TMac's Blog

Where the Streets Have No Name

2007-04-27T08:42:00.000+10:00

After years of saving, months of searching, weeks of organising and days of packing, we've now successfully moved into our (the bank's) house. It's not quite far enough out that streets are unnamed, although nearby suburbs in my old street directory are full of un-named streets.

It's been an exhausting process, but it's good to have a place that we can organise as we like. Anyone who would like the new address knows how to contact me.

So, I apologise for the lack of blog. Now that things are (mostly) back to normal, hopefully life will be a little less hectic.

Links: Rabbits

2007-03-13T09:04:00.000+11:00

Wikipedia's entry on the Great Wall of China has been subject to some interesting changes. See an example of the changes here and the discussion here.

[dave] The Beefing (as opposed to The Briefing)

Snow White Queen

2007-02-28T12:57:00.002+11:00

I apologise for the lack of posting - things have been very hectic.

Last Saturday at 5:30pm saw me leaving home to head off to the Evanescence concert. A short drive to the Entertainment Centre, and I was queuing up by 6:15. I'm not sure why they open the Entertainment Centre doors at 6:30 when they're not actually going to open the floor doors until 7:30, but a long wait later I found myself about 10 people back from the front of stage.

Concert atendees wore a wide variety of very interesting outfits. I wondered at one point what on earth people who just happened to be walking past were thinking. From full male gothic dress (complete with skeleton gloves and punk hairdo) to female gothic and even complete Wagnerian clothing styles, more elaborate than formal dresses! I felt out of place not wearing black!

The support act (Shihad, who I think were previously known as Pacifier) started at 8:00, and were musically good (although a bit too much language for my taste), and the lead singer seemed to think a bit much of himself.

The main concert itself was awesome! They did the standard songs as expected - a mix of the most popular ones from Fallen and The Open Door, plus a brief rendition of Highway to Hell by Meatloaf. Nothing from Origin but that's not unexpected. I slowly made my way closer to the stage, mostly due to the high number of people who fainted and were carried off by the security guards. Eventually, they clued up and started splashing bottles of water over the first few rows of people standing closest to the stage (including me by this stage!).

It was very satisfying to find that Amy's voice is really as good live as it sounds on CD (perhaps better). The music was perhaps not as full as the produced versions, due to the absence of strings and additional instruments, but the stunning (and I do mean stunning) vocals more than made up for it. Concert effects were well done, with including fake snow for Lithium and good lighting.

Easily my best concert experience :) I'll be going again if they come out to Australia again (I was even tempted to try and get tickets for the extra Sunday night concert)

Thanks to www.evanescencefan.net for the pictures, which were taken from about 2 metres in front of where I was standing.

Crazy Times

2007-01-08T17:45:00.000+11:00

Sadly, I seem to have been hit by comment spam. I shall have to consider comment moderation :( One of the pitfalls of being so popular I suppose :(

It's been a while between posts - I don't need to post in detail about what I was doing over Christmas-New Year, as most readers were with me at Presbyterian Youth Summer Camp. I found it an enjoyable, if exhausting experience once more, and I'm looking forward to the next time (after a suitable rest, of course!)

It was great to cement old friendships and even better build new ones. I managed to feel much more a part of camp than in previous years - not so busy that I couldn't spend time with people, which was great. Music (my job on camp) went well, and I have been surprised at the lack of exhaustion I've had over the last week or so. I also found that the talks on Hebrews were solid and encouraging.

But for now, it's back to the real world. Back at work, all the regular meetings (work and church -based) and activities are starting up again. New Years resolutions have been made, and (so far) on the whole kept.

For some reason this year feels more like a "New" year than any other. It could be the wide range of new clothing I received for Christmas. It may be the change in bling (can you call new glasses bling?). It may just be that I found the talks from camp personally encouraging and challenging.

On Sunday at church we looked at 1 John, and how as Christians we should be encouraging and fellowshipping with each other. Now, as the least busy time of the year, is probably the best time to build the habits of enjoying regularly spending time with friends. Hopefully, that can then last over the whole year.

Canon in D

2006-12-22T11:06:00.000+11:00

Just some links today, although I haven't stopped thinking about 5 people to invite.

[bbspot] 25 Gadgets that save you money .

Pachebel's Canon Rant (video).

Mission-in-Snowdriftland (flash game) - cute for Christmas.

Entertaining Angels

2006-12-20T10:09:00.000+11:00

Top 10 Bloopers for Technology in the Movies

[cafedave] the Ten Most Dangerous toys of all time.

As Christmas fast approaches, I think I've done everything I need to. A couple more days left at work to try and tidy up some loose ends before the new year, but nothing that's terribly urgent.

A was pondering the other night as I drove home the age-old question - if I could invite 5 living people to entertain at dinner, who would they be. I'm still thinking, but the people who are coming to mind are all people for whom I have enormous respect (if not for their life overall, at least in the field for which they are known). The first three places are very much taken (Don Carson, Al Gore, Amy Lee), so I've got Theology, the Environment and Music covered, but the last two spots are up for grabs.

So, I'll throw the question out there. Who would you invite? I'm adding a couple of arbitrary rules to make it more interesting. They have to be alive, and they can't know you personally.

Asphyxiation Theory

2006-12-13T08:41:00.000+11:00

What would a town look like if it was suffocated in mud? Well, now we know. A company, part owned by an Australian company has left a bit of a mess in Indonesia. I've heard it described as the biggest man-made natural disaster since Exxon Valdez, which I'm not entirely sure about, but it is pretty nasty.

From Ghana to South Korea - at the end of this year, Kofi Annan will be replaced by Ban Ki-Moon as United Nations Secretary General. Five year terms are a long time!

You may (or may not) have noticed my post titles are following a bit of a theme at the moment...

Same Mistakes

2006-12-08T10:59:00.000+11:00

[bbspot] I couldn't resist blogging this, as it proves a point I've been making for years. There's really only a couple of songs out there - people just stick different words to the same pattern. A brief history of pop music (video).

Cloud Nine

2006-12-05T22:14:00.000+11:00

*NEWSFLASH* Evanescence touring Australia!!! Tickets on sale from Monday :)

Spent a few days on the South Coast this week. Was great to take a break from work and spend some time relaxing. We stayed at Narooma - very picturesque, and the weather was good too, leaving the water an exquisite turquoise colour.

Even managed to get in another round of golf on the very beautiful Narooma Golf Course (bordering the Pacific Ocean). A pleasure to play on - it's quite a challenging course (with more right doglegs than left, which helps me), but the views are amazing. I had a good day as well - a round of 103 (par 72) gets me closer to actually being good enough to have a handicap (usually I think the maximum handicap is 24, or a round of 96. My first ever birdie was also very satisfying.

The Crossing

2006-11-21T09:14:00.000+11:00

What I didn't mention in yesterday's post, is that last Tuesday I had a plane to catch. So, having got home at around 1:30am, I had to make sure I was:
a) Packed; and
b) At the airport by 9:00am on Tuesday morning.

Having successfully achieved these two objectives, I then sat on a plane for 5 hours and arrived in Perth at around 12:30pm, with my body clock completely messed around by the late night and the 3 hour time difference. But in the process of flying to Perth, I realised some things about our country that I never knew before. You have to fly over the sea (and quite a lot of sea) to get to Perth - the Great Australian Bight lies between Sydney and Perth, and there are some beautiful and very remote beaches on our Southern Coast.

