Last post of 2005?

so...
very busy day today, then in the morning we are off to Wooli (in between Yamba and Coffs) till new years day.
catching up with Mum and Dad.
Should be good.
So, ta ta for 2005. see you in 6.

Lord's Prayer

As usual, flicking thru other peoples blogs... i found this on Barb's blog, and she got it from jonnybakers site. Its an adaptation of the Lord's prayer.

O Breathing Life, your Name shines everywhere!
Release a space to plant your Presence here.
Imagine your possibilities now.
Embody your desire in every light and form.
Grow through us this moment's bread and wisdom.
Untie the knots of failure binding us, as we release the strands we hold of others' faults.
Help us not forget our Source,Yet free us from not being in the Present.
From you arises every Vision, Power and Song from gathering to gathering.
Amen - May our future actions grow from here!

i like things like this, that add a richness and depth to something we are so familiar with. i wonder if we should think about scripture in this light more often. Or maybe even... an excercise where everyone re-writes the passage (sure this may take some exegetical background - maybe?) but it would sure add to the communal experience, as we all see and hear differently depending on our experience of God.

tickle tests

a did a couple of dumb laughable tickle tests this morning - what else do i do at work???

one one which colour type i was - suprise suprise i came out green
another on which movie star i'd be - i was pretty happy with that result too.

my son the genius

MJ got a green camping chair
at the time he was just wearing green undies
thats when Kenn said to him
You cant sit on it in those undies we wont be able to see you
without thought MJ just took his undies off and jumped up on the chair
a classic indeed

yes its a...

openning presents this morning (as you do)
i came across one that was quite obviously a DVD
open it up to reveal
Hi5
My name ended up on the wrong one... it was very amusing

MJ was so happy with his presents. Particularly getting into his Playdoh stuff and the electronic motorbike/trike - it goes about walking speed and he just loves it...

anyways, i was a very lucky boy today too. some of the stuff i recieved included
a picture LP of Sargent Peppers (straight to the pool room)
a framed painted LP by MJ
John Safran's music jamboree DVD
A drum from South Africa
some silcon cookware (its really cool)
Donna Hay - the instant cook

thats al i can remember right now, but yeah, its been a great day... back at work now, and rather tired, but all has been great.

more wolfmother

saw some footage tonight on wolfmother at homebake
maybe they do deserve all the accolades, they were amazing, the improvisation was particularly something that interested me.
hopefully i will get a chance to see them some time soon

new look

for some strange reason the old blog template i was using wouldnt display my profile, links, previous posts etc...
so, this is the new one, and that stuff functions now.
you like it??

what im listening to

at the moment??

ive been getting into
Antony and the Johnsons
Kaiser Chiefs
Emiliana Torrini
bit of a mix there (both stylistically and nationality - Yanks, Poms and Iceys - or whatever someone from iceland is?)
I may have more to say on these artists soon, but thats all for now.

James Dobson email

i received this email this afternoon

Dr. Dobson is going on CNBC to urge every Christian to get involved. I

hope you will think about signing this and forwarding to all your family

and friends. Dr. James Dobson, with Focus on the Family, pleads for our

action. An organization has been granted a Federal Hearing on the same

subject by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, DC.

Their petition, Number 2493, would ultimately pave the way to stop the

reading of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, on the airwaves of America.

They got 287,000 signatures to back their stand!

If this attempt is successful, all Sunday worship services being broadcast

on the radio or by television will be stopped. This group is also

campaigning to remove all Christmas programs and Christmas carols from

public schools!


You as a Christian can help! We are praying for at least 1 million

signatures. This would defeat their effort and show that there are many

Christians alive, well and concerned about our country.

As Christians, we must unite on this. Please don't take this lightly. We

ignored one lady once and lost prayer in our schools and in offices across

the nation. Please stand up for your religious freedom and let your voice

be heard. Together we can make a difference in our country while

creating an opportunity for the lost to know the Lord.

some thoughts
1 - the languageand tone it uses frustrates me to no end.
2 - relationships are the most important thing in our faith. not radio or television shows. i wonder how many relationships would be bruised if all my friends who dont prescribe to the teachings and life of Christ heard me referrring to them as "Lost". Thats quite arogant now isnt it...
3 - the years of greatest prosperity, growth and true spirituality for the church were (in my opinion) the first 300 or so of its existence. Personally i feel like the conversion of constantine (313) and more importantly his legalisation of Christianity as a religion, was a turning point in the downward direction for our faith. When it was more of a risk to follow Christ, it lead to deeper faith and suprisingly more followers. Its funny that the countries growing most these

Who cares about this stuff really? its not going to make a huge difference. I think James Dobson is living in the past, with practices that are becoming less and less relevant.

I imagine Sufjan Stevens and Bono are doing alot more for our faith than Switchfoot and Jars of Clay.

As a friend of mine once said "I'm sure more people found God thru the music of the Beatles than thru so called Christian music"

100

so, for this my 100th post i shall mention triple J's hottest 100
theres a list of songs here
i think i will vote 2 times (10 songs from each email address) just cause i cant narrow it down to only 10.
Not sure yet what im voting for, but i think i will limit myself to one vote per artist.
im finding it particularly difficult to remember back before about june. oh well, you get that, its inevitable.

sure there will be more on this soon.

top albums poll

triple j finally posted the results of the top albums poll. its here

some thoughts... ofcourse i always have thoughts on these things...

1 - as always it seems amazing that the best album of the year was released recently. i guess this is inevitable with polls like this. (it was wolfmother by the way)

2 - Wolfmother? its like they are the great white hope at the moment. I like them but i think its all a bit silly at the moment. first they give them heaps of airplay (both music and interviews), then the J award, now this... its not suprising. I do think its a good album, but how unusual that i would disagree with the majority. its cool. i just wonder if all those that put it in their top 10 would still agree in april???

3 - 7 of the 15 nominations for the J award were in the top 20 (all but 1 in the top 50 - pivot missed out). Also in the top 20 were end of fashion and the cat empire. Now particularly in regards to Two Shoes by the Cat Empire, why wasnt it nominated for the J award? I feel like it was a better album that their last, and definately deserved acknowledgement from the Js.

4 - great to see that songs for silverman by ben folds got in the top 50 (at number 45). I rate it as one of the best for the year, and unfortunately the Js didnt spin it much. oh well, obviously others liked it too.

well check the list out for yourself anyways. these things are always interesting. something to whinge about or at least be hypercritical of. yeah??

West Wing

i love the west wing so much! its by far the best television show ever made, if you havent seen it, you should. its great

anyways, 2 things

1 - John Spencer died this week (he played Leo - chief of staff). Its a terrible loss, as the guy was amazing. Check out the story here.

2 - I watched a great episode this morning "The War at Home". Joey Lucas is a pollster, and she's deaf and just a great charecter in general, and anyways she says this (well Kenny her interpreter says this)...
you're like the French radical watching the crowd run by and saying "There go my people, I must find out where they are going so I can lead them."
i really like it, its good for someone with idealistic tendencies to hear something like this, there's something in there for us all (if you want there to be?)

i'll smash yous all

so...
where on earth would exist a place where
Mick kicked my butt
I just beat Grant by the narrowest of margins
and
we all destroyed copland
here it is

(i included first and last names just incase you are wondering)
thanx Doug Pagitt for this link

does greener grass taste better?

im sure i will try and stuff that into a song somewhere along the line, i think it would work.
my point is... that things can always be better if only... but thats crap really!
life is what we are doing with it now, who we are now, why we are etc...

so my point?
im happy right now
i dont know if i failed that subject at college, and i feel like all my friends my age have disapeered (i miss you all - in order of distance away - BJ, Dan, Lyd, Caine, Sally, Mick, Bec, Mel, Grant, Copland), and well, i cant stop struggling with my dark side (the side that eats things that make me fat...)
but..

its all good
i have an amazing family (love you karz, mj and jumbles)
i have great friends (even if they are a thousand miles away - guitar chords anyone?)
i just got a new job (and probably a whole heap of new friends ???)
i feel like im in a good place right now, and when i look at it, ive been there for a long time, it just feels different.

dont mind me, im just feeling this way.
so after that what now... i think im going to call orgo (thats how i spell it get over it) cause i feel like it.

raisins

maybe i am becoming a groupie

sure, i will always have tendencies in the area of groupiedom. anyone who knew me during my phish phase will clearly testify to that.

anyways... i posted on Zan's blog (that i mentioned the other day, here) and well she got back to we which was nice.

heres the thing anyways

ian hey zan,love the beatles, and i love sufjan (among others) so im pretty pumped about the album. speaking of sufjan, i found some free christmas stuff of his kicking around, and its awesome, you should check it out some time.
**Hey Ian, I do indeed have those Christmas EP's - it's a much better soundtrack to the 'holiday season' than the usual dorky carols and middle of the road pop singers doing covers eh? You should check out his earlier albums if you haven't also... he's gone from indie to middle eastern, glitchy electronica to stripped back folk.. across five albums. The man's a genius. Illinois is by far my favourite record of the year. Thanks for the post!

