Learning about marriage

Just out of coincidence I heard two Focus On the Family broadcasts over the last two days.

96.5 play the same broadcast at 10am and 10pm. I worked doing UPS battery testing at RACQ's two main Brisbane sites last night. I finished right on 10pm and hopped in the car just as Dr James Dobson was introducing his show. Then because of my late work last night I got up late this morning, ducked into the Ipswich RACQ branch to fix something and right on 10am hopped in the car to drive into work, hearing the follow on program.

Both were on 'The first 5 years of marriage', revolving around a new book the Focus On the Family counselling crew have put together after their extensive experience in taking calls and dealing with issues in marriages.

As a single guy I kind of wondered how beneficial it was to listen in, but I did anyway - and I kind of wonder if God had somehow woven all these events in the past few days just so I'd be available to hear these messages.

As Dr Dobson and another member of the team took phone calls from people with questions a couple of things really stood out about what a healthy marriage is all about.

• - Today's society (even the 'Christian' society) gives this impression that we will find a 'soul mate' in the sense of once we meet and find that one person they will complete, and just mix into our lives and everything will be grand. The reality is that true love is not about finding someone that just fits with you, it's about working together to become unified and one. You don't just suddenly become 'one', you have to work together and go through some stuff before that will happen. Love keeps you going through good and bad to really create that oneness over time.
• - To have a successful marriage you literally have to give up that Hollywood (or even Preached) version of marriage and really take stoke of what Biblical relationships are like.
• - It's a complete U-Turn on society today. So many people claim 'falling out of love' as a reason for divorce... it's more a case on giving up on love, and not really understanding the full meaning of love that is the cause.
• -Love is all about 'dieing to self'. Just as Christ did for us, a pure love between a man and woman will consist of each of them being willing to die for each other. That means emotionally, as well as physically (maybe not in the sense of jumping in front of a bullet, but more so in giving up something for the other). I think the emotionally one is the key, you have to have a complete change of mindset once you have a wife. Suddenly there is someone else who must be thought of before yourself.
• -Everyone says 'There will be tough times', but that's kind of a blanket statement which doesn't help at all. There are some good books out there (check out http://www.families.org.au/) that really delve into resolving conflict, and what conflict really means in a marriage.

I guess as a single bloke this is all head knowledge with no actual experience. But I think for other single people out there this gives some good advice as well, especially when you think about who it is you may marry. I mean how many single people are out there waiting for God to show them the 'perfect one'! I don't know if God does that too often... but it's through building relationships that you then grow to a point where you can decide to make that commitment to marry start the process of becoming completely unified.

Honestly I think I know a number of girls who at this point could possibly be someone I'd like to take my relationship further, but I think I need to stop waiting for the one to pop up, and maybe just focus not on building a relationship, but just sharing with people over time, and maybe finally one of them will decide that I am someone they'd like to build a unifying relationship with.

Paul Colman - One Night Only

Well I have my ticket, so now I'll advertise it to the rest of you. Only 400 tickets so be quick! Best musical concert you'll go to all year!!!

Quote

If you aim for the moon, you'll hit the fence... but if you aim for the fence you'll fall in the mud. So aim for the moon.

Arnold Baills.

Hmmm Freedom of Press... Isn't that a must for a 'just' nation???

Just looking to put a link to the Freedom Newspaper in The Gambia for that last post and it seems that the Government has shut down their website and threatened to shut down the paper if they don't stop writing about the government.

There's been a lot of prosecution of journalists in The Gambia recently - it seems the Government doesn't like all their nasty deeds to be put out there for the world to hear. Blocking a website allows them to stop the international audience from reading what's really happening in the country.

Not really the sign of a democratic nation is it?

Check out http://allafrica.com/gambia/ for news stories from The Gambia - however some of these are written by government influenced news agencies.

HIV/AIDs Farce is getting sickening.

I really feel this is my soapbox to preach on at the moment. I have a passion for the Gambian people and seeing them exposed to such prideful stupidness really hits me hard.

I've posted on this numerous times in these following posts...

Gambian AIDs Cure...
Jammeh's AIDs Cure Condemned
AIDs Patients Blaming Jammeh for Crisis

These posts started all the way back in February 2007 - and President Yaya Jammeh is still claiming to heal AIDs patients, thought it's becoming more and more obvious he's doing much more harm than good.

This article in the Freedom Newspaper on the 9th March shows a reporters first hand look into Jammeh's AIDs ward, somewhere it seems he hasn't visited himself in quite a while. It also outlines some of the suspicion the faculty have for anyone from the outside coming in.

I've cleaned up bits of the writing with [brackets] just cause you'll notice it isn't the highest standard of reportive writing. It may still sound a tad confusing, but you should get the general idea.

Two HIV/AIDS patients were finally expelled even when the women cried and pleaded with those concerned persons to talk to the president not to expel them.
One of the ladies from Brikama cried and said her children would suffer if she leaves the place.

Sources close to the hospital stated that some "toubabs" [white men] went to visit those ladies because they had been friends, during their ailments. Upon visiting them they were later asked to leave the place because they had brought people who do not believe in the president's treatment. But the white people did not have [disproving the treatment] at the back of their minds but only to see their friends that they feel sorry for because each of them have a real pathetic story.

In a separate development, the smell of the hospital is sickening. The stench shows a symbol of people dead and smelling. The place looks clean but the smell is horrible. This reporter could not bear the smell and the horrible site of [those being treated] under the medication.

Some were not looking at all well. Some had stopped taking the western medicine [anti-retroviral drugs] and their conditions have deteriorated. Looking at their situation one would say they need more food and proper medication instead of the concoction given to them. Others believe that the concoction given has created the horrible smell [and] that the President himself has avoided [the ward] for some time now [due to the smell]. The sick there need urgent attention or else the President [will] be burying more patients than he [has previously claimed].

I hope you get the idea that this treatment seems to be slowly killing HIV infected people in The Gambia. And the toubabs (white people... a name I heard quite a bit there) are treated with suspicion anytime they try and help.

Weekly Photo Assignment

This week's assignment was 'Monochrome'.

Not technically black and white photos, but one with one colour prevalent across the shot... the majority have been black and white though - and mine is no different.

I did leave a touch of the pink in it as both the vase and the wall behind it are shades of pink.

I was planning on heading out and taking some photos for this assignment, but as I was walking out the door I noticed the vase of dried wheat and took a quick shot - after a bit of editing decided I didn't need to go and look any further.

You Idiot!!

Ever have one of those moments when you think "Ahh what a idiot I am!!"... it's even worse when one of those moments ends up costing you a lot of money - or worse... 200GB of saved data!

Last night I was working on my laptop - accessing some stored files from my external harddrive. I'd worked for about 2 hours, and been periodically saving to that harddrive.

In a moment of stupidness I moved the laptop, forgetting the drive was still plugged in by the USB cable. It fell of the desk, while turned on and writing, and hit the floor hard.

My 250GB harddrive inside was instantly pulverised - and the 200GB of computer backups, videos, photos and State Youth Games promo (which I'd been working on) was lost forever. Plus the fact that drive cost me a fair bit of money - it's more the work and stuff lost that is a cause of pain!

As long as no computers at home die before I get another drive the backups won't be a worry - I'll just do them again, the videos I could get again eventually, but the SYG stuff is pretty well gone!

Just bought another harddrive online - $128 for a 400GB drive, I think that's about the same price as I paid for the 250GB drive 18 months ago... storage space is relatively cheap these days.

