I Have Always Depended On The Quizzes Of Strangers

1. Scrunch or fold
2. High school nickname
3. Crappest lolly in a standard party mix
4. A good purchase
5. A purchase you regret
6. A movie villain that frightened you as a kid
7.Three of your better traits
8. Three of your worserer traits
9. A song you can listen to on repeat
10. The birthday present I can expect from you in the post any day now

Firty Two

Well, it's my birthday today.

I feel much older and much wiser, as you'd expect. To be honest I'm pretty non-plussed about this one, as there's lots of other stuff going on right now, but I'll still lap it up. By the way, lap it up means not doing much work and not feeling guilty about it.

Me and E went to the fish markets on the weekend, which was great. We had wine and cheese, and a massive seafood platter. And this morning E went out early and got croissants and coffee for brekky. Yum. And Chinese take away tonight for dinner. For me it's all about the food.

Little e has the right idea too- when she saw me this morning she said 'happy birthday, where's the cake?' all in one breath.

Word Eating

I got my just deserts yesterday for criticizing churches being 'edgy'.

There was no drummer. No bass. No piano. Just me fumbling along on guitar. We couldn't find the music. The power-point didn't work. The congregation was standing up and just making up any old words instead.

I'm sorry, edgy, I never meant to hurt you.. please come home..I..I..love you.

Bye Tige's.

Well, there goes our season, without getting into the finals for the fourth consecutive year.

Sad days.

Warren The Word Over-Use Watchdog

Warren's got the gripes today, people.

The word: Edgy

Which meaning? Not edgy as in nervous, edgy as in cutting edge

Who uses it? People who aren't edgy. Consider-

1) Australian TV production companies (not the one I work for, of course) who make hard-hitting dramas, from the mean streets of, um, Parramatta and such. The titles will have 'grungy' looking credits, even though grunge was about a million years ago (not literally), and it will be all hand-held cameras, because that too is all very new and never been done before. Not edgy.

2) Churches. Let's face it, the general public will never think church is cool. That's fine, embrace it. Hymns and pews, y'all. Try and appeal, that's fine- Warren appreciates a bit of that. But as soon as you drop the 'E' word, you've set yourself up for a fall, and you sound like your daggy uncle saying 'I really like to get jiggy and bust a move to 50 cent, dog, for real'. Not good.

3) People who can't paint or draw very well make edgy 'artworks'. Perhaps something multimedia, like An Expression Of Self made with charcoal, twine and doll-parts, and hand made paint ground from earth-tone rocks, painted with their elbows. It may be deep, but it's still bog.

Why's it bother you? It's pretentious and terrible. No edgy person in history actually used the word edgy, especially to describe themselves.

In conclusion: Don't use it, or I'll bite you.

Idol Banter

I missed the Tuesday show this week, but saw most of Wednesday's and last night's.

Last night was pretty dull, I thought, and Dicko's comment of 'tonight is the hardest group to pick' was really just a diplomatic way of saying none of them were that interesting.

Still, it was fun to see Marcia treading on some shaky ground with her 'but they were all black' comment. Oops. Quick, Marcia, dig upwards!

As for Wednesday, I really love that fella Scott, who did the Chris Brown song. He was way better than anyone else, and was a very likable guy. Everybody loves that little dark haired girl, but she's not doing it for me. All of the 'I am the queen of pain' stuff for me is all too much information. Just sing your song already.

So, my fav's are Stan and Scott.

Song Of The Week

'Reptile'

The Church (1988)

Listen~

Innovation vs. Truth

'Where people go astray with the Gospel is that they're trying to be innovative. they're trying to find a way to talk about Jesus that doesn't seem foolish, and doesn't seem offensive.

Has God called us to be innovative or truthful? Truthful. The people who have always been innovative, they were simply truthful. The people who were trying to be innovative usually were heretics.

And that's a problem, because they're ashamed of Jesus. they're trying to keep the name Jesus, and load Him up with meaning, that is not biblical.'

-Driscoll (from this talk)

Thursday Peanuts

Wisdom Brings Patience

A man's wisdom gives him patience;
it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

~Proverbs 19:11

No Offence, Ladies...

..But what's with the elf-boots?

Hammerheading

Many bad things can come as a result of foul weather, and the winds and rains of an angry sky can wreak unimagined havoc.

