The Fish That was as Big as a Whale
I found this site where you can read kid's books online. It's cool. I wish I was a kid.
Well today has been well and truly off. Nothing has really happened. Not officially.
I didn't really start doing anything till about 1 but then there wasn't much to do. I helped Tinku and his friend move a couch out of Howie's room. And I talked to Mum a bit.
Ryan came around and we ate lunch and discussed some funnies. He fixed the upstairs computer and won the love of all the internet deprived women who live here. We watched some U2 and I washed up. Once Ryan went home I read some of my book and had a sleep.
Tonight I'm going to watch The Day After Tomorrow with my Auntie. It's my birthday present from last year and her present from last Christmas. It should be fun.
I love a good quiet day. As long as it doesn't feel wasted, it didn't today.
Somehow we always seem to pick the hardest topics to study at youth group. At least in Bible study. I mean, who picks 2 Thessalonians to teach young people to read the Bible for themselves? You could teach them to read 6 different commentaries and still be confused after doing that book.
Oh well.
I'll make it seem simple even if it's not. I can leave out stuff and hope no one notices. Excellent scholarly practice.
I went to a party tonight. Becky turned 21.
It was fun. I hung out with old family friends who I think are "sodden brill". I even managed to talk to some people I didn't know. It was a party full of Christians so it was pretty safe. No one was going to bash me.
Sometimes you come away from a youth groups night shaking your head going "Oh dear."
That was last night. We had wide games on the oval for an hour and played with glow sticks. At least that was the plan. The wide game didn't work at all. We just had 19 crazy kids running around the oval. I had some rules made up for the game but it didn't work. I stood on the oval wishing for the days when I had Michael as a youth group leader because he really knew how to run a wide game. We used to play them about once a term.
After the craziness that was the failed wide game we headed up the road for Chinese at the local bowling club. That didn't work either. We arrived at 7:05, we got our menus at about 7:15, we ordered at about 7:35. I started to worry at that stage that we might not get our food eaten by 8pm when the parents were coming. My phone got passed around the table as every boy rung their parents and told them to come half an hour later.
Meanwhile, everyone is getting restless (when is a group of 13 and 14 year-old boys not restless?) and salt and pepper shakers, plastic menus displays and flower arrangements were destroyed. Peoples drinks got filled with undrinkable substances and then spilt over everyone. We hadn't even got our food and the table was already looking like we'd had a hearty meal.
Finally we got our food. The first meal came out at 8:25pm, the last one came out at about 8:40pm. We had parents waiting and one in who decided to hassle the chef and any waitperson he could find, because our food was taking such a long time. It was useful having him their because I wouldn't have done anything. We would have politely waited till 9:30 while I assumed the kitchen staff were working the best they could.
Eventually, when almost everybody had left I got to sit down for my meal. My meal was pretty non-existent because the boys had attacked it while waiting for their food (mine was one of the first to come out). I was tempted to eat off the table because there was more food there than on plates (except for the boiled rice which I don't think anyone touched).
When all was said and done, I paid the bill and walked back to the park to collect my car.
Actually now, that I write this, I think the think I liked least about my night was that I spent the whole time running around organising the things that had gone wrong. I would rathered have just been able to sit at the table be silly. Then I could have joined in destroying salt and pepper shakers and plastic flower displays. How much more fun than fielding parents and chasing Chinese waiters?
I have now managed to acquire a new triple chip digital video camera. The joys of having money is you can spend it. The man in the shop asked me if I was going to become a professional film maker. I said "No".
We had a prayer meeting this morning at church. It was very good. We prayed for the local high school. Exciting stuff me thinks.
Yesterday I took a lot of photos of the Harbour Bridge. I did it because it's probably the most famous bridge in the world and most people can't travel half an hour to get to it. It is a fine looking bridge.
I spent hours in the city, getting its vibe. I didn't go to Hyde Park at all, but the city and I, we're friends. I made a few friends too.
Plus I had fun on Wednesday night. The pub was good and Jack's was exciting. Actually I think it was the people the made it good. They're both pretty boring without the people. Although there were plenty of people at the pub to have kept me interested for a few hours anyway maybe.
Ryan and I's obstacle course was very fun and now I'm covered in bruises and carpet burn. Fantastic.
I think I had a really good day today. Although I think I only realised that just then.
If I wasn't getting up at 5:30am I'd tell you all about it.
What a usless post.
I have decided to do some video work for the next hour or so. But I have to wait for the cd to finish before I can start work. I have to log into a different windows and I would have to stop mid song. That would be horrific. So I figured I'd blog while I wait.
Although I figure it's one of those times when I have nothing much to say.