If only I would think more, then maybe I wouldn't cause myself so much pain.

This Week's Photography Assignment

Assignment topic = Shadows.

So thought I'd dress up as a bit of a cowboy and get the good old hat shadow sleeping look.

I think it came out alright.... I'm just glad we went to The Australian Outback Spectacular the other week - otherwise I wouldn't have had a cowboy (the Aussie kind) hat.

Burning Hot and Bright

We have a wood fire heater at home, it’s great during winter. The heater warms our entire house (and it’s a real big house), but also creates a warm atmosphere with its bright glow in the middle of the lounge room.

However the long cold months in Ipswich can take a bit of a toll on the fireplace. Usually we just keep stocking the fireplace, adding wood and letting the hot coals light it up. We keep it hot and stoked during the night, and allow it to burn down to nothing during the day. In the evenings we just add more kindling and a little paper and get it going again. However you do start to accumulate ash in the bottom of the heater.

Before winter begins, and sometimes half way through, you need to clean out that ash. Ash starts off as good healthy wood, it burns hot and the flames grow, burning bright. This breaks the wood down into hot coals, these glow hot as well, igniting more wood that you put in there, which in turn burns and becomes hot coals to repeat the process again and again. It seems like a healthy cycle of warm goodness, however; as it cools a little the coals become ash, and once it is ash it’s good for nothing. Eventually that ash fills the fireplace, and even though you can still have a fire it is slightly smothered by the amount of ash in there with it.

So it’s good to get in there and clean out the ash. That off coloured grey powder just seems so dead and lifeless as you sweep it out. It’s good for nothing, not even the garden, you just toss it away.

Then with the bricks swept and clear, you place in some newspaper, kindling and wood, light it up and get that clean warm glow heating up your house burning bright and looking fantastic.

I think sometimes our Christian lives can be like that too. We have stuff that burns within us; passions, desires, goals and dreams. Full of wonder and worship we partake in so much stuff that it makes our lives just like a hot wood fireplace, warming us and those around us.

But over time those things can start too cool, we can still have a fire in there, but it just doesn’t burn as cleanly. Theology, music, religion, service, work, relationships, expectations and just day to day life starts to turn to ash, filling us up. These things start off as good burning material, but can slowly turn into useless ash that stops us from burning as hot. We can still burn some of it in there, but it’s kind of choked by all the other stuff around it.

So at times we need to get in there, clean out the ash and sweep the place ready to place new wood. By cleaning out our lives, taking stock of everything, recommitting our core beliefs and getting back to a distinct focus on Jesus we can make our hearts ready to burn hot at bright again. New wood can then be added, but starting from a clean swept fire place that is clear from anything that could hinder the coals from burning hot.

I think I did a bit of a clean out over the last weekend. I went away on Counter Culture’s Focus Camp. We spent a lot of time in worship and prayer, just focusing our hearts on Jesus.

A teaching DVD message from Louie Giglio really started my sweeping clean out. He spoke of God’s plan, really grabbing the idea that everything is done for God’s glory and not for ours. How often do we go to church with expectations of what we will get out of it? Everything that happens, be it bad or good, loud or quiet is for the glory of God. It’s all about him – God created the world and us for his glory, that may sound egotistical, but it’s not. God is God, he knows it, so he can’t be anything but God. God is all powerful, all knowing, and almighty – if God knows that, and he is truth, then he must act like it – not out of ego, but out of majesty.

I think that really refocused my relationship with Him. I don’t think I’d had anything too bad going on in my life, I think I was just feeling choked by the amount of stuff going on in it. So sweeping everything out, and then cleaning it with the knowledge everything I do is for God’s glory not mine will allow me to start putting more stuff back in that will allow me to burn clean and bright once again.

Drumming

I played the drums at City North last night for the first time. Kind of a last minute swap with Ben, who asked if I wanted to play since I was there early enough for the practise.

It wasn't too great - I felt pretty self conscious playing, didn't have the greatest foldback, but didn't ask to have it improved and spent too much time worry about noise levels.

Plus the fact I was on a different kit (one I didn't really like the sound off) with heavier sticks just meant I didn't feel too natural playing at all.

I expect it will improve as I play there more and get to know the others who play in the band.

Weekly Photo Assignment

Well to finish off a quick session of blogging, here is my assignment photograph for the week.

The assignment was "Rivers" and I was able to find a little creek that ran out into the ocean at Caloundra. As the moon rose it gave a really nice position to get a uniquely Australian River scene.

Larry Norman Passes Away

Just read on Rodney's blog that Larry Norman has passed away at age 60.

The Father of Christian Rock was someone I enjoyed listening to, though never owned any of his albums. A few of his songs have made it onto compilation CDs I've owned, and I've always loved "Why Should the Devil have all the Good Music?" let alone the amazing DC Talk version of his song "I Wish We'd All Be Ready".

Reading on his website he dictated one last message to his brother to post to all his friends around the world.
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I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home.

My brother Charles is right, I won't be here much longer. I can't do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need financial help.

My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement, transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you.

I'd like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again.

Goodbye, farewell, we'll meet againSomewhere beyond the sky.I pray that you will stay with God

Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.
Larry
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Thank God for such a wonderful life, which brough Him so much glory.

Blood Diamond

I finally saw Blood Diamond yesterday. What a powerful movie. To see the situation in Sierra Leone in the 1999 wars depicted on screen was something that moved me a lot. While I lived in The Gambia I lived with a Sierra Leonian family who had fled the war torn country many years before. Steven and Helen had left their homeland and been lucky enough to go abroad and study. I also lived a little while with Helen's brother Henry who had been in the city when Sierra Leone blew up - he made it out with only his life (I don't know if he lost family because he would only mention certain things about that time).

Henry was emotionally messed up, and you can understand it after the things he went through to flee on foot the country he had grown up in.

So seeing these scenarios recreated on film really impacted me. I'd heard real life stories, and seen the lives effected by the stuff I was watching in a movie. Ironically the main African actor looked a fair bit like Henry as well.

Also seeing the side of White Africans and British people using this terrible time to try and gain wealth really disgusted me. I think this also had more of an impact because I've witnessed first hand that sort of behaviour in The Gambia.

Child Soldiers, though none in The Gambia, have always been a real soft spot on my heart. To exploit the pure nature of a child and turn him into a killer seems to me to be the most terrible thing anyone could ever ever do.

Blood Diamond rekindled a passion I have for Africa - it disturbed me greatly, and left me in tears at the end when Samuel finds his son in a RUF camp, and the son doesn't even recognise his own father.

The movie does have a very Hollywood ending though, with the family totally reunited and living in the UK. It's a shame that for millions of others this was not the case.

Pray

Ashley Cooper passed away in Adelaide over night.

Please be in prayer for his family at such a terrible time.

Adelaide Motorsports Issues

You've probably seen it on the news, these accidents get a lot of media attention these days.

Ashleigh Cooper crashed his Holden Commodore in yesterdays Fujitsu Development Series race in Adelaide.

I heard from Garry Coleman last night, things don't look to bright. Ashleigh had extensive swelling on his brain and doctors could not relieve it. This morning it's been reported he is on life support, with his wife flying in from NSW and his parents already by his bed side.

Be in prayer for Ashleigh, and his recovery (a certain miracle is he does) and for his family. Also pray for Garry and all the other track chaplains at Adelaide today as they continue to minister to officials and team members who will be affected by this accident.

