Mystery Day II -Bobbin Head

It was my turn to plan a day out, so on Saturday we drove up to Bobbin Head, (in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park) for the day. Boy, what a beautiful spot-- so quiet and peaceful. We had a great day, just lazing about having a picnic, reading, exploring, snoozing.

The weather was beautiful, and everything looked really green and lush. The clouds seemed particularly blue, and the clouds looked awesome--

There were lots of birds around--white cockatoos, kookaburras, rosellas. And these guys--The little fella in the middle (Australian Myna??) was very inquisitive, and kept returning again and again to suss us out. Later in the afternoon we went for a walk on this boardwalk that had been built over and through the mangrove swamp. I know 'swamp' doesn't sound that inviting, but they are such an interesting, unique little self contained world, where all the plants and creatures and water seem to work in each others' favour, and teem with life. You see this swampy mud, and it looks kinda ugly-- But if you look close, you see hundreds of little red-clawed crabs scurrying about-- If you adjust your senses to the 'ugliness', it's actually filled with beauty! There were lots of old gnarled trees, full of holes and hollows. It was too dark to see what might be inside this one, but I stuck my camera in, with the flash on, and got a good look-- It was a really great day; a time to stop, relax, have some good family time and enjoy creation.

Song Of The Week: Nutshell

I have been listening to Alice In Chains all week, getting very nostalgic. The song that particularly gets to me, and the one that I can't get out of my head is Nutshell.

They were a great band, and the chemistry between Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell was really cool. They came up with really weird, completely unique harmonies when they sung together. They also knew how to do a good rock song.

I Hate Football

Okay, I don't really. But seeing the Bulldogs, my most hated team, give the Tiges a caning yesterday arvo, was not fun. I had put my jersey on and all, to sit in front of the tele with a beer and relax. Why do they always televise the games where we play badly?

Dream Dilema

Last night I dreamt that my brother in law had a spare ticket to see Led Zeppelin, and he was going to give to me for $70. Then I got a call from an old school friend saying he had a spare one that he was going to give me for $25.

I wrestled with this for what seemed like a lot of the night, drifting in and out of sleep. You don't want to hurt your brother in law, but this is a saving of $45, people.

Yeah Yeah Yeah

I think what I dislike most about So You Think You Can Dance, even more than all the crying, is the way the judges feel the need to say 'yeah?' after every phrase they say, yeah? in this patronising tone, yeah? as if to say, listen to me, kids, and learn from the wizened master, yeah? Mr Serious and the Man-child are the worst offenders, but now the strange, squawky voiced English lady has picked up the ball as well.

Finished!!

I finally finished reading Absalom, Absalom! this morning. It only took me five months to read. Wow, what an achievement. That was tough going, but amazing.

If climb Mt Everest, on the way up you're probably not thinking 'yay, I'm having a ball', but once you reach the top you look back and go, wow, I made it! That's how I feel. You look at the book and think, well it's not that thick, but that's because there are no bloody paragraph breaks, and the type is a millimetre big.

But whinging aside, that was really awesome, and William Faulkner is still my favourite author. If you have five months spare and want to give yourself a headache, I highly recommend it.

A New Day

Let the morning bring me word
of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
--Psalm 143:8

Thursday Peanuts

Bad Night

I was feeling pretty troubled about some things last night, and had a bit of a weird nights' sleep (or lack of) as a result. I kept waking, feeling disorientated and anxious.

At one point I thought it was time to get up, dragged myself out of bed, went to the bathroom, undressed, and was about to turn the shower on when I thought "man I am tired-- I feel like I only just got in to bed".

I went and checked the time: 12:45am.

A Very Monday Tuesday

I know it's Tuesday, but I've got a very serious and debilitating bout of Mondayitis. It's the whole first-day-back-after-a-break thing, I think. I have absolutely no desire to work, and have had a very unproductive day. Feels too late to turn it around now, so conscientiousness will have to wait until tomorrow.

Mystery Day-The Museum

Yesterday we went to the museum, the first time I have been there since primary school. I had been talking about it for a while, so E planned it and made me close my eyes the whole journey into town, so it would be a surprise-- it was tops.

Unfortunately it was unbelievably crowded-- every pram-owning family within a 100km radius of the city had also decided to go-- but still, it was great. Even though the animals are stuffed, they look so alive, particularly the birds. I could have spent hours looking at them, they were so beautiful.

Little e seemed to enjoy it too--


I tried to warn her about dingoes and babies, but she wouldn't listen.

I also loved the insect displays-- drawers and drawers of insects pinned to foam, in tidy little frames. Part of me was thinking, wow, that should be my new hobby, but it seems a shame to go around sticking pins through all those little fellas, who are just minding their own business.

Two On the Trot

The Tigers won again on Saturday, beating the Cowboys 30- 10. Good job! Second on the ladder, baby!