Perth itself is quite a nice city. I was impressed with the extent of the public transport system, and the free buses around the CBD are great!

The conference I was attending went well. Al Gore gave the same presentation that he gives in An Inconvenient Truth (with a few Australia-specific additions) and other speakers were generally good. Nothing mind-shattering, but good professional development, and it's encouraged me to think in more detail about some aspects of my work.

On a completely different topic, is it just me, or are 20 to 1 and What a Year basically the same programme, just edited differently? They seem to use the same footage and events!

Vertigo

2006-11-20T11:25:00.000+11:00

Wow - it's been a long while between posts.

Monday last week saw me at the final Vertigo concert for the Sydney leg of U2's tour. The most money I've ever paid for a concert ticket, but definitely worth it.

I won't write a review - there's plenty out there already (http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com) but it was a great show, with great songs - everything you'd expect from what really must be considered the world's greatest band.

Although I wonder if teenyboppers jumping and screaming to songs like "Pride (In the name of Love)" and "Where the Streets Have No Name" really understand what the music is all about. It also makes me wonder at the emotive power of music, particularly in relation to worship - do we stifle that in church?

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. An amazing experience :)

Up and Down and Back Again

2006-10-23T17:36:00.000+10:00

A trip up to Queensland (the Gold Coast) a couple of weeks ago, followed by another trip to Queensland (this time Brisbane) a week later & I'm left wondering what it is about travel that is just so wearying! Despite all that sitting in airports and on planes and in cars, I feel like I've run a marathon (well, not quite). Why is it that doing nothing can be so tiring?

Perhaps it's something to do with being somewhere unfamiliar? Or maybe it's something to do with moving from one place to another and back again - your inbuilt body compass gets knocked around a bit?

Either way, there is something strange about being somewhere, a nice chilly 14 degrees, and knowing that a couple of hours ago you were somewhere else, 1000km away, where it was 30 degrees.

Movie Review: An Inconvenient Truth

2006-10-12T17:14:00.000+10:00

I had to see this movie for work, but wanted to see it anyway. You couldn't really say it's a good movie, but it doesn't try to be. It's certainly informative, and for a movie that's really a ninety-minute Al Gore lecture with small pieces of autobiography, it's very entertaining.

His speaking style seems very good. It's easy to follow his ideas, disturbing and inconvenient as they are. Definitely compulsory viewing for anyone who wants to know exactly what we're doing to the planet. Don't go and see it if you want an enjoyable film.

He's speaking at a conference I'm attending next month - it will be interesting to see if he's as dynamic and eloquent in real life as he comes across in the film.

I apologise :(

2006-10-12T16:34:00.000+10:00

Things got busy and unfortunately I was unable to finish my 5-part simpsons extravaganza. I could finish it now, but it seems a bit old.

So instead, I'll just throw some links in a vain attempt to make it seem like my blog is worth reading :)

[snopes] Airborne Cats - a set of photos of (you guessed it) airborne cats!

Changing 1 letter of a movie title to get another movie.

Managed to get my hands on Origin - Evanescence's original demo EP. It's great to go back and hear what they were like before Fallen. Their new album The Open Door is good and debuted at number 1 in the Aussie charts, as well as in the US which is a significant achievement. The album has a different sound to Fallen but still strong. I may get around to posting a full album review shortly. Other new music in my collection now includes How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - U2.

Best. Episodes. Ever (Part 3 of 5)

2006-09-27T15:01:00.000+10:00

On to the third part of my five-part best of the Simpsons series. But first, a very unfortunately placed advertisement.

Brother from Another Series
Sideshow Bob's brother, Cecil, manages to get sideshow Bob released from prison to work on his dam. Bart is suspicious about what Bob is up to, and investigates. Cecil is embezzling money from the dam, and, when Bart and Lisa discover this, locks them and Bob in the dam and goes to blow it up. They all escape.

Best Scenes/Quotes

The best part about this episode is the tension between Frasier and Niles (oops, I mean Sideshow Bob and Cecil). If you're a Frasier fan, it's comedy gold. The episode also contains a number of subtle references to Frasier. I think that's probably the only reason I rate it so highly.
Cecil "Goodness, I had no idea! For you see, I have been on Mars for the past decade, in a cave with my eyes shut, and my fingers in my ears."
Cecil I'm framing you and I'm doing a really excellent job, too.
Bob Wait a minute. This is all because I got to be Krusty's sidekick instead of you, isn't it?
Cecil Off the record, yes. But officially, I did it for the money!

Best. Episodes. Ever (Part 2 of 5)

2006-09-26T13:11:00.000+10:00

Trash of the Titans
Homer runs for election as sanitation commissioner, promising huge upgrades to the garbage collection system. Sadly, he runs out of money after a month and is forced to sell Springfield's garbage space for other cities to dump their rubbish. It all turns pear-shaped and Homer is ousted. Includes a good cameo from U2.

Best Quotes/Scenes

Bart "He who tops it off, drops it off" - Homer "It isn't filled until it's spilled" in reference to who has to take out the trash.
Homer "Good news, everyone! I got in a fight with the garbage men and they're cutting off our service!"
Homer "I never apologise Lisa. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am"
The Garbage Man Song!!!
Homer "It's just like David and Goliath, only this time, David won!"

Best. Episodes. Ever (Part 1 of 5)

2006-09-25T12:28:00.000+10:00

What do you think the best Simpsons episodes ever actually are? There's lots of surveys around, but over the next 5 days I'll be releasing (in no particular order) my thoughts on the top 5 Simpsons episodes.

I've probably forgotten some, but there are 5 episodes that really stand out to me as being a cut above the rest:

Cape Feare:

Where else can you find the entire score from the HMAS Pinafore in a cartoon? Sideshow Bob is paroled from prison and vows to kill Bart. He writes anonymous letters to Bart in blood, and the Simpsons join the witness protection programme and move to Cape Feare as the Thompsons, living on a houseboat. Sideshow Bob boards the housebart, ties up the rest of the family and is about to kill Bart, but Bart requests that Bob sing the entire score of The HMS Pinafore. By the time the musical is finished, the boat has drifted downstream into the waiting arms of the police.

Best quotes/scenes

Cheif Wiggum "Sideshow bob has no decency. He called me Chief Piggum." (Courtroom laughs) "Oh, now I get it. That's good."
Sideshow Bob "No, that's German for "The Bart, The"
Sideshow Bob "The following neighbourhood residents will not be killed by me tonight. Ned Flanders, Maude Flanders, Homer Simpson, Marge Simpson, Lisa Simpson, that little baby Simpson. That is all."
Bart "I'll be Gus, the lovable chimney sweep, clean as a whistle, sharp as a thistle, best in all Westminster, yeah!"
Homer learning to be Mr Thompson
Homer "Hey kids, wanna drive through that cactus patch" (with Sideshow Bob underneath the car)
Homer (yelling and bursting into the room) "BART YOU WANNA SEE MY NEW CHAINSAW AND HOCKEY MASK?"
The rake scene
Cheif Wiggum "Bake him away, toys"

Yaarrrrrrr...

2006-09-19T08:55:00.000+10:00

Ahoy there!

Antonomasia have finished recording their debut EP! Due for release on Monday 2nd October. Evanescence's album is coming out just a couple of days before - looking forward to both. What I'm very disappointed at is missing the only opportunity to see Leaves' Eyes (sort of a cross between German goth metal and Norwegian Pop, neither of which I like, but I do like the combination). They are touring Australia but I can't go to the Sydney concert (this Friday) due to work commitments.

