At TQ Ltd today for a gathering of potential ambassadors for Titanic Belfast – the fabulous new visitor attraction gleaming above the Titanic slipways behind the Drawing Office.  We were shown a computer-generated fly-through of the building, given the vision of its designers, and clued-in on its place within the overall masterplan of the Titanic Quarter.

From the ticket desks (modelled on keel blocks) to the escalators (biggest in Ireland!) to the design room (the Titanic’s schematics light up when you walk on them!) to the Shipyard Ride (looks like fun) to the surround-IMAX theatre (imagine you’re walking through the wreck of Titanic on the ocean bed!) to the massive banqueting suite (with replica Grand Staircase for Kate/Leo-snog re-enactments) IT LOOKS PHENOMENAL!

So was I interested in being an Ambassador?  Well what do you think…?

The Dock website was one of the first places in the world to see the first pictures of the interior when they were released a few weeks ago… now there’s a fly-through video to go with them.  Mr Ambassador, with these videos you are really spoiling us…
 

Spread the word – it’s going to be fantastic.

Time to sit down with a nice cuppa and a good book… Dock Book Group is coming up again on Saturday 25th June, meeting at 9:30am at the TQ Premier Inn.

This time round we’re reading Reason For God by Tim Kellor – here’s the link and here’s the cover blurb:

As the pastor of an inner-city church in New York City, Timothy Keller has compiled a list of the most frequently voiced ‘doubts’ sceptics bring to his church, as well as the most important reasons for faith. In THE REASON FOR GOD, he addresses each doubt and explains each reason.

Keller uses literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and reasoning to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief, held by thoughtful people of intellectual integrity with a deep compassion for those who truly want to know the truth.

Intrigued?  And if paper-and-ink is too old-school, you can track down the Kindle edition, or buy the audiobook on iTunes.

Worldwide press coverage, the biggest-ever Dock Walk, meeting the neighbours, celebrating the past… it’s been a flipping amazing week!

Things kicked off in style with the Angus Buchan event at the Odyssey last weekend.  It was great to meet loads of people from all over the country who had travelled to hear Angus’s story – and to see the massive wave of response when he called for people to stand up and make a commitment to building peace in Northern Ireland.  Loads of brilliant people called into the Dock prayer room – some for prayer, some for a chat, some to admire the view of the TQ through the window!  A great weekend.

Then for me & Sus it was a trip off down memory lane… we returned to Mossley Parish, our home church, for its 40th-anniversary service.  Amongst many notable achievements during its 40 years, Mossley is responsible for introducing a tongue-tied 17-year-old Chris Bennett to the exotic blonde Susan Maguire who had just arrived at the Youth Group barbeque… history in the making!  Gillian and Alan, who organised the barbeque and are therefore to blame for all that followed, are with us in the pic.

Then… biggest Dock Walk EVER!  Thanks to a visitation from all my old chums from Carrowdore and Millisle (who are still surviving as a church despite having me in charge of them for a year), over 50 of us walked, talked, prayed and worshipped in the sun last Sunday afternoon.

We even got to see (for the first time on a Dock Walk) around the beautiful old Drawing Rooms – they were open as a special occasion in preparation for the Big Launch Event on Tuesday.  Speaking of which…

You’ve already had me making a takeover-bid on your TV screens and airwaves – so if you haven’t already seen the footage of that monumental, emotional 62-second cheer, click here.  For now, here are a few new angles on the event; the people in the picture to your left are the Mayors of Belfast, Southampton, Cherbourg and Cobh – all the places which Titanic touched in its brief timespan.  The chap in the photos below  is Hugh Robinson (with his minister, Roger, one of my friends from the Arrow course) who discovered in his attic a faded old postcard of Titanic under construction.  On closer examination, the postcard had been written and posted within a few hours of Titanic’s Launch, telling the story of that great day from one of its original eyewitnesses.  Quite a piece of history! – and so Hugh, Roger and the postcard were a bit of a cause celebre out on the boats which gathered on the Lough to sound their horns at 12:13 on Tuesday.

As if to further cement my ‘Titanic nerd’ credentials during the past week or two, as well as my over-enthusiastic cheering and my hard-hat tour of Nomadic, I went to a lecture in the City Hall (a lecture!  voluntarily!) about one small detail of the Titanic story – the ‘mystery ship’ which some of the survivors claimed to have seen in the distance, failing to respond to Titanic’s distress calls.  It’s just such a fascinating story – I really enjoyed the lecture!  (never thought I’d write that…)

And so to this weekend – and another fantastic time meeting the neighbours – the sun shining on our deckchair cafe as the new community in the TQ started to chat, bond, meet, connect… such a privilege to be part of it all!

So apparently it’s gone worldwide… a phone call this morning from someone watching the launch celebrations in Singapore, reports coming in that my voice has been heard on Radio 2, a (kinda intense!) interview on Radio 4… the Launch Day has hit the news in a big way!

I’m currently probably too tired and a wee bit emotional (that ship has finally got under my skin, it seems!) to pass sensible comment on it all just now – so for the time being, just for those of you who aren’t sick of the sight of my face popping up on your screens today, here’s some of the coverage (as you can tell, my tech skills have failed me -it’s just filmed off the TV, old school!)

An interview with Mark Simpson was a great way to start the day:

Then the BBC gave a fantastic amount of live coverage to the 62-second cheer at 12:13pm and Karen’s prayer:

And an interview with Julie McCullough was a great way to close the day:

And it’s not all about the Beeb – UTV got a look-in too; this is their main article:

And this is their coverage of the reading of the eyewitness account of Titanic’s launch back in May 1911:

And finally! if you want to hear me squirm a bit, check out that interview on Radio 4 – it’s at 33:36 into the PM show – link here.