I have been wondering a lot about what point you can break the law. Romans 13 is pretty clear that we should obey the law. As is Titus 3:1. Is it as easy as saying "I'll obey but as soon as it is contradictory to God's word, I'll break it." And if it is the case, how do you break it? What's the best way to go about breaking un-just laws? Like should I go and break all the asylum seekers out of detention because I think they are laws contrary to what we see in God's word. I don't think God would lock up refugees. But should we actively work against those laws illegally? Or only if the opportunity to break them comes up, should we take it? Or seeing as we live in a country where we should have avenues open to us to change the law, should we only do that?
Perhaps it's as simple as I think it is. Because it seems to have become a lot simpler in the last few weeks. But sadly, I'm not sure.
Daniel broke the law and so did Paul. God often escaped Paul out of gaol and Paul had the good sense not to turn himself back in. I wonder what we do with that. Was Paul obeying his earthly authorities?
Did Jesus break the law by coming back to life after they killed Him? That's as bad as breaking out of gaol but worse I reckon.
My View
This is what I see from my spot in Hyde Park. If ever you go into the city and find me in Hyde Park, you'll find me seeing that. It's perhaps not the most picturesque spot in the place but it's mine. It's probably other people's too, but we don't think about them.
I'm at work. But I think I'll go home. Maybe I'll work from home.
Maybe I'll have a sleep. Maybe I'll try and reclaim some of the other 140 hours in a week that I'm not meant to be working.
I don't know if I want to write things but I will, just so I can.
Sometimes in life I feel like swearing. I feel like letting rip with all the worst words I can think of, and then I'll have solved all life's problems. But alas, I have the feeling that doesn't work. Oh well, I guess that's the way of it.
Maybe that's what punching bags are for.
Matchbox 20 was pretty cool last night. I had dreamt about it the night before, I was that excited. And they were cool. I liked sitting in a cinema watching a concert. It was a little wierd and sterile at first. But I warmed up to in and I had a good time. Most of the songs worked well live. Some just sounded like the album but with screaming in the back ground. That bores me. But when the songs evolve, then I'm happy.
Today I got up late. Went to work, got some things done, and feel a little better about myself. Not much but a little.
I had a beer (Lemon, Lime and Bitters really) with Jo which was nice. I'd been looking forward to that for a while and it was good. We talked about youth leading and then all the rest. It was fun.
Leader's meeting was very small.
And I went to Bible study.
I would like to make a long post about Romans 13, but I shalln't. I'm going to try and be asleep in the next 20 minutes.
Another thing I like about John Mayer is that he looks almost as skinny as me. Yeah baby!
Sometimes John Mayer doesn't strike me as a very nice person. I like listening to his music but Ryan will often point out to me something about his lyrics that he thinks is a little dodgy. And then I listen and I think "Yeah, that's dodgy." Take Comfortable for instance. He spends the whole time singing about his ex and comparing her to his current girlfriend. Where's the respect? Basically he's saying he's sleeping with a Bible believing girl* who can't tell the difference between "Miles and Coltrane" while dreaming of his ex-girlfriend.
And then Ryan pointed out Back to Bed which I thought was just fine. But really he's just saying "Oi, forget about your problems, I'm dependent on you, get back in bed." Well, sister, you should say "Grow some independence, I'll come to bed but you're sleeping on the couch."
But he makes good music. And I think his lyrics are real. And even if he does act like a cad, don't we all? So I'll allow him to be an idiot, because I'm one too and that makes it all the easier to sing along.
*Sleeping with a Bible believing girl does also make me wonder if he's encouraged her to compromise her beliefs about sex before marriage, but I doubt it. I think it's just John not knowing what it means to be a Bible believing girl, or the girl doesn't believe that bit of the Bible. Or she does but John's just so damn hot...
I'm so tired. Darn it.
I fell asleep about four times in church tonight. I am quite tired now, but well, not enough to stop me from blogging.
There were lots of Ethiopian visitors at church today and it was great. There were one part where a man from the church got up to say a few words. He talked about our unity in Christ and our membership of the body of Christ and I almost cried. I felt the body and it was beautiful.
Take that quote out of context:
"I felt the body and it was beautiful." - Tom
I cooked a barbie at Sharon's house. I think I had fun, but I'm a little scared of barbecues. I don't think I'm up to that task. Isn't there any one with more testosterone around who can manage the tongs, sausages and fire? I'm just a boy, don't give my your kebabs and hotplate.
I really like people who aren't white. It makes the world much more interesting to look at. I think that's quite racist, but perhaps a positive and shallow racism. Although I don't care what colour I am, or my friends, or anyone really. I just think it's useful having people who look different around. I have more fun.