[bbspot] A conceptual truthful in-flight announcement.

Ever heard of an Irony mark? Well, you have now.

Media Player

2006-09-15T09:18:00.000+10:00

One of the great features of Windows Media Player (and probably other media players also) is its ability to track how many times you have listened to each piece of media. Coupled with an Excel spreadsheet I have designed, I am now able to produce a very wide range of statistics in relation to my music-listening habits. While I admit that this is very nerd-like, it is actually quite interesting to watch how various songs rise and fall through the rankings.

Here are some basic stats. From 10 October 2005 to 14 September 2006:

I have listened to 266 different songs, with 2,151 total plays.
I have spent in total 6 days, 2 hours, 19 minutes and 1 second listening.
The average song length is 4 minutes 5 seconds.
8 unique songs have held the number 1 position in the top ten.
49 different songs have made it into the top ten.
5 diferent artists have had number one songs (Evanescence x 3, Missy Higgins x 2, DC Talk x 1, Paul Colman Trio x 1, Vanessa-Mae x 1).

To See or not to see

2006-09-14T11:41:00.000+10:00

[bbspot] Optical Illusions - very interesting!

Movie Review: Silent Hill

2006-09-04T09:00:00.000+10:00

I don't usually see horror movies, but occasionally I like a good horror film, and, as I was going to the movies with two friends who both like the genre, didn't mind seeing Silent Hill.

Usually, when going to the movies with friends, one friend suggests a movie. By suggesting the movie, they are effectively endorsing it and putting their 'movie reputation' on the line. A good movie will elevate the choosers status, and will make them eligible for choosing more movies in the future.

Conversely, there are some movie choices that decimate the endorser's chances of ever being allowed to suggest a movie ever, ever, again. Big Momma's House springs to mind for one friend, who foolishly suggested it as a good viewing option about 4 years ago, and hasn't lived it down since.

Silent Hill definitely falls into that latter category. The plot has more holes than a bullet-ridden piece of swiss cheese. What little plot was there was unappealing. The movie was predictable. The acting was passable. The ending was pathetic. For a horror movie there was a lot of grossness and very little shock value. But underneath all that patheticness, there was actually the crux of a half-decent movie. Perhaps it would make more sense if I had actually played the video game that it's apparently based on.

So to summarise, I found it to be a fairly ordinary movie, but there is something there that makes me wonder if the sequel or the video game might just make the movie make a lot more sense, in which case an evaluation could be required.

Tasmania

2006-08-28T16:11:00.000+10:00

I recently returned from a trip to Tasmania. I was there for a week, and disappointed not to be able to see more of the landscape (on business, not leisure, so I spent most of my time either doing work or driving to the next location) it has certainly made me want to go back and see more. I think about 3 - 4 weeks should be enough to comfortably see everything that I would like to see. Just not sure what season would be the best.

Upcoming Releases

2006-08-09T17:26:00.000+10:00

I realised today that one of the most important things in my life never gets posted about on my blog - music! So I thought I'd start by talking about a few albums that are coming out soon, some of which like they could be interesting/worthwhile. In doing so I shall probably reveal my sad music taste to the world!

Evanescence - The Open Door - One of my favourite bands. Amy Lee has a very powerful voice and I really do like her style of composition. From all accounts, this album is even more epic (read more strings, more powerful) than their first album, Fallen. Although the name of their first single, Call Me When You're Sober, sounds a bit lame, the music is decent and I'm hoping for good things from the Album. I suspect that the first single release is designed to appeal to the masses - similar to the first album. Due for release October 3. It will be interesting to see if the work that was judged too depressing and too epic for Narnia (so they replaced it with something by Alanis Morrissette) makes it onto the album.

Stacie Orrico - Beautiful Awakening - While I have the self-titled first major album, I wasn't overly impressed with it. I'm only judging off the opening single on this one, but her voice seems a lot more mature and developed. The piano-work on the first single, I'm Not Missing You, is reminiscent of a happy Missy-Higgins, one of the best background piano pieces I've heard. Due for release January next year - could be a long wait if there are a couple more good singles.

John Mayer's second Album, continuum, is due out in September. Jet have one out in October, and Christina Aguilera and Paris Hilton in the next couple of weeks.

Speaking of Paris Hilton, her single Stars are Blind is going to get very annoying very quickly I suspect. Mind you, at least she has played to her strengths and hasn't tried to sing a song that doesn't fit her voice. I suspect that vocally she's weak at best, but the way the song is written you can't really tell (except for the lack of range - I counted & the entire chorus uses a total of five notes). The album's due out on August 22, but I don't think I'll be buying it somehow.

Does anyone else find it sad that Nick LaChey just released a single called What's Left of Me, and now Jessica Simpson is releasing an album called A Public Affair? Also in the sad album names basket has to go B-Day from Beyonce. B-Day??? C'mon, that's pathetic!

Building Kingdom Communities Conference

2006-08-07T09:39:00.000+10:00

I spent the end of last week at a conference in Newcastle. It was a bit of a hassle having to drive up to Newcastle and back, and manning a conference stall for hours on end can occasionally get tedious.

But as part of the trip, I managed to make it to one of the main conference sessions. The speaker was a youth minister from a church in Christchurch, NZ - Spreydon Baptist Church. I was struck by how much churches like that contribute to the communities in which they are involved. The host church, Mayfield Baptist, has similar outreach to the community. The outreach isn't solely for the purpose of evangelism (although this happens as well).

The speaker put forward the idea that communities with strong churches in them should look different. Crime rates should be down, suicide rates should be down, the community should be a better place to live because the church is there.

I wonder if we have lost our concept of what it is to be a community focussed around God. In a city of 4 million people, the rat-race takes over and there almost is no community.

My experience of church has been that so much of what we do is focussed on people who are already Christians. To be ministered to, you have to first walk through the doors of the church. Shouldn't we be out in the community, not necessarily even doing evangelism, but just making the community a place that better reflects God's kingdom. If we are doing that, surely people will want to know why it is that we want the community to be a better place.

Silly Qantas

2006-08-02T15:17:00.000+10:00

Let's say I wanted to get from Melbourne to Hobart on a Thursday evening. According to Qantas' website, I could catch a nice quick flight accross the Bass Strait, leaving at 8:40pm and arriving at 9:50pm. Pretty cheap too - only $72! Or, I could rush to the airport to catch a flight that leaves 35 minutes earlier. Unfortunately, that flight takes me to Brisbane, where I would have to wait overnight, catch a plane to Sydney, hang around all day and then get a flight to Hobart. That would get me there at 4:25pm, the next afternoon. Oh, and that costs $494.

I wonder if many people take the second option. It leaves 35 minutes earlier, arrives 1,115 minutes later and costs $422 extra.

I was going to blog

2006-08-01T09:43:00.000+10:00

But then realised I don't really have anything of value to say :) and then further then realised that probably isn't any different to normal :D

So instead, I'll just give you a link. The title of the article is a bit self-promoting ("Deep, intellectual, thought-provoking articles") but, on skimming, it raises a couple of interesting points. Why is it that we in the church fear failure so much, despite being people who recognise that sin and failure is part of our human nature?