hello again

seems as though life has been rather busy of late. i guess thats something this time of year does to you. ive never really been close to the expression "silly season" cause i would like to think that i am rather silly all year round. but... maybe it does hold some resonance in general. ive been to the shops a riduculous amount lately, mainly due to how stinking hot it has been. thats leads me t o a thought that i shall share in a minute... hmmm...

anyways
I GOT THE JOB!!!
I'm now a Chaplain! What that involved exactly is somewhat uncertain at this point. But, im sure glimpses of what i do will occasionally be graced on the pages of edgar. we'll see. i have to call the principal and have a meeting with Tobin from SU early in the new year, so we'll see what happens from there... eh.

on a totally different note
ive been enjoying the cricket lately. nice and close up until this arvo, but who knows there couold be a collapse and it could be close. or anything could happen. but its good when its not all one sided, im digging it anyways.

also, listening to triple J tonight they were counting down the top 10 albums voted by listeners for the year. i didnt catch number one though. bloc party were number 2 though - that suprised me somewhat... just wasnt listening to the radio much around that time i guess. they are good, but maybe not my sup of bonox. number 3 and 4 on the other hand made some more sense (White stripes and Bernard Fanning respectively). So, i may well post it when they put it on the site... not sure???

lastly for now...
i figure that it would make more sense to have christmas mid year!!!
why?
1 - it would break the year up nicely
2 - the shops would be packed mid year (for christmas) and at the end of the year (cause its so stinkin hot)
3 - more money for retailers.

im the sure the governement will introduce this sometime soon, as all the seem to care about is money. so as it would help businesses, then it would be a smart way to go!!!

enuff for now

run with the hunted

Zan Rowe is fast becoming a fave of mine at the J's
i think i first got glimmers of it when she featured a heap of icelandic music one day while doing myf's shift. very cool indeed.

anyways, she has a blog call "run with the hunted" and well, i like it
thats all

a very sufjan christmas

so, sufjan stevens has impressed me greatly this year.
found some christmas stuff by him, all available for free download
check these links out (dont know which one works best?)
download download 2
definately worth it - i especially like his version of "come thou fount of every blessing" disc 2, track 3.
anyways, worth checkin out some time. i enjoy it.

the waiting game

so, the interview i had yesterday went incredibly well, but, i know it doesnt matter.

either im the person for the job or not. and well, the last coupla interviews went very well too, but i didnt get the job because they had someone else better suited for them. so... it comes down to me being suited to this one???? dunno.

hopefully i am, im getting excited bout all the possibilities for the school. but... who knows what will happen. will know by tommorro arvo anyways...
hopefully i will sleep tonight (i get so worked up over these things dont i?)

the problem with blogging

so...
i had a huge weekend.
a job interview on monday
started getting sick monday night at work
was pretty crook most of the day yesterday (sinus stuff)
so... its hard to keep the blogging up all the time.
heres a quick run down of the last few days (the significant things)


flew into sydney on saturday
went to my sisters 30th
she didnt know we were coming so it was a good surprise
she loved the scrapbook that karz spent ages on, so, all winners there
we were so tired though

sunday
pretty cruisy morning
mick and bec came round, they are both doing well
bec's going to greece for 3 or 4 months to play polo - that'll be cool
left for the airport
got into bris
had some dinner with kenn and andrea
went home
got a dvd out
it was scratched, went back to get a clean one...
got home with new disc... wrong dvd!!!
went back, got the right one and a freebee... so thats ok

monday
had a job interview in the morning - went very very well!
went to work in the arvo
almost falling asleep at work cause of sinus stuff

tuesday
came home early from work - sick
had a sleep
got woken by a phone call for another interview - another chaplaincy job
called tobin to find out if i need to go (if i had the other job)
didnt get the sunnybank job!!!
arghhhh
the other guy had experience in schools

thats pretty much the wrap up to now

got a job interview in about an hour
i sure hope i get this one, its a bit frustrating getting told that although i am more experienced with youth and have 2 relevant degrees (almost), there is someone better for the job!!
oh well
more to write later maybe

back from sydney

so im back from sydney. didnt mention it at all cause it was a suprise... i will blog it and backdate it some time today

some more thoughts on the death penalty

going on in the comments of that original post a few days ago
its here

some quotes i like (practitioners ch1)

reading "practitioners" at the moment. heres some quotes i like from it (just the first chapter actually - thats all ive got thru, but im digging it)

Eventually I came to belive. The was no great revelation, no defining moment. It was more like an enormous exhaltation. It was like a gentle loosening of my grip, the color slowly returning to my knuckles. Some days are intoxicating, fragrant. Others, arid and monochromatic. /Few are lonely. And all are rich in possibility, like a blank page, or an ugly patch of dirt that with care becomes hospitable.
Greg Russinger

The dispute concerns an unbearable mismatch between lived reality and traditional explanations that proceed by their own logic without reference to lived reality.
Walter Brueggemann

another interview!

got a phone call from Tobin (from SU) today. I have a job interview for another one of those Chaplaincy jobs. So... hoping all goes well.
I'm sure there will be another blog entry like this one.

One thing that did instill some confidence was the question of whether I would do 2 jobs or just one... dont know if im reading too much into it...?

death penalty!

so here something interesting!
in many asian countries, if you bring drugs in (or out) you get the death penalty.
it seems the US has an interesting alternative... if you dont take your drugs (medication) then you get the death penalty. (see here)

maybe Hitler should have been more creative... it seems the US are exterminating Black people with lethal injections, the mentally ill with air marshals, and putting all the homosexuals in a ghetto (san fransisco) - maybe thats a little bit of a stretch? You go George W!

business council of australia

seen those ads on tele? the ones where the business council of australia is saying that we need new industrial relations cause the old one is over 100 years old, and is just patched up.

well thats cool. maybe we need a new constitution and legal system among other things. The arogance of it! new is not always better. You think a group of minds like that would have thought about their argument a little longer. But hang on... agree with this, so we can make more money, probably isnt an advertising campaign that would fly. or would it?

sometimes its ok to swim in your pyjamas

something that makhyah taught me this morning.

busy busy busy

pretty busy and tired in my house at the moment. we have both been working on my sister's birthday present. thats all i can say for now, just in case she reads this (i doubt it but you never know).
Got a few big days coming up. Will probably write a bit more after they happen... hopefully a job interview or 2 (or 3) is the key bit of all that. will find out in the next week i imagine. anyways...

went to the city tonight to see the myer windows. a few of them werent functioning properly, so that was a bit of a let down (a couple with no lights, one with moving parts no working, a broken thing). But... on the other hand we got to hang with Rich and Jude (and Josh and Noah) before they go away, so that was cool. short of stopping the inevitable, it was classic time with Rich. I find that i think best when hes around - i come up with some of my best stuff that is... who knows??

Oh, and i also had some juice from oasis, really good! 2 parts watermelon,1 part pineapple. yummo!

my top 10 albums of 2005?

look, to be honest i find this excutiating! trying to pick between all my ears have been blessed with.
it gets easier when i cut out everything older than this year... but still... i cant come up with a top ten, not right now anyways...
heres some albums that would probably rate, for various reasons (this is in no order!!)

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Ben Folds - Songs for Silverman
Lior - Autumn Flow
Ben Lee - Awake is the New Sleep
The Killers - Hot Fuss
Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set - What was Left
Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die
Knuckle Down - Ani DiFranco

some of the other stuff that i have liked alot this year would include the Scissor Sisters, Galactic, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and Vida Blue. But... all these are not current to this year...
I have also enjoyed several Putumayo compliations including Mali, Mediterranean Odyssey, African Playground and Carribean Playground (both of which Makhayah has enjoyed at least as much as I).

Other than that... musically my year was marked harshly by blues and roots selling out the day that we got the money together. So... I didnt end up getting to many gigs. But I did get to see an awesome marley tribute show, with Kaya opening for them, and got to architecture in helsinki at the globe (2 stand outs anyways).

I'm sure ive left something off here... buzz me eh??? (that means you grande)

the J award - an irony?

speaking to Grande yesterday I agree that this whole J award seems to be somewhat ironic as it tends to be triple J and their listeners that oppose competition and awards (like these guys).

The saving grace for me tends to be the fact that 15 albums were nominated, so they really are giving a big yell out to a stack of good music (but why wasnt cat empire nominated?). So, its not all that bad, but i guess it could be viewed as somewhat ironic.

adventures on the internet: you might be emerging if

i found this link on doug pagitt's blog. a little pictorial hoo-ha on the emerging church...

i found it amusing anyways, and somewhat accurate too i guess.
and yes... i knew pretty much all of those names on the list... shame on me

Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set

So, a couple of weeks ago I picked up "what was left" this years album by Clare Bowditch et al.