Channel 7 actually telecast a segment today where all the V8 Supercar drivers and teams lined pit straight while Garry Coleman came out and prayed for Ashleigh. Praise God for the work of chaplains amongst this close knit community.

Also watching the telecast this morning there was another big crash in the V8 Utes race. Three drivers are in hospital under observation, they are all conscious and aware at this time.

Garry and his team will also be speaking with these men and their teams and families as well. Motorsports Chaplains really are a integral part of the racing community these days.

Time Off

Half way through my 2 weeks holidays and I'm having a great time.

I spent Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday in Hervey Bay with my grandparents. It was a good time, not always relaxing up there, but I know Grandpa enjoyed going for a drive and having time to chat with me, so it was worth it just for that. I even scored some of Grandma's winnings from a very short pokies session (we gave her 15 minutes to go and play, and she made $20 haha).

Wednesday I tripped back down to Caloundra, and though the weatherman had said all beaches would be closed, Dicky Beach had flags up and I enjoyed a swim. I found a beaut little place for the night at Moffet Beach and enjoyed a Thai dinner.

Thursday was breaky at my favourite Sunshine Coast cafe in Moffet Beach and then off to Kings Beach for a swim. Big surf, but conditions meant you just couldn't get out to body surf. So I just enjoyed the salt water and sunshine.

Friday was a quiet day back home, and yesterday I headed into Brissie to catch up with a friend and enjoyed a night out with people from City North playing Table Tennis and spending some good time in prayer.

All I can say is bring on another week of rest and relaxation!

This Week's Photography Assignment

Another week has gone by, and the current assignment is "Straight From the Camera".

So the idea here is to do no post processing, but use the camera to capture a brillient shot, and then simply post it up. No colour changing, lightening or darkening. Just raw camera footage.

My shot is actually from the same shoot as last weeks assignment, the sunrise at Burleigh last week gave me so many shots, and I love this one for the lighting of the sky, and just the peacefullness that the boardwalk and water gives.

Sweet sweet holidays

2 weeks!

For 2 weeks the worries of the IT department are not mine. That is a very sweet thing. Over the past months I think work has really been weighing heavily on me, we've had so much change; new structure, new people, new managers, new roles and responsibilities... I think I was just getting overwhelmed by the volume of it all.

Hopefully these next two weeks will give me a chance to just sit back and let that all flow by for a while, and just be me again.

I've got some good books to read, "Come Thirsty" by Max Lucado, a book on Islamic warefare by Pat Sookdheo and my continuing journey through "The Lord of The Rings".

I'm heading to Hervey Bay today, to visit my grandparents, that should provide some time laying on their patio and soaking into those books, plus hopefully a bit of photography around the surrounding cane fields and coast line. Then on my way back I may call in and see some old friends in Gympie, and then maybe a night or two at Caloundra so I can get some body surfing in.

Next week is less planned, but I hope to catch up with some friends I've neglected over this busy work time, and maybe head to the Gold Coast for a night or two for more surfing.

If you're free and want to catch up, drop me a line!

Seeya!

Weekly Photo Assignment

Topic - 'Seasons'

This week over on the DPS forum, the assignment for the week is to take a photo that emulates the season you're currently in. Most of the shots are of snow and cold things.

My shot is another reason I love living in Australia! We don't see weather like that usually, and this time of year is warm while the rest of the world freezes.

5am at Burliegh Heads on the Gold Coast. The essence of summer... the bright overload from the rising sun and a guy about to jump off the rocks for a surf! I've got a bit more of a collection from that morning, but am yet to get them processed and on flickr.



Also wait for some photos from the Whitehill Young Adults camp, and the Brisbane International Motorshow... I've been doing a lot, just without the time to blog it all.

Wet Weather Take 2

Well last night wasn't too bad - the weather was wet, and there was some minor flooding.

However the radar at the moment looks as though we'll be pushing the flood warnings a little higher this evening.

The Plunger Is Back

Reading through 5 Senses' latest newsletter and they have a great article on plunger coffee. I'm a regular plunger user at work - it's the best way for me to get real good coffee during my work day without setting up an expresso machine on my desk (though always an option :-P).

So here's a bit of the article - the last coffee I purchased from 5 Senses was that Batch #004113 blend, simply the best plunger coffee I've had.

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Folks, it’s time to delve into the recesses of the kitchen cupboards. Push past the long forgotten bread maker, the pasta machine that you used once before relegating to the back of the cupboard and dust off the trusty plunger that served you so well before it was replaced by the shiny espresso machine...

...Just about any coffee can be enjoyed through a plunger but it’s the livelier coffees that seem to shine the brightest. Think a fine Kenyan AA, a Colombian, lemon juicy Ethiopian Yirgacheffe or one of the greatest all rounders ever (apologies to Andrew Symonds!), our very own direct trade P.N.G. Or … if a blend’s more you style, we’ve combined a few classics to create Batch number #004113 especially for the plunger.

Here’s what you need;

• Grinder (no blade grinders);
• Plunger (squeaky clean — try our Incasa Stainless Steel Plungers if you are plungerless);
• Electric kettle;
• Timer (oven or microwave will do nicely); and
• Quality water.

The Preamble — Take the time to prepare your coffee with a relaxed frame of mind. Allow yourself ten minutes to get it right and show respect for the people who grew your coffee and the people who roasted it for you. Most importantly, make it an enjoyable routine that rewards you with a quality coffee that you can sit and savour.

1. Flick on a kettleful of good quality water while you prepare to grind the coffee beans. It will need to be quite a bit coarser than your espresso setting. Enjoy the aroma but don’t dilly dally. The quicker you get your coffee brewing the more flavour you capture in the plunger instead of allowing the gas to escape into the atmosphere.
2. When the kettle has boiled, throw some water into the plunger to pre warm the glass. Cold glass will suck all the warmth out of the brewing water. This also allows the water to cool to just below boiling point. A maximum of 45 seconds off the boil is what we recommend.
3. Pour out the water in the plunger, give it a quick wipe dry then add a heaped tablespoon per cup of coffee required. (This is a rough guide; you may need more or less depending upon personal preference.) Pour the water in immediately with a bit of vigour. Use the stream of water to mix the coffee and thoroughly wet the grounds. You should notice a nice bloom if you are using fresh coffee. This indicates some carbon dioxide is still present and will look like a creamy mousse like substance. If you don’t have a nice bloom your coffee is a bit long in the tooth and you need to get on the net and order some fresh stuff from the good people at Five Senses!
4. Give it a quick stir to ensure the grounds are wet, pop your plunger top on, and lower it enough to submerge the bloom and bring the coffee into contact with the water. Hit the timer and wait for 4 minutes. If you have some hot water remaining you can use this to pre-warm your cups as the clock counts down …
5. Bing! Immediately depress the plunger all the way. A little finesse may be required here. Nice and steady will ensure a clean bench top! Pour the coffee into the cup. Any coffee left in the plunger and still in contact with the grounds will continue to extract flavour and will get increasingly bitter. Pour any leftover into a thermos pot for later use.
6. Drink the coffee as you like but give it a go black or just ease up on the milk and sugar a little to let the coffee shine through. You may be pleasantly surprised.
7. Relax in your favourite chair and really TASTE the coffee. Roll it around in your mouth and allow it to coat every taste bud you have. Ponder the flavours and mouth feel, see if you can pick out anything from the flavour library in your head. See how the coffee evolves as it cools and new flavours start to emerge.

http://www.fivesensescoffee.com.au/news/2008/01/30/the-plunger-is-back

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So there you go - I'm not quite that studious in my coffee making exercise, but I can attest to the quality starting to wain if left after that magical 4 minute mark. Sometimes I make a coffee and get caught up with some work - 10 minutes later I plunge, and pay the price for not putting my coffee before my work.