By far the worst and most devastating example, is what is known to The Science World as Hammerheading.

Case Study Example:

You've done the washing, and hung all your best t-shirts on the line. You've then recklessly left them unattended, and a storm has come. Dark skies. Whipping winds. Furious rains.

You get to ground zero too late, the damage already being done. And to pay for abandoning your clothes in their time of need, you're left hammerheading for the next week.

An Ideas Man

So, I have been working on some great inventions of late. I'll share one with you, just because that's how much I love you.

Okay, you know how when you're trying to sell a house, and you have people walking through, 'they' say to brew coffee somewhere, as this sub-consciously will make people feel nurtured and comfortable?

Well, peep this, comrades.

You get this add on thing for blogs, a little thing to put in your sidebar, and it makes smells. Good smells. Then people will subconsciously like you and read your blog. Each time they hit refresh, pfff! They get a waft. Amazed? I know.

Okay, there are a few logistical nuts and bolts to sort out, but I never claimed to be the details man. I am the big picture person, the ideas guy, the luminary to come and push the boundaries.

I'd say a lot of people would opt for the Coffee Brewingtm add on. Or girls might go for the Summer Bouquettm add on. All well and good, but a little run of the mill and predictable, really.

For me, I would go for the Musty Old Comicstm one, a smell that comforts me and brings me great joy. However I fear that the only people who would then visit my blog would be guys in army green anoraks, pony tails and meticulously sculpted beards, who knew how to speak Elvish.

But hey, I take what I can get.

Come At Lunch And I'll Tell All

I just met that fella RodeoClown for lunch in Town. It was nice. My very first blog-to-real-life crossover.

As I had expected, he pretty much looked like this--

He wore a pirate eyepatch so I would recognise him. Who wouldn't respect that?

Some Thoughts On Veganism

After the comments thread on Monday's quiz turned into a discussion about veganism, I have been thinking through some of the things Laetitia brought up, and am trying to form a firmer reasoning for my own choices.

Not because I want to argue with anyone over what is essentially a disputable matter (see Romans 14), but just because we should have proper reasoning behind what we do/don't do, and it's worthwhile to discuss.

Laetitia said this-

Originally God gave human beings every seed-bearing plant for food (Gen 1:29). So milk was for baby animals and honey would have been for bees.

Later, after the flood, God gave permission for humans to eat other animals. There were probably less varieties of safe seed-bearing plants around right after the flood. It is interesting to note that it is at this time (when God gave humans permission to eat animals - Gen 9:3) that the fear and dread of man entered animals (Gen 9:2) - prior to this man and animals had co-existed quite happily because we didn't eat them.

This is an interesting take, one I hadn't really heard before. That Genesis passage referred to is very intriguing as well-

1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. (Gen 9:1-3)

'I now give you everything' does imply that before the flood, food was more limited to plants. However, I think a conflicting message comes through even earlier in the Bible.

In Genesis 1, God made two kinds of animals- 'wild' and 'livestock'. Now unless I have a wrong understanding of the term, doesn't livestock mean it has beneficial use for humans? For example, Wikipedia lists 'commodities such as food, or fibre or labour'. This contrasts with what Wikipedia says about veganism, which 'seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose'.

So my point is that in Genesis 1, before the Fall, and before the flood, God created livestock to have beneficial use as a resource for man. I can't help but then assume that if it was there at the point of Creation, that it is good, and God-given.

One other point I have, is that I think that due to God's incredible complexity and intelligence, everything He created has multiple uses and purposes, so maybe it's limiting to say honey is restricted to a back-up food for bees, or cows milk is restricted to calves.

My view is that the chief purpose of every created thing is to bring glory to God. He made it to delight Himself and to bring Himself glory. From then on, things have multiple purposes, that work together intricately like a tapestry. To use the example of a bee, it's chief purpose is to glorify God. God made it, and it is good.

Then it has secondary purposes. It pollinates flowers, becoming an important link in a chain. It produces honey, a secondary food source for itself. God made this honey to also taste awesome, thus appealing to humans and becoming a beautiful delicacy and provision for us. All good uses, and all linked back to glorifying God.

picture from here.

Idol Banter

Anyone watching Australian Idol? I am. Why the heck not?