We went to the beach with the youth group and some of the visitors. It was great fun. I love the young guys. Really, they are one of the highlights of my life. How lucky am I? I'm way too old for youth group but I get to go every week.
I wonder if that sounds patronising? I hope not. I really enjoy spending time with teenagers. They are lots of fun and I get to play and have a laugh. And they always seem a lot more earnest than older people.
Tonight I have talked to my mum a lot. That was after church and maccas.
Zoop Zoop
Thunderstuck had some really good photography in it. It was a nice looking film. At least, the outback and the country looked good. I think they made good use of their landscapes.
So here I am blogging in Westfield. My first time ever. It's a wonderful experience. Except this keyboard seems to have a two for one offer on and I'm hitting twice as many keys as I want to.
That was a little joke.
There's a crazy kid just down the isle from us singing very loudly.
Yesterday was like the fat day to the fatness. I managed to find my day full to the brim with meetings. And a little bit of lunch time group. I really wanted to make a phone call or two, but alas, it wasn't to be.
We went out (some youth leaders and I) and had pizza at a pizza shop. That was good fun. They're all lovely people them leaders. I would regal this blog with exciting stories of the night but I have none.
Actually, there was a wait person at the coffee place we visited later in the night, who looked like a girl from high school I think. I was going to ask her if I knew her, but I managed to piss her off when I built a tower out of salt and pepper shakers and it fell over. So I was too scared to talk to her for the rest of the night.
Today I had some meetings. Matt (should I still link to him?) and I met and had coffee to discuss film making. It was productive and we used words that sounded like we knew what we were talking about. Maybe Matt does. You never know with him, he can pull all sorts of things out of the hat.
Then it was off to a another meeting where Helen and Sal joined us and we continued to talk creatively. I'm looking forward to making another film. I'll get to direct yay. Matt's writing so for the first time I get to direct someone else's work. Oh dear. Maybe I'll have to do some "growing" as a director. I'm too old to grow.
I had some chips in the park with lovely people. I think there were five of us, but I can't bothered to name them all. I'm a little sick of the URL button.
Tonight we went to see Thunderstuck. That was funny. There was some bad "Australian film" moments, but over all I enjoyed it. How cool are AC/DC?
Now, I'm here. Core gaming. Everyone wants to eat so I should leave. I wonder what there is to eat in this town?
I'm blogging now because whenever I'm in an internet cafe I have to blog. I'm sitting on a couch under the cinemas listening to Sonicflood on my diskman. I'm sure there's some word out there to describe me. "Cypercitite" perhaps? No, that's a stupid word. Maybe something with yuppie in it. Although yuppie is an old word and the whole western world is yuppie-fied now. Perhaps "Net-dependent".
I'm about to go up and make the first installment of ticket purchases to Harry Potter. Should be fun. I'm sure there will be at least one more trip into the city to get Harry tickets, but it's ok, I'm here every Thursday now. I may become a Gloria Jeans regular. I've been there two weeks in a row now. The Strawberries and Cream Iced Chocolate (I don't think there was any chocolate in it) was better than the Tim Tam one. The Tim Tam was fun for about five minutes but, then started to loose it's appeal. It created a layer of gunk in my mouth.
I went to Koorong today, and then left. I bought two books that I wanted and another that I wasn't sure about until I saw that it was $8.95. There was another book that I couldn't find there. It was probably hidden under a pile of copies of The Heavenly Man and The Prayer of Jabez or behind a stack of Darlene.
I'm blogging from the line at St George because I can. Yay for the wonders of modern technology. They seen to have redesigned this bank so the carpet is more boring, there are more chairs and the lines are longer. The beauty of today's greedy, impersonal banks.
I think I should read more comics. Spiderman, Superman, Batman, X-Men. I really should get into them. I think they seem like the sort of thing I'd like. I love Superman. He's the coolest.
I did The Simpsons Personality test last night and I came out as Flanders. How embarrassing.
Sometimes the teacher stays in at Scripture and gets kids in trouble when they muck up. I feel bad. I'm much less strict with the kids then she is I think. I think she's a good teacher though. I think I'd like to have her as my teacher if I was in year 5.
I spent most of my day today working on the Bible study again. I finally got it done, but I don't think it was all that inspiring.
We had Luke and Monty at work today. They're doing work experience. It's kinda fun, although I feel like a bit of boss. "Yes, if you could just go and work on that, that'd be great"
I had small group today. It's a funny mix. I like my small groups. They're good quality. Good kids. The dynamics are a little strange sometimes. One of the boys showed me some videos of dodgy web stuff. Home videos of people getting smashed by bulls and rabbits getting run over. They weren't very pleasant. The web has some unhappy stuff on it.
