Some recent news stories

I ought to say something about Rowan Williams, the next Archbishop of Canterbury. He's already been rubbished in one or two conservative blogs as an old-school leftie. He seems to me to be an order of magnitude better than the lacklustre George Carey, and perhaps some honest criticism of global capitalism should be heard and listened to. Theologically he seems pretty orthodox, and I find the criticism from one or two reactionary evangelical groups (such as Reform) to an encouraging sign. Previously the church had made too many compromises with these reactionaries over ordination of women, which has left women priests as second-class citizens within the church. With Rowan Williams at the helm, they need to sort our this mess. Of course, you could argue that it's none of my business, since I'm a Methodist, not an Anglican

He's already got in to trouble with Walt Disney (mess with The Mouse at your peril). Disney hits back at his criticism of their over-aggressive marketing to children. I'm not sure of his position on RPGs...

While on the subject of good and evil (sort of), does anyone else think Nicholas van Hoogstraten resembles an RPG or comic-book villain? The vicious henchmen? The massive egotism? The over-the-top palace he was building? We mustn't forget, though, this is a real man who has inflicted a lot real misery on a lot of people.

On a completely different subject, it's a pity I missed the Steve Hackett/Evelyn Glennie concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on Sunday; this review from the Guardian sounds interesting. Hope this work gets recorded.