So far, my favourite is Stan. I like him, and he has a great voice. I like that he sung that great Al Green song, 'Let's Stay Together'. I like that he is kind of cocky. And I like a Christian with a neck tattoo. Who wouldn't?

Some early predictions-

* Stan will go far but will get in trouble lots for not being focused enough
* That annoyingly nice old fella Toby will go further than he ought
* The country abattoir girl won't get in because teenage girls won't vote for her, but the judges love her and will choose her as a wild card entry
* Too many young, good-looking but bland and uninteresting young'uns will get through

What do you reckon? Pedro? Simone?

Death By Yawn

An apparently little known fact, is that like the sneeze must be covered, so to the yawn. When you frequent public transport, you will realise the dark state of ignorance to this fact in which your fellow man dwells.

The yawn, unlike the sneeze is a subtle evil. Where the sneeze is loud, and produces a certain amount of tangible outbound traffic (spittle), the yawn sneaks under the radar. It is silent. There is no wetness to be felt. And yet the damage can actually be of a similarly devastating magnitude.

Sorry, layman, let me stop blinding you with science, and turn the theory into example.

This morning on the train I stood by a well-dressed woman, say, 36 years old at a guess. Nothing out of the ordinary. There was maybe 1.5 metres separating us, and she was engrossed in her book (I didn't see the cover, but it was probably either Dan Brown or Stephanie Meyer). Suddenly she broke forth with a yawn, and rather than concealing it, threw her head back and wiggled it, like a braying pony.

This act of wiggling directed some of this subsequent yawnage over to me. I was caught off guard, without means to defend myself. I was bombarded. Suddenly I smelt the noxious evil of untreated morning breath. The smell of the grave. The smell of pain, and of a thousand unicorns crying. The smell of the black vortex opening between this world and that beyond. The smell of dying.

And then the vortex was closed. The silent braying pony returned to her book about whining teenage bloodsuckers with unwashed hair. the rest of the carriage was oblivious, and yet there I was, left to reel from the silent carnage, somehow changed, somehow a little older; a little broken, yet with no visible scars.

This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a yawn.

We Shall Quiz On The Beaches. We Shall Quiz On The Landing Grounds

1. Plain or chicken salt
2. Your eye colour
3. An achievement you are proud of
4. City or country
5. On first impressions I probably seem...
6. But if you get to know me...
7. An interesting thing happening this week
8. Do you have a blog 'reader', or browse 'manually'?
9. Dinner last night
10. Something you can be thankful for today

Take Your Time

It is not good to have zeal without knowledge,
nor to be hasty and miss the way.

~Proverbs 19:2

Bravery

Lately I have been thinking about courage, and what it looks like in a person.

The conclusion that I have come to is that bravery does not mean that you are not afraid, even terrified of things, but that you confront those things, even though they terrify you.

A Tiger In The Darkness

T'was a dark night last Friday whenst the Eels defeated the Tige's.

The clouds hung heavy, and the moon was pale and wan. The shadows ran deep and were pregnant with darkness and ominous-ness.

I'm not going to follow football anymore.

Follow The Leader

In recent times, many* more people have decided to 'follow' this blog. Now I don't really know what 'following' is, as I've never done it, but I'm guessing it means you get put in one of those new-fangled 'reader' thingo's that are all the rage with you young people?

Anyways, to make a short story even longer, on close examination I discovered that these recent followings seemed to coincide with my heady post about deciding to wear a shirt rather than a T-shirt.

After much reflection, I feel sure that it is exactly this kind of hard-hitting journalism that wins you your minions.. oops, I mean followers. I almost kick myself for not realising earlier what is essentially an obvious fact- that people in shirts are more worthy of your trust and respect.

*3

Song Of The Week

'Nocturnal Me'

Echo and The Bunnymen (1984)

Listen~

Life Is Cruel

Caster Semenya smashes a record and she gets called a man.

Usain Bolt smashes another record and he gets called a superman.

Word Of Warning

If you walk into the toilets and start singing, first check to make sure no one else is in there.

But if you do get sprung, just keep singing, rather than trying to cleverly morph the singing into coughing. It is not a smooth transition and you will look even sillier.

Humility

Jesus isn't less than God, or God the Father. Jesus is God, and He's equal to God the Father. But He did not count equality with God something to be grasped.

