News in brief

I had a great Easter weekend, I spent most of it in Wollongong. It was quite lazy, the highlights were a day on the road to Berry, and Berrima. Getting out in the fresh air was really lovely. I spent Saturday with my brother and a couple of our friends playing War Craft. Monday visited the new Sea Cliff Bridge (pictured) on the road to Wollongong, which was great. Matt, Mel and I went and saw V for Vendetta, which I kind of liked.

Last weekend Fi and I went up to Newcastle for A's (Fi’s sister) graduation. We had a great time. It was interesting seeing how the University ran its graduation. The occasional address became a slight rant about the attention (or lack of it) the current Federal Government is paying to higher education (while I agreed with the sentiment, I do not think that a graduation should be made a political event).

The response on the other hand was quite fun and passionate, focusing our attention on how we approach our future. (I like the idea of having a response by one of the graduates, something that didn’t happen at my graduation). It was fantastic to spend some time with Fi’s family as well, getting to know them better. We spent Saturday out and about driving through the Hunter Valley visiting the vineyards, quite a beautiful drive too.

Monday night, we had a coffee and desert night for R. who was in our bible study group last year, and is returning to Scotland next month. It was great to get to know her(and her fiancé), while they were in our neck of the woods.

We're off to Wollongong tomorrow afternoon to celebrate my brother’s birthday.

Sport in Brief

My entries are rarely complete without some sport news... So here goes two quick pieces of news:

J. Gillespie 201 not out; and

Arsenal defeated Villireal to reach the Final of the Champions League, and will play Barcelona (who beat AC Milan) in one of the more promising finals for some time.

Photo: Dad.

...Beautiful dawn - I'm just chasing time again...

Two days, two completely different shows. On Wednesday I went to see Sigur Ros, and then Thursday night I saw James Blunt.

I really enjoyed James Blunt's concert. He played all of the songs from his Back to Bedlam CD (which a workmate introduced me to about a year ago), and a few new songs, which were a little more upbeat lyrically than Back to Bedlam (which is quite melancholy). He was quite charming on stage, interacting and joking with the crowd.

The songs were given the chance to speak for themselves rather than being hidden in an elaborate stage or setting. The highlight of the show was No Bravery, which was sung in front of a screen showing images of the war torn Kosovo, which really added to the impact of the song. The crowd seemed to be in a respectful silence as the images and words of the song washed over us.

Wednesday night I saw Sigur Ros, one of my favourite bands, supported by Amiina, at the Enmore theatre. Sigur Ros are a really captivating band to listen to; their sound is so rich and unique, and Wednesday night was no exception.

It was hard to pick out highlights; I really liked the last song Popplagið and Glósóli and Hoppípolla from Takk were also great.

Unlike James Blunt, Sigur Ros did not get really chatty they let the music speak for them. I would be quite happy to go and see them again. Though it was a great gig, it didn’t quite get up to heights of their London show late last year, but having a horn section on stage playing with them is hard to bet.

All in all two great, but very different concerts.

On writing

While I was reading through the weekend papers this week, an article in the Sun Herald resonated with me. James Bradley (author of The Resurrectionist), wrote about his reaction to the treatment of books on Oprah.

In many ways I agree with him, that it is good that people are reading, and if anything, Oprah’s show included, encourages people to read that’s a great thing. But for him something about the purpose of writing is being lost as books become solely about moral instruction, and therapy, with prepackaged messages and truths

“Real writing – good writing – does the opposite. It shows us the world as we have not seen it before. It can be frightening or wonderful. Its meanings reveal themselves gradually and often partially. It isn’t always clear but like a painting or photo or a piece of music you cannot put it out of your head, it forces you to try to make sense of what it is saying”

For Bradley, writing is more than about a representation of thought, but a process of thought, ordering ideas that we might have a new way of seeing.

Though that said I suspect we all read for differing purposes, to be entertained, to be challenged, to understand more of our selves, our experiences and our society, and I too find myself wanting to see the complex nature of the world in which live, on the pages I read (and for that matter the cinema screens too).

March of the Penguins

One of the more interesting films I have seen. March of the penguins shows the viewers a breathtaking part of God’s creation (that we may not be blessed to see).

The Emperor Penguins are beautiful birds, and their breeding ritual would be one of the more treacherous on earth, featuring a role-reversal where the male nurses and protects the egg//chick, while the mother goes and finds food). The film is wonderfully narrated by Morgan Freeman.

I really enjoyed the film, while I marveled at the bird’s ability to survive in these extreme conditions year in and year out. I pondered the fact that people also were there to shot this footage (who you see through the end credits).

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I read a really interesting book review in the ALD last week. Apparently the least visited memorial in Washington is a waterfront statue commemorating the men who died on the Titanic. Seventy-four per cent of the women passengers survived while 80 per cent of the men perished in the disaster; I’m not so sure the numbers would be the same today. It is interesting thinking thought about the place of gallantry and trying to understand what it means to be a man.

Into the Arms of America...

Late last year, I spent a lovely few weeks with my sister travelling around the United States. I really love Washington D.C. While I walked around the city, I could not help but think that I was walking around a movie set, and its rich history and heritage just leap out at you. As I sat there, I saw and heard the sounds of protestors marching, singing and letting their voice be heard.

More thoughts from my trip will follow.

Lots of little randomness

It has been a long time between posts, maybe too long. There’s a lot to catch up on, but I think both you and I would be thankful that it is not my desire to recap the last six weeks or so in full and send you all to sleep but just bullet a few things.

Today Fi, LJ and I were to be at U2’s second Sydney show, though I can understand why they've postponed. April is a good month for concerts with Sigur Ros and James Blunt to look forward to (and further off is Belle and Sebastian). Fi bought me B&S’s The Life Pursuit, and I’ve been listening to that and The Whitlam’s Little Cloud (with The Apple's Eye), and enjoying them both.

It is great to say that I am settling into Barneys. Fi and I are attending a bible study on Wednesday nights; one that is surprisingly close to Kensington/Kingsford given that church is in Broadway. We both feel that we are getting to know people, and I find the preaching challenging faithful, and the service familiar. It will be great to be going to what feels like our church on Good Friday.

This feels like its turning to into quite list of blessings – but I enjoyed catching up with Guan and Karen at Matthias Media on Monday, and last night I was able to see my brothers and sisters from St Augustines who I hadn’t seen for a too long, and and I’m looking forward to catching up with Joe and Carly this week.

The list of movies to see continues to grow, I'm really looking forward to seeing March of the Penguins and V for Vendetta.

The AFL season started this weekend, and I'll be interested to see how the Swans go.