I'm at Commy Dinner now. I have to get my blogging fix in anywhere I can.

But as I'm feeling rather pressured sitting here to have something good to write, I don't have much to say.

I was thinking that maybe one day I should do that (x) game that everyone is doing on their blogs but I would want to tell a story for most of them so it would take a mighty long time. Plus I'd be using up precious sermon illustrations.

I've been really enjoying Futurama lately. Funnies. Heh heh.

So long and no blogging.

The internet is down at my house. And I've been away. Good combination.

But I haven't had any revelations recently. I keep thinking what would I write if I were going to blog and the only thing that goes through my brain is "I'm in love with me." But I've already posted that before and it wasn't true the first time. Tomorrow I may write that post I've been planning on writing for the past two weeks.

I'm meant to be house sitting Stephen's house at the moment but after two attempts with two separate sets of keys, it's not looking likely that I'm going to be able to get into his house. Oh well. It's cheaper to live at home.

I'm reading Nelson Mandela's autobiography at the moment. He's a good man.

Oi, What a Game!

I just watched the State of Origin (on delay because I was at Bible Study tonight). That was fantastic. Except perhaps for the Queensland win. But it was a cracker of a match.

Well done.

Go the Blues!

Take the Money, Kid

"I remember one day after school one year ago, my parents asked me if I'd rather meet the Queen or earn a million dollars. I said I'd rather meet the Queen." - 9-year-old Harris Wang

From here.

Question

"How is it that there can be so much disagreement about the Bible but it can still be the Word of God? Wouldn't he do a better job of being clear?"

I found that written at the top of one of the pages in my pad yesterday. I don't remember writing it. I wonder if I was having a crisis of faith that day or just imagining one?

Yesterday I forgot to take my Bible to College and I discovered how hard it is to borrow a Bible from a Bible College Library. Perhaps because if all the Bibles get stolen from the College it'll no longer be a Bible College. It will have lost its uniqueness. In the end the Librarian let me steal a Bible for 2 hours.

Emancipation

Today I handed in a form to withdraw from learning Greek. Oi! It's great to be free.

At least, for a while...

Books

Inspired by Lesley's Post:

Books I have read this year:
(Although I'm not sure I remember them all)

There and Back again: A Hobbit's Tale - Sean Astin
Seven Types of Ambiguity - Elliot Perlman
Tell Me No Lies - John Pilger (Unfinished)
Life Together - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Unfinished)
Film - Sean Condon
New Issues Facing the Christian Today - John Stott (Unfinished - But I'll be reading that for years)
I Believe in Preaching - John Stott
Bono on Bono - Michka Assayas (23 pages to go)

I don't seem to be very good at finishing books. But I do have plans to finish them all.

Books that are in my Pile
(In the vague order that I plan to read them)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela
Dirt Music - Tim Winton
The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Maybe I should finish the other "Boffa" first, it's only 90 pages long)
The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
Long Drive Through a Short War - Peter Wilson

And interspersed along the way:
Tell Me No Lies - John Pilger
New Issues Facing the Christian Today - John Stott

Continuing the Series on My Good Looks...

This is me in Kemp's glasses at Church last Sunday. I think I might become a student film maker with glasses like that...

Don't tell Helen but I can't find the DVD of "Aimee". They're performing it tomorrow. I'm sure it'll turn up.

That's not a very good title. But what can you do these days?

Last night was a very exciting night. Star Wars was getting wrapped up. It was going to be there for the finale of the biggest film series in cinema history. I love being a part of cinema history.

I went and saw Titanic before it was the biggest grossing film of all time, when it was just an expensive film about a boat. It wasn't anything all that special.

Anyway, I arrived at Town Hall station at 9:04pm. Walking out of the ticket gates I saw Chris and we walked to the cinema together. As we walked we discussed the fact the neither of us were anticipating watching a particularly good film. We were just there for the experience and because it was Star Wars.

When we arrived we found David and Ryan sitting in the line already. In my usual passively dictatorial style I got them to move to the back of the line so that we'd have more room for the rest of the 16 people joining us. It was a pointless exercise in the end and we should have joined them in their part of the line but I didn't know that at the time.


Ryan and Chris in the Line

For the next few hours we waited and many people from our group joined us. We moved up steadily in the line. Not because they were letting people into the cinema but because we were just getting more and more compacted. I would have liked to be surrounded by Jedi Knights and Sith Lords but there were very few dressed up people in my part of the line. I did manage to spend a lot of the night rubbing backs and bums with a fat, hairy man who's friends called him "Chewbacca", but that wasn't all that exciting.


The Line

At around 11:30pm someone started shouting at us to get our tickets ready. By this stage the whole of our crew was together. I'd given out all the tickets. Ryan asked me if I had given him his. I told him that I had. He looked through all his pockets and through his wallet. I looked threw all mine too. Neither of us could find a ticket. I was sure I'd given him his ticket.


More Line

In the end Ryan decided that he'd lost his ticked and he would have to see if anyone else could give him a ticket or he'd just go home. When he left I started counting and re-counting everyone to make sure I really had brought enough tickets. I couldn't specifically remember handing Ryan a ticket.