Rach and Helen came and sat in the hallway after small group for about half an hour. I enjoyed that. Perhaps because the Bible study was still beckoning me. Procrastination makes for wonderful times. All the time you use while procrastinating is stolen, and sometimes stealing time feels like a really good thing to do. Other times it catches up with you and you feel guilty. But with the good comes the bad.
Pub was quiet. Just David and I. I enjoyed myself though. I should go out for a drink with just one person more often. It's kinda grown up.
I came home and had dinner with the family and whoever else was here. Nice, nice. Nice people fill up my house. Fill it to overflowing. I think all the beds will be full again tonight. Good stuff.
I haven't really talked about well...stuff.
I went and saw Van Helsing last Monday (not yesterday). It was worth filling up two hours with, but little more. I watched it by myself and that was a good experience. I had coffee with Mum after that. We sat in Starbucks and covered all the topics mothers like to cover.
Yesterday I had lunch with Ryan in a funny little noodle place. The food was cold, but I have a soft spot for Asian food places. Last night a few of us went to Blu and that was very nice. I love a good sit around and have a chat experience.
Today I managed to try and work on my Bible study and still not get it done. I think I've been working on it for almost 2 weeks now. Grr. I have to have it done by tomorrow damn thing.
Anmol visited me at work for lunch. That was nice. We had a good chat.
I went out for coffee (actually Fanta at Macca's) with Sal F. We had good times. I've never really sat down with just Sal before and had a chat, so that was quality.
Small group tonight was challenging I think. I'm still trying to work out the obedience to the government thing. I'm wrestling with the social activist inside me that wants to get out, and the Biblical person who tells the social activist to behave some of the time. Usually they seem to go hand-in-hand. We have too many socially inactive Christians (me one of them) but when it comes to obeying the government...well... it all gets tricky.
Mel expressed a desire to be a link. Well here's a link: Mel's Blog And you never know, one day she may even make it on to the "Links" part.
I never did a single thing that did a single thing
To change the ugly ways of the world - Dave Matthews Band
I am done now.
I spent all day stressing about the sermon. I had to do a kids talk in the morning which was for a college assessment. Unfortunately I couldn't get it filmed so I did the talk, but I can't get it assessed.
After drama I spent my day in my office writing.
Then it was youth group time. Youth group numbers were back up again tonight. It was good to see lots of the kids there. For some reason we seem to get heaps of the girls and very few of the guys. I guess that's just the general way things at church.
Cafe Church started and I hadn't gone through the sermon once. I spent the whole service wondering whether it would be better to read from my notes or to just wing it. In the end I didn't look at my notes at all. I figured I would be lost either way.
I got up, I talked, I can't remember what I did, I did the "call", and sat down. I'm glad it's over, I didn't feel that good about it. Lots of people assured me that it was good, but I didn't really take it on board. I seemed to get more positive comments than usual. I think that worried me, I felt like everyone could see that I wasn't all that happy (I know some people could), and so they were all coming up to me and telling me it was good.
Anyway I could write for hours about how I felt, but it's probably not all that useful.
After church we went and saw Troy which made me feel good. The film wasn't all that good. There were a lot of buff male bodies running around. Lots of shots of Brad Pitt in various stages of undress, and lots of silly fighting. But even if the film wasn't very good, I had a good time. It was good to sit in a cinema with a bunch of nice people and look at a screen. I had fun, and I needed to do something like that, stop me from feeling sorry for myself.
If I can sum up though, I think I did the right thing, I think the talk went fine, and I think God did stuff. Lucky God's bigger than my feelings.
Sermon Blues
I've been preparing for tomorrow night's sermon for about 3 weeks.
At 7pm tonight I realised that I have probably been interpiting the passage all wrong.
At 7:30 I had to go to a party. I just got home. Between now and 6:30pm I've got to get a whole new sermon.
Praise the Lord. I'll have to blog how he comes through for me I guess.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat-
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Psalm 127:2
Oh Bugger, he mustn't love me much.
The VH1 Storytellers: Matchbox 20 dvd has a really good cover of "Lonely Weekend" on it. I think good bands should do more good covers.
And Matchbox 20 are bringing out a new live dvd called Show. How cool. I love Matches, I love concert dvds, I'm in love.
We went Ice Skating with the youth tonight. What jolly good fun.
There were transport issues in the planning, but the Lord provided, as always. I said he would, but it's always stressful. We had just enough spaces.