Oh and here are some photos of the amazing fresh 5 Senses coffee at work in my plunger...

Wet Weather

I was woken early this morning by heavy rain falling on our roof - I think it was about 2 hours before I usually get up.

I rolled over and dozed until my alarm went off. Mum had just checked the rain gauge when I got up and we'd had 76mm in those 2 hours.

That's a lot of rain!

My trip to work was horrendous – the highways had flooded in different areas and traffic was at a crawling pace the whole way.

I’m just about to leave for the day and head home, and this is the current BOM radar image.

Looks like more rain to come.

When you need a macho American, Hire and Aussie

I'm not one to just post up a whole news article, but enjoyed reading this one. I'm sure it's not true in all cases, but the limited examples he gives puts forward an interesting point.

Heath Ledger, Aussie actors and American machismo
THE untimely death of Heath Ledger has not only robbed the acting world of one of its most promising talents, it has also robbed Hollywood of one of its Australian stand-ins for American machismo.

Never mind the trade deficit, or even Barack Obama's "moral deficit"; Hollywood is suffering from a macho deficit, and it's having to turn to what many still perceive as a land of beer-swilling, sheep-shearing men in denim to find its cowboys and cads.

When Hollywood first flirted with all things Aussie in the 1980s, it was a bit of a po-mo joke. "Look at Crocodile Dundee with his big shiny knife and taste for lager, how quaint!" laughed cinema audiences. It's no joke today. At a time when American stars have been feminised, preened and plucked, it's Australia that is providing the muscle for the grittier acting jobs.

In recent years, the impressively brooding Ledger had joined Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Eric Bana as a real bloke who could play gruff cowboys, lascivious bastards or any other role that required the leading man to have hair on his chest. In his breakthrough film 10 Things I Hate About You, a high-school spin on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, Ledger looked like he had been shuttled in from another planet rather than merely another hemisphere.

Where the hairless, super-tanned jock was boringly arrogant and the geek with a crush was predictably nervous, Ledger's scruffy, unkempt and slurry-voiced Patrick Verona was a complex macho character: nasty to begin with, but later opened up by the love of a good woman. The director even allowed him to keep his Aussie accent, as if to accentuate this untidy, unruly character's exoticness amid the cardboard cut-out boys and girls of a typical high-school movie.

In later films, Ledger played American rather than Australian: his rugged down-under temperament meant he was frequently more convincing as a manly American than many of the prim and waxed US-born actors. He even played a cowboy better. In Brokeback Mountain, Ledger's tortured and mumbling Ennis Del Mar is far more believable than all-American Jake Gyllenhaal's Jack Twist. (In one scene in that film, Ledger and Gyllenhaal were required to leap naked off a cliff into a lake. Ledger did it, but Gyllenhaal was replaced by a stuntman because he is scared of heights. If you want an actor to take risks, look down under.)

In Todd Haynes's I'm Not There, in which six actors play characters based on Bob Dylan, Ledger's Robbie Clark is the most convincingly American: half James Dean, half Jack Kerouac. Among the rag bag of actors mimicking Dylan, Ledger best captures the swagger and sexism of the American male who has a 1950s mentality and is desperately trying to adapt to life in '60s America.

It is striking that Haynes employed an Australian woman, Cate Blanchett, to play the character most clearly and literally based on Dylan.

It seems even women from Australia are better than American men at playing American heroes.

Again and again, Hollywood looks to Australians to inject testosterone into a movie. Like Ledger, Crowe recently played a cowboy: Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma. If an American actor were to play Wade, a coach-robbing outlaw, he would first have to put on weight (and then give numerous interviews telling everyone how difficult it was to be fat) and then do some method-style research with menacing men who have been involved in hold-ups of one kind or another. Not Crowe: his jowls and his sense of menace are real, attributes of his Australian manhood.

Ridley Scott called on Crowe to play a hard, '70s drug-busting cop in his epic American Gangster. Young American actors seem interested in playing '70s crime-busters only for post-machismo laughs: think of the awful Starsky and Hutch remake. It took a full-bodied, croaky-voiced Australian to breathe life back into that old American character, the committed, flares-wearing cop, who was a staple of '70s TV shows and cinema.

And let us not forget Crowe's greatest cinematic moment, as General Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator, a role many said was symbolic of the true American values of valour and loyalty over backstabbing corruption. Hollywood, if you need an American symbol, phone for an Australian.

Australian men are called on to play Hollywood's edgier superheroes, too. Jackman's fearsome Wolverine, huge, hirsute and with sideburns to die for, is a spiritual leader. Surrounded by young men and women who experience their superpowers as mental and physical afflictions (all played by young American actors, of course), Jackman's cocksure and principled Wolverine is the natural American leader, the steady-minded figurehead of this band of freaky rebels. It took Bana to play the Hulk, American pop culture's most obviously tortured macho soul.

Part shy scientist, part raging beast, Bana played out America's crisis of masculinity on cinema screens, bringing his notable acting skills and his innate Australian swagger to a role that required him to be both wimp and whack job.

In our PC, flaccid, image-obsessed times, many new American actors seem to lack the personality and resources to play hard American, crazed American, tortured American or heroic American. Instead, Oz is having to send its young men to American shores to depict American virtue and fury. Ledger did that better than most, displaying a more developed understanding of what it means to be Hollywood than many of his American contemporaries. His death is a great tragedy for his family and friends; it has also lowered Hollywood's bloke quota.
By Brendan O'Neill
January 30, 2008 09:40am
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23131304-5007146,00.html

Tim Tam Slam

In true Australia Day style, last night we had a BBQ with nice big pieces of lamb, and with pavlova for dessert.

However the highlight of the night was watching 'the crew' try their hands at a Tim Tam Slam.

If you haven't tried this, I'm assured by Beth that it will change your life...

So check out what to do...

Crappy Work

Every job has that work or task that no one wants to do. It gets put off and put off until the unluckiest person (or the lowest person on the food chain) gets forced to do it.

Well yesterday I was in one of our offsite store rooms, and the 'crappy' work that had been put off for ages was cleaning up all the old computers, monitors, keyboards, mice and cables. We're currently in the middle of a huge PC Rollout - and since I've been running the whole thing I could have quite easily delegated the task of 'clean up old stuff' to one of the guys working on the project with me.

However while there yesterday I decided that I'd do it myself. So about 3 hours later, after lots of lifting, moving, sweating and organising our store room looks much more manageable. I even found a couple of models of computers that shouldn't have been there, and 3 brand new monitors that hadn't even been taken out of the box.

Anyway once finishing I felt great. I'd had a decent work out - but more so, I'd accomplished something quite visibly. The problem with working with computers is that most times you don't physically see the fruits of your labour. Well starting with cables strung across the floor... computers in piles of 2 or 3 right across the room.... monitors leaning against each pile; and then ending up with neat stacks of computers, lines of monitors and boxes with each specific cable in them is a real visible salute to the time and effort you've put in.

So sometimes the crappy work can be the most rewarding... if only we'd remember that when we're trying to palm it off to someone else.

Maybe more stuff would get done then????

The Final Count

It truely was a bumper day on My Jarrol Spot yesterday.