Jesus didn't hold onto all of His rights with a closed fist, He opened His hand. Jesus said, 'I'll get off my throne, and I'll come in a manger. Instead of hearing angels cry "Holy! Holy! Holy!", I'll hear crowds crying, "Crucify him! Crucify him! Crucify him!"

Jesus said, 'I'll give up all my rights. I deserve to be loved, and obeyed and enjoyed, and viewed in glory, and praised. But I'm just going going to give all that up. I have a right to it, but I'm going to set aside my rights.

How many of you have ever done this? How many of you get very frustrated- 'I deserve better, I deserve to be praised, I deserve a better job. I deserve more glory, more respect, more obedience.

Jesus said, 'I let all that go'. He made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, born in the likeness of men.

From this talk by Mark Driscoll. Well worth a listen.

Starting!

Another one by my favourite author, William Faulkner.

Finished!

Yay, I finished my book this morning. When you read as slowly as I do, this is a great achievement. It only took me a million years* to finish.

I liked it. It made me happy and want to go to Corfu.

*Not literally

10 Things That Unsettle Me As A Blog Reader

1. Constantly changing and evolving blog designs. Change frightens me.
2. Removed posts. You wrote something, then you took it down. The ground under my feet feels unstable.
3. Unanswered comments
4. Post irregularity. Five today, none for the next two weeks.
5. Too many posts. If I scroll down and can't see the post I read yesterday, the task of catching up feels too hard.
6. Long posts without pictures. My eyes need something to rest on. A little island with a palm tree in the vast ocean of font-iness.
7. No picture, no profile. Who are you? What are you hiding?
8. Posts about being sick of blogging. I get sad and leave.
9. All business with nothing personal. I'll read a paper or the Southern Cross instead.
10. All personal, with nothing else. I want to know your world, but from a safe distance.

10 Things That Comfort Me As A Blog Reader

1. Consistency in post quantity, be it once a week or ten a day
2. Answered comments. Who doesn't like a reply?
3. Dependability. Pretty much knowing what you are going to get. Like an old friend.
4. An excitement for blogging. When posting's a pleasure, not a chore. Not 'Oh, I guess I should update, it's been so long..'
5. Other people commenting
6. Regular features
7. A balance between personal life, and 'topics'. Not all business, but not all "I just ate a peanut butter sandwich, y'all" either.
8. A balance between text and pictures
9. Posts I can read in 30 seconds
10. A picture and thorough profile page so I can form a picture of who I'm reading.

Thursday Peanuts

Speech Diary

Somebody from Toastmasters saw my blog and left this comment, which really sums up well the benefits of the organisation:

'I remember thinking my first toastmasters meeting was formal too. Then as time progressed and I attended more meetings I discovered that the formal roles really disguise speaking opportunities.

If someone is trying to overcome a fear of something like speaking then give them opportunities in every meeting to speak, hence the production of a lot of meeting roles with specific tasks that allow people to speak.

Thanks for sharing your first impressions of Toastmasters. I hope to read more as your journey continues!'

~Jamie N
ACS/ALB
Governor, Area 71, District 86

Warren The Word Over-Use Watchdog

The word: Literally

What's the problem? Well, this problem is two-fold, as the word gets abused in two, different, but equally annoying ways:

1) The Buy Me A Dictionary Syndrome (B.M.A.D.S)-

Here, people use the word 'literally' when the thing they are talking about actually is not literal, and can't be literal. An example would be, "Sorry I'm late, it literally took me, like a million years to get a bus". No, it didn't. It took about 42 minutes, literally, which is actually a fair bit less than a million years.

2) The Jamie Oliver Effect (J.O.E.)-

The other side of the coin. In this case, the culprit uses the word in a context that couldn't be anything other than literal, so therefore it is pointless, and not required. Jamie Oliver is a terrible repeat offender of this, and one of his examples might be something like, "So you literally just put the beans into the pan, and it's lovely jubbly, yeah?".

Oh, you literally want me to put the beans into the pan? Thanks so much for clarifying, otherwise I would have figuratively or metaphorically put the beans into the pan. Phew. A near miss.

But why does it bother you so much, crybaby? It's an unnecessarily long word shoved unnecessarily into a sentence. More hot air. Sort of like this post. A mist, a vapour.