I had fun skating as fast as I could (not real fast) and pulling over to talk to various clumps of young people. They're all such a good bunch. I don't think I could find a much more enjoyable thing to do with my Friday night than going skating with my youth group. And the leaders are good quality too. It's all good.
I had Macca's for the first time in 2 and half weeks tonight too. I hope I don't wake up tomorrow sick. That would be a shame.
I went to Gloria Jeans in the city for while before I met up with Jo, to work on my sermon. Everywhere I looked in there there seemed to be people reading the Bible. Someone journaling in the corner, two people doing a Bible study by the window. When I sat down I was embarrassed to pull out my Bible. Not because I thought I might stand out, but because I thought I might look the same as everyone else.
Today Jo and I went to a photography course in the city. The lecturer showed us a bunch of slides of photos he'd taken and had accidentally left in nude photos of his ex-wife. I think he was a little embarrassed.
I did the pub thing tonight. Twas good fun.
It was good to relax a little. I was planning on having a "lazy" day at work today. I figured if I spent all day yesterday working I could afford a little relaxation, maybe have a sleep, write in my blog, read a book. Something like that. Didn't happen. I managed to work for almost the whole 10 hours I was there. Disgusting. I took a break for lunch and I chatted to Helen for about an hour, but it was mostly work stuff. We talked a little about money and a little about how famous Helen is (very). Then I went back to work.
Today I went to the Chicken Shop and said to the lovely Chicken Shop Lady "Can you guess?" and she said "Yes" and cooked me a Chicken burger and two scallops. I feel we made a big step in our relationship.
Today I had a difficult conversation. It was hard because I had to tell someone who is very important to me, things which may have seemed really dodgy. They were good about it, but I was struggling. And we are still good friends, so it's all good. I'm happy not to have that one hanging over my head.
Other than that I had a good day. I had a few meetings, which were fun. Leaders meeting was fun, although perhaps a little talkative (no thanks to me I feel). I spent all day working on a Bible study before changing tack right at the end of the day. That was frustrating.
Small group was also good, but I'm still trying to work out how to make jokes which don't sound like they are paying people out. Unless, of course, I am and then I'm quite happy for them to be taken as intended.
I'm wearing my new jumper, because that's what you do when you get new clothes. You wear just to feel a little sexy.
Sadly I managaged to get sour cream all over it. First time out and I get it dirty. What a poop.
There's this cool bit at the beginning of "Hello" on (What's the Story) Morning Glory? where the guitair goes "Bwuck, bwuck" just before the song starts proper. It's very cool. Especially turned up loud.
Yesterday's Quote of the Day
One parent on the removal of the choir from Evensong at St Andrew's Cathedral: "We're completely powerless. I guess this is what the Reformation felt like."
From SMH
I came home to two packages today. Brilliant! (I think that could be a Helen word.) I got a my 128mb USB key thing. I looks fun. I haven't done anything with it yet. But I think I'll enjoy myself.
I also got a new jumper and new t-shirt. The internet wardrobe expands! Woohoo. Now I have to plan good days to wear my new clothes.
Kids love getting mail.
I watched Enough Rope with Andrew Denton tonight. Dr Jose Ramos Horta (East Timor's Foreign Minister) was on. He was cool. He said good stuff and made good jokes. He didn't seem much like a politician. I think I might become East Timorese just so I can vote for him.
He said good stuff about the oil too. I think Australia should give them their oil. I'm a bit embarrassed to be Australian, stealing little countries' oil. Shame on us.
Well there is a new blogger. Let's me have comments. I'm not really big fan. There's some good stuff. I can't stick images up still. And I used to be able to see all my most recent posts. I can though, email posts. That means I can blog from my mobile. That's a good idea.
I really like wedges. And I really like that sore muscles feeling the day after you've done some exercise. That's the best pain I can think of. It's even better than many things that aren't painful.
I really have to start running again. I haven't run in weeks.
Today I ate a lot of lunch. I was all alone at Church and feeling a little depressed that I couldn't see my mum. Everyone was off having lunch with Mum and I was stuck at work, far from home, and my mum was somewhere in between Canberra and Sydney. I think my Mum is fantastic, and I didn't get to see her all day.
Anyway I ate a lot of lunch. Although I don't think it was because I was depressed. I ate lunch (the usual Chicken burger, two scallops and a Coke) then bought more rice and sauce during a meeting. I had both Chicken shop and Indian. My two favourites.
Youth group was really good today. I think the youth are fantastic, still. I'm always amazed at how lucky I am to get to work with teenagers. They're great. Always good to laugh with, play games with, be stupid with, discover God with, share life with.