To show you in a more graphical way, here's a graph... :-P


That's a total of 59 visits yesterday.... and 82 page views. Quite a difference from the days surrounding it.

Is news.com.au credible these days?

You really have to wonder. I'm finding most days their headline articles are complete drivel - more like a tabloid site than anything else.

Their coverage of Heath Ledger's death is no different. Reading the New York Times website gives a different view of the whole situation.

The police said Mr. Ledger, 28, was found naked on the floor near the bed in an apartment in SoHo that he had been renting. The chief police spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said the police did not suspect foul play.

“There was no indication of a disturbance,” he said, adding that there were no signs that Mr. Ledger had been drinking. Nor were any illegal drugs found in the loft, which neighbors said Mr. Ledger had occupied for several months.

Police officials said that a bottle of prescription sleeping pills were found on a nearby night table, but that they did not know whether the pills had anything to do with Mr. Ledger’s death. Officers who checked the apartment found other prescription medications in the bathroom. A spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday.

Mr. Browne said no obvious indication of suicide, like a note, was found in the bedroom.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/movies/23ledger.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

This is a much more informative, and less sensationalised version of the story - if you're only source of insight has been news.com.au then I suggest you jump over to http://www.nytimes.com/ for a more realistic source.

Heath Ledger dead in New York

Just as I was about to get to work this morning, all the Radio chatter suddenly turned to news of Heath Ledger's death in New York.

Reading the news it seems an apparent overdose. I guess nearly everyone will jump on the news of such a famous Aussie's death, and other's will say he's no different to anyone else why make it such big news.

It will get over sensationalised, but I think the thing to remember is that a life has ended, probably before it needed to - and that's a real sad thing.

The other point is that the so called image of having it all - fame, money, movie star status - is a farce. Heath's marriage had just broken down and now it's all ended in tragedy.

I'm feeling a little down today after hearing the news, mainly because of those things above - not cause I feel I know him, or feel some inadvertent connection with him - just that it's a public exposure to the horrors of living a life without Christ's love being the guiding force. It doesn't matter how much money or fame you have - "a life without Christ is a life that is never fixed" (to quote KJ-52).

Plus I thought Heath was the perfect choice to play the Joker in the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. I love the new Batman movie series and was really looking forward to it.

Wow - This must be a new record

Well on my blog anyway!



52 visits TODAY!!!! Recently I've only been averaging 120 or so visits a week... I've almost halved that in a day!!!!

Looking through the links in it seems to be mostly people from the USA, and mainly from a link on a blogspot navbar somewhere. I have no idea where or why!

But I'm a little chuffed so many people have visited my little part of the Internet today... I know some who read this who have huge hit counts, but for me this is kinda like getting a glimps at the big time..... I ahhh wouldn't have minded a comment or two out of those vists though ya know.... :-P

Honestly struggle to see how this could happen!!

A story on news.com today tells of an 81 year old man who woke up at his own wake...

I'm really wondering how an elderly man could be put in a coffin and dressed without waking up... plus, why did they only call a funeral director, and shouldn't a death certificate been issued (even in Chille)?

I really struggle to see how this could all have happened...

Man wakes up at own wake

AN 81-year-old man in the small Chilean village of Angol shocked his grieving relatives by waking up in his coffin at his own wake, local media said today.

When Feliberto Carrasco's family members discovered his body limp and cold, they were convinced the octogenarian's hour had come, so they immediately called a funeral home, not a doctor.

Mr Carrasco was dressed in his finest suit for the wake and his relatives gathered to bid him a final farewell.

"I couldn't believe it. I thought I must be mistaken and I shut my eyes," Mr Carrasco's nephew Pedro told the Ultimas Noticias newspaper.

"When I opened them again, my uncle was looking at me. I started to cry and ran to get something to open up the coffin to get him out."

The man who "rose from the dead" said he was not in any pain and only asked for a glass of water.

Local radio also surprised listeners by announcing a correction to Mr Carrasco's death announcement, saying the news had been premature.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23083166-13762,00.html

Ghost Who Walks

A couple of times a year I buy a Phantom Comic, just for a bit of a chill out. However I do purchase their annual special every year.

In January Frew (publisher of the Phantom Comics) release a giant 10 story comic book. Usually they include the old classic stories written by Phantom creator Lee Falks. Falks was a true comic script genius, and the Phantom was the world's first masked hero when Falks started writing the newspaper strip in 1936. Falks already had the Mandrake the Magician comics in publication and his two characters have become the longest running newspaper comic strips in history. He continued writing Phantom and Mandrake comic strips until his death in 1999 (with someone having to actually finish the strips he was halfway through at the time of his death).

I loved The Phantom all through highschool, and am a pretty well-versed buff when it comes to Phantom history.

I purchased my 2008 annual special the other day but haven't had a chance to dive into it yet... I'm looking forward to it as there are newspaper strips from 1943, 1944 and 1946, as well as a series of stories from the 70's.

I love the art work of Sy Barry - and there are a few of his stories in this edition, yet another thing to enjoy.

The Phantom has always portrayed such a high sense of moral justice, characters hardly ever die (in original Lee Falks stories) and in most cases The Phantom only uses his guns to disarm thugs and bad guys.

If you have kids who like reading comics, get them hooked on The Phantom, it's probably the most wholesome comic series around!

Continued News from Kenya

Here's a post from a few days ago over on Pure Christianity. We need to continue to pray that God will provide a forgiving heart to the people of this hurting nation. Tribal racism and hate is such an indwelt and long running thing, it's something that the entire African continent is struggling with. Tie that with a HIV crisis, and Africa is a part of the world that needs our help and attention.

There are still fires burning in and around Nakuru. If you ask those that set them why? They cannot answer. Hatred needs no reasons, it just hates. Even though fires are still being set, life is returning to normal for us. Thankfully we did not lose our home or family members.

There are many displaced people here in Nakuru and the rest of the country. We have been able to feed around 300 families so far. There are many more, and we pray for the ability to help them out.

I pray for love to replace hatred. I pray for those who are killing and burning. Please see that you are hurting innocent women and children.
http://purechristianity.blogs.com/pure_christianity/2008/01/nakuru-why-must.html

Radical Works

Great sermon tonight at City North, I thought I'd write up some notes while it's all still fresh in my head.

From Luke 5:1-11 (The story of the miraculous catch of fish and the calling of the first disciples).

We need to discover how God wants to work radically in our lives, to step out of the ordinary and into a life set apart for something specifically special.

Our lives are like clay in the potters hand, God wants to build character, strength and endurance to our lives through his craftmanship, so that he can continually use us.

God is calling us to...

- Radical Worship

• Worship really happens when we actually realise exactly who God is - we become gripped by his majesty, awesomeness, forgiveness, grace and love.
• Radical worship is that point when we are so enthralled with God that we can't help but continue to worship him (look at Romans 12) - we are drawn to God no matter the consequence to us.

- Radical Obedience

• (From Luke 5) - take an example from the fishermen, who obediently took instructions on fishing from a carpenter.
• Peter learnt that day that when Jesus speaks you obey, even when you think you know better.
• There may be times when Jesus asks you to do something that defies common sense. Understanding may only come after you obey.

-A Radical Lifestyle

• (John 4) Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman - Jesus didn't do what a 'good' Jew would do in that day would do. He stepped outside of the 'norm' to reach a lady in need.
• Jesus was more interested in the person than the culture.
• It was ok for Jesus to defy some of the petty rules that the religion of the day had put in place.
• Sometime to reach a person, to show them Jesus, to live radically in Gods plan we need to put aside some things in our culture that have become 'rules'.