I have to say it has been a bit of an adventure listening to it, its really unvieled itself slowly to me. At first a few songs stood out as absolute winners (the poppier numbers) and then slowly, but surely, the others grew on me, to the point of saying that overall its a top album.

So, the poppy tracks - in particular Divorcee at 23, On this side and Lips like Oranges, are all great. Although I wouldnt limit it to these, saying that these are the only bright tracks, but they do have a certain radio friendly "benleeness" about them. Having said that, like the whole album, the instrumentation and arrangements are just amazing. Guest electric guitarist J. Walker, does an awesome job on these 3 tracks in particular, playing stuff that would seem ridiculous to some, but just making it fit perfectly. It really excites me how all the instruments work together.

Speaking of Instruments... Libby Chow is a very integral part of the band. Featuring pretty much just on backing vocals and french horn, its a unique addition, to a beautiful sound. Probably half the tracks feature the french horn (in particular the more laid back ones), and again, the arrngements are just beautiful, adding depth and soul to Clare's quirky, syncopated and melodic compositions. The other brilliant aspect of the arrangements are the drumlines. Its hard to say without listening to their stuff, but they really are something special... I'm not a drummer so thats about all you'll get out of me on that one. But yeah... all the instruments just fit, its hard at times to distiguish them, but i think thats ok on this one.

Wrapping it up with Clare... her guitar work is again beautiful. For a band that boarders on busyness at times, its interesting to note that the guitar is like a rock. Just fingerpicks on through the song - to give you an idea, without the band Clare would be similar to Holly Throsby in some ways, but the band just takes it somewhere else completely. No better or worse, just unexpected and special (so i guess it is better).

Overall, the sound is so Melbourne! I dont know what that means, but it makes sense to me. Mick... I would suggest you have listen, in some strange way it reminds me of the Sundays - but a less simple, more quirky version. not sure, just something i feel...

top 10 albums

triple J are doing a top ten albums of the year poll.

i checked out some of the lists there already and was rather impressed with Clare Bowditch's (which is here) as well as Chris Taylor and Zan Rowe (which are in the Triple J staff section)

worth having a look thru anyways, whatever you are in to.


and hey, on a slightly different note, has anyone (namely you grande) hear the herd's album (no pun intended), i wouldnt mind checking it out sometime.

and the winner is...

wolfmother

the j award was announced this afternoon.
i have to say that its a good album, but i feel that its a little over-rated by triple j in general.
thats all i'll say for now, cause i havent given the album as much time as i would have liked...
so congratulations ozzy and the crew from wolfmother!

family update

i realised this morning that i really dont mention makhyah and karz much. so i think i will right now

nakari is doing well, busy at work, and heaps tired... for those that dont know, we are expecting an addition to the family in June. So, yeah... i can only imagine how she's feeling right now... but she is still a machine with stuff round the house, work and that little tiger, makhayh.

on that note, makhyah is doing well too. although rather naughty at times, he really is a good boy. his talking is going really well, stringing up to 5 words together. Kindy is going well. I think he likes the variety in his life - days with Kenn (his grandfather - "Taid"), kindy days, days with me, days witth Karz and I, and a mix of nights and mornings when I'm at work.
he's been getting pretty pumped about santa at the moment. cant walk thru the shops without hearing him point out the big guy in red.

so there you have it... brief... but thats a hige part of my life. better go, we are off to music class this morning, with a performance to practice for - on Sunday.

adventures on the internet: 10 by 10

so i did a bit of blog following tonight, stumbled accross a couple that interested me.
anyways... i found this interesting thing called 10by10, on a blog - by cheryl, thanx whoever you are :)

it basically compiles the 100 top words and images in the news on the net, and it changes every hour... We got a mention - when i looked (it will have changed by now) Dr Pattel (that psycho who was working in Bundy) was at number 88, with the word Australia connected to it...
So, an interesting tool... like me i guess.

anyways... heres the link

prioritise this

TV at the moment sucks. So, i ventured over to SBS - which i have been doing a bit lately. They had a great report on the response to Hurricane Katrina. Its funny how priorities effect things.

Basically they talked about FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and how the director and most of the high up staff there were totally inexperienced when it came to disaster management. The guys that they appointed were just put there as political thankyous. It was a cushy, high paying job for friends of the whitehouse basically. And well... FEMA had been like this, from its conception (1979) till 1993 when something amazing happened.

Clinton decided to put staff in at FEMA that had experience with disaster management. So, he took James Witt from Arkansas, and he did a good job. Lets flash forward about 7 1/2 years, to George W Bush running for president. He says - that Witt had done a good job. And well, he had, so maybe that was the one smart thing George W has ever said...

So, the good dude (Witt) left when President Stupid got control of America. And then, what did Bush do. Appoint the mate of the Chief of Staff... Some guy who had no idea (Joe Albaugh)... Then what happened... Over the next 4 years, the Bush administration cut the funds the FEMA had for prevention programs, and basically turned them back into a toothless tiger, a face to blame when things go bad. ... left, then Mike Brown whod been the number 2 for a couple of years (another politician basically) gets appointed

Katrina hits. This poor director of FEMA (Mike Brown), the Governor of Lousiana and the Mayor of New Orleans all get grilled. Well... the FEMA guy lied like crazy, tried to make the Govenor and Mayor look stupid. And well, the FEMA dude did a poor job, sure... but...
WHY WAS HE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!

I guess what i wanna draw out of this is that in the US government, and ours... we need to seriously give prioritisation to things that matter. Dont just feather our own nests, but make things right, do things properly... now! (unlike Bush, who has finally now appointed someone who has experience in Disaster stuff after having 2 shockers - David Paulison - a fire department guy)

You know whats funny. Maybe at times... the church could learn from this too. Just maybe...

Well, when 93% of American Nazarenes vote Republican, its not hard to see what we have to learn, how and why we have to change.

people with cool names

today i spoke to Chloe Tickle on the phone. i just had to mention that.
its definately up there with Snowball.
Anyways, Chloe was extremely helpful, so thanx mate.

why bother

i saw war of the worlds with the kids from work the other night. it was really crap. I just dont know why people would bother making movies like that anymore. lets spend a fourtune on a predictable story, with poor character development and an ending thats like... what? thats it?? oh...

so, personally i wouldnt recomend anyone bother. just remember all the other end of the world alien movies and thats pretty much it...

weird phone conversations

talk about odd...

doing my "homework" today, calling up some chaplains finding out some bits and pieces about what they do.
So... I called Sally, from Marsden High, who was on the interview panel that didnt give me the job. I'm totally cool with it, Troy is better for the job than I, but Sal didnt know I felt that way... So, she's like... "hi, have you spoken to Tim?". I'm all... yeah yeah, its all goood, thats not why im calling yada yada... After that initial strangeness it was all good.

Anyways, I had a productive morning. Thanx to Sal, Neil and Des for your help. Hopefully it'll make a difference.

j award approacheth

so, triple j's new awrd - the j award is finally going to be announced on Friday! I'm looking forward to it actually.

15 different albums have been nominated. I feel like a bit of an Oz music nut at the moment. I think i have almost half of the albums. And well, i particuarly enjoyed - Ben Lee, Lior, Architecture in Helsinki, The Beautiful Girls, Wolfmother and Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set.

Its gonna be a tough one to judge, as the artists are so varied... Anyways, we'll see what happens??? And yeah, I got Clare Bowditch the other day, will throw some thoughts around on that one soon.

bluesfest

the first part of the line up for blues and roots was announced this week. its here.
at the moment its not compelling, but we'lll see what happens, theres a few i like the look of but nothing WOW! yet... they do have a tough year to follow though(too bad i missed out of tickets - sob sob).

homework

so i met with tim from SU today. it seems that if i want this job i am going to have to do some homework. should be interesting.
thats all i have to say right now...

Josh Pyke

a few weeks ago i picked up Josh Pyke's EP - Feeding the Wolves. So, I've had a chance to listen to it a bit, and well heres my thoughts.

Middle of the Hill - the song that they have been playing on Triple J, is by far and away the best track. It has elements that remind me of Ben Lee and also Darren Hanlon. Other than that the rest is reasonable, not rubish at all, but no other clear standouts (yet?). Along with the 2 artists i mentioned already, the other tacks have strong similarities to Alex Lloyd. I like Lloydy, so thats ok. I think its a good start for Josh Pyke, i will try to see him when he's up here some time. Who knows when that'll be.

So yeah, good but not great. Probably give it 3 stars.

relative quiet

last few days have just been pretty quiet really.
starting to think about what we want to do with our kitchen - thats a task and a half... but besides that, not much has been going on. its good to have people here, but its also nice to have the house to ourselves... its a balance i guess.