Aren't you over-reacting a bit? Probably. But shut up for saying so.

Book Group: Ecclesiastes Ch.5

Read the whole chapter here.

10 Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.

11 As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owner
except to feast his eyes on them?

12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether he eats little or much,
but the abundance of a rich man
permits him no sleep.

13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner..

It's important from the outset to make clear that I associate with the rich man in this passage, not the labourer. We like to think we are so poor, and bemoan not having what the rich people have. But in context, we are the rich. Australia is rich. If I live in Sydney, own a place, have a steady job and can provide for four people, I am rich.

I love this passage, because it cuts right to the quick, and just rings with so much truth. I love the image of the labourer, who while not earning a big wage, and working his fingers to the bone, sleeps well, and sleeps in peace. There's a beautiful, romantic simplicity in working hard in the sun and then crashing into bed, the sheer physicality of work having completely beaten out any form of anxiety or stress.

Meanwhile, the rich man lays awake in his five thousand dollar bed, on his special posturepedic mattress, wound up like a spring, tense, anxious, and with too much on his mind. He's tried so hard to control his life, yet he can't manage.

But I think it's important not to go down the route of rich=bad and selfish and poor=good and humble. I like the way Mark Driscoll spoke about this in his talks on Proverbs. He says there are four categories-

-unrighteous poor
-unrighteous rich
-righteous poor
-righteous rich

He used the example of the wealthy man who gives a lot. The more he earns, the more he has to help other people with. Sure, he lives very comfortably, and from appearances looks rich. But you don't know how much he is giving away and being selfless with. I like that. There's nothing intrinsically holy about being poor. You can't support yourself, let alone have spare to give away. Be wealthy, but be selfless.

It's like that bit in verse 13 'wealth hoarded to the harm of the owner'. If you are making all your money just for you, just for your immediate family unit, you will never be satisfied. But if you rest on God's provision and give away in faith, your needs will be met abundantly by God.

Gym Curiosities

You know what I don't really get? That big gym on Parramatta Road full of running machines, right beside the road, with no curtains to hide your shame.

I'm just saying that were I to dust off the ol' terry-towling mini-shorts and tank top, I wouldn't want bus-fulls of people being able to see me do so as they drove past (unless I looked as good as blue tracksuit man in the picture). Why no curtains?

This is kind of the opposite premise to that gym (think it's called 'Curves'?) which is just for Tha Laydeez. That place is so curtained-up, that not a crack of daylight can get through. Inside is a secret society that no man may lay eyes upon. However, just because I am not aloud, it just makes me all the more curious. What goes on in there? Fire walking? The performing of sacred rites?

Speech Diary

went to Toastmasters for the second time last night. It was really good, once again. I got up and did a one minute speech thing, which went well.

I discovered that soon after you become an official member, you get lined up to do your 'Ice Breaker' speech, which is like your big first proper speech. It has to go for about 8 minutes, and is essentially about your life.

I never thought I would say this, but I am very excited about doing this big speech when I become a member. I would really feel like I accomplished something big.

My Past Life As A Hip Hopper

As per usual, a bit of nostalgic daydreaming has redirected my obsessions, and for the past week I have put away my metal CD's and instead have been pulling out my hip hop ones.

I probably haven't mentioned this here, but I love hip hop. Back in the mid to late 90's I was in a hip hop 'crew', and I was an 'MC' (I put those terms in adverted commas to avoid ridicule, though I suspect it will still come). They were good days, and I was right into the whole scene. We were called The Keepers, and we, along with two other crews called Fathom and Levelhedz were part of a bigger group called The Future Eaters.

Anyways, I was reminiscing the other day, and was sad that all the music The Keepers made only ended up on crappy old cassettes, that are rotting away in some box in the shed. But then I had the brainwave to Google the old groups' name, and I stumbled across an mp3 online of a 'posse cut' that we made with the Future Eaters. I was very excited to find it, and promptly downloaded it and have been playing it non stop.

I am proud of the stuff the Keepers made, I reckon it was pretty unusual. We were right into underground groups like Company Flow and Jedi Mind Tricks, and I reckon the stuff we sampled was pretty different to what most Aussie hip hop was doing at the time. Most hip hop had that 'funky' sort of vibe, which I don't like, and the samples came from funk and jazz and stuff like that, and Aussie hip hop these days is still like that, only even more mainstream.

