• Christmas in St Mary’s (with a twist at the end)

    Christmas is a time of joy and celebration, and there is perhaps no better place to experience the magic of the season than at St Mary’s Cathedral in the Scottish Episcopal Church. With its stunning architecture and rich history, this beautiful space offers a truly special and meaningful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

    One of the highlights of a Christmas service at St Mary’s Cathedral is the music. The cathedral’s choir is known for their beautiful voices and their ability to bring the festive carols to life. The church also features a grand organ, which adds a sense of grandeur and majesty to the service. Whether you’re a fan of traditional carols or more modern hymns, you’re sure to be moved by the beautiful music at St Mary’s Cathedral.

    Another highlight of a Christmas service at St Mary’s Cathedral is the sense of history and tradition. The cathedral dates back to the 19th century and is known for its stunning Gothic architecture. The service itself is filled with rich traditions, such as the lighting of the Advent wreath and the reading of the Christmas story from the Bible. These traditions help to create a sense of awe and wonder that is so fitting for the holiday season.

    But perhaps the most special aspect of a Christmas service at St Mary’s Cathedral is the sense of community and togetherness. As people from all walks of life come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus, there is a feeling of unity and love that is truly special. Whether you’re a lifelong member of the cathedral or a newcomer to the community, you’ll feel welcome and included in the celebration.

    In short, Christmas services at St Mary’s Cathedral in the Scottish Episcopal Church are a truly special and meaningful way to celebrate the holiday season. With their beautiful music, rich traditions, and sense of community, these services offer a chance to experience the magic and wonder of Christmas in a truly special and meaningful way.

    If you’ve made it through this blog post this far and you have a slight sense that there’s something odd about it the you’d be correct. The post above, not in italics wasn’t written by me. It was written by a machine – specifically the ChatGPT bot that has recently been released to the world. You tell  it what you want it to write and it does it.

    This one was generated by the prompt, “Write a blog post about how wonderful Christmas services are at St Mary’s Cathedral in the Scottish Episcopal Church”.

    Now, it doesn’t sound quite like me and it isn’t the most exciting writing there is. Perhaps it is even slightly stilted. But it is a fairly convincing attempt at the problem I gave it to do.

    This technology is going to make all things new. Academia in particular is going to have to change very quickly in the way it assesses students.

    This is disruptive technology. It can be used to do funny things – I could just have easily got it to write the above post in the voice of Donald Trump.

    Thus: “Let me tell you, folks, this place is amazing. The music is absolutely incredible, with the choir singing all of your favorite carols in the most beautiful way. And the organ! Wow, what a sound. It’s truly something to behold…”

    But this isn’t just entertainment. It is something completely and utterly new. Nothing you ever read again comes with a guarantee that it was written by a human being.

    The world is changed. As someone once sent with a telegraph key, “What hath God wrought”?

9 responses to “Are the podcasts working?”

  1. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    Yes, both working for me. I have a tiny Kelvin in the corner of my iTunes window.

  2. Mary-Cate Avatar
    Mary-Cate

    Both audio and video download to my iTunes and the audio downloads/works well on my somewhat ancient 20G iPod.

  3. Stewart Avatar

    Podcasts downloaded and played on the laptop without any problems. Have not tried them on an iPod though.

  4. David |Dah • veed| Avatar
    David |Dah • veed|

    Currently the iTunes Store will not let me subscribe to any of the three podcasts listed. Is it limited to Scotland or the UK?

  5. kelvin Avatar

    David, they are not limited to Scotland or the UK.

    There are also only two podcast streams.

    Specifically, they can be found here and here.

    Anyone else having trouble? Or anyone else from outside the UK able to confirm a subscription?

  6. Gordon Avatar
    Gordon

    Can’t I even escape to my Ipod!

    Audio podcast great but the video is a bit big (can it be compressed?

  7. ryan Avatar
    ryan

    Podcasts works here (in godforsaken lennoxown, which suprisingly still has broadband).

  8. David |Dah • veed| Avatar
    David |Dah • veed|

    I can see three video podcasts;
    Interview with Gene Robinson
    Sermon 10 July
    Sermon Gene Robinson

    and three audio podcasts;
    Sermon 1 July
    Sermon 6 July
    Sermon 27 July

    None will let me subscribe. Is it perhaps limited to the UK iTunes Store? I am hooked to the USA Store usually, because I have purchased things for years with a USA bankcard.

  9. David |Dah • veed| Avatar
    David |Dah • veed|

    Ok, I tracked down the problem. Podcasts were disabled under the Parental Controls in the Preferences. My computer illiterate parents must have snuck into town and down that!

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