I'm having coffee with Tim from SU tomorrow to chat with him about this job he thinks i might be suitable for. So, who knows what will happen there. Its a bit of an adventure at the moment, next year is rather uncertain at the moment. Hopefully within the next few weeks i will know the where to from here stuff. who knows?

this candy rocks!

one thing i forgot to mention from last night was that they got some rock candy made that said Andrew (Heart) Theresa. It was a nice touch. I may have to borrow that idea at some point.

actually imagine that... you look down at a lolly that says...
well... i'll let you do the imagining...

great night last night

i woke this morning to grant and mick saying bye. so yeah... bye!
but now onto last night...

after my last post, i had to run down the shops to get some paper (didnt buy enuff) and some safety pins. so i was a bit rushed. but thats ok.

got into south bank around 5.30. Found the place easily enuff (thanks to Jimmy). Mind you i was a little confused about the sign that said "Andrew and Theresa'a Wedding", who's Andrew???? Rocked upstairs... greeted by Cam, and well... we were there...
Copland was pretty tense anyways. Totally understandably, besides the fact that he was to be married shortly he had stacks of people in his face asking dumb questions. anyways, at about 6.10 tipod and i got the go ahead to go to get the girls - becuase they werent answering the phone at the hotel.

rock over to hotel and... they're gone. arghhh! were they gonna beat us to the wedding. get there about 15 minutes early. argh... so tipod and i split, looking for them. I bolted! In a suit! running down the main drag like a mad man. I tell you now, there is something very serious about a man in a suit doing the bolt. after running about 500 metres or so i found the girls - they had taken a short cut that i hadnt seen. Theresa looked great, and i could barely stand up. And well, essentially, i managed to wreck my shirt with sweat stains that would be visible for at least the next hour (more on that later).

We got the girls to the wedding! At about 6.30 we kicked off. All went well. Dave Harris did a great job. I was sitting with Dave, Steve and Fi, Tipod, Grant and Rach, Catholic Ang and Nakari (obviously). During the signing of the registry I ducked off to the loo where they had a hand blow dryer thingy - woohoo. I managed to crouch in the corner and dry my shirt off - much needed by then. Let me just say that it is a challenge for a guy my size to dry his armpits on one of those things. But I managed to do it.

The food came out almost straight after the preceedings. Dinner was good - a banquet style - each table had a big plate of food. Entre - I particularly liked the cous cous, you just dont get enuff of that these days. As for the main... the fish was surprising, i normally dont like fish, but it was great - encrusted in crunchy chili breadcrumbs. Nasi goreng is also a fav of mine, a little different (their version that is) but still ok. Desert was good, cheesecake... anyways, enuff about the food.

From there the highlights for me were the speeches and just catching up with a coupla people.

Chris (the best man), made a speech that is now the best wedding speech i have ever heard - and probably will be for a long long time. He spoke in such an amazing way, it was just gold. I particularly liked the story about Copland being dressed in a santa outfit, telling a kid if they didnt behave, he would bite of the kids head and deficate down his esophagus. I tell you, we were laughing - real loud about that for at least a minute. Also, thanks to Chris, we will now be calling Copland by his childhood nick name - "Tits".

Copland's speech was pretty standard. I do have to note one thing though. It was gold how Copland thanked James for bringing his ipod for music, as opposed to the tipod. that got a cheer from table 10, let me tell you.

Saw Orgo again. He's a great guy (mind you i should really spell his name Augo, but i dont). Its a real self esteem builder when someone finds you funny. It seems as though noise montages are going to be a speciality of mine in the future.

Sitting next to Catholic Ang was good too. She's a real champion. I had no idea that she had such good musical taste. We talked about Tiddas for a while. Man, Tiddas were great - and Copland - I want my CD back (he's had it for about 6 years). Looks like i have the task of getting Ang into some newer aussie stuff. That'll be fun actually.

On the note of music, i also had a bit of a chat to Christal (is that spelt right?). She's the chaplain at Springwood High. I tell you, if all Chappy's (that ones for you Christal) are as cool as you, then i'd be honoured to be in your ranks. Will have to talk music more soon too...

Other than that, there was just a heap of general catching up. Saw the adelaide guys again, great value. The Sydney crowd too (didnt get to catch up with them much though. And just meeting a few new ppl and stuff...

So, yeah... Copland and Theresa, it was a great night. Congrats!!

cruisy day

just had a cruisy day today pretty much. Makhyah was in Kindy, so grant, mick, rach and i, just hung... played some cricket and some killer bunnies. So, after that we got some lunch, hung some more, I took MJ to Kenn's, then to come home and get ready. thats it really...

big lunch before Coppy's big day

had a big lunch today - We had Mick, Grant and Rach, Dan and Lyd, Chris (Copland's best man), Dan and Lyd, Caine and Sal, Shailer and Orlani... all come round (i dont think i missed anyone).

Good day actually.
I made some nice salads (thai beef and chicken ceasar), we played boche and cricket, and just hung... it was like we were back in sydney (but not really).

So, Copland asked me and Tipod if we could help out tomorrow night by walking the girls from the hotel to the river room (where the wedding is). I'm stoked eh. My only fear is that i will fall over and twist my ankle or something... I just have to not walk to close to Theresa just incase i barrel her over too....

The Thai-pod

The only lack of consesus on this one is spelling. Thaipod, Typod or Tipod???

In the car on the way home from tongue n groove. Mick was defending himself. Well, basically a fairly drunk friend of ours was all over him, and he wasnt into it at all. So he was trying to say that he was a tripod and thats why people were interested in him... but instead... he said "I'm a Tipod!"

Let me tell you, we were laughing about that one for ages. So Tipod, we salute you!

meltt ???

i think they are called meltt anyways.

we all met up at the tongue and groove at West End, to see Jame's band - mellt.

so most of the first set i spent catching up with amanda (which was for the best i think). Then later on i went and sat with Copland and Theresa (who are getting married on Monday), Grant and Jame's Amanda. The band was really good.

To be honest... the sax players were weak (or at least the weakest element) - not very creative, thats all. James went off, he is really playing with much more space these days (which is a good thing) - technically, he's been great for ages, and well he's definately going off in the area of working well with the rest of the band. As far as the rest of the band goes. the drummer was amazing, tight as... And the keys player, she was awesome. Very Vida Blue. I spoke to her after the set... after realising i wasnt a stalker or something (?!) i think she apreciated my comments.

anyways, i think i will try and see them again some time when they have their guitar guy with them.

shed is up

spent the morning with Kenn (thanx champion), getting the shed built. So, we can get rid of all our stuff out the house now. It filled up quickly too (funny that).

Then off to Cam and Jo's engagement. Good time. Grant, Mick and Rach should get here soon, then i think we're going out tonight...

another crazy prank?

4am. Woke to the sound of now less than 4 kookaburras, outside our window, going off! And I mean going absolutley crazy - for about 3 minutes. Nakari and I wstarted laughing it was that ridiculous.

I figure they were probably teenage kookaburras, looking for a laugh, after a big night out, on their way home - as there are no kebab places in the area.

what a day

its just been an exhausting day, and well i lament this as i contemplate going to bed.

sure i cleaned lots of the house, and cut the grass. so im physically tired

and then i have that whole job thing thats on my mind

plus... ive just been told about another job going that would work for me. but i dont know what i want right now.

looking forward to a good time this weekend. may not be able to blog for a few days due to busyness, we'll see... thats all for now...

bizarre phone call

so, i dint get the job. Troy did. It came down to cultural stuff, and to be honest I imagine he would do a better job straight up than I would. So... congrats mate...

But... thats not where it ends. I was on the phone for almost an hour. Tim (the scripture union guy) told me about 3 other chaplain's jobs he thought i would be good at... and, another different job, as more of a team leader sort of role. So, i will have to think and pray about those and see what happens...

So... pretty strange. I got knocked back, but feel really good about it. Tim said that he thought I would be great, i just got beaten by the perfect candidate for that particular school. So... we'll see where it goes. I'm sure, interviews, phone calls etc, will be mentioned later.

house cleaning day

so, we've got Mick, Grant and Rachel arriving tomorrow, staying with us till Tuesday. Up for Copland's wedding (more on this later i'm sure).

Looking forward to this weekend, but today is a pretty busy day because of it. Oh well, its time to get rid of all the boxes lying arround the house, and start having some order. And who knows... I imagine i will find some things that i forgot we even had.

oh to be seventeen again

Listening to the news this morning, police in warnambool were called out to a pedestrian crossing to remove 18 garden gnomes. Its suspected that this was a muck up day prank. Thats just gold!!

Another good one i actually experienced the other day. I was filling up my car at the servo when a car cruised by with a guy half hanging out the window, with a megaphone - "stop filling up your cars!". Again... just great stuff.

tip for the day

dont use a wippa snipper on the base of a bush filled with wasps

it hurts

job interview

so i had an interview today for the chaplain's position (at Marsden and Kingston).

its funny, i left the interview feeling great, like i had a really good shot. then... in the last 3 hours or so (since i got out), i started second guessing myself. "maybe i shouldnt have said that", "would i have been better to do this" etc... Oh well. If i dont get this one i will more than likely apply for another (theres ones at Woodcrest, Sunnybank and Macgregor all looking for people).

they said it should only be 2 or 3 days tops. So hopefully i will know by early next week (at the latest).
fingers crossed

John Safran - the real socceroos champion

Lisening to the J's this morning Steve Cannane mentioned something oh so true. If you look back at John Safran vs God, episode 7 (look here) its clear to see who is the champion of the day when it comes to the socceroos making the world cup (or the US World Cup according to an american finance chick on suynrise this morning).