But we were right into early 80's goth and new wave stuff, so lots of our beats and samples came from stuff like Joy Division, New Order, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and things like that. I really with we had of finished the recordings we were working on. We had this big double album planned, called Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers In This Quiet Earth (which is the last line in Wuthering Heights). It would have been awesome!

Oh well, at least I have one mp3 now.

Oh, What I Wouldn't Give...

Nathan: Man of Science

Nathan, like myself, is very scientific and smart, and expresses himself most clearly through graph, and/or other complicated experiments and data.

He made these rad graphs about you blog commenter's--

He has developed a fixation on de-lurking the lurkers, even though I have warned him against such dangerous endeavours.

Given Over, or Smoking Til You Vomit

On the weekend Dominic spoke on Romans 1-3. I liked what he had to say about this bit-

'For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened...

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts..'(Rom1:22-24)

The whole 'God gave them over' bit is unsettling, because it raises the questions, well, did He give up on us? Didn't He love us enough to keep trying? Is there a point where He wipes His hands of you? what about the good shepherd who doesn't give up until he finds the lost sheep?

Dominic gave the illustration of a mother who catches her young son smoking. She doesn't get angry, but rather sits down at the dining table with her son, and tells him to finish the smoke. When he's done, his mother tells him to smoke another. Then another. And another. And another, until he's smoked the entire packet. He feels horrible and vomits all over the floor. Just the thought of smoking from that point on absolutely turns his stomach.

Dominic likened this to Gods' 'giving us over' to our sinful desires when we reject Him. He doesn't rush in and smack our hand, He gives us the lighter and says, go ahead. Not because He doesn't love us, but because He does.

The Bolt- Still Awesome

You gotta love Usain Bolt.

He smashed the sprinting record again yesterday. He looks so cool, runs very fast, has a tough name, and also eats lots of chicken nuggets.

When I grow up I want to be him.

Newsflash: Man Wears Shirt

I'm going to some annoying work meet-and-greet thing this arvo at the ABC, so I thought I had better wear a shirt for a change.

To give you an indication of how rare this is, when Little e saw me this morning she said "Daddy's playing dress-ups!"

For the record, I would happily wear shirts every day, if I could actually find ones I liked. They never fit me right, are too expensive and come with dumb patterns on them. Otherwise I'd play dress-ups every day.

Ask Not What The Monday Quiz Can Do For You; Ask What You Can Do For The Monday Quiz

1. A hidden talent
2. What do you drive?
3. A song you'd like to never hear again. Ever.
4. As I get older I realise..
5. First memory that springs to mind when you think of 1990
6. I really want to read... but haven't gotten around to it
7. If push comes to shove, what's your all-time fav. TV show?
8. Who did you want to look like when you were a teenager?
9. A famous person you've met
10. An embarrassing story from childhood. Be brave.

Weekend Away- The Aftermath

Well the house party thing was good but hard. In the wash-up, if you weigh up the fun had etc, with the difficulty of doing it with little crazy children, well, it's a close call as to whether it's worth it. I am glad, in hindsight, that we went, but oh man....

As I suspected the all sleeping in the one room thing turned out to be a blast. We all slept soundly for about two hours, and then were basically awake the rest of the night. Little e insisted sleeping in my bed, and just talked and sang and hit my face a lot until morning. Bliss. And this kept little i awake and crying, and in E's bed.

So, sure, we felt crap the next day, but that's manageable. What isn't manageable are two kids who haven't slept. They grow horns. Their tongues become forked. Their heads spin around. By late Sunday arvo, when we were exhausted and wanted to crash, they were both insane and screaming like feral cats.

Oh, and there were a few good times too.

Tige's 5th on Ladder

The Tige's slaughtered the Sharks yesterday arvo, 56-10.

Oh man, I wish I had of seen the game live. They are looking so good, and have come from second last on the table to 5th, with this being their 6th consecutive win.

I want to party like it's 2005.

Here's an awesome highlights package of the ten try onslaught.

One Good Priest

Maybe the Catholic church don't go out of the way to encourage people to read their Bibles because the evidence is pretty conclusive about priests post-Jesus:

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

Hebrews 6:20
where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7:11
If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come—one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?