During youth we prayed for the evangelistic service next week and suddenly I got scared. I'm preaching and it suddenly hit me that I have this massive job and I don't know if I can do it. I guess I'm scared because I feel like telling people the gospel at an evangelistic service should be left to someone else. There's too much riding on it. It feels like eternities are riding on it (they're not, that's God's problem) and I don't want that responsibility.
But I'll go for it. I just pray God gives me the words and eternities change.
Your holy war, your northern star
Your sermon on the mount from the boot of your car
Please, please, please
Get up off your knees - U2
Boys in the Mist
Last night after small groups I was driving home and I noticed that the oval was covered in mist. Spying a good photo opotunity I parked and went to the oval to see if I could capture the atmosphere. It was hard because there wasn't much light I didn't have any sort of "pod" to rest the camera on. But I got a few good shots.
There were some boys playing on the oval over the other side. They looked good but they were way too far away for me to photograph. But just as I was walking back to the car they came over my side. I turned around and there they were crouching in the mist. So I took the photo hoping it didn't look dodgy, some random guy taking photos of boys on the oval. But I thought it would turn out well.
The photos were blurry, but when you reduce the size you can't really tell.
How is it that I manage to spend so much time at work?
I was there for a drama thing today. That was fun. I like people, and I like seeing people be silly and make funnies. Good stuff.
When that was over I was tempted to go to Newtown to watch people play music, but I figured it would be smarter to go to my office and write a bible study. I was there till ten to eleven writing a bible study. 10:50 on a Saturday night!
I really should see more live music.
I figured it was better to do the work now then I can have all of Monday off and that will be good. I have plans for Monday. I'm hanging to go back to the park in the city. I want some good God time sitting on the grass. The grass on the ground in the park I mean, just to clarify.
I just finished watching Lost in La Mancha and I loved it. Very depressing. It's a documentary about the making of a film that never got finished.
I love films about making films. I think they are my most consistently favourite films. If there's any genre of film that doesn't disappoint me, it's documentaries about films being made. I love film making. I love film sets. I love lights. I love dollys, stedicams, actors, scripts, costumes, props, foley, producers, trailers, big white trucks, video playback systems, lenses, film, clapper boards, booms, story boards, test screenings, editing suites, craft services, and all the rest. Fantastic.
Yeah Baby!
I'm always inspired to make films after watching a film like that. Even if the film was an unmitigated disaster.
I have this idea for a feature film that's been floating around my head for a few years now. I wonder if I'll ever get it on paper. And then after that? Who knows.
Perhaps one day I'll take long service leave (I'll have to do long service first), find some rich Christians who I have met over the years and make the feature film. It'll be an independent feature that gets picked up by some obscure distributor and never makes its money back. But a few people will watch it (who aren't my mother) and they'll say "Yeah, that was alright" and I will have fulfilled my dream. I will be able to come back to work after my holidays and feel good. Even better than if I went on a road trip to Adelaide.
Problem is, at this stage, the film isn't looking like it'll be all that funny. And, well, that's a shame.
"Sleeping with someone you don't respect, is like going bowling with someone you hate, just because they offer to pay for your ticket. But far more pathetic." - Ryan
Yep. Ryan's shooting out wisdom. He should write a book full of snappy little quotes like that. I love books with snappy little quotes. They make you feel like your whole life can be summed up in a few witty sentences. I would love to be able to do that.
By the way, I'm not being facisious, I liked Ryan's post and the quote was good so I stuck it on. Good going my man.
It's official. Hipsters are no longer fashionable. The Sydney Morning Herald told me, so it must be true.
If I were a girl I'd be over the moon. "Woohoo! No more hipsters, Girlfriend!" That's what I'd be saying.
I made a post in 1999. I wasn't blogging back then but I thought it might be fun to go back in time and pretend I was. I made the post about 10 minutes ago.
My original post was going to be from 1788 and how I was about to discover Australia (as a white man) but blogger wouldn't let me go that far. So I had to just progress a little back into teenager-dom. It wasn't a very interesting post. But I'm sure there are many creative posibilities in blogging time travel that I have yet to discover.
I feel like I should be more stressed and churned up. But I'm pretty chilled out at the moment.
I'm kinda missing being stressed. It gave me something to occupy my otherwise vacant mind.
Super Middleweight Champions of the Blue Gum and Beyond!
How good was the pub? Most good.
Well I had fun. We arrived tonight and the pub was pretty full. We realised it was because of the Mundine/Siaca fight that was on tonight. We went and found ourselves a table in the bistro. There was less people there as the TV wasn't on, so we could relax among the non-sporting, steak eating crowd.