Long Weekend

Had a nice long weekend-- An overview: Good Friday service at church, then went down to visit some friends at Thirroul, came home and played scrabble in front of Seinfeld, Saturday went to Rozelle markets and a second hand bookshop, little e drenched herself in my flat white at a cafe, I did some grocery shopping, more scrabble and Seinfeld, church on Sunday, played guitar in the band, had my parents and E's mum over for lunch, that night more scrabble and Seinfeld, Monday went to the museum, came home and watched Dances With Wolves while the girls had a sleep and the guy downstairs had Kenny G blaring all afternoon, little e threw sweet potato and broccoli around the kitchen, then finally, another three episodes of Seinfeld, and bed. It was good.

Thursday Peanuts

Water and Spirit

Had an interesting discussion yesterday on Craig's blog about the meaning of "water and spirit" in John 3.

What a Journey

I really like this passage from Romans-

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified." (Romans 8:28-30)

What an amazing journey-- Forknown, predestined, called, justified, and finally, glorified.

Make It Easy On Yourself

At the moment I have short hair and a beard, so not only do I not have to do my hair in the morning, I don't even have to shave either. That's an extra ten minutes to eat my Weet-Bix. It's the way of the future.

Security is..

..a coffee shop that knows your name and what you want without you having to ask.

Paul and Linda

It makes me kind of sad that Paul went from good old Linda..

To this-

Oops, I mean this-


Oh well, here's a video from happier times. Ahh, my favourite "rock couple".

Little e's Fight Face

Little e has started doing this cute "fight face". She screws up her nose and makes a long sniffing sound (go on, try it) and looks like she wants to have a bit of a scrap. She is one tough cookie.

Song of the Week: Achilles Last Stand

I have been having a bit of a Led Zeppelin fest of late, and borrowed the Presence album out from the library. It is a later album (1976) that I had not heard before, and though not as good as the earlier stuff, it's still pretty cool.

One song in particular, the opening track, Achilles Last Stand, is AWESOME! I can't believe I've never heard it before. Ten minutes and twenty-two seconds of old school metal-before-metal-was-metal goodness. I love the medieval feeling their music conjures up-- it makes me want to go and watch all those cool B-grade Sword and Sorcery movies from the 80's.

Sugar, Eggs & Salt (2008)

I had a two hour window yesterday afternoon before the football, and as the girls were out, I decided to do a painting. I am pretty pleased with it, especially the front egg. I have a bit of a thing for eggs, I find them very "aesthetically pleasing".

Sugar, Eggs & Salt (2008)
Oil on Canvas

Another Season Without Benji?

Well, the footy season has begun, and incredibly, Benji Marshall tore a knee ligament on his first touch of the ball, two minutes into the game yesterday against the Dragons. I couldn't believe it-- another season without Benji? It is unbelievable the run of injuries that guy has had, it must be so depressing and frustrating for him.

On the plus side, the Tige's played pretty well, and beat the Dragons 24-16. I was really impressed with a couple of the new young blokes-- Tim Moltzen and Beau Ryan, who both played really well. Hopefully the rest of the team will continue to lift their game in the absence of Marshall.

T2

Terminator 2 was on the other night. I had forgotten how much I like that movie! I am not that much of an action movie fan, but I really love this. What a cool premise -- a robot sent back in time to kill the boy who will become the leader of the human rebellion against the robots in the future-- how good's that!

And Arnie speaks like a robot anyway, so to play a robot is really a walk in the park. It also made me realise I really like Arnie movies in general. My top three are T2, Predator and Conan. Gold, gold, gold.

Bloody Vandals

On the way to work this morning I saw five of those glass bus stops completely smashed, shattered glass everywhere. Seeing one makes me absolutely furious, but five? Those massive panes of glass must be so expensive. You would think the council (or whoever is responsible for such things) would think of another option-- obviously this one isn't working that crash hot.

It drives me crazy to know that vandals will never be found out or have to pay for the damage. I know this is bad, but I was fantasising on the bus about scooping up all the shattered glass and getting it delivered to the vandal's house, and dumping it all in their bed. They come home from a night's fun and vandalism and ... yikes! Somebody knows it was me!

Yeah, I know there are better things to dwell on.

Wii Will Hurt You

All my arm and shoulder joints are aching and stiff from all my exercise on Saturday -- Tennis, boxing, ten pin bowling and golf. Sadly it was all on our friends' new Nintendo Wii, which makes the fact that I'm hurting kinda pathetic. Still though, how cool are Wii's! I could have played golf all night, and I don't even like golf.

Thursday Peanuts

Jesus a Naughty Boy?

There are many passages in the Bible about the perfection of Jesus, how he was without blemish, and that because of this He could be the perfect sacrifice for us. I have always assumed that this would mean that His perfection went back to His childhood-- that He NEVER sinned throughout His whole life. I am just wondering how to reconcile that with this prophecy from Isaiah.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. (Isaiah 7:14-16)

How could there have been a time when He did not "know enough to reject the wrong"? E suggested that it could just mean that before Jesus is born the land of the enemy kings will be laid waste.