Have some links

2006-07-26T11:10:00.000+10:00

[bbspot] If you want a quick summary of the Middle East major players, there's a good one here.
[bbspot[ (Language warning) ever watched House and not got a clue what they're talking about? List of Medical Slang Terms.

Tuesday nights - back to good

2006-07-20T13:29:00.000+10:00

My enjoyment of Tuesday night TV has come to an abrupt end with a return to evening classes for second semester. Although there wasn't much to choose from, I sadly admit that Border Security was becoming strangely addictive. At least that's all I'll be missing.

But at least I am now using my Tuesday nights for a better purpose. Having got through my first Old Testament subject I now get to study the rest of it. Again, looks like it will be a lot of reading, but the first lecture was enjoyable and informative.

Heading to the Swans v Richmond game on Saturday - should be a good one as they're celebrating 25 years of the Swans being in Sydney.

[cafedave] Imagining the Tenth Dimension.

If you've ever wondered how you might go about purchasing your own private island, here's how.

Bushisms

2006-07-17T10:57:00.000+10:00

A compilation of some of the best Bushisms.

Juventus, Lazio and FIorentina have all been relegated to Serie B and given points deductions for their role in corruption and match fixing in Italian soccer. AC Milan have been given a points deduction. Juventus have had their 2005 and 2006 titles stripped. Who woulda thought! And the reason they found out? It was uncovered while they were investigating drug allegations.

One day they'll make a movie out of this - watch and see...

Another Year Gone

2006-06-30T08:52:00.000+10:00

30 June 2006, another Financial Year gone. Hopefully work might return to some semblance of semi-normality, but I doubt it.

I'm currently addicted to online URL-changing (or similar) puzzles. A series of cryptic clues leads to an answer, which either needs to be typed into a box, or used as the next URL.

Currently working on bizfantast - finished Chapter 1, but I'm now stuck at the start of Chapter 2. Think I might take a break from it, let my mind think about it for a while, and work on Clever Waste of Time.

Lateral and logical thinking - very challenging. If you're going to try them, the following might help:

Sometimes the page title helps
Sometimes the name of a picture will be useful
You may need to use Google or Wikipedia
Viewing the source code might also be a handy way to get a hint

Some people have way too much time

2006-06-16T13:58:00.000+10:00

There are some sci-fi fans taking themselves very very seriously out there!

Ever wondered why the claim that The Empire has no superliminal sensor technology is false? No, neither have I, but if you want to know, there's a very well-reasoned argument.

Or maybe you've been wanting to know how Naval tactics compare between science fiction and the real world? No? Oh well, you could always look at the analysis anyway.

Do you want to know how much energy it took for the Death Star to destroy Alderaan? I didn't think so, since they're both fictional entities, but someone's done the calculations if you want to take a look!

Remember Tekken?

2006-06-15T13:54:00.000+10:00

[[bbspot]] Absolutely clasic! Real life Tekken

Was watching Remember the Titans the other night. Surely one of the best acting performances and one of the best films not to get any oscars. Mind you, it was up against Gladiator.

It's been a while

2006-06-14T09:41:00.000+10:00

I know, I know, lack of blog, but there has been much afoot. My wife has now returned, which is good. Work is busy, as expected.

Exam for Old Testament was last night and I think it went ok. We had to answer three questions - I would tell you what I chose, but I think that would be unhelpful for a certain person or two who are yet to sit the exam ;) I'll try to remember to report once everyone has sat the exam!

No more study for at least a couple of weeks!

[bbspot]] Will return clock - how good would this be!!! And an anagram machine!!!

Attention - boring soccer analysis ahead!
Loving the World Cup - hating the time zone. I've only watched one complete match (Australia v Japan) and boy am I glad I resisted the temptation to go to bed when we were 1-0 down and not looking like scoring. There have been some very good goals, but I must say that a few teams have been disappointing. England were rubbish, Germany's defence looks leakier than a paper sieve and Argentina were unconvincing. Italy and in particular the Czech Republic look very good, but since the runner up in that group plays Brazil, the match between those two will be crucial. My thoughts:
Group A - Germany and Ecuador should capitalise. Poland may manage to beat Costa Rica and Germany, which would make it very interesting - we could have three teams on 6 points.
Group B - England look through. Paraguay v Sweden should decide the other spot.
Group C - As expected, Argentina and Holland look favourites
Group D - Absolutely no surprises here. Mexico and Portugal to qualify
Group E - USA had to win. Italy and the Czechs will go through, unless the USA can beat Italy.
Group F - I'm tipping Brazil and Croatia. Australia would be hoping that Japan beat Croatia but that seems unlikely.
Group G - I would have said France and Switzerland, but France are looking shaky again. The Koreans could cause an upset.
Group H - Not even started yet, but Spain and Ukraine.

Important Information for all World Cup enthusiasts

2006-06-01T14:18:00.000+10:00

Extremely important advice and recommendations to be passed on to wives, girlfriends, fiancés, mothers, sisters, daughters, etc. (to all women in general) These rules are to be communicated prior to the World Cup in June/July this year...

LIST OF RULES

From 9th June to 9th July 2006, you should read the sports section of the newspaper so that you are aware of what is going on regarding the World Cup, and that way you will be able to join in the conversations. If you fail to do this, then you will be looked at in a bad way, or you will be totally ignored.
DO NOT complain about not receiving any attention.
During the World Cup, the television is mine, at all times, without any exceptions. If you even take a glimpse of the remote control, you will lose it (your eye).
If you have to pass by in front of the TV during a game, I don’t mind, as long as you do it crawling on the floor and without distracting me. If you decide to stand nude in front of the TV, make sure you put clothes on right after because if you catch a cold, I wont have time to take you to the doctor or look after you during the World Cup month.
During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute, unless I require a refill of my drink or something to eat. You are out of your mind if you expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the telephone, or pick up the baby that just fell from the second floor... it wont happen.
It would be a good idea for you to keep at least 2 six packs in the fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble on, and please do not make any funny faces to my friends when they come over to watch the games. In return, you will be allowed to use the TV between 12am and 6am, unless they replay a good game that I missed during the day.
Please, please, please!! if you see me upset because one of my teams is losing, DO NOT say “get over it, its only a game”, or “don’t worry, they’ll win next time”. If you say these things, you will only make me angrier and I will love you less. Remember, you will never ever know more about football than me and your so called “words of encouragement” will only lead to a break up or divorce.
You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you can talk to me during halftime but only when the commercials are on, and only if the halftime score is pleasing me. In addition, please note I am saying “one” game, hence do not use the World Cup as a nice cheesy excuse to “spend time together”.
The replays of the goals are very important. I don’t care if I have seen them or I haven’t seen them, I want to see them again. Many times
Tell your friends NOT to have any babies, or any other child related parties or gatherings that requires my attendance because: I will not go, I will not go, and I will not go. But, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on a Sunday to watch a game, we will be there in a flash.
The daily World Cup highlights show on TV every night is just as important as the games themselves. Do not even think about saying “but you have already seen this...why don’t you change the channel to something we can all watch??”, the reply will be: “Refer to Rule #2 of this list”.
And finally, please save your expressions such as “Thank God the World Cup is only every 4 years”. I am immune to these words, because after this comes the Champions League, Premier League, Italian League, Spanish League, etc etc.

Have some links

2006-06-01T08:50:00.000+10:00

[bbspot] See what happens when Darth Vader rings Palpatine to tell him about the Death Star... (takes a while to d/l)
[cafedave] 50 tips to improve your writing.
And only a week to go until the World Cup!