Hebrews 7:16
..one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

Hebrews 7:26
Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

Hebrews 7:27
Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

Hebrews 7:28
For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

In short, Jesus replaced earthly priests. They became null and void because we no longer need an earthly go-between to relate to God, since Jesus bridged that gap for all time, once and for all.

Rant-Free Zone

My posts have been very ranty and critical of late, haven't they?

Sorry.

Consider this post a rant-free, happy zone, a chance to just take a deep breath, and look outside your window at the lovely morning. Sing a ditty. Pat a unicorn.

Sickening

This makes me utterly furious. The reasons are obvious, and don't need to be explained.

But it's just another example of what happens when churches make 'priests' in to these high-up, go-to guys, the ones who have to intercede between us and God.

They are so holy and pure that they can't get married and have sex. No, instead they walk around in gowns and stalk out little kids online. They are very holy, because they are not having sex.. until they molest a kid.

Yeah, that system works great.

God said get married. God said have sex. So whose bright idea was it to think foregoing those good, God-given gifts was the way to holiness?

My Most Hated Ad

My worst ad campaign at the moment is that NRMA 'Unworry' rubbish.

In particular that horrible one with the dog sticking it's head out the window, with the terrible, smug, condescending "I am so layed-back and Aussie" voice-over.

I'll give you, unworry, talking dog. Every time I see this ad, my blood boils, I start to tremble, and I get visions of great wrath and carnage. Vengeance on all parties involved with this ad.

If any of you like that ad, even mildly, I kindly invite you to step outside right now for a well deserved beat-down.

Weekend Away

We are going away this weekend for a church house party thing. I'm looking forward to it, but am a bit apprehensive about the whole sleep thing. Us and the two kids all in one room doesn't strike me as being very restful. But we are just going to stay one night, hopefully minimising the damage.

But, I'm looking forward to spending time with the peeps, and getting to know those I don't know so well yet. Should be good.

Song Of The Week

'Sure Shot'

Beastie Boys (1994)

Listen~

Thursday Peanuts

Coraline- A Review

No Sir, I didn't like it.

I went into this movie wanting to enjoy it. I like dark, gothicky stuff, so the look of it appealed to me. At first. But after ten minutes I was trying to convince myself to like it. And by 25 minutes I was dozing off. Then by about 2/3 through I said to myself, 'you know, this might be one of those rare movies I actually hate'. Like this one.

So what didn't I like? Pretty much everything. What is it, a kids movie or an adults movie? It is so nightmarish that it would completely disturb kids, and yet the protagonist is a young girl, so adult appeal would be so limited.

Okay, the design is pretty nice, and it's all done in the highest quality of stop-motion. And it's the first stop-motion 3-D movie. But so what? The plot was terrible and rambling, the script was hard to follow, and the characters had no history or appeal at all. Terrible, self-absorbed direction.

I was wondering afterwards why I didn't like this movie, when I loved something like Spirited Away, which worked on an essentially similar premise: Unhappy girl goes into magical fantasy world, has strange adventures and trials and comes back to real world happier and wiser.

I realised it was because I actually cared about the little girl in Spirited Away. You got to know her character, and you liked her, so then when she faced struggles you worried for her, and when she triumphed you cheered for her. From the outset, Coraline seemed an annoying character, so I never grew to care what happened to her.

So much time and money spent, and yet they muck up the most key, essential basics.

Bad movie. 2/5. And that's being generous.

Warren The Word Over-Use Watchdog

The word: Bella.

What's it mean? It's Italian or something for 'beautiful'

Who uses it? 1) Annoying girl shops that sell expensive cushions and children's clothes. And a quilt. And probably some soap hand-made with eco-friendly goats curd. And some old lamp found at a garage sale for ten bucks, that now has a new price tag of $400. The shop name will be 'Bella this' or 'Bella that'.

2)Small, expensive apartments with a view of a courtyard and one shrub. The block will be called 'Bella Vista' or something. When it isn't at all.

3)Middle-aged rich ladies with annoying little dogs called Fifi. When they leave a shop they'll yell over their shoulder 'Mwah! Chow, Bella!'

But why does it bother you so much? Well, firstly, if it's an Italian word, let the Italian's use it. You have your own word, in your own language. Use that one. Secondly, using it in your shop name doesn't make it sound fancy, it just makes it sound pretentious. And there's probably another 'Bella' shop about four doors down.