Any thoughts?

Watermelon!

Peace Lilly (2008)

Peace Lilly (2008)
Oil on Canvas

The girls went to a baby shower on Saturday arvo, so I thought I would do a painting. I always pick things that are too difficult to paint, and this was particularly hard. I am not overly happy with it, but it felt good to be productive.

Drawings II

Here are some more drawings-- I did these on Saturday night. E was watching episodes of Seinfeld, which explains the smirk. Unexplained, is why she looks like an American Indian chief in the second drawing.

1/8-10 Paisley Road

It's strange how things work out sometimes. In 2000, the year after I finished my degree I moved with my parents down to Croydon, from the Blue Mountains. We lived in this house/flat above a shop, just behind the main street of Croydon.

It was a strange time, because while there were lots of great new changes in my life, I was really struggling to find a job. I would sit in my bedroom, typing up letters to send to animation studios; letter after letter after letter, for several months. It really got me down-- this was all I wanted to do, and I just couldn't get my foot in the door.

Anyway, the point of this story, is that the animation studio that I work for now (Southern Star) is sub-contracting some work to a new little animation studio, and when I looked up their address, it was in Croydon-- at the exact same address where I used to live, the house above the shop. So, in that room where I was once sitting and lamenting about the elusive job in animation , there is now an animation studio!

Thursday Peanuts

Golden Orb Weaver

I have been seeing a lot of these spiders around lately, and wanted to know what they were called. It's name is the Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila Ornata) and it is found predominantly in Eastern Australia.

There is a big one I pass every day, and tried hard to get a good photo, but the results were basically a lot of clear greenery with a smudgy blur in the foreground. So I got the photo from here instead. Now I don't particularly like spiders, and these particular ones creep me out, but the more I have found out about them, the more likable they have become... well, likable might be a bit too strong a word.. at least tolerable.

The big Golden Orbs that you see are actually all female. When you look closely at the photo above you will see a little spider nearby. I assumed these little fellas were the babies, but they are actually the males. So, we get a pretty clear picture of who wears the pants (or black and orange leggings) in this family. The female builds the web, and there will often be a few of these little males hanging around the edge of her web trying to get a look in with her. I'm not sure if spiders can have insecurities, but if I were a male Golden Orb, I don't think I would feel too great about my place in the world.

The 'gold' in the name actually refers to the colour of the silk in the web, when seen in sunlight, which if you care to look, is rather beautiful. The silk is very strong, and can even sometimes trap small birds and bats! When I was doing my early morning jogs I ran face first into one of these webs, and I think it actually made a 'sproing' sound, it was that strong. Luckily, the Golden Orb Weavers' venom is not very dangerous to humans, and they are reluctant to bite. Phew.

walking with little e

I like taking little e for walks, and letting her touch the different trees and plants we pass. I like her reactions to different textures. Usually she wants to rip off some leaves and have a bit of a taste test. This picture is from when I was teaching her to identify the difference between juvenile and adult foliage on a juniper bush. She is very smart for a nine month old.

Drawings

It has been ages since I have done any drawing on paper, (as for work I draw straight on to the computer) and I realised I kind of miss it. I thought I would try and get back into it, and it's been nice. Here is a couple of drawings from my little sketchbook. This is E looking rather studious. Actually she was struggling to stay awake, and kept nodding off. The next three I did last night--

Sgt. Pepper Tribute Concert

Last night I dreamt I was part of a group performing The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album live, from start to finish. I was "Paul", and the show was just about to begin. While this has the makings of a great dream, it was actually rather stressful, as a) I had no idea how to play any of the songs b) John, George and Ringo did not seem to know any of the songs either.

Anyhow, we played some atmospheric carnival music as an intro, and then, throwing caution to the wind, I launched into Oh! Darling. Technically, this song is not even on Sgt Pepper, but never mind. After winging it with a few songs, I noticed that George was a bit glum, and I realised I had been singing some of his songs rather than sticking strictly to Paul's.

He and I went backstage for an intermission and looked over the set list. We were both surprised to see a song name we did not recognise, and were panicking. So I whipped out my "The Complete Beatles Songbook", looked it up, and went back on stage, to finish the show. It was a bit hectic, but we pulled it all together, as you would expect the greatest band of all time to do.

Weekend Away

On the weekend we went down to Stanwell Tops for our church's annual camp. It was a good weekend, and great to get away from the city. It was our first camp as parents, and I think we were taken by surprise as to how much that would change things. We seemed to only catch about half of everything, and felt a bit behind the eightball the whole time. It felt quite exhausting. The talks were very interesting though. The subject of the weekend was "Nothing But The Blood", and was predominantly about Penal Substitutionary Atonement.