One more thing...

2006-05-25T13:36:00.000+10:00

It's Towel Day!!!

Thanks?

2006-05-25T09:32:00.000+10:00

For anyone who has received email that they didn't want to - thanksno.

Got back from Canberra yesterday - will update sometime soon.

Champions League - Barcelona 2 - 1 Arsenal

2006-05-18T08:54:00.000+10:00

Well, I saw the second half of possibly the worst refereeing display in footballing history this morning.

Let me state at the outset that I am not an Arsenal fan, but the referee's performance was attrocious. The way I read it, he simply got stagefright.

At least twice he stopped play when he should have played advantage.

Jens Lehman should not have been sent off. The only offence for which he could have been sent off was denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. The ball ended up in the back of the net. I don't know how you can deny an obvious goalscoring opportunity if the goalscoring opportunity turns into a goal. Should have been a yellow card (after the goal was scored), the goal should have stood, just like the rules say. As it was the ref pulled it back, gave a red card and a free kick.

He awarded yellow cards for legitimate tackles and called play on for illegal tackles. He seemed to constantly be hesitating, wondering if he should blow the whistle or not. Players were constantly hacked down with either no action, or just a free kick.

The first Barcelona goal looked to me to be a shade offside, but it was touch and go - and the linesman's call, not the referee's.

Injury time, second half. He stops play to administer a yellow card for interfering with the goalkeeper. Only problem was, Arsenal were on the break - the goalkeeper was touched but continued to play the ball. He stopped play, gives a free kick (allowing all Barcelona players to get back in defense). He should have played advantage and administered the yellow card at the next stoppage in play, just like the rules say.

Barcelona probably got the better side of the referee. One of the linesmen was suspended the night before the match for being photographed wearing a Barcelona shirt - one wonders!

All in all, it was disappointing. The referee's shortcomings detracted from what should have been one of the best matches in a long time. With all the talk about Ronaldinho, I thought he was below par. Henrik Larsson was fantastic - came on midway through the second half and created both Barcelona goals.

Time for another update

2006-05-08T17:19:00.000+10:00

Pop culture translator (language warning for the top left and bottom left)

And the house:
Bathroom - completely clean and the floor has been mopped
Bedroom - slight deterioration, primarily due to the need to create space for a drum kit. Need to put washing away
Loungeroom - has been vaccummed and is looking very clean. Miscellaneous papers that were lying about have been sorted and largely recycled.
Kitchen - remains clean, level of washing up remaining has steadily decreased
Laundry - remains clean, with washing now done each weekend. Easier now that colder weather has arrived, allowing the re-use of work shirts.

All in all, good progress. My wife's absence is now past the half way mark.

Wheeeeeee!!!

2006-05-05T16:59:00.000+10:00

Ok, I admit I was bored, but I read about this massive bridge between Denmark and Sweden, so I thought I'd check it out on Google Maps (that's Copenhagen, Denmark on the West and Malmo, Sweden on the East):

I decided to zoom in for a better look at said bridge - after all, at 16km bridge/tunnel must look pretty impressive, mustn't it?

I wonder what happens to all those cars? I particularly wouldn't want to be in that brown/red car on the right hand side of the road driving east to west - I think the driver is in for a bit of a nasty shock!

Perhaps Google should take a bit more effort in matching their satelite images!

Miscellany

2006-05-01T16:01:00.000+10:00

For those of you seeking another bachelor update, you'll have to wait a little longer. But I came across a few interesting articles which I thought I'd share.

Firstly, a study in the UK has shown that women who are more promiscuous are more prone to depression. It seems that the secular world is beginning to realise that God's way really is the best way:

A wise woman will ignore our pop culture's virtual truth and embrace the unchanging truth inscribed in her very nature: that she was made for lasting love, and nothing less.

Speaking of wise women, anyone who is not special enough to have received a copy of my wife's latest update from her can request it from me. I think you're special, even if she doesn't. Really.

Secondly, some intriguing thoughts on the successful (?) reconstruction of Afghanistan - Afghanistan, Inc.

I won't bore you with my latest research into climate change, nuclear power, West Papua (please note journalists, you are talking about West Papua, not Papua) and American imperialism, but I have certainly read some very interesting things in the last few weeks.

Toowoomba - Bundaberg - Caboolture - Sydney

2006-04-22T21:39:00.000+10:00

I arrived back in Sydney yesterday afternoon after spending the time after the festival in various places in South-East Queensland. I was reminded time and time again of the beauty and diversity of God's creation, having already been reminded of His constant goodness to His people. Mount Pleasant, a short trip from Brisbane, was a beautiful drive throughy sub-tropical rainforest. There were some very picturesque cane-fields around Bundaberg, where I spent a couple of days, as well as magnificent rivers, lakes, beaches and forests.

Caboolture is very close to Brisbane (less than an hour's drive from the city centre, I think) yet it has a very country feel to it. From being in a city where I can drive for an hour and still be completely surrounded by urban sprawl, it was very nice to be in a place where the city centre is within easy reach of the farmland surrounding the city.

Sydney - Toowoomba

2006-04-16T12:10:00.000+10:00

Well, my lovely wife has been gone for two weeks (another eight or so to go) and I'm in sunny (and hot) Toowoomba, manning our exhibition stall at the Australian Gospel Music Festival, having spent the last three days in a tent that I'm sure is deliberately designed to trap all heat but not allow and breeze through, and subsisting on some questionable fast food. Adding to my frustration is the wonderful line up of bands that is playing just a couple of hundred metres away, which are sadly drowned out by the rather more pathetic line up of bands that are playing just 50 metres away, very loud. There have, however, been some notable exceptions. Sons of Korah sounded fantastic, as did Revive, Scat and Merlei Klapper. I can also thoroughly recommend Mike Frost & the Icemen as a fantastic Jazz band. So it hasn't been all bad. I even got to catch a bit of Nathan Tasker and Rebecca St James. But I'm not sure that I'd like to spend any more Easter weekends this way, having lugged approximately 70-80 kg of luggage from home in Sydney to the motel in Toowoomba (and then most of it on to the festival) all by myself. Pity party time!!!

On to the awards:

Best shirt of the weekend:
Blondes may have more fun, but brunettes can read
Runners-Up:
Chaos, panic, disorder. My work here is done and
I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was going to blame you.
Jesus – life without him is hell

Most Questionable Fashion Taste:
Green and yellow striped beret
Runner Up:
Prevalence of cowboy hats and Hawaiian shirts

What the???
“Jesus is my homeboy” T-shirts (seen on both male and female). I don’t get it – should I?

Until next time…

Baching it Part Deux

2006-04-11T08:45:00.000+10:00

Still alive...

Bedroom - Still clean, although it has a few clothes on the floor, since I'm washing her clothes for her and they need to be sorted.
Bathroom - Still clean
Loungeroom - Continues to improve, albeit slowly
Kitchen - Approximately half of the pile of dishes that was there when she left has been done - the rest will follow
Laundry - Almost all my clothes have been washed
Food - Continues to go well, although the weekend was a bit poor, this was partly due to not eating because of sports

Weekend-o-rama

2006-04-10T08:47:00.000+10:00

I refereed my first official competition soccer match on Saturday. Then I reffed my second one straight afterwards. An interesting experience - very exhausting (think I'll stick to one match a day for a while, or if not, make the second one an Under 14s or something like that!