We only made the world cup last time (1974) due to a witchdoctor giving us a hand. And well, stingey mungrels didnt pay the guy - so he cursed us. And well... what does John Safran have to do with this. He got the curse removeb by a Mozambiquean Witchdoctor - during his last series (vs God).

So sure, Kewell played well, Aloisi kicked an important goal, and Shwarzer might have saved a couple... but why??? All because of John Safran.



A blog named egdar does not encourage, support, practice or belive in voodoo in any way. It is mentioned here purely for satirical purposes.

reviewing something different

so...
maybe i review ther occasional gig, song, album or movie... but heres a new one...

Mi-Zone Blackberry.
Upon opening the bottle, which is the standard Mi-Zone sports water we have come to expect (since they changed their bottle design earlier in the year), you areembraced by a scent, a frangrance... a smell that leads to anticipation... "oooh, im in for something special here".
Rasing the bottle to my lips the scent intensified. As it hit my lips the cool watery texture gave me the satsifaction that I thought it would, fresh from the servo fridge of course.
But then...
No...
It tastes like Jelly!!!!

Go ahead and try it, but it tastes like jelly... oh well...

and please... dont judge me by this entry... im not always this bigga tool.

4 Freedoms or the Theology of Sufjan Stevens

Listening to Sufjan Stevens today, who I really like. And well... he nails a theological issue when he sings

"I was crying for freedom from myself and from the land"

Its interesting how we can be our own worst enemies. Anyways, just thought I'd note that here as it has impacted my day in a positive way.

competition - who makes the suit look best

Got Copland's wedding on Monday night, and well Mick, Grant and I are all wearing the same suit (same design, not the actual same suit - would be a bit cramped). Why? Cause we all have these suits from Grant's wedding that we havent worn since (at least i havent), and why not...

So, I have gone to great lenghts (by that i mean intentionally shopping for a shirt) to look good. I imagine Grant will go a little casj (cash? casual?) with it, probably no tie... and well... Mick... Mick has his own certain style, so it'll be interesting...

Got the shirt 25% off at Myer sale tonight, so bonus. Anyways, I may actually put some pics up at some point... but dont hold your breath.

oooh that smell

what song is that lyric from?

but more importantly i find it amazing how smell triggers memory. I had a blood test today. Just walking into the surgery with that strong smell of rubbing alcohol, bang! it brought back all these emotions and stuff. If i was blindfolded, and someone walked me in there, i would have know where i was... weird eh?

shed slab

spent the morning with Kenn (who is a champion, thanx mate) and Karz and Makhyah, pouring a slab for our shed. Hopefully the shed will be up and sorted by next weekend, when Mick, Grant and Rachel get here - for Copland's wedding.

Why does it need to be done by then?
So we can get rid of all the shed things (like golfclubs, lawn mowers and the solarium), so there is space for people to sleep. Besides that, its good to have an excuse to get things done.

Yes, I am

Grande is right. I have been a hypocrit and a chameleon.

I shall now seek to be the one person, the person i want to be, consistantly.

Sorry if i have perpetuated views of Christians being hypocrits. I think the reality is that lots of people are hypocrits and its just heaps obvious with Christians.

So yeah again, sorry, i shall be working on this from... now.

back to bris

Lyd dropped me off at the airport at about 8.30 this morning. I have to say that i had a great time, and just wished that i could've stayed longer. Catching up with Dan and Lyd (and Ian - Lyd's Dad was in town), was awesome last night. And yeah, also great hanging with Caine Sally et al.

Anyways, I think that the last coupla days have been a hige time in my life - one that i will look back on with some significance. Things just feel a bit different, and i guess im seeing the world in a new way. And, I like it.

its all fun and games... til someone looses an eye.

in the last 2 or 3 weeks i have managed to get soap, shampoo, conditioner and sunscreen in my eye (one or the other - and yes i mean the eyes i use to see, dont get carried away). Well all this came to a beautiful croshendo (wrong spelling!?) today when...

I managed to get toothpaste in my eye. it deflected from the sink as i spat. I couldnt believe it. Surely a highlight of my clumsiness.

What was I thinking?

So today I went and saw Wolf Creek, with Caine. So the long and short of it is that I walked out (and Caine followed, but didnt have to). It was just too much for me...

Anyways, talking to Grande about it I realise that its one of those things you know - different strokes for different folks. Not that hes seen it, but i imagine he would probably be cool with watching it, and well i wasnt. but thats ok...

it really opened my eyes to the impact that stuff can have on us. again i need to say that different things effect different people differently - no blanket rules here... but for me, i just need to rethink things like that. thats all...

support your local alien time traveller.

due to a heap of automated spam comments i have added word verification if you wanna make a comment. I imagine i will still get spammed a little, but hopefully this will cut it back. So, still comment away if you like, but now you will be forced to enter some insane letters like W4KQ8Z, which for all i know is some code that communicates with aliens (who are really time travellers), but thats ok. Support Aliens/Time Travellers and not spammers.

Away in Adelaide

Hey, I'm at Caine and Sally's at the moment. Didnt want to hog the computer too much, but i had achance to type up some entries that i have backdated.
More soon hopefully.

How to wreck a holiday

Why do I have such a sore foot!!! I woke up this morning in a lot of pain, and I’m beginning to suspect that I may have inherited my Opa’s ailment – Gout. Yay! I hope its just some pinched nerve or something.
Besides the foot, I’m having a great time with Caine, Sally, Shailer and Orlani. I wont get to see Dan and Lyd til latter in the week, but that’s cool. Its just good to be away. Spent the day today hobbling round the city. But I did have a good time, picked up a copy of Relevant magazine – more on this later possibly. Now just back at Caine and Sal’s place, chillin… Having Wok in a Box for dinner, so that’ll be good.

Mr Men in the ALP

Tonight we were watching the news when a National MP was getting stuck into the labour party in relation to the terrorism laws, and the raids that went on this morning. Boswell said… Now they have egg all over their faces from head to toe… I guess Kim Beasley might be Mr Grumpy and Kevin Rudd Mr Brainy… That’s the only way I can see egg on their faces going from head to toe.

the last word and the word after that

I finished reading a New Kind of Christian 3 – the last word etc. today. Man it was good, Brian McLaren just delivers the goods every time. I have to say that in particular im inspired to be a part of a group that meets up every few months and just helps each other on the journey. I think we learn from other’s experiences in light of all that has gone before them, and us (through history). Its great to see what a particular person, in a particular place, at a particular time can do for us, when we enter their space. Maybe if we viewed the world in this way more, it would be a better place.

on a plane? or in the mountains somewhere

Its funny how things can affect us. On the plane to Adelaide, I was reading the Last Word and the Word after that, and they are staying in a little cottage in the mountains. Meanwhile I was listening to Xavier Rudd, and it just teleported me, in my mind to another place. In some ways I can say it was actually a spiritual moment. Its amazing how God can work when we are open to him.

Paranoia – thanx to the government and the media.

I’m not a racist, I really despise racism.
But, for some reason I got all paranoid that the Lebanese guy sitting next to me was reading a book on George Bush and the war in Iraq. Ended up talking to the guy, and he was good value. Its funny what we get fed and how it affects us… this is how racism grows, and well, im sorry that I fell into the trap.

It's not that bad... really...

Getting on the plane today, and my foot is still playing up, really sore and I have not idea why. Anyways, I ask for the exit row seat and the guy just checks to make sure I’m ok, not limping or anything… and well, I was hobbling fairly dramatically by this time. So I make some crack about the adrenaline that would kick in if I actually have to open the door. Get the seat and walk off with no limp… mind you I could have used some morphine after that.

a river in egypt

Denile... or maybe that should be Denial...

Listening to the J cast this week, Chris and Craig did this great take off called "wolfmother creek". Very amusing. So anyways, they played that, then they played bits from an interview with Wolfmother. I have to say that my respect for them has dropped significantly - the guy was basically ripping into people who say they sound like other bands... "name the track, name the melody" he said.

C'mon dude - the vocals sound sooooo much like Robert Plant, and the music in most part is a mix of Led Zep and Black Sabbath (with some other bits and pieces from the era thrown in for good measure - Yes, The Who). I'm digging your sound, but pretty unimpressed with the fact that you guys are kidding yourselves. It's a good thing to be reviving a great genre, you should be proud. Oh well... I can think you're tools (or at least somewhat toolish) and still like your music, so thats what i choose to do.

