Vuvuzelas....

...have become one of the big talking points of this World Cup.

Assuming that is you can hear anybody talking above the noise made by thousands of them in the hands or should I say mouths of the South African football fans. Some people think they should be banned and are a danger to long term health or just a plain nuisance.

I mused a little on this earlier today as I walked by a lone bagpiper busking outside the Gracechurch Centre in Sutton Coldfield. Now there's optimism for you and he even had CDs for sale as well! Now just think about thousands of football supporters all playing the bagpipes at the same time. A sort of shivering goes down the spine just to imagine it.

But back to vuvuzelas. Professor Nils Steyn from the University of Witwatersrand has published a research paper on the history of the vuvuzela showing conclusively that they take their inspiration from the the rams horn of the people of Israel in Bible times. It was after all the vuvuzelas that brought down the walls of Jericho. So you can imagine there is real concern for the structural safety of the football stadia in South Africa. Watch out for falling walls!

More recently the vuvzela has found its way into the more lively forms of Charismatic worship. I have a suspicion that Mission Team Leader is a secret player (she is not called Cath Horne for nothing) and may even give us a taster at this week's "Song from the Shows".

Watch (or listen to) this space.