When we got let into the cinema we headed for our traditional front row. Once everyone was settled I kept counting our group. There were 16 people in our group in the cinema and Ryan outside. I had only bought 16 tickets. I had counted wrong. There was one ticket less than there should have been. I jipped Ryan of a ticket.

I felt so bad. As soon as I relised I went out of the cinema and rang Ryan to confess what a terrible person I was. I thought about offering him my ticket but I was sure he wouldn't have taken it. I wasn't sure how to fix it.

I went back into the cinema and couldn't join in the frivolities because I was feeling so guilty. I told Gemma what had happened. Seeing as she is a nicer person than I am she rang Ryan and offered him her ticket. He accepted, but before she could give it to him he rang me up to say a guy out the front had sold him one of his spare tickets for our cinema. How exciting! I still felt bad, but I was happy that Ryan was able to join us.

While we waited for Ryan I kept running over in my head if I had done the right thing and if I should have offered Ryan my ticket, or even forced him to take it. But I didn't. I had forgotten to buy enough tickets to a film before and my sister had given up her ticket so I could go. Why am I so bad at buying cinema tickets? And why is everyone else better at giving up their tickets than I am? I didn't really feel like I was a very good person at that stage of the night.

When Ryan arrived back in the cinema I gave him a hug. It was good to have him back. It's nice how mistakes can be fixed. There is grace in this world for people like me.

Before the film started there was a competition for the best dressed cinema patron, but I've already written about that.

The film started. As soon as the Star Wars logo came up on the screen there was a big cheer. It's a wonderful atmosphere. A cinema full of excited geeks. What better crowd could you ask to watch a film with?

Revenge of the Sith was good. It was dark and violent. I was hoping for decapitations before I went in and there were plenty of them. Not that that's what makes a good film, but it means the violence isn't childish.

Anakin and Padmé's dialog was the worst thing about the film. They sound like a cheap daytime soap. I still don't know what she ever saw in him. He was always such a whiny self-centred boy and then he grew up to be a moody self-centred man. Lines like "Anakin, you're breaking my heart!" and "Where you're going I can't follow" are pretty horrid. George should have given their scenes to other people.

But the action was cool. Obi-Wan and Anakin were tops light saber men. They kicked butt!

The whole film was rather tragic. Knowing what happened at the end was horrible waiting for it to happen. Any hopes you had for Anakin were vain. It gave a lot more emotional weight to A New Hope.

Poor Obi-Wan would have felt terrible. When we meet him in A New Hope he would have been living with the guilt of discovering the boy and pushing for him to be trained as a Jedi, who became the most evil Sith Lord in the Universe. He would have felt responsible for the rise of the Republic and the slaughter of the Jedis. The poor guy.

I really liked the film. Well done George.

The night was good too. Next time I'm going to count everybody who wants a ticket 3 times and buy too many tickets anyway.


The Star Wars Group (at least the people who wanted to sit down the front)

Episode III was cool. The film was good fun. I'll say more later I think.

Before the film started they had a competition to see who was best dressed. There were lots of top quality costumes. They were all guys. Then, for the contestants they had a trivia quiz. One of the people who was dressed up asked the MC if he could ask a question. The MC allowed him, so he asked "How many of the man here have ever had sex?"

Only two guys put their hand up. That made my night.

Actually many things made my night but that was one of them.

Now I must sleep.

Star Wars here I come!

I just annouced to my Mum "I have some bad news." Then told my Mum that if they pass the new Anglican laws, and I become a Deacon (which I'm thinking about so I can do Chaplancy work) I'd get the title "Rev", I could wear robes and clerical collar (which I think is all rather funny). My mother looked horrified and then said "Are you sure you didn't want to tell my you're gay?"

Phew

Rob Thomas "wants Matchbox Twenty fans to know that the group is not breaking up, and to expect future albums and tours from the band. Rob also plans to continue collaborating with other artists."

From here.

Today it is exacly a year since I last ate McDonald's.

Oh actually, I think that might be a lie.

Scrap that.

Today is exactly 11 months since I last ate McDonald's, maybe.

Paris Hilton makes a worthwhile movie!*

"This is a very sexy movie. It's all about hot sorority girls in college, and everybody's beautiful. It's hot, and there are some sexy scenes with me." - Paris talking about her new movie National Lampoon's Pledge This!

I got it from here

*I was being sarcastic by the way

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

Psalm 73:25

It's worth saying again.

I went to Warringah Mall today and disliked the experience terribly. The carpark is horrible. I drove across kilometers of roof-top parking finding no spaces and wondering if I had changed postcodes yet. It's not really easy to drive around looking for a park. It is easy to just drive forever across endless, rooftops of concrete and cars. I have been there before and every time I get lost in the car park. You want to park near Hoyts and you end up over the other side near David Jones.

Once inside the mall I didn't like it either. But I think I was just punishing the mall for the carpark.

Let me say though, that Hornsby Westfield is a completely different story. I know Hornsby Westfield like the back of my hand. Every nook and cranny, almost.

On Thursday I bought a new sound system for my family. I had to pick it up from Bing Lee and they told be to drive down to the loading dock. So I got to drive down deep into the dark, depths of Westfield. It was lots of fun.

Bono Joke

Bono dies and goes to heaven. He meets God and God asks him what he believes. Bono says "I believe you're sitting in my seat."

I thought it was funny.

I got that from here.