-Radically Depend on God

• We are only Christians because of the grace of God - not through anything we have done our selves.
• Our forgiveness is dependant on God's everlasting love.
• We can't do anything in our own strength because the basics of our faith is such a huge dependency, therefor we shouldn't try doing our own thing but remain dependant on God to do good works.
• The Holy Spirit within us is a sign and an action of our dependency - as Jesus left he sent the Holy Spirit to work through us, and to be a channel to God for us.

Jesus was a radical. He wasn't conformed to the ways of his world, but he stepped up to live a life that would 100% glorify God. Jesus calls us to be like him, and to step from the moulds of our society (and these days our churches as well sometimes) and be someone who will go that extra distance to bring glory to God in every aspect of our lives.

Birthday

26 today - feels kinda weird

Kenya

Unless you've been living under a rock you'll have seen the violent riots and ethnic cleansing going on in Kenya at the moment.

Rodney from The Journey pointed me towards this post at Pure Christianity.

I've been on a bit of a search of the blogosphere to find some missos in Kenya, and thanks to Rodney I've found a first hand account of what's going on.

The end is no where in sight. I am sure we will see the violence in the cities end soon enough, police and paramilitary units are being deployed in large numbers. This past week has left scars that I think will take a generation to heal.

You see this fight is not political. The fighting is about what language you speak. Racial hatred is the root of the problem, the faulty elections were just an excuse.

Our ministry will respond, but the scale of the damage is massive. There are at least 30,000 displaced people. New orphans have been created. Poverty has been intensified. The bottom of the ladder has just become much more crowded, not that there was much room down here before this past week.

"http://purechristianity.blogs.com/pure_christianity/"

Pray for everyone in Kenya, for those who need God's protection as their lives implode around them, for the missionaries and aid workers in the country that they can provide what is needed to get Kenya back on its feet, and for those causing all this trouble, that their hatred and intolerance can be muted by the grace of Jesus.

Lord of The Rings

As a bit of a chill out in this new year I've started re-reading the Lord of The Rings series. I have one of those paperback 3-books-in-1 volumes so means I just start at the begining and read through the Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers and Return of the King all in one hit.

I love the books (read them initially after seeing the Fellowship of the Ring in the movies and then re-read the series while I was in The Gambia in 2004), and am finding delving back into the world of Middle Earth a good downtime seeing as though I haven't taken any holidays during this summer period.

The deepness of the writing, the analogies and metaphores not only consume me into this fantasy world, but make me question and ponder our world, it's current state and the faith we put our trust in.

I've never been a big fantasy buff, but LOTR has a unique quality of feeling a direct link back to the real world. J.R.RTolkien wrote a true masterpiece, and I'm looking forward to learning new things as I get round to reading the series for a 3rd time.

End of Year Thoughts

Wow the last day of 2007. We always say that the years go by so quickly, it certainly doesn’t feel like 12 months since the last time I was getting ready to go hang out at the Taylor’s place to see in the new year (a little tradition we have here is to go play a couple hours of volleyball and have a BBQ at the same place every year – usually with a half deadly fireworks display at the end).

Where does the year go? It’s another FAQ for this time of year. In my opinion I think most of the year goes to waste. I can’t help but remember so many times when I could have done so much more, but spent the time doing something that really wasn’t worthwhile. I’ve struggled with building meaningful and fruitful friendships this year. I find that most of my friends these days are married, in a relationship or even with a small family of their own. The people I grew up hanging out with now have totally different lives and I’ve been left with a bit of a hole in that area.

I don’t think that’s anyone’s fault. I’m still single, which kinda sucks, and seeing all my friends now with their own families can be tough at times. However I guess I’m still trying to find people to hang out with – and this has led me to spend more time with people younger than me… I find this hard cause I’m in a totally different stage of life (full time work instead of uni study or whatever) and building some deeper friendships is hard because people just don’t really want to discuss stuff at the level I’m use to with my old friends.

In a way I think this year I gave up trying to build those friendships. And looking back on the year I think I spent way too many nights in front of my laptop or TV when I could have been trying to get more involved in different things. I’m not just talking about going out with friends, but because that area in my life was waning I could have used that time to get involved in different volunteer organisations where instead of just moping at home I could have been doing something useful (and meeting new people at the same time).

I think when things kind of don’t go our way and we’re left with nothing to do it’s too easy just to plonk down in front of the TV instead of finding something different but still useful to do.

In the end you get into a cycle of just not doing anything.

We waste so much time. TV ratings for the year are up, records are broken in Internet usage, and Facebook and Myspace are becoming serious addictions for some people. Imagine if everyone just halved their time spent on the net and went out and served somewhere instead. The homeless wouldn’t go hungry, single mum’s would be well supported, their kids would have male role models spending time with them, elderly people would have well maintained yards, home bound people would have company and be looked after, it really would make a difference I think.

Years go by so quick I think, because we fill them with so much meaningless stuff. I’m hoping in 2008 my social life might get a bit of a rejuvenation, but I’m also hoping that if it doesn’t I’ll be able to find something else to do other than wait for the next comment on my Myspace profile.



P.S Oh but anytime time on the net was worth it to find that video below... I have to watch it at least once each day - always brings a smile!

Video of the Year - Aussie Pride!

A great Australian Racing Driver, in the Greatest Australian Racing Car, playing the Greatest Australian Folk Song!

2007 is almost over, but I caught this video last night and it just slides in to take the best video of the year award in my books.

So here's James Courtney in his Genweld Ford Falcon V8 Supercar playing Waltzing Matilda.


Not only can the guy drive.... and dance... he must also have a musical ear to pull that off so well!

My Chrissy

Good days - Christmas was playing in church (carols aren't the most exciting things to play on the drums!), breakfast at 11am at my brother-in-law's mum's place (with his brother and wife as well, so between Sandhams and Whites it was a decent sized gathering), home for a snooze and a game of SIMCity3000 (classic, but totally gold!) then finally dinner with the Whites coming round our place.

Presents took a back seat this year, but I managed to get some floor mats for my car, and my brother bought us all tickets to The Outback Spectacular on the Gold Coast!

Boxing Day was lazing round home, and then dinner with some family on mum's side in Brisbane.

Back to work today - but it's been a restful break.

Deano's Christmas letter 2007

Some of this you may know, but it's a blanket email for the year, a good sum up, and thought I'd throw it up here for friends whom I've fogotten their email addresses (if I have sorry, and please get in touch...)

Hello to you all.

Well it’s Christmas Eve, and I am just sitting down to write my Chrissy Catchup email, some of you I have seen recently as you’ve come home for the holidays, others I can only imagine are experiencing quite a different Christmas period to myself.

It’s a warm summer evening here in Ipswich, I have my fan on, and considering cranking up the air conditioning. I know the general idea of Christmas is your snow, and warm fires… but I don’t think I’d want it any other way than what we have in Australia – especially Queensland. That heat means shorts and t-shirts are your ‘Christmas Best’ – everything feels a little more casual, and the family game of volleyball in the swimming pool is something not to be missed. Instead of a Christmas Turkey, or hot roast meal, we eat on our back patio, sometimes BBQ meat, with a cold ham and seafood… but this year I believe Mum has cooked a roast pork to serve cold with salad, fresh prawns and oysters… We have a small family here… just my brother and myself at home with mum and dad, and my sister and her husband – we share Christmas with my brother-in-law’s family as well, since they are a small family too – so that’s made it feel a little more like a big family gathering.