Holly Throsby

Picked up Holly Throsby's debut album (from last year) - On Night.

It's great. I really respect anyone that can keep their music ambient and mellow. I think its a reflection of personality but also display a great restraint. I guess, I'm the build up king so something that starts chllin and mellow, unavoidably ends with mentalness (or something equivilant).

Back to Holly... I love her writing style. I think its based on quirks, by this i mean fairly standard things with interesting bits and pieces you arent expecting. Also, I like her vocals - raw and emotional - maybe this is a cliche, but i think it fits here. So... thanx Holly, I'm enjoying what I'm hearing thus far, and looking forward to seeing you live soon.

adventures on the internet: podcasting

welcome to another episode of AOTI. Today I feel like mentioning the podcasts I stumbled across.

Triple J, have upped their podcasts significantly. You can check them out here. I'm particlurly pumped by their Aus Music Month podcast and also that you can now get the entire show of Hack daily (instead of just highlights), as well as Roy and HG, Mel in the morning, Megan Spencer's Movie stuff, Richard Kingsmill and the crazy nuts at Today Today plus more. And yeah Dr Karl and whats your name with the annoying squeaky voice... i still love yous...

what can i say. i've been really impressed with triple j this year. they really are a resource this country cant do with out (or maybe just me... but thats ok too). whatever you're into, theres a chance one of their podcasts may well interest you. lots of music (interviews etc) and funny stuff, but also other bits and pieces.

adventures on the internet: the chaser and kaya

2 unrelated things, kaya and the chaser. what do they have in common?
i embraced both today online - i think this internet thing might be here to stay :P

Kaya (better than poker) sent out another newsletter today, and well, they are planning on coming up here again sometime soon (after woodford which i cant get to). I also recieved an email from Juleiaah which was particularly cool. They have a 6 track EP coming out late (real late) this year. I'm so pumped! Anyways, I'm sure i will mention them again. Their music inspires me in many ways, its just so outside the box... you cant even see the box anymore...

The Chaser on the other hand inspire my life in areas that need to be controlled - those of stupidity. They really are quite clever mind you. You can now watch their 4 minute weekly show Chaser News Alert (CNA) online (or ABC 2 if you have a set-top box). Its great that they are just giving us enuff to wet the apetite. I particularly liked their Jamie Oliver cookbook takeoff, definately laugh out loud funny.

So there you have it...
See you next time on Adventures on the Internet (this may or may not be the only episode)

Wolfmother

Just a quick note to say that I'm enjoying Triple J's Feature this week "Wolfmother". Mind's Eye really is a great song, but as far as titles go, you just cant beat "Tales from the Forest of the Gnomes" Goin off... Its good to see that the early 70s sound still lives! One song I heard today would have fitted quite well on Led Zep 2. While other tracks have elements of Yes, The Who, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. All the good stuff....

when like minds meet

Just throwing a big "hey" out to C. Nice meeting you today!

For everyone else. I'm applying for a job as a high school Chaplain and thought it might be an idea to catch up with one first to know what I might be getting myself into. So yeah mate, I was really encouraged by the way you view things, I tend to work from a negative basis (what I dont want to do) instead of the positive (in striving for that which i do want to do).

Thanx again mate. Hopefully I get the gig and we can hang some more and you can intro me to some of those other crazy charecters who are thinking and dreaming about all the church can be.

Rice Paper Rolls

So, as is becoming a habit of mine on Saturdays, I just finished making a nice lunch. Haven't eaten it yet cause the rest of my family are asleep. They need it, so its all good. Anyways, I made rice paper rolls for the first time today. Normally I cut up everything and Karz assembles them, but not today, i had a crack at it.

So I made 13 (bakers dozen) and by the time i got to number 8 or 9 they started to look half decent. So, the first 6 will be going on my plate and then maybe Karz will think i did a good job all the way thru (little home cooking tip there - give yourself the worst looking bits).

I was gonna post the recipe too, but i think thats a bit overboard, besides that, its easy as, just rolling them is thr tricky bit. So Muzz and Karz you guys did an awesome job for the engagement party the other month, i would have hacked it.

In finishing, all I can say is i have a new respect for those old vietnamese ladies who probably do about 2 a minute. Going off Mrs Nguyen!

The Attributes of God

Talking to a mate of mine the other day who considers himself an athiest, he mentioned these as 2 of the attributes of God. We had a good laugh about it... Now you too may. (note: please dont be suprised when you hear me use these in a skit or something).

God is omimpotent
God is omniverous

Can is citizenship required

What a sentence I just wrote in my comments back to Grande on my last post. Man... with literary brilliance like that I'm surprised people arent coming up to me in the street asking for my autograph... or something.

some thoughts on the arias

watched the arias tonight in its entirity. good stuff...
a few things

i love that missy looked terrible. it proved to me that it doesnt take image to sell records and write amazing music. on the other hand missy, what were you thinking with that dress?
i think she deserved everything she won. Also, so glad she mentioned the artists she has toured with... great to see (go the waifs!)

glad to see ben lee take home a couple, i really like that album, really really got into it earlier in the year. i'm somewhat torn between liking the things he had to say, and realising that he is a bit of a tool. maybe thats a tension i myself am projecting onto him. think about it.

sarah blasco? no show? surely she should have got a spot to play a song with an album of the year nomination??? did she chuck a gurge and not come, or was she not asked to sing? i am deeply conflicted by enjoying some of her music, and not liking her cause of some stories ive heard about her band (thanx grant)

architecture ripped off? when showing the nominations for best contemporary adult album, they didnt show in case we die by architecture in helsinki. they are amazing, and should have got to play tonight (how funny would that have been)

what was with eskimo joe, i thought there was a reason i didnt like them much anymore, tonight i found it. or at least know the ball park to look in.

Keith Urban? Go home! back to america. why do we celebrate artists who contrbute very little to our scene? there were much better nominees there who actually do something here, in this country - i thought sara storer or paul kelly should have won it.

Lior, no awards, but some exposure. thats ok. i love lior, he writes good songs and sings them well. im glad our music industry is about those sorts of things.

discontinuity? being the only band to be nominated for best album, i thought evermore would have taken out best group. to be honest the only one of the 5 nominees i liked was powderfinger (and it would have been an injustice for them to win it) so frankly i dont really care. why blog it then ian??? i dunno?

lastly but not leastly... how many times did the j's get mentioned (at least 4). They really are doing alot to promote aussie music. the industry is very healthy at the moment, and i think the j's plays a fair part (or maybe a huge part) in that.

random thoughts on music

sufjan stevens, whose name i pronounce as if the first sylable rhymes with poof (as in the thing you put your feet on) and second syllable yarn... so... sufjan, is great, really been getting into illinios, particularly like jacksonville, but its all good.

the beautiful girls, have been growing on me. heres a tip, dont just type beautiful girls into a search without specifying it’s the band.

counting crows, are still a band i enjoy listening to, was listening to august (and everything after) the other day, such a great album. i think every thing theve done this millennium leaves a fair bit to be desired however.

kaiser chiefs, are like my refreshing soft drink at the moment – gives me a burst of energy, but too much sends me silly. na na na na na na! i just dont take them too seriously.

wanting to check out in some more depth - holly throsby, new buffalo (heard her version of 4 seasons in one day today, really interesting), josh pyke, clare bowditch and the feeding set. not sure when that will happen, but its list i can quickly flick to for future reference. oh... and silver city (just for something totally different) really interest me. nicole foot has played a coupla their (i think its a them) songs and they are awesome.

thats all for now...

Comment on this!

it was pointed out to me by the beloved grande, sharer of nudity, that i had my settings set (?) so only registered people could comment.

i hereby announce that that is no longer the case.

that is all

Doug, Xavier and Goldie

3 thoughts from my day, all revolving around celebrities (of sorts)

Doug Pagitt.
Today my mate Steve gave me Preaching Re-Imagined, Doug's latest book. Good news, i can read it for my communicating holiness class. Anyways, just started flicking thru, and its great. I just love his down to earth, real aproach to things. He really inspires me. Will probably add more to this when i get into the book.

Xavier Rudd.
Heard on triple J today about some scam that was going on... something to do with the alcohol licence not being approved for his gig at the piazza. So... this led me to check out the gig. When did Xavier Rudd become a $50 gig? Oh my goodness. So... sorry mate, would love to see you, but just dont have the bucks for that at the mo. Might try and see little birdy instead in a coupla weeks.

Goldie Hawn.
Yes, this is bizarre. Watched this cool thing on Asian elephants in indian tonight with the kids at work. Goldie Hawn is a little off the wall at times, but her passion for elephants was great. i think i enjoyed it more due to the relationship between humanity and elephantity, and well the relationships that were forming before my eyes, as the kids saw the plight of elephants and became somewhat emotionally involved...