Aren't you over-reacting a bit? No.

Book Group: Ecclesiastes Ch.4

Read the chapter here.

There's something amazingly modern and relevant about v.6-8:

6 Better one handful with tranquillity
than two handfuls with toil
and chasing after the wind.

7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:

8 There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
"For whom am I toiling," he asked,
"and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?"
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!

Work can control your life, and the desire to get more money. You don't want to be rich necessarily, just comfortable. Am I content now? Well, nearly; if I could just get $--- much more, to be able to afford ----, well then I would be content. Life would be easier, not such a struggle, and so obviously I would be happier as a result.

But this passage, written by someone who's been there says the opposite. He never reached contentment or happiness through what he achieved and gained. No matter what rung he climbed to, he never reached a point of satisfaction.

He concluded that you're happier with one handful than two. You are renting a little place in an okay suburb, but now your work hours can be a bit less and there's time to spend with your family on the weekend.

That other place was bigger, and newer, and in a cooler suburb. It had an awesome yard. But to be able to afford it, you'd be so stressed trying to keep your head above water. You'd be working overtime. You'd be working weekends. You'd lose time with your family, and gradually the strain would build rifts. You're working to afford stuff you'll have no time to enjoy.

The rich man stopped and realised he was alone with his wealth-- My hard work meant I could buy this yacht, but my wife's gone, and now I just sit alone on the deck on weekends, drinking my very expensive beer.

For whom am I toiling?

Goan To The Moobies

One of the perks of working in animation is that you get to go to see new movies. On work time. And work money.

We are going to see Coraline (3-D!) after lunch today.

Looking forward to it.

Statistics Show..

Real men use hankys.

Time to man-up, fellas.

Happy Birthday, E!

Hey, Readers Of The Classics..

Is it just me, or is it great and funny to see ol' Rochester get dressed up as an old gypsy woman?

Trivia!

Who's this fella?

It Happens To The Best Of Us

I am pretty sure the well-groomed, power-dressed lady in front of me on the escalator this morning let one go.

I wouldn't bet my life-savings (I worked hard for that $7.50), but I'm pretty sure.

I didn't investigate further, but rather moved into the overtaking lane and high-tailed it out of there. You can't dilly-dally with a Code Red.

2.5 Hours, 1 Book

Okay, so I did build up my trip to the bookshop last night a little too much, and felt that melancholy twinge of 'Oh, I thought this would make me happier'.

It was cold, a bit lonely, and I rubbed my eyes with book-dust-finger, making them red and sore.

But, I did find one book in the seven million that I looked at. An Annie Dillard novel about the American Frontier.

Idol

I have decided to watch Australian Idol this year, after tentatively watching Sunday's show. T'was okay.

I look forward to seeing more strange deluded people. You watching?

A Brief Foray Into Facebook

I checked out Facebook for the first time ever the other day. E is on it, so she logged in for me (if that's the right terminology) and I had a squiz at all the old peeps from high school.

It was very disconcerting. Strange to see ex-girlfriends now with new surnames, a couple of kids and looking fairly mumsy. Strange (yet pleasurable) to see the annoyingly popular guys now kinda fat and balding.

Anyways, here are some impressions that I gleaned from my brief Facebook foray:

* People like to cram as much 'I'm doing great and am a success' information into their little profile photo.

* If you have a family, you choose a photo of you and your brood on holidays, lounging about contentedly on some beach. This says, 'oh, the times we have'.

* If you are a kinda tubby, balding guy you choose a picture of you standing in front of your shiny red car, wearing sunnies, and looking awesome. This is to assure the casual browser, 'yes, I'm balding and eat a fair bit of KFC, but I am also rich and successful, so ner'.

* The people you really wanted to see what they now look like have some random silly photo of a sunset or a motorbike.

'Tis Better To Have Quizzed And Lost Than To Have Never Quizzed At All

1. Tissue or hanky
2. Your height
3. Your current favourite room in the house
4. I have no time for...
5. You have to eat one nationality of food for the rest of your life. Which?
6. I'm glad I finally... but wish I had done it sooner
7. Last CD you listened to
8. Last DVD you watched
9. The country you'd most like to visit
10. Your dream shop opens next door to your house. Describe it