5-1 was the final scoreline of the first match, but the most interesting thing was sending a player off for deliberately elbowing an opponent in the face. The incident provoked a standoff, during which I could have yellow/red carded a stack more players, but I didn't have an assistant referee to tell me who was pushing who, so in the long run it was just one red and one yellow. A baptism of fire indeed.

The second match was a little more sedate. But by the end of it I was severely dehydrated (silly me) and went home and straight to bed, where I pretty much stayed until a phone call woke me up at 7:30 the next morning.

Ramdon mess

2006-04-05T09:02:00.000+10:00

The title has nothing to do with the post really, I just thought it sounded cool.

In work news, our new website is up and running, and I think it looks pretty spiffy (if I do say so myself). I'm off to Toowoomba next week for a weekend of manning our advertising stall at the Gospel Music Festival, which will be both fun and frustrating as I will wish I was in the music tent and not the advertising tent! But it should be an enjoyable, if exahusting, time nonetheless. Our nationwide radio advertising campaign is up and running as well.

An interesting set of images of what the world's tallest buildings would look like if they were all in the same city (also includes a picture of what Melbourne could look like in 15 years).

Baching it...

2006-04-04T08:40:00.000+10:00

Contrary to popular opinion, I am not doomed simply because my wife has run off for a couple of months. To prove it, I will attempt to keep a running track of house (in comparison to when she left), meals and other duties:

Kitchen - is substantially cleaner than when she left. The huge pile of dishes has been substantially rinsed, both bags of garbage have been taken to the bin and the floor mopped.
Bedroom - is much the same. The bed has been remade (which it wasn't before she left) but other than that no real change, as it was clean before she left.
Bathroom - again, is substantially cleaner. The sink has been wiped and the seven (yes, seven!) shampoo/soap/conditioner/who knows what else bottles that seem to live on top of the shower have been reduced to one. I can only deduce that, since I put her bottles in the cupboard, she must normally use at least six (plus whatever she took with her) on a daily basis.
Loungeroom - Work has commenced. Dishes that were sitting on the table have been moved to the kitchen, and the floor is looking slightly better. This one will take a while though...
Laundy - no loads of washing done yet, but none have needed to be. Will need to wash work clothes tonight. I have made the discovery that black shirts don't need ironing.
Food - haven't eaten breakfast due to accidentally leaving the milk out (I'm not the only one who is known to do this). Will have to buy more milk and then breakfast should be a regular routine (which will be a change from usual).

Gold, gold, gold!

2006-03-21T09:17:00.000+11:00

Oh me of little faith!

Well done Ryan Pini - gold in the Mens 100m Butterfly, beating Michael Klim and Adam Pine, as well as the two Kiwis. The only Papua New Guinean to ever make the final of a olympic or commonwealth games swimming event (and he also made the final of the 50m fly, finishing fifth).

Two medals in one games it is.

Rubbish?

2006-03-20T16:25:00.000+11:00

Congratulations Dika Toua, Silver in the overall Womens' 53kg Weightlifting, despite a broken toe.

Ryan Pini is doing very well in the Mens 100m Butterfly, beating Michael Klim in his heat and qualifying in second place from the semi finals. Hopefully he might be able to sneak home for a Silver or Bronze medal tonight, giving PNG two medals in the same games for the first time in history (any guess as to how many medals in the Olympic and Commonwealth games PNG have won overall).

Willie Jack is through to the quarters in the Men's 48kg Boxing.

And the title of today's blog? Dika, from Hanuabada, has the dubious honour of sharing her name with the Motuan (one of the primary trade languages of Papua (but not New Guinea)) word for garbage.

Oh, and a vaguely amusing comic strip out of the Post Courier (where I got the photo from). Apparently mobile phones are everywhere. If you need a translation, let me know!

Commonwealth Games

2006-03-16T08:46:00.000+11:00

Some may argue that the Commonwealth Games are old, out of date and pointless.

Well, maybe yes to the first two, but pointless? I don't think so. So what if Australia will win everything, that is the point, isn't it. Maybe the UK and Canada and the South Africans can pick up a medal or two each, but really, does it matter?

I wonder why we don't compete by state? Then we might be able to take the top 3 places on the medal tally!

But on to more important things, like how many medals Papua New Guinea will win. Here are my fearless predictions:

Weightlifting - They should pick up a few medals at the least in the womens' weightlifting. In the 53kg class Dika Loua Taua is a very good prospect to pick up a few medals - finished 6th in Athens. In the 58kg class her schoolmate Rita Kari should do well, and Kathleen Hare is an outside chance in the 48kg class.
Swimming - Nicole Ellsworth is a good up and coming prospect, but probably won't medal. Should be good experience for her though.
EAD - Possibly a medal for Francis Kompaun in the Athletics 200m. Another chance is Rex Larry (Powerlifting).
Athletics - Mowen Boino is another outside chance - 400m mens hurdles.

Other than that don't expect too much. There are a few athletes who might make it to the finals in the athletics, and you never know with the lawn bowls team, but I'm not expecting too much.

All up, I expect most (and probably all) of the medals to come from womens' weightlifting.

More research

2006-03-02T16:05:00.000+11:00

What do Johanna Griggs, Lynley Frame, Leigh Hatcher and Cher all have in common?

CFS, and new research provides yet another theory on what causes it. *Sigh*

Apathy

2006-03-02T08:45:00.000+11:00

I discovered an interesting statistic this week. There are three times as many Superannuation accounts in Australia as there are people employed. That means that the average working Australian has three different accounts, getting charged three different sets of fees, chopping down three times as many trees to produce the three times as much paper needed to keep track of it all.

Why? Apathy.

Climate change is a major threat to the world. Scientists agree that something needs to be done about it. But do the companies or countries producing all those greenhouse gases do anything? For the most part no. The biggest push for reform on the issue of climate change is coming from the Financial Services sector. Investors are scared that companies that contribute to climate change are eventually going to starve themselves (and the world) to death.

Does that mean that people are more scared of losing their money than they are of rising sea levels and less food? It would appear to be so.

Opulence

2006-02-23T09:00:00.000+11:00

Working in the financial services industry, I occasionally get glimpses into a very strange world.

I was invited to a presentation night last night, where managers of 5 different hedge funds explained a bit about the global hedge fund market, long/short, arbitrage and other strategies. The presentation was at a fairly well located (opposite the Opera House) and hence very pricey restaurant (lucky I wasn't paying!).

Aside from the professional interest I have in finding out more about hedge funds, what really interested me was how each presenter, in their own way, managed to not-so-subtly refer to their own personal wealth or connections. And they assumed that everyone else in the room was rich too! These are people who manage large amounts of funds, and have accumulated large amounts of money.

Like the presenter who casually mentioned a function that he recently had at his New York appartment for 31 people. Or the one who casually referred to his recent trip to New Zealand, where he stayed on his friend's golf course and played golf with Michael Campbell (yes, the guy who won the US Open last year). The same presenter who, when I was talking to him, was shocked that I had only been to New Zealand once, and had never been to the United States.

I got the feeling that they feel a need to leave a legacy that is not just monetary. These aren't your standard money investing funds, these are exotic/boutique managers who come up with complex and very very interesting ways of attempting to generate a little bit more return.