So, theres some thoughts from my day.

a post for twitonetwit.

so, i recieved a comment on my last post from twitonetwit that after half the days thought i deleted. i think maybe she was onto something, but really the whole thing made me feel a smidge uneasy so i got rid of it. but... its worth commenting on so thats what im doing now.

i wonder if we are ever totally balanced or if we are ever really who we are?
sure, ofcourse we are always who we are, but is that really us.

as we have geneticists on one hand saying all we are is a make up of our genes, and various social commentators of sorts (sociologists, pyschologists, anthropologists, philosophists - hmmm?) saying that we are simply a make up of our environment, i wonder where the truth lies. and im sure that not all there is to the equation. where does, soul (?) come into it? what really makes us, us?

so... having sounded deep but not necessarily inteligent (thanx twit) i leave it there, not knowing much more than the fact that we are who we are, and its all rather complex... and really... i doubt this one is going to be answered, ever...

maybe wanting to be something more than what we are is a motivator that helps us be who we are becoming.

oh... and last word on twitonetwit. check her blog out, brand new, but worth a read... well i thought so anyway.

what is change?

So, i find myself in an interesting place. A place that is somewhat frustrating, somewhat boring, and well some what exciting all at once. I wonder... Did I get to this place by accident? Did i push myself there. Actually. I don't wonder that too much, i know the answer. Sometimes the pasive things in our lives are the most controlling. In a bizarre twist of lyrical tastes I have to lament the words of Eddie Vedder, "I change by not changing at all". Don't get me wrong, I have changed, we all constantly do, but maybe some of the most obvious change is the product of not changing.

Let me flick back to the top. This interesting, frustrating, boring, exciting, blah blah blah place.

Frustrating... I was going to graduate this year. Now I'm not, and again, strange twists, its by choice. If I hold off for a bit, I can get a degree with a little more oomf for the future (B.Th. as opposed to B.Min.). So its just weird to be honest. I think it will also naturally lead to me taking a chunk of the summer to get all my stuff into Rich, he's too soft on me, and I'm too lazy. The other key frsutration for me has to do with time. I wish I woke up tomorrow and it was Christmas Day, well to be honest, I'm really hanging for the first couple of weeks of January, but I wouldnt want to miss out on Christmas presents would i? What am I doing next year is a question that wont go away, and well, how much time i give to various projects wont be decided upon til the school year kicks off, so... in the words of Paul Kelly "roll on summer roll on".

Boring... Why do we (as humanity) struggle with the same things over and over. I've already aluded to my poor grasp on time management (oh how guild wars wastes time), and well, I've managed to be back at the weight I was at the beginning of the year (after dropping to 113, I'm back at 128). I think its a reality for most of us, the same things just keep coming back up, biting us in the bum. Sure, I have dealt with some stuff that is well and truly dealt with, but I'm definately a work in progress. A somewhat mundane, monotonous drone. But hey, I'm not down on myself... I think most of us are like that.

SWOOSH... just need to change tone for a sec.
A friend of mine studying social work was telling me how draining it can be, how they hit you with reality. And well... it messes with you at times, how the world sucks. I concurred, but then after a little thought wrote back saying that the world is funny. If we look hard enough, we can find great, beautiful (beret word) things in the most unlikely places, and... vice versa (or vi-see ver-see if you like). Anyways, thanx mate for getting me thinking about that...
SWOOSH...

Exciting... I wont go into this too much, dont want to lull myself into a false sense of whatever... But I truly belive that some exciting things are before me and us. Its just getting there. I heard some news about a friend today that was exciting (can't share sorry). But, the world can be as sad or happy, or whatever, as we want it to be...

Thats it from me for now.
Hopefully it wont be another 2 months...

i

where does it all go

im still here
or am i?

will write at some length soon
things are changing

thanx T and D for helping me realise this
will expand soon

emphasising the negative

i realise how much the negative has taken over my life

why is it that as i continue to reflect on my life as a whole, its the bad things that stand out? I mean, there have been a lot of good things, but even they seem to be painting in darker tones than they should, and well, they are wandering around as barely recognisable extras in a cast full of charecters such as doubt, guilt, dishonesty, greed and disguise.

i imagine that this sentiment is brought on by a number of things taking place at the moment - illness, busyness, assignments hanging over my head, poor use of time. etc. but... i also realise that maybe this is just the way i have come to view the world, a way in which isnt going to change in a hurry unless i truly want it to, a way which is going to dominate until i take it off its thrown and replace it with something much more enriching and constructive.

thats not to say that we shouldnt examine the negative, we can learn from these times. but dwelling in them is less that healthy, its like letting these things fester and grow and become what they should have never been.

so, i think i shall stop moping and soaking in my own negativity and turn a new page. one of positivity. one of possibilities, not shortcomings.

lets see how this goes, and what the week is like.
i need to do my essay, paint the ceilings (2 coats), go to physio, and start eating well. so... how can these things fit into this picture... not too sure? but we'll see.

emergent story

stacey who is a part of solomon's porch sent me a link to this. a story by pbs on the emerging church in the states.

its interesting to see who they have chosen to speak to, personally i think the 3 practitioners they use are just awesome - Doug Pagitt, Tony Jones and Brian McLaren. Yet, I feel that the list may not represent where the thing is going as well as it could. These 3 guys are just amazing, and personally if I as to choose 3 americans to talk about the subject I imagine my list would probably be the same... ummm, no, I think i would include Robert Webber, who has written his ancient-future series, that really floats my boat.

But... having said that, where's Dan Kimball? If there is anyone who seems to be getting the emerging church thing off the ground in a practical way it would be him. By practical, I mean that Kimball really talks about putting things into practice, in the nitty gritty of church. Yet, I personally like the fact that he wasn't called up. why? cause i think kimball looses the point a little, dont get me wrong, i enjoyed his books and found them useful. But Minball continually refers to this idea (more implicitly than explicitly, but both) that we are to minister to a postmodern (whatever you want to call it) world. Where as, Pagitt, Kimball, Jones and Webber (in my opinion) are all about minstering in this world. Have i fallen into my own semantic trap here, I think not. What I love about the guys I just mentioned is that they realise that not only the way we do church is changing, but the way we be christians is (are?) changing. We cant just try to help those around us, when we may also be struggling.

Another individual who wasn't called up for the interview was obviously Leonard Sweet. I like Sweet, and find it interesting that he has been dropped back a bit. I think Sweet does great work, and in many ways laid the foundations for the 3 they chose to interview. Just interesting...

So, am I reading too much into this? Were Dan Kimball and Leonard Sweet off on holidays at Robert Webber's house? Quite possibly. But I basically use this a diving board to talk about some of these guys, who I think are doing great things.

Just quickly, I shall recomend some books.
Brian McLaren.
I havent read his latest, but I will soon (just been busy studying). But I can say that A New Kind of Christian changed my life, thanx again Dee for recomending it. Also the follow up The Story We Find Ourselves In is great. I think I liked it more that the original, let me reread it and then decide on that. Both these (and the 3rd one which i heavent read yet) are based around a story of 2 guys on a journey. Its good stuff. One more... More Ready than you Realize, is also a must read. On evangelism. I really enjoyed this one too (and i think all the people i bought copies for liked it too -hehehe)

Doug Pagitt
Is about to release a few more books (yay!) but for now (check out his blog for more info), Reimagining Spiritual Formation was excellent. Really like the way it is basically written by the church (not just doug). Definately a must read.

Tony Jones
I will only recomend one, which is a youth ministry book called soul shaper. he also released the sacred way, but i didnt get it cause it looks like its just a slightly different version of soul shaper. i also just noticed he has a new book out, which i will have to look into some time soon.

there you go... more on these guys later im sure. thanx again stacey.

Week 1

So, i figured the best way to set the tone of my redirection (or i guess direction) is to track some of my reflections on week one of the spiritual retreat. and just to note here, i may take more than a week, to finish one week, just depends how its going... fleixible yeah?

This week, let's go through the "photo album" of our life. Let's go back to our earliest memories. Let's let the Lord show us our lives. What "pictures" are there? With each part of my life, what "scenes" do I remember? Who are in those scenes? Some photos will be of happy times, some will be quite sad, others will be difficult to re-collect at all. They all constitute our story and the journey that has brought us to where we begin this retreat.

I wonder sometimes where it all fits in. In no way do i think we are puppets or anything like that, I just find myself constantly suprised at how life works, or doesnt. And, well... I personally see God in it, don't have a problem with others not seeing things that way, but thats the way i see my life (and probably to be honest, the lives of others).

so, i will list over the next whiel some key moments of my life - or progressing situations (as the case may be). these may not be huge, but they are the things that dwell when i think about it...

and hey, please dont judge me cause i talk about God. i imagine you would be suprised if we had a chat about it...

questions that need to be answered

What am I doing? Where is this thing going? And well… why bother. All questions that need to asked and possible answered.

I think I have had totally unrealistic expectations of my ability and time management (and motivation) to maintain an animal such as this, this animal named edgar. Others do it wonderfully, such as tamyka (you champion) and I love checking out doug pagitt’s blog (solomon’s porch) and tony jones also has some cool things to say. But… enough about others, where is edgar going?

