Word Processing vs Wood Processing

Latest Word Processing

Who says the Germans have no sense of humour? Click on the title above for the link to this site, which is fun stuff indeed. It's a very cleverly worked out if badly translated piece by someone at the world's biggest pencil maker, Faber-Castell. Today's Blue Peter featured one of those fascinating "how it's made" films at the writing instrument maker's factory in Germany and very interesting it was too.
You learn something new every time from this programme: I discovered tonight you need no longer be concerned about the health risks of chewing your pencil pensively Yes, I know- pun intended, or should that be pen intended?. It seems that "lead" pencils never have been made of that metal: pencils are, and always have been, made from a mixture of graphite and china clay. This does look very like lead though, so after they were first mistaken for lead items, the name stuck. Faber-Castell's pencils come in over 120 colours (the 'lead' core that is) and they are about as environmentally friendly as you can get. Each pencil's outer casing is made from cedarwood, but a new tree is planted for each one chopped down.

I hope the same can be said in the forests from whence came the two most famous festive firs in the land which also put in an appearance on today's "BP", but sadly now denuded of their Christmastime splendour. The programme featured the dismantling of both the Trafalgar Square tree- Norway's annual gift to Britain this year used energy efficient bulbs, apparently- and the premier tree, or should that be Premier's tree, outside Number 10, Downing Street. Both of these got their come-downance with a little help from Simon as sawyer, and were then carted off in a van to make mulch for the Blue Peter garden.
However, a peek at the famous Shepherd's Bush green oasis this evening made me wonder: what will be its fate when the BBC moves it's children's output to Manchester in five years time? Will the statue of dear old Petra the dog, and the grave of George the tortoise, go unloved, unvisited and untended? And what of the Millennium Tree, planted in 1971 when I were but a lad of 12? It has stood the test of time somewhat better than the time capsule planted beneath it, which when retrieved was found to have rotted! I think we should be told, and the governors ought to have a serious re-think at this proposed assault on our televisual heritage.

MANCHESTER'S MAGNIFICENT MONUMENT
Certainly there are no such worries in "Madchester" this evening, as the biggest sculpture in Britain is officially unveiled outside the home of the Commonwealth Games back in 2002, the City of Manchester Stadium. It's probably about the only piece of shiny metal the current tenants of the stadium are likely to see for a while mind, as I can't remember the last time Man City beat their illustrious local rivals at Old Trafford to the honour of FA Cup champions, let alone any other trophies.

The "B of the Bang" is the somewhat bizarrely named monument to the games which has been designed and built largely at public expense, as part of the regeneration of East Mancehster. It now claims the honour of Britain's tallest sculpture at 56 metres tall- dwarfing even Anthony Gormley's "Angel of the North", though surely Nelson's column and the Monument in the capital must have a place there somewhere too? The new sculpture will be illuminated at night, and gets its peculiar name from one time athletic champion Linford Christie. During a race commentary in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, he apparently referred to "the b of the bang", that moment when the fastest sprinters get off their blocks as the starting gun fires- a mere millisecond if their reactions are as they should be. The "B of the Bang" is a visual attempt therefore at representing something which is largely aural, a giant permanent commemorative "explosion" above Sport City in the heart of the North West.

Buried somewhere inside the statue is also a time capsule, but this one is not due to be opened for another 300 years. It contains work including, no doubt, a few pencil drawings from local schoolchildren. I hope it is better looked after than the BP capsule, but I don't expect to be around to see this one opened again, or at least not this side of the way of all flesh and indeed all trees, eventually.

LIME LAMENT
The antiquity of many trees is a truly humbling reminder of the brevity of one's own life, but also of the continuity and history of our nation. In several of the churchyards in this part of the country, there are yew trees believed to be over 900 years old, some even pre-dating the Norman Conquest. Such great giants of arborial splendour have even attracted enough awe to have books written about them: although I have not yet bought it, I recommend Meetings with Remarkable Trees.
But even the stoutest of trees is vulnerable to the extremes of the British climate, which can be just as dangerous and fatal as the waves which carried off so many precious souls in South Asia seventeen days ago. The scale of damage and the loss of life may be smaller, but nevertheless the sea is a fearsome foe and the wind a well-armed warrior. Scotland and Northern Ireland are now recovering from a battering these past couple of days which is the worst for a decade, and has claimed at least three lives. The whole of the Scottish rail network has been closed as a result, thousands are without power and in the border country around Hexham, fresh water is still being delivered from bowsers because of this climatic chaos.
Further south, we've mercifully escaped the worst of the winds this time, in stark contrast to October 1987 when "The Great Storm" wrought such destruction in Southern England. However, one tree which survived that onslaught has not fared so well this time, and the famous Lime tree in the middle of Kent County Cricket Club's ground in Canterbury is no more. Or at least, it is only a stump, lost in a night of windy pounding over the weekend. I don't know off-hand who it was that said "I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree", indeed I'm not even sure I've got the quote right, but it is very true. Not only are trees our essential air filters, they're also quite remarkable in their power to inspire, to shelter and to even be a focus of private passion poured out publicly. A million carved love hearts bear testimony to that.

Where trees and lives differ though is that it is an easy matter to replant a tree. Sevenoaks in Kent may have been demoted to One Oak for a brief period after the '87 "hurricane", but new saplings and growth soon replaced it. If only it were such an easy matter to restore life, in all its tender beauty, to devastated communities who have lost mother, father, brother, sister... the list goes on. But somehow in all the horrors which nature can throw at humanity, life DOES go on and people overcome even the most traumatic, unimaginable, painful losses. The human spirit has a strength, a beauty and a splendour more awe-inspiring and unique than even the tallest tree, the most splendid sculpture or the brightest lights. It cannot be extinguished or destroyed because it is made in the image of the One who has no age, no dimensions or limitations of time and space, and yet beats with the heart of the universe. The human spirit is more magnificent than any of these things because it is powered by the fuel which is more energy-efficient than any hydrocarbon. The human spirit is made to run forever on a four-letter word- love. That love seemed dead when it was mercilessly slaughtered on the crude wood of an ancient tree in Jerusalem- but Jesus, love personified, rose again. Thanks to him, now all who would accept his generous gift can enjoy breath-taking life and a place in eternity. Can any medal, monument or moment beat that?