I wonder what motivates these people to keep going, keep on working 16+ hours a day, 7 days a week. They've already got all the wealth they can use in this lifetime - why do they do it? Is it that they need more money? Is it that they can't give up the prestige?

The guy I was speaking to had been to New Zealand before, but had only seen Auckland. He's now been to Australia, and seen the CBDs of Sydney and Melbourne. He's flown all around the world, but it seems he hasn't actually seen much of it except for the big cities.

They might be shocked that I've never flown around the world and have only been to New Zealand once, but when I look at it, I think I'm pretty happy with my life, my 40-50 hours per week job. Of course I have ambitions, but God provides all that I need, and He will continue to do so.

Those who know a bit about my work (and that's probably not many people!) will know that we promote stewardship, not wealth accumulation. Last night just outlined to me how important that is.

Four things meme

2006-02-20T09:06:00.000+11:00

I got tagged by Jord, so here goes (if you get tagged you have to fill it in and then tag four more people):

Four jobs I've had

Assistant Librarian, Christian Leaders' Training College
Casual Gardener
Actuarial Analyst, Aon Consulting
Development Manager, Christian Super

Four movies I can watch over and over

Four places I've lived

Toongabbie, Sydney
Point Clare, Gosford
Giramben, Papua New Guinea
Penshurst, Sydney

Four TV shows I love to watch

House
Boston Legal
SBS Soccer
The Simpsons

Four places I've been

Papua New Guinea
New Zealand
Cairns
Port Macquarie

Four favourite dishes

Butter Chicken
Spaghetti Bolognase
Lasagne
Meat Pie & Chips

Four sites I visit daily

Four favourite drinks

Lemonade
Iced Chocolate
Sparlking Apple Juice
Lemon Squash

Four places I would rather be

Driving through beautiful Canada
Touring Tasmania
Trekking accross Europe (particularly Scandinavia)
At the Winter Olympics or Commonwealth Games

Transport

My little red Charade
Cityrail
Walking
My bike

Four people I'm tagging

That's all for now!

Backwater country villages like Canberra & Port Macquarie

2006-02-16T11:54:00.000+11:00

I forgot to mention the best part about the cricket on Sunday - running into Sarah and Steve!!

[cafedave] A very interesting article about how people interpret emails. Basically, we think we correctly understand the tone of an email 90% of the time. In reality, we only correctly interpret 50% of the time. No wonder we have flame wars!

Now don't get me wrong. I love having friends. Friends are great (mostly). I love having a wide range of friends. Married friends, single friends, nerdy friends, non-nerdy friends, older friends, younger friends. I particularly enjoy catching a movie or meal with a friend or friends. Xbox is great, but even better with friends. Friends getting married is good too.

What is not cool are friends who insist on getting married at inconvenient times in far-away, tiny country towns, forcing me to drive for hours through the night so that I can be there for the wedding and then drive back again.

A few weeks ago it was Queanbeayan, this week it's Wauchope (near Port Macquarie). In June it's Brisbane. And that's just the ones I know about! I mean I love you guys, but seriously, c'mon people, get with the programme. Sydney is where it's at! Sydney has the harbour bridge, the Opera House and so much more. Wauchope has what, Timbertown? Canberra has a bunch of bugs and don't get me started on the water in Brisbane.

In all seriousness though, congrats to Anthony and Taminda, best wishes for the wedding, and I'm more than happy to drive to Wauchope to celebrate with you.

Sports Crazy

2006-02-13T09:00:00.000+11:00

It's been almost a week since I last posted?! I'm very very sorry.

Went to the cricket last night to see an amazing game, including:

The highest total ever made by an Australian team
The highest total ever made in Australia
The biggest partnership ever in Australia
The worst bowling performance in 10 overs ever
A few other amazing things

In the end, Australia smashed Sri-Lanka which was good, because now there's a decider. Sadly that decider is on Tuesday, which means I'll miss most of it :(

My whiz-bang new traning programme was supposed to start today. Half an hour of varied exercise every day, to build up my fitness so I can play soccer again. I'm aiming for Premier League reserves. But my body has decided it didn't like that idea and I'm sick. So I'll have to wait until I'm better.

Munich

2006-02-08T08:55:00.000+11:00

Movie: Munich

Well, 2 hours and 43 minutes later we emerged from the cinema.

A very interesting movie. Long, but it ended quite abruptly and I didn't think the (almost) 3 hours were up yet. I haven't seen a great deal of Spielberg's other works but this one certainly was thought-provoking. Based (loosely) on what happened after the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack, it explores the actions of an Israeli agent, and in doing so very effectively identifies the issues (ownership of land and the idea of freedom and a home, concepts of revenge and if it is firstly justifiable and secondly effective) without actually resolving any of them. It leaves the viewer to figure the answers (if they exist) for themselves.

Eric Bana did a great job, as did Geoffrey Rush. Some of the accents are wonderfully done (Bana's understated German, and Daniel Craig's South African make the movie a pleasure to listen to).

Definitely not recommended for the squeamish (I think this is actually the first MA film I've seen) but the violence is used to great effect, without being condoned.

It certainly deserves its five Academy Award nominations (Best Picture, Film Editing, Original Music Score, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director).

(You can read cafedave's review here.)

Sportarama

2006-02-06T09:13:00.000+11:00

"The time has come", the walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax -
Of cabages - and kings -
And why the sea is boiling hot -
And whether pigs have wings."

That is actually the 11th verse of an 18 verse poem. Many people (myself included up to about 2 minutes ago) believe it to be the opening line, but no!

Well, the time has almost come. In just 4 short days, the super sports season begins. On this year's menu, we have:
10 - 26 February - Winter Olympics
15 - 26 March - Commonwealth Games
9 June - 7 July - Football World Cup

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
"Shall we be trotting home again?"
But answer came there none -
And this was scarcely odd because
They'd eaten every one.

Kudos to anyone who can tell me who wrote that and what book it's from! (Without looking it up!)

Midweek Results

2006-02-02T14:09:00.000+11:00

Blackburn 4 - 3 Manchester United
Aston Villa 1 - 1 Chelsea
Arsenal 2 - 3 West Ham
Liverpool 1 - 1 Birmingham

What's going on??? Arsenal lose to West Ham at home, Chelsea and Liverpool can only manage draws against teams they really should beat, and Blackburn scores 4 against Man United? At least there's still something unpredictable about English soccer!

Some research

2006-02-01T15:05:00.000+11:00

As part of my professional duties, I am currently carrying out research into companies which use, or may use, embryonic stem cell tissue in the course of researching or production.

It's interesting how innocuous and justifiable these companies make it sound. Firstly, the use of the word "harvest" to describe acquiring embryonic stem cells implies that these cells are just a commodity to be used, rather than actually coming from embryos which are destroyed in the harvesting process. It's interesting how each side tries to change language to help their cause. (Pro-life groups could be accused of the same tactic, using the emotionally charged "infanticide" instead of the more factual "killing.")

In case you're wondering, the companies I'm currently investigating include General Electric, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Genentech.

GE's states that they only use stem cell lines that have already been harvested, they don't do the actual harvesting themselves. If you start from the point of view that harvesting embryos is wrong, this seems akin to saying "I won't shoot him, but I'll pay you to shoot him for you, and then I'll help you dispose of the body."

Enough Apathy

2006-01-31T08:49:00.000+11:00

I've been lax, I know. My excuse? It was Australia Day, and then I was working, and then it was the weekend, and then I was working again, and...

