was going on. The plot works very well, picking the best parts out of a book and making slight adaptations is not an easy spell but the movie makers get an O for this. They clearly defined the plot and did a good job of explaining the story to non-readers. I confess though when I saw the movie I was suddenly possesed with a determination to hate the series and kept a broad distance from it. But suddenly I found myself in desperate need to bring my school reading grade up so reluctantly picked this book up. Reading it I could remember some things from the movie I had viewed so long ago and found some unsavory parts that I felt were fixed in the movie. After reading the book I decided to watch the movie and found to my amazement that I loved it even more than the book. It brought me fully into the series then any of the books could've Since then I have been a Harry Potter fan and have read every book.

Now enough about that story which was made to make you feel sorry for me and think of me as a legitamant source. I thought the acting was very well done. Harry potter as portrayed very well by Daniel Radcliffe, though I do find very suspicous that he shares the last name of the producer hmmm... Oh well all's well that ends well, he was good.The actors who play the other roles were excellent as well. but the actor who shined among the rest was Richard Harris. He was truly made that role and I always felt relaxed and felt as if he was actually trying to impart the wisdom to all of us as well as to Harry. He delivered the earwax gag excellently and I laughed so hard. The special effects are also amazing. The spells looked so real I almost thought that wizards did exist. I really have no complaints for the movie and think it was a perfect adaptation of the book.

Now as for the bonus materials, that's another story in itself. Navigating the Hagwarts corridors, buying your own wand, and looking for the Sorcerors Stone sounds a hundred times more appealing then it really is. It can only be described by one thing, a tedious excuse for a bonus disk. Instead of saying ; here's the deleted scenes, here's the bloopers, you have to navigate the badly represented Hogwarts grounds, in order to find the simplest of things. If I want a badly made video game I'll go to Sega thank you very much. But the DVD's good so it evens out. Good work keep it up!

What Is the Point of Being a Christian?
$19.95
I admire authors who set out with a big question, and then bring lots of helpful material together to answer it fully and honestly. To achieve such books successfully usually means that the author has spent most of their life wrestling with a particular question.

In this book Timothy Radcliffe tackles answering his question with a combination of learning, enthusiastic but disciplined passion and many stories and examples. You sense he has a long open hearted experience, which has seen many people and problems. Reading his text it becomes clear that he has not rushed to judgement, nor sought refuge in doctrine, but has sought to understand people and their predicaments.

This is an excellent book that shows exactly what the point of being a Christian is. It is a great book for Christians reflecting on their faith and practice. For those who want to understand more about Christianity and its potential then this book is a good starting point.

It's one of those starting points that we may only recognise fully after some exploration, and as T.S. Elliot says,
"And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

My thanks to Timothy Radcliffe for writing this book which will help many of us to know our faith more deeply.