Silver, gold and stonework

Through different friends on Facebook I've been made aware of recent discoveries of Viking silver and Anglo-Saxon gold. Beautiful stuff.

Less in the news, but of interest here, is that Outlandish Knight has provided a link to his photographs of early Norman churches, fonts, and corbels.
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Journalism

A conversation in the comments of another blog brought up some remarks that the Archbishop of Westminster made about social networking sites (Facebook and so forth), as reported in the Telegraph. Reading it is hilarious.

I should perhaps say that I wrote my doctorate about newspapers, so when I'm reading a newspaper report my foremost thought is not "What happened?" (or "What was said?"), but "What does the journalist think happened?" (or "Did he even understand what was said?").

It's unavoidable that some simplification should be found in a newspaper report (that is pretty much what journalists exist to do: pot things), but even so it's remarkable here how the Archbishop's own words are an awful lot more nuanced than those that the journalist "fills in" without using quotation marks. It begins with the headline.

Headline: "Facebook and MySpace can lead children to commit suicide"
Actual quotation near bottom of article: "Among young people often a key factor in them committing suicide is the trauma of transient relationships."

Journalist: "The archbishop blamed social network sites for leaving children with impoverished friendships."
Actual words of Archbishop: "Facebook and MySpace might contribute towards communities, but I'm wary about it. It's not rounded communication so it won't build a rounded community," he said. "If we mean by community a genuine growing together and a mutual sharing in an interest that is of some significance then it needs more than Facebook."

It is worth reminding young people (and not-so-young people, and - need I add? - ourselves) that a Facebook "friend" and an online "community" are not at all the same thing as a friend or a community. That handy tools for keeping in touch with people at a distance shouldn't distract us from getting in touch with people in the same street as us, or the same house. Strange that it's a point that a Telegraph journalist can't grasp without sensationalising.
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Friends and "Facebook Friends"

In the typical "chain of mirrors" effect of clicking from link to link on blogs and google, I've been reflecting on this reflection on the Pope's reflections on Facebook. And it has to be said: since signing up for Facebook I've extended my range of "Facebook friends" considerably - even to include two people I've never met but who are friends of friends.

But this warning note is worth heeding: We should be careful, therefore, never to trivialize the concept or the experience of friendship.

Most of my "friends" on Facebook are acquaintances from college and former students - people I certainly want to keep in touch with, but not at the expense of old and valued friendships with people not on Facebook, whom I have made precious little effort to contact of late (my slothful nature following the path of least resistance as water flows down hill). And now one of my brothers is here talking about his trip to Vietnam, and I'm trying to finish a blog post before listening, just so as not to have to save it and finish it later. OK, I think we can agree I've got a problem. Perhaps I've just identified what I should be giving up for Lent.
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Launching into cyberspace

Well, "launch" is perhaps the wrong word. About a year ago, sitting up late (unable to sleep), with a mug of cacao and a raging fever, I thought "I know, I'll start a blog". So I did. The next morning I had no recollection of what it was called, what my password might be, or what provider it was with. Should I put up little flyers, "If you see my blog please return it to ..."?

This time I've made a note of the name, and of my password, so if you find this post and it stands alone you'll know that fever wasn't to blame. Sloth, most likely; or getting my fingers caught in the lawnmower blades.

No doubt all this time the question at the back of your mind has been "Why 'Beyond Brussels'"? No, it's not a sovereignty or world-government thing, it's just usually what I end up saying when people ask me where I live.

"And what else is on this blog?" you wonder. Well, I'm glad you asked that. I'm not entirely sure myself yet. In the last couple of weeks, for various different reasons, I've registered with facebook and wikipedia - a blog would be a sort of hat-trick for virtual interaction.

But as the debacle of a year ago shows, I've been thinking about it for some time. A place to try out ideas with complete strangers [or indeed friends]; to keep track of what I've been thinking; to objectify my experience as a practice of self-abnegation (no, seriously - it might not work but I thought I'd give it a go). All my attempts at keeping a diary (spiritual, intellectual, or appointments) have failed within the first week, which doesn't bode well for a blog but come back next week and see whether I'm still here.
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