Pathetic excuses, all of them.

[cafedave] RSS Feeds for the ESV - it emails you a portion of the bible each day, with a few different options (and three ways to read the bible in a year). An interesting idea. Studies have shown that you comprehend less from reading off a screen than off something that's printed and tangible. Studies have also shown, however, that you comprehend more from reading off a screen than not reading at all!

Did Atlantis ever exist? So many different theories! And while we're at it, how about those islands of San Seriffe?

Update: Have you ever heard of Ultimate Christian Wrestling?? Only in America!!

Nothing much to report

2006-01-25T17:03:00.000+11:00

Very little to say today.

Good to see Wigan through to the Carling Cup Final. Assuming Man U beat Blackburn, that guarantees them a UEFA cup spot - not bad for a team that weren't expected to survive the Premiership.

Some interesting comments from Schappelle Corby's mother "At least I know where my ****** kids are, even if they are in jail."

And it will be interesting to see what sort of reaction the film Munich gets when it comes out. It's a fascinating story, and I'm sure Stephen Spielberg will have done it justice.

Goodbye Sven...

2006-01-24T12:17:00.000+11:00

Well, it was inevitable I suppose. Following those relevations, Sven will no longer be England coach after the world cup. The question is, how much has all this affected England's preparations.

And then what will he do after England? I wouldn't be surprised if the Newcastle position is vacant, given the way they're performing at the moment.

Those readers who enjoy the usual drivel of sports news and random comments should stop here. Those interested in something of more substance (although not necessarily value) should read on...

One of my pet subjects is the way that the media today exercise influence over our lives. Every media creation, whether a book, an article, a comic, a movie or music, is underpinned by a particular world view (usually the world view of the artist). Thus when we (*cough*, I mean our friends) listen to the Backstreet Boys and hear lyrics such as "Without you I am incomplete," it promotes the world view that in order to find meaning in our lives, we need a particular life partner. Underlying that is an even more deeply entrenched worldview that the meaning of life is found in other people, but that's another post for another day.

What I came accross today is a very interesting article about how transforming a media creation from one medium to another (in this case from a book to a movie) actually changes the experience of the person reading of watching the medium, and how the increased commercialisation that comes from crossing mediums can actually devalue the work in the original medium. Sounds complicated? Well, they might explain it a bit better in Christianity Today, but the example they use is fantastic. Here's a well-known quote from Narnia:

"Is Aslan safe?"
"No, child, Aslan is a lion. He
is not safe, but he is good."

Now, by taking Narnia out of the pages of the book and putting him on the big screen, certain things are added or lost. The mental image we have from the book is destroyed (never to return) by a visual image from the screen, which may be more or less satisfying than the visual image (I find that it is usually less). But by taking Aslan out of the pages of the book, and turning him into a movie image, or perhaps even a cuddly toy, we completely destroy any meaning his character had. Instead of being "not safe," Aslan becomes just like Waarshuwing (my cute cuddly toy lion). Instead of being unsafe and fearful (while still good) he becomes placid, docile, soft and cuddly.

Now, I will probably be accused of taking this too far, but I think there is an extent to which (subconsciously, probably) the following argument holds.

The Aslan I have in my room is a soft cuddly toy.
Therefore the Aslan from the book is soft and nice.
Therefore Jesus (of whom Aslan is an analogy, albeit a limited one) is soft and nice.

Any thoughts?

An exhausting weekend

2006-01-23T09:03:00.000+11:00

Here's the scenario:
You drove down to Canberra on Friday night, stayed overnight. Went to a Saturday wedding in Queanbeyan at 3:00pm and the subsequent reception at Old Parliament House at 6:00pm. You leave the reception at 11:00pm. You need to get back to Sydney. You know that the temperature on Sunday is going to be very very high. Do you:
a) Drive back that night, stopping for breaks, arrive home at 3:00am and sleep for as long as you like; or
b) Stay in Canberra that night, wake up in time to check out and drive home in the heat of Sunday, arriving home around 1:00pm

We chose option a), but whichever you choose, Old Parliament House has some very nice views. An enjoyable wedding, although the groom did manage to get his own name wrong in the vows (at least that's better than getting his wife's name wrong though)!

But what's with the billions of bugs in Canberra??? You can't go anywhere at night without being swarmed!

2006-01-20T15:38:00.000+11:00

Well, Lleyton lost, which means that we can all get back to our normal, everyday lives.

There's a new Sam Kekovic Lamb Ad - let's see how this one goes! Looks like it will be as controversial as the last one.

That is all.

Late night conversation...

2006-01-19T08:48:00.000+11:00

Well, Andrew and Bess came for dinner last night. Enjoyable food and conversation, although we covered some bizzare topics:

John 6:7-11 - In verse 8 Jesus tells his brothers that he is not going up to Jerusalem that he is not going up to the feast, but in verse 10 He secretly goes to the feast. Did Jesus change his mind? If not then what other explanation is there?
Genesis 3 - Would sin have come into the world if Adam had not taken the apple? Had Eve already sinned before she took a bite?

The second question is really academic, since Adam and Eve did eat the apple, but it makes for interesting conversation.

Breaking News: Damir Dokic thought about dropping a nuclear bomb on Australia and Eddie McGuire might be the new Channel 9 boss. Nooooooo!!!

Insane People...

2006-01-18T19:02:00.000+11:00

[cafedave] www.improveverywhere.com - these guys come up with some interesting concepts. Their latest one involves a "suicide jumper" on a 3ft high ledge.

An interesting day on the world markets. The Nikkei is down 3%, the ASX is down more than 1%, haven't researched any of the others.

On the topic of work, I'm in the process of discovering just how many hoops you have to jump through to invest in some of these countries. I have pages and pages of forms to fill in using various foreign languages (thankfully all of them so far include an English translation somewhere) to claim obscure tax deductions.

Back to more important things. No real surprises in the tennis. Not much elsewhere either, although some interesting results in the FA cup.

More from the world of sport...

2006-01-17T11:11:00.000+11:00

Well, the Australian Open has started with the usual predictable upsets that everyone wants to rave about.

Meanwhile, Sven Goran Eriksson, England Football Manager, 15 days into the year, is already a contender for the Most Gullible Man 2006 Award, suggesting to a reporter posing as an Arab Sheikh that he would be willing to walk out on England after the World Cup if the money was right. He also made some not-so-nice comments about some of his England players, but no, it's all ok. His agent says that Sven is "100% committed" to the England job, and that his relationship with the players "has not been damaged in any way."

Apparently 3 million pounds after tax each year isn't enough to keep Sven happy.

A weekend of Football...

2006-01-16T09:04:00.000+11:00

I love a good derby day in Manchester. I think it's safe to say that Manchester United's era is coming to a close. Knocked out of Europe by those great European powerhouses Villareal (sixth in Spain), Lille (fifth in France) and Benfica (second in Portugal), they were beaten 3-1 over the weekend by Manchester City. Nice to see also that Middlesborough are doing well without Schwarzer.

Meanwhile, a bit closer to home, a trip to Aussie Stadium on Saturday night saw a 1-1 draw between Sydney FC and the Central Coast Mariners. A good game to watch - very fast paced, although it seemed that the pace got to most of the players after about 70 minutes. A very classy goal from David Carney, who looks like one to watch for the future.

Oh, and the Russkies should keep their hands off our Guus.