We sat and discussed life, love and Russian music downloads, Ryan, Chris, Jem, David and I. We all ate beautiful wedges. Helen joined us after about an hour.
There was a kid called Ben running around the bistro. He was 3. He would run along the railing next to our table and growl at Jem and Ryan. He made friends with us. He told us that he was going to be a boxer (the tv had gone on by this stage) and that he was going to punch his dad. He said he was going to do that because Dad had punched his mum, but it was ok now because Mum had gone out. That was a little disconcerting. What do you do with stories of domestic violence from a 3 year old in a pub?
He showed us his dad who was sitting up the back, drinking beer, and watching the TV. He paid little attention to his son. Lucky everyone else in the pub did. He was the most popular person there.
Over the course of the night we watched the pre-match hype on the silent TV, and continued our discussion. I was starting to get excited because I've always wanted to watch a boxing match. I don't know how excited everyone else was, but the masculine side of me was getting pumped. Wahoo, a sport, boxing, strong men hitting each other. That's a good nights entertainment.
They turned up the sound on the TV when the match was close to starting. We picked our fighters and I became the self-proclaimed boxing expert at the table because I have read The Power of One and Tandia.
At some stage in all this a lady collapsed at the bar. There was a bit of fuss with the bartenders and Ben and his dad but her friends didn't notice for a while. When they did, they took her back to her seat, gave her a glass of water and continued their fun.
Once the fight started I was into it. I was gunning for Mundine. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because he's Australian.
It was a good fight. Nothing spectacular, but I had fun. By the end I was making all the right noises. I groaned when everyone else did, and I was very tense by the 10th round.
At some stage during the fight Ben's Dad wanted to drive home. The bartender wouldn't let him because he thought he was too drunk. There was a table of men who had made friends with Ben and when they noticed they jumped up and ran over, ready to start a fight. "He's only 3 years old!" they said. The Dad didn't seem too impressed and looked willing to take 5 guys on for the right to drive himself and his son home. It was a worry.
The bartender managed to keep the peace and Ben and his dad left, I'm hoping for a taxi.
Manny Siaca won. After watching the match I decided that Manny was the better fighter on the night. I got told off for not being loyal. But I was right. And I still wanter Mundine to win, he just didn't. I enjoyed it anyway. I might be a boxing fan now.
I walked home afterwards. I listened to my new music.
I had three drinks tonight. That's a new record. Soon I'll be an alcoholic.
My Week
For college I had to do a "Time and Motion Study" where I recorded everything I did for the past week. I think the results were a little skewed because I had a day off work, and two days sick all up. But I thought it was interesting. This is what I found:
Sleep: 44 Hours 15 minutes
Work: 37h (with one day off sick)
Leisure: 47h 20m (with two sick days)
Driving: 7h 20m
Meetings: 7h 30m
Watching Movies or DVDs: 8h 30m
Watching TV: 3h
Fiddling on the computer: 14h 30m
Just talking to people (eg not while eating lunch or washing up): 11h 35m
Talking to Helen: 3h 35m
Phone Calls: 4h
Planning Ministry: 5h 20m
Organised Ministry with Young People (not including "chats"): 7h 20m
College Work: 3h
Pub: 2h 50m
McDonald’s: 1h 30m
Food Court: 2h 20
Yesterday Anmol, Ryan and I ate lunch in the food court together, then Anmol and I went to see Strasky & Hutch. I laughed.
I came home and had dinner with Grandpa and Valentina. It was Grandpa's birthday. Happy Birthday Grandpa. I did the washing up and Mil and I talked late into the night about theology, Counting Crows lyrics and marriage. It was a good discussion. I wanted to blog my thoughts on marriage, because I had a "moment" when I realised what excites me about marriage. But I'll probably never get around to it.
Today was haircut, lunch with David and trip to work. Helen and I talked more than planned. And I got less work than I should have done. I'll have to do it tonight. Grrr.
I also went and had Gloria Jeans with Kaye. That was good. I enjoyed doing "catch-up".
We had games night at small group tonight. It was fun but perhaps not world changing. But not every night needs to be world changing. Just every second night.
I need to learn to make jokes that people won't interpret as rude. I rarely plan to make rude jokes except with people I know really well. Generally I don't want to be rude. That could be offensive. Oh well.
You know I'd sooner forget but I remember those nights
when life was just a bet on a race between the lights
you had your head on my shoulder you had your hand in my hair
now you act a little colder like you don't seem to care
but believe in me baby and I'll take you away
from out of this darkness and into the day
from these rivers of headlights these rivers of rain
from the anger that lives on the streets with these names
'cos I've run every red light on memory lane
I've seen desperation explode into flames
and I don't want to see it again. . . - "Telegraph Road" Dire Straits
I think Telegraph Road would be in my top ten songs of all time. Mmm. Makes me happy.
