The Wardman Wire

There have been a few postings appearing around the Internet. There a lot of comments from people who don’t know English law. I’ll try and do a full roundup later on today.

For now, however, I’ll just add a few quick points and a few comments.

Good Coverage

TwoThree good articles following up on some of my points

The best headline, especially for afficionados of The Ship of Fools’ Virtual Church (review) - where churchwardens “Smite” troublemakers to evict them - is:

• Manchester Cathedral smites Sony (worth a read. Guardian games blog.)
• Church of England try to send Sony on massive guilt trip. Analysis of intellectual property aspects. Some good points.
• Church of England vs. Sony: What are the Legal Issues?. A game blog grappling with the legalities. Good summary of some points from first post!

Coverage that Misses the Point

• Church of England Extorts Sony? at Free Game video stuff.
• Copyright misunderstandings at Copyrighting The Church on Assorted Stuff.

And a Comedy Interlude

According to Ruth Gledhill, there are pigeon problems at Norwich:

Meanwhile, Pigeon Campaigns UK have written in protest to all English cathedrals about the shooting with a real gun of a real live pigeon in full view of diners in the refectory of Norwich cathedral. Hilarious, except I guess for the pigeon.

As they say in their letter:

‘Dear Sir/Madam,

‘As you are so keen to promote your Cathedral and raise a ’substantial donation’ from Sony, we would formally request that you confirm in writing whether you shoot pigeons (or any other wildlife) at your Cathedral please?

‘Unfortunately as we saw only last week, Norwich Cathedral was recently caught shooting pigeons; you can therefore understand our concerns. This made the headlines in the Norwich Evening News on Saturday.”

‘In the Very Reverend Rogers Govender’s words: “We are shocked to see a place of learning, prayer and heritage being presented to the youth market as a location where guns can be fired.” If that is the case, members of the public need to be assured that guns are not being fired at Manchester Cathedral.

‘We look forward to hearing from you by return.

‘Sincerely

‘John Davison
Pigeon Campaigns UK’

“Campaigning for the compassionate treatment of all avian wildlife in the UK”

It seems to me that shooting pigeons for the table is entirely appropriate, entirely compassionate, and entirely tasty.

Leaving aside the general “Rats with Wings” view of pigeons, and my preference for pigeons to be kept in a pie rather than a cathedral, I’m tempted to suggest the following solutions to deal with concerns of the Pigeon People:

1. Offer to lend them a ladder and a butterfly net and let them get on with it.
2. Follow the advice of the Duke of Wellington: Sparrowhawks Ma’am.

Here’s hoping that Norwich Cathedral have the nouse to offer “home grown pigeon pie” on their Refectory menu. I wonder if there is a pigeon roof boss at Norwich Cathedral.

Comparison of Playstation Game “Virtual Cathedral ” and the Real Thing

This screenshot is taken from the game:

The two screenshots below are taken from the Virtual Tour on the Cathedral Website (here: http://www.mindwave.co.uk/manchestercathedral/). Copyright acknowledged.

Note that the two images are in the are taken from opposite directions. The one above is looking away from the altar; the one below looking up the nave.

On a purely technical level, the reproduction is very good.

Query

Of anyone can send me a screenshot of any stained glass windows from the game, I would be interested.

I think that will do for now.