I hope you are well – and that your Christmas can be a time of great blessing, as we remember the birth of Jesus.

This year has been a pretty full on one for me. I’ve had job offers I’ve turned down, been through the process of becoming a manager only to have it not come off… and then finding myself in charge of some large projects which could seriously impact the company if they fail. And that’s just my work at RACQ. Computers are still my thing, but I find I’m moving more and more into managing people more than working on the computers. I worked at the Gold Coast Schoolies event in November – RACQ as a non government agency helped out by running the registration designed at keeping all the celebrating school leavers safe. It was quite a large task – and one underestimated by the people planning the event. As the person on the ground I had to really think on my feet to provide enough computers to run the event – it was a very stressful week, but in the end rewarding as the manager and higher executives were very happy with how it worked out. I’m also currently running a company wide computer rollout – only a small amount of PCs (200 – but considering we have 1600 PCs company wide it is a small number), but it’s meant managing two other people who are basically working for me.

Away from work I’ve been continuing with the sport chaplaincy – it’s been a quiet end of the year, but we are still seeing the effects of the tragedy we had earlier in the year… track officials are still coming to grips with the fatal accident back in March. Willowbank Raceway is a great place, run by a great group of people – and I love being part of the team, there have not been as many meets towards the end of the year, and the couple that have run have ended up washed out with rain. There is a big meet on the first weekend in January so I am looking forwards to that and inhaling some burning rubber and fumes once again :-P

Church life is taking a bit of a turn for me – I’m spending most of my time at City North Baptist in Brisbane these days and really enjoying getting more involved there. Hopefully in the new year I’ll start playing drums and finding other ways to serve God in that church. I’m still going to and playing at Whitehill occasionally, and up until this last term I was helping run the youth group, but I am slowing drawing back from there as I try to inject myself into City North more and more…

I’ve played no sport this year – my ankle injury from last years soccer season meant that I sat on the sidelines in 2007 – it’s also meant I’ve lacked the motivation to get out an exercise like previous years… hence a new years resolution is in order to get a bit fitter so I can start pre season training for soccer in 2008. I plan to play only on a social level next year, as I don’t think my ankle would hold up in one of the higher grade teams.

My brother Brett is going to have a 2008 on the sidelines like my 2007 – he sprained his knee back in the year and had a full knee reconstruction in July. He’s almost back to normal now, but needs to continue strengthening it, any sport for the next 12 months is out, which will be hard for him. It’s also caused him some problems with his electrical apprenticeship and he’s ready to get back out doing normal work again – hopefully in the new year..

Vanessa and Andy moved into their own home on the 1st January this year – they’ve now been married 18months and still just making their way through life… there’s talk of maybe moving to the UK for a year to work and make some more money – and if they do, expect me to tag along to help them settle in and hopefully visit many of my European friend (and hopefully a return journey via the Gambia)

That’s all in 2008 though and a little far away to really start thinking about – Mum and Dad are doing well, they’ve bought a Caravan and have used it a few times to trek off to different places. Dad had to buy something to tow his van and decided on a Nissan Nivara – quite a large ‘pickup’ (for you Americans) and something he’s quite simply fallen in love with. We’ve just found Mum a new car and as of Friday she’ll be zipping around in a new Honda Jazz – it’s good to see her finally getting a new car, and not always Dad with the new toys.

Speaking of new cars, due to the rising fuel costs, and the age of my fantastic Falcon – I decided it was time to say goodbye. I sold it and bought a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer – one of the new models they’ve just released here in Australia and are doing those big advertising campaigns on. It’s a great little car – but saying farewell to my beloved Falcon was very tough – I think it will always be the car I look back on and regret selling – it was so much fun to drive. But I made a choice to make my life a little easier to live, and a little less expensive as well. I’m hoping to move out of home next year (it’s about time eh??) so cutting down on my costs is a must.

So this is quite long – I’m sorry and if you’ve made it this far you’re doing well – so I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and would love to hear from you. These days on the Internet there are so many ways to keep in touch.

God Bless and I look forward to sharing 2008 with you all.

Dean.

Merry Christmas

Well Christmas has arrived again, I'm yet to write my annual update letter, but still plan to before the day arrives (though I'm forced to the limit to emails now as postal certainly won't arrive before Christmas).

To all of you who read My Jarrol Spot, I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and that you may have a blessed time as you remember the baby born in Bethlehem who later died to save all of us.

"Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."
- Philippians 2:6-11

That's the little baby who's birth we celebrate tomorrow... Praise God.

Model Cars

Was playing around and taking some photos last night. I built a light box a few months ago - that's just a 3 sided cardboard box with a floor all covered in white paper. It;s basically a mini-studio that when set up with my flouro desk lamp creates a clean environment to take photos with a white background. If you want some colour filter you just put coloured cellophane over the desk lamp. It actually works really well for such a simple idea.

Well last night I got out some of the multitude of model cars I have on my desk and using the light box took some photos using my macro filters, trying to create some 'unique' kinda car shots.












For the rest check out My Flickr Account.

Striking Photograph

I'm not saying I support the use of nuclear arms but this is an amazing photo.

(Man split the atom, but it was God who put that phenomenal power in something so small)

Life Lesson #231

If you're using an electric toothbrush... don't turn it on until it's in your mouth... otherwise it will spray you and the rest of the bathroom with toothpaste....








...the wisest lesson's come from someone else's experience, so please learn from my mistake...


:-P

Why are beer ads always the best?

Why are beer ads always the best ads on TV?

I'm not a big VB fan though, but this is good for a laugh

My Week

What's been happening you ask?

Well as with everyone, everything seems to pick up around this time of year and you start to wonder where all your time goes.

I got my new car... which is great, it's starting to feel a bit more like 'My Car' as I drive it more. I'm enjoying the lower fuel costs as I can get 700ks to a tank and it costs $20 less to fill up! So travelling further on a tank, and then not paying as much to fill it up.

Saturday we did the big Backyard Blitz for a family at church. It was a great day - the 22mm of rain the night before, though welcome, created quite a muddy environment for us to work in. We got it all done though, turf laid, road base down on the driveway and everything looking pretty shmick

Saturday night I went into the Carols in the City (Brisbane's Capital City Carol's night), which was run by the Brisbane City Tabernacle, and Christian Radio Station 96.5 - it's fantastic to have a church based carols services backed by the Brisbane City council and Qld State Government, both Brissie Mayor, Camble Newman and Anna Bligh (QLD Premier) said their bit, and then all throughout the carol night the story of Jesus was told to thousands.

If you're in Qld it's going to be telecast on Chanel 10 sometime before Christmas, it really is worth a look! I was lucky enough to fluke seating in the VIP section, second front row, right in the centre of the stage. It was an amazing place to watch the concert, and really got to experience the live music of James Morrison and his band, all the classic carols singers and Guy Sebastian!

I only had my phone there to take photos, which means there's no good ones, but I thought I'd put up a bad one of Guy anyway just to prove I saw him :-P

Sunday was a day at Wet n Wild with the guys from RACQ - a kind of unofficial Chrissy break up (even though we saw each other at work the next day) - it was a fun day cruising the water slides and having a bit of fierce competition on the 8 Wave Racer (which I think I can say I was the outright winner overall).

This week I've done a Project Management course... somehow destroyed my work laptop... went to the Motorola Christmas party and am now wondering where all the other time's gone, cause I just don't think I've had a spare moment at all.