I got bombed by Ad Ware the other day when I was getting the Hillsong lyrics. There was this program that found key words on websites and made them links to ads. And it put this bloody search bar on my Internet Explorer. It makes me so annoyed. It's so rude.
Anyway, I am currently in the process of getting rid of all the rubbish. I'm hitting them with everything at all. Virus scans and Ad Aware (beautiful program, I'll advertise for them) are blowing up all their rude little advertising behinds. Take that you online casinos, life insurance, porn and penis enlargements. Get out. In the name of clean computers and happy browsing, be gone.
Damn it feels good. This might be how it feels to dump an abusive girlfriend or a dodgy real estate man.
Go!
Yeah Baby!
I watched a movie of Foxtel last night called Savage Messiah. It was a Canadian film about a cult.
I don't think is was all that good, but it wasn't bad for a telemovie. I felt like staying up late and watching a movie, so I did.
I enjoyed my day today. It was nice to have a well Sunday.
I got to talk to lots of the kids today. I had fun, they're great. Youth group was pretty fun and my talk survived, yay. I got to have a chicken burger again, I was craving it all morning. I'm craving one now too. After church was fun. There are so many great people in the world, and every Sunday I get to sit with some of them in McDonald's.
Both my index fingers are sore. One has a spliter in it, the other I beat up while climbing the chains of the swing in the park today. I'm typing with my rude fingers. Naugthy. I'm not as good with them but it hurts less.
Who's a pansy?
American Splendor
Top notch.
Just then as I grabbed the lyrics to the Hillsong song off a website, the site tried to download porn onto my computer. I thought that perhaps the website wasn't quite with the Hillsong vibe.
Would you believe me if I said
That we are the ones who can make the change
In the world today
Would you believe me if I said
That all of the dreams in your heart
Can come true
Today
Would you believe me if I said
That life could be all that you want it to be
Today - "Free" Hillsong United
In that last blog, 3 of my paragraphs started with "A", 3 with "I" and "T" and "P" were on one each.
Today has been good.
I went to the Exoday launch at Hillsong with Kaye (who needs to update her blog) and Helen. It was interesting. We got Krispy Kremes at the start for breakfast. Then we went down into the Hills youth room and it was bigger than my church. I was in awe. I can't wait till my church gets as big as Hills (which it surely will, 15,000 people is easy). For a youth room...Posh.
Anyway they played some grungy worship very loudly at the beginning. And then we got a talk from Mr Dooley. He is quite a funny man. The talk wasn't too bad. 2 out of 3 points I liked.
All up the event was fun for me, I enjoy all the hype of hype-y Christian stuff, although, I'd rather stay away from it. For me the hype is attractive, but perhaps not productive.
After Hills I left for a picnic that I was having with all the junior boys in our youth ministry. I managed to get very lost, and made bad route choices, and arrived 20 minutes late after leaving half an hour early. That was poor form.
The picnic/barbecue was fun. We played frisbee and kicked the ball around, there was a bit of exploring done, and lots of the boys ran around with sticks pretending they were swords. I really like the guys. They are good value.
I went back to church for a meeting about the next big film/other stuff project with Helen, Matt and Sal (who also needs to update her blog). We had good laughs and I think it was productive. I hope I don't have to be creative. That's lots of effort.
In other news the EU expanded by 10 countries today. There are lots of people who think the EU is a sign of the end times. I doubt it, but I wouldn't be upset if it was.
Perhaps Australia can join the EU, I think we need a sense of belonging to something bigger. The US might get jealous though. Maybe we can join the EU on the sly, a little bit of two-timing never hurt anyone.
Sometimes I feel I need more interesting thoughts. Thoughts that if one were to climb into my brain, they'd enjoy watching them.
"Ooo there goes a good one, did you see that? Fascinating."
Hooray, things to do tomorrow. I have a full day and I'm looking forward to it.
Tonight David and I went to see Strange Bedfellows because Dad gave me some free movie passes tonight that had to be used up by today. I figured that a movie is an important part of any healing process. It was great to get out of the house.
The movie was nothing special. But it was free and that's good. Australians should stop over moralising films. Speeches at the end of any feel good film are silly, but they always sound much better in an American accent.
Oh how I love the American film.
Should we win today, the fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday but as the day when the world declared in one voice "We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We're going to live on. We're going to survive. Today we celebrate our independence day!" - ID4
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