A couple of things have inspired me of late. Some negatives, some positives. In short I think edgar will be what it will be, but there are some defining things in my life that will shape edgar.

1 – my attempts to fill people in on the details of my life are not only being met by failure, but are pointless, as I don’t think anyone really cares about my somewhat uninteresting life enough to read it. And well, its not that my life is boring, its that when its not boring I have no time to write, and when I have time to write its normally due to procrastination.

2 - on to the positives.. ive been checking out this online spiritual retreat, and its really got me thinking about things and stuff.. so, I think this may well be a good place to jot down some reflections on those bits and pieces.

3 – I feel like I have some good material at the moment for writing songs, and well, I may put some up here. May not too.

4 – reading (and rereading) some thought provoking stuff of late, so I thought this might be a good spot to put it, or more importantly my reflections on it. And possibly your reflections on those reflections.

5 - another note on spiritual stuff, is that I think God can be seen in all sorts of things. So, what ever it may be, I imagine it’s a spiritual reflection on some level… ??? possibly

I have a feeling i may get myself into trouble here, but thats ok, i think maybe i need to...

Saturday Part One.

Well things have been busy and net access has been hard to find, but here we go… Not much time, but will do my best…

Saturday – Part 1.
Up around 5. Stayed at the central coast again, so had to get into it early. Left the motel around 5.30, heading for McGraths Hill Maccas to meet my parents. Anyways, got to maccas (I know its evil), met up with Mick, and then we all went our separate ways. Mum and Dad home with Makhyah, Karz up to the Hen’s night, and Mick and I to Skirmish.

So Mick and I rock up to Skirmish, meet a bunch of people I might have met once before yonks ago, and get ready for battle. or whatever it is. So, they split the teams up capoeira guys against everyone else – oh how I wished I was a capo guy right then – it was the sentence to getting my butt kicked. So, I guess I will just write a couple of key stories (or ones that I was involved in) to paint a picture of the day.

I’m pretty much slow and big, so there is very little I have going for me when it comes to things like this. So my strategy is to hide, or lurk round the back somewhere and hope I don’t get hit. Apparently neither plan worked too well. First game, I’m hiding in the main fort (where the other team had to take the flag from) when… BANG! In the neck. I tell you, it freaked me out. Then we swapped sides, I’m just wandering round up the back when BANG, cant remember where I got hit, it was just so surprising that someone got me from that distance – big target I guess…

So, our ref for the day was a bit of a tool. Didn’t explain things well and was pretty much not there mentally. They were pretty full on about keeping masks on, which is good, better to be that way than loose an eye.

So… Change of plan. Now I will hide until I have a good spot, then HERO RUN! So I hid behind a barricade with Mick and Kara (Grant was on the other team), then when the time was right(ish) I charged out trying to get the guys who were shooting at us. So… I leap up start bolting, and couldn’t see anyone, all the places I thought they were, there was no-one. So I got hit a coupla times and wandered back to the shed.
When we changed sides on that one I started with the hero run, but then got behind a barricade and was like “now what do I do”. I’m pretty sure I got hit by friendly fire.

Well, gotta run, a few more stories will follow I’m sure…

Update: Thursday and Friday

Finally getting a chance to blog some stuff that’s happened over the last week. Man, its been busy, very busy, but here we go…

Thursday
Raced around a bit Thursday morning. Nakari had to go to a shop at Pac Fair, but really we went down the coast cause I left my sunnies at work. Good one… anyways, picked up the boy from daycare, went to airport… flew to Newcastle.
Newcastle was so so so cold (windy etc), and the lady from hertz wasn’t very helpful, but eventually we got on the way, a guy from a servo gave me directions and we headed for foresters beach (I thought it was about half hour…) hmmmm…. A little over an hour later we were stopping for dinner. Got in around 9, bed…

Friday
Didn’t do much. Shops mainly. Karz wasn’t feeling well so I entertained Makhyah for a while – amazing what fun you can have with a $2 ball. It was soooo windy though – kick the ball forwards and it went backwards… arghhh
Got fish and chips for dinner. Crashed out….

Will try to get back on soon to write about the huge day I had on Saturday.

t minus 12 days...

So, 12 days til the wedding. Been a little bizarre lead up thus far, but its all good.

clothing and bridal parties. always fun and games. tomorrow i shall be driving half way across town hunting for a shirt. im glad we found one, i'd hate to stick out (yeah right). Also got my suit jacket being sorted by my champion mother-in-law, so it wont look too big, but thankfully (?) i put on some weight so it wasnt as big a issue as it could have been - yay to chocolate!! glad i'm not nakari though - the dresses they are wearing are going to be freezing... oh well, i guess my suit jacket will be surrended to my beautiful wife, and we will both be cold... dunno???

Spoke to Mick yesterday, as i said a very funny fellow (or fallow if he was a farm boy). Had a litte chat about possible gifts, i wont allude to his possible choice of gift, but i can share some of the no-go options. My favourite was a bottle of weed-killer and a small spade, with a small sticker on the outideside saying "weeding present", gold! just gold i tell you. For some reason big bizarre sculpture were also mentioned (a la Mr Burns' gift to bart for being a blood donor). There were alot of funny things mentioned, but i cant remember them all...

So also had to sort out everything else we are doing. Makhyah, Karz and I are staying up the central coast somewhere Thursday, Friday, then have the Bux/Hens parties on this coming saturday. The skirmish we are going to starts at 8.30am, then aparently from there we are doing dinner, going out, etc... crikey, i imagine i will either pike early or fall asleep, we'll see. So, Saturday morning we have to drive from the central coast to my parents place near Bankstown, then out to skirmish, past windsor. fun and games.

Another highlight of our time in Sydney has come totally out of the blue. Kaya (those funky girls from x-factor) are playing a gig at the Basement - i love the basement - good memories - tidas, jeff lang, john buttler, blea fleck and the flecktones (best gig i have ever been to), just to name a few. So, kaya should be great there, really looking forward to it (love to meet them too, wanna talk to alex about africa).

not sure what else will go on while we are down south, i shall try to blog at least every coupla days. thats unless i just get overwhelmed by grant's good looks and cease to exist (man, he's just a babe) ok im the best man, i have to say things like that, or do i?

"always play with their minds"

The Wedding Approacheth

what nonsense is ian rabbiting on about now? well, thought i'd blog a little about the wedding that's coming up, so when i refer to it over the next 2.5 weeks, it'll make sense.

Background
Nakari and I have been married for a little over 3 years now. Somehow, amazingly, this is the exact amount of time that Rachel and Grant have been together. So yeah, you connected the dots? Rach and Grant got together on our wedding night. But wait... there's more... Grant was my best man, and Rachel was Nakari's head bridesmaid/maid of honour (whatever you call it). So, Grant has selected me to be his best man (out of all the men in the whole world, I'm the best), and Karz (Nakari) was asked by Rach (how symmetric). So, its a pretty big deal.

Not Background Anymore
I dunno, how do you define the break between background and not... anyway...
So, the wedding is on the central coast (somewhere, i think???). So Karz, Makhyah and I fly down next Thursday (23rd) stay a coupla nights somewhere, then catch up with my parents in sydney, then do stuff with grant and rach, wedding, home. thats it in a nutshell.

Some key things you will need to know about the characters as the plot develops (just gonna mention the ones that i will be spending the most time with.

Grant:
Pretty much the best looking guy I know (will show photos later). Teaches PE, has a real disability (read here - is a bulldogs fan - NRL). likes capoiera bjj and pretty much anything where you get to hurt people. likes crap music (lol) but good guitarists, has random taste but that is a good thing. I went to school with Grant, and well, we had a fair few run ins, but somewhere along the line music got the best of us and we hung out stacks.

Mick/Michael:
Micks a teacher too, primary school. Pretty much the funniest guy i know. has never been to Nepal. plays guitar well - cleaner than me thats for sure, has a nice motorbike (nicer than grants methinx) . A groomsman in the bridal party (both Grant's and mine), lived not that far from me so we hung out lots at school. Mick was the 3rd member (along with Grant and I) of the infamous Tree-o - we got our name at school from sitting in a tree at lunch time playing guitar (at least thats where mythology has taken the story). Mick also likes some crap music, but got me into yes among others, so for that i am grateful.

Kara/Jason:
Kara is good friends with grant, i haven't had a lot to do with him since school, but hes a good guy - when hes not making fun of you. Kara is organising the bux party - read here skirmish, cause im too far away, thanx your a legend. oh and kara is an extreme conservative, he thinks our country would be better as a fascist dictatorship, and hey, i agree, way to go big fella (please don't take that last sentence literally, metaphorically, or at all).

that'll do for now, but i guess i have to mention Jay, grants brother. hes not gay.

i assume i will be hanging out with these clowns a bit over the next couple of weeks, so that gives you insight into my mates.