Christmas Challenge

This Christmas period try and find someone who don't really know, and help them out with something they could never do on their own.

Tomorrow my home group are going to our Pastoral Care Minister's house to do a 'Backyard Blitz', now I know this person so it doesn't really count, but it will give you an idea... Something they possibly could finish themselves a group of 10 of us will attempt to do in a day.

I'll be trying to do something else, more along the lines of my first sentance, for someone I don't really know, I encourage you to do the same - it could be the smallest of things, but imagine if everyone did something like this how many more people will enjoy Christmas that little bit more because of the selflessness of others.

I'd love to hear what you get up to, who you help and any responses received...

To My International Audience

Thanks for reading


These are the last 100 Hits on my blog. From all over the World

End of an Era

1995 - The year I started highschool, and also the year Ford brought out the EF Falcon. Ford was finally realising that Australian culture is one that celebrates a V8 Muscle Car heritage. For so many years Ford Australia had ignored the muscle car trends and had let Holden win out on every front with their SS Commodores and the new HSV franchise.

In 93 and 94 Ford had brought back the V8 in Falcons... and the ED model had the first ever XR8, be it an uninspired generic Falcon just with a V8 and different headlight pattern on the front.

However in 95 with the EF Ford brought out the XR8 and XR6 models, with a distinctive front look and tuned suspension and other upgrades...

By 97, I was 15, totally into cars, with a huge family heritage of Ford supporters and Ford were finally getting it right with the facelift EL Falcon. The XR8 and 6 in that model looked fantastic, the development was done in partnership with motorsports partner Tickford. Tickford suped up both the V8 and straight 6 engines (the V8 a 'blue' engine and the 6 a 'red'), with a sunken quad headlight design and tuned and lowered suspension the XR series really became the pinnacle of Ford's Falcon line up.


Right from when I saw the EL's I loved them. In 98 when I was getting my learners and in 99 when I had my license, the car I wanted was an EL XR8 (obviously couldn't afford it, but it was my 'dream car'). Even with the release of the AU Falcon at the end of 98, the EL was still my favourite, in many cases it still is to this day.

It was the car I loved, the one I dreamt of owning, so when I returned from Africa in 2004 and needed a new car I thought about Subaru Imprezas, but what I really wanted was a manual Falcon. I found a heap on carsales.com.au and set out to take a few for a test drive.

The very first one I went to look at was a 1997 EL Falcon XR6, and from the first moment I saw it I fell in love with it, even more so when the dealer started it up and it's 2.5 inch exhaust made one of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard! Without looking at another car I bought it.


It wasn't the XR8 I'd dreamt of, but in so many ways it was better - the custom exhaust on it (which I later added a sportier muffler) makes it simply the best sounding 6cyl Falcon I've ever heard. I'd decided against a V8, so this XR6 was definitely the next best thing.

Today marks the end of my 3 year love affair with that car... I bought a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer last Friday (the one in all the TV adds, Newer... Better... Safer... Greener and all that...) and I pick it up this afternoon, trading in my beloved XR6 at the same time.

The new car is my decision to try and cut my week-by-week travel costs, fuel, rego, maintenance and general running will be much cheaper with the Lancer. The Falcon's now 10 years old, done 161 000k's and getting to the point where it will need some work and money poured into it.

However saying goodbye to this car is like saying goodbye to an old friend - actually this is starting to feel like a eulogy isn't it!

I'm looking forward to having a new car, but at the moment (5 hours before pick up) I'm more grieving the Falcon than I am excited about the Lancer.

Sounds a bit sad and dorky doesn't it??? Well I don't care, I sure love that car!

AIDs Patients Blaming Jammeh for Crisis.

Almost 12 months ago I posted a few blogs on The Gambian President, Yaya Jammeh, proclaiming he had a cure for AIDs.

Read the initial blogs to find the Presidents self professed cure here and a follow up post about the international outcry here.

Well so many months later and Jammeh is still 'treating' patients, telling them they are cured and not to use the antiretroviral drugs offered at hospitals and non-government agencies (such as WEC) clinics.

The Freedom Newspaper in The Gambia has this article from Nov 30.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200712030185.html

As Africa celebrates world aids day, aids patients in The Gambia, said many of their colleagues have died in the recent past due to President Yahya Jammeh's recent decree, which bared hiv patients in the country from using antiretroviral drugs.

The said drug helps to prolong the lives of hiv patients. But in The Gambia, the Government had warned against the use of the said drug. The Gambian leader warned patients benefiting from his aids treatment program to stop using antiretroviral drugs if they want to be cured.

Speaking to the Freedom Newspaper, one of the male hiv patients accused President Jammeh of endangering their lives by advising them not to use antiretroviral drugs. The patient claimed that many of his colleagues were dying in The Gambia due to President Jammeh's decree against the use of antiretroviraldrugs.

"Many of our group members are presently hospitalized with little hope of recovering. Some have died in the recent past. All these deaths can be attributable to the President. He is endangering our lives by warning us not to use antiretroviral drugs. The President knows that he cannot cure aids and yet he wants to secretly kill our group members by exposing them into such risky treatment program. As the world celebrates, world aids day, I'm appealing to the International Community to please come to our aid. Our group members are dying on a daily basis due to the president's ill conceived advise." said the 40 year old Gambian hiv patient...

The article goes on to say that many HIV patients who believe they are cured are returning to life without antiretroviral drugs and becoming sick again... but more than that they are heading back into a society full of sexual promiscuity and believing they are cured not using any protection methods... thus spreading the disease because they think they don't have it anymore.

This is a huge issue facing The Gambian nation - and all because of the false ideas of grandeur of the nation leader. Something must be done to stop the President from continue to lie to his people.

Please pray that the lies of Jammeh can be found out, that the nation will stop their blind faith in the man who is slowly killing them all. His reign of over 10 years has been full of corruption, but this current farce is something the International Community needs to be aware of, and visibly opposed to.

Pigging Out

Thieves have stolen 16 tonnes of Christmas ham!

CHEEKY thieves have made off with 16 tonnes of ham and bacon from a Sydney warehouse, leaving the message "Thanks, Merry Christmas" daubed on a wall.

The thieves cut their way through a wall of the Zammit Ham and Bacon Curers warehouse at Pendle Hill in Sydney's northwest, between 3.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday and 5am on Sunday...

...The thieves escaped with meat worth $80,000-$100,000, warehouse co-owner Anthony Zammit said today.

It's not yet known how the thieves escaped with the huge haul.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22859830-2,00.html

Wow, I guess there is a lot of money in ham this time of year - but how does someone manage to cut through a wall and truck off 16 tonnes of pig without being noticed.

I enjoy a Chrissy Ham, but one usually feeds our family for a week or bit more - these guys are gonna be pigging out!

Christian Volunteers

Received an email from Evan Donovan asking me to mention this on my blog. It looks like a great idea so if you are looking for volunteers or wanting to volunteer somewhere - check it out.

ChristianVolunteering.org is a free directory with over 2,000 volunteer opportunities in ministries serving the “poor.” The site’s partners include the Salvation Army, GospelCom (BibleGateway.com), World Vision, the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions and over 1,000 ministries serving under-resourced communities. In addition to volunteer opportunities for individuals, you can also search the site for opportunities that might be appropriate for church small groups and for short-term missions trips. If you just type your postal code, you can get a listing of the volunteer opportunities in your region.