2018 in review - personal.

As I continue my series on 2018, I felt I should share were I am up to. I am back in Hospital due to another infection. I was admitted last Wednesday, and at this stage hopeful of going home tomorrow. I obviously don't want to rush getting home because I don't want to be readmitted.

It has been tough. I certainly miss Fi and the kids while I am in hospital. It's been tough. Particularly seeing as I have lost count of my admissions into hospital since the end of August. We're doing what we can to keep me from coming back into hospital but it has been a tough road. 

As I’ve said before the journey is made easier by the wonderful people who have been looking after me, be it in the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit or the Wards and other services. They all have a tough gig, but you wouldn’t know it, because they don’t show it. 

Again, I am thankful for the loving God who not only has the whole world in His hands but is holding me together. Holding me together until the day all of creation is restored and renewed.

I’m thankful for your continued faithful prayer, it means the world. 

I am thankful for the gift God has given me in Fiona. I am constantly amazed by her strength and how she holds herself together. 

I am thankful for James – who has made it his personal mission to ensure that whenever I am in hospital, I have the internet to help keep me entertained and out of trouble. We have had coffee every two weeks (on average) since I was diagnosed with cancer. I cannot say how thankful I am to God for that. I’m also super thankful to the wonderful people who have looked after Fiona or the kids so Fiona could visit. Thank you Joel and Elaine, I just can't put into words how much your friendship means to me, especially as you walk your own roads too. 

I’ve started on a new drug with a new timetable which at least until this point I seem to have tolerated well, though do pray for its effectiveness and that I manage my disease and its symptoms better. At this stage we are up in the air as to when that will start again.

Sporting shorts

I'm going to briefly interrupt my best of 2018 series with some notes on the weekend's sport.

• Australia bounced back as expected from their close loss in Adelaide to put themselves in the box seat to win the second test inspite of a wonderful innings from Virat Kohli. Who I have to admit has done himself and India no favours in how he responded to his first innings dismissal. during the Perth test. It's been fabulous Cricket to watch, but I just don't see another twist in the tale. 
• The test has shown what a great bowler Lyon is. 
• Across the ditch, a wonderful few days for New Zealand Cricket. Williamson's star continues to rise. You get the feeling more fuss would be made about him if he was from another country. Read this piece here. 
• Latham was brilliant - his undefeated 264 the highest score by a player carrying their bat through a completed test innings and the highest score by any player during 2018. 
• The Champions League draw sees - Manchester Unitied v PSG; Roma v Porto, Tottenham v Dortmund; Ajax v Real Madrid; Lyon v Barcelona; Liverpool v Bayern; Athletico Madrid v Juventus; and Schakle v Manchester City. My predictions for what they are worth are in bold.  
• This week will also see the start of the Big Bash which I can't say I've ever really got excited about. 

I'll certainly write more about the year in sport later. 

2018 in review - a beginning

Given its now the 17th of December, I thought it is about time to start my year in review series.  I'm going to begin with books.

Surprisingly I exceeded my goal for reading this year and read just over 30 books for the year. I’ve read quite a few heavy and challenging books which has made it tough going in places through the year. 

So of the books that I did read the three that stood out to me are Leigh Sales Any Ordinary Day, Clementime Ford’s Boys Will be Boys, and Lizzie Marvelly’s Growing up F in Aotearoa.

As always there were a few that were tough to leave out Kon Karapanagiotidis The Power of Hope, Rob Bower’s Outspoken, and Rachel Held Evans book Inspired.

Each of these books has challenged me in different ways. Leigh Sales book was particularly good given I could relate to closely to the content, as I’m living a similar experience to her interviewees.

Boys will be boys really struck me, and was quite a tough read, especially the letter to her son that concludes the book. Her letter struck me as it contains so much of what I want to tell my son, and how I want him to grow up.

While Lizzie’s book is predominantly about growing up in Aotearoa (New Zealand), sadly it is hard to doubt women growing up in Australia have a different experience.

I share Kon and Rob’s visions for Australia so their books were also challenging reads. I will certainly be trying to reread their book, and want to work at seeing their vision be achieved. Rob’s book was particularly hard hitting, because the church he leads, is the church I want to be part of.

On my reading list – Hard Choices (Hilary Clinton), Pete Sampras’ autobiography, a collection of letters written to former US President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s memoir (Becoming).

Bon Jovi review

Bon Jovi were one of the very first shows I went to - memorable for all the wrong reasons - it was a hot humid day which finished with a hailstorm. Bon Jovi cut their set short. The show is in support of the album These Days. (Still actually on of their best albums in my view).

The nerd in me want to record the setlist from that concert too:

Bon Jovi - Eastern Creek Raceway, November 18, 1995

Rockin' All Over the World (John Fogerty cover) / Hey God / Livin' on a Prayer / You Give Love a Bad Name / Keep the Faith / These Days / (It's Hard) Letting You Go / Lie to Me / Someday I'll Be Saturday Night /  Something for the Pain / Because the Night (Patti Smith Group cover) / Damned / If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right / Blaze of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi song) / Lay Your Hands on Me / I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (with Papa Was A Rolling Stone… more ) / 
Bad Medicine / With a Little Help From My Friends (The Beatles cover) / Never Say Goodbye / Always (additional lyrics) / Wanted Dead or Alive / Blood on Blood / This Ain't a Love Song

I certainly wouldn't recommend going to Eastern Creek for a concert.  These Days still is up there as one of my favourite Bon Jovi albums. 

I think Bon Jovi may have toured Australia twice since 1995, but this was the first time I managed to go., here's the set-list for the weekend's show via Setlist.fm.

Bon Jovi, Sydney, ANZ Stadium Dec 8, 2018

You Give Love a Bad Name / Raise Your Hands / Lost Highway / Who Says You Can't Go Home / This House Is Not for Sale / Roller Coaster / We Weren't Born to Follow / We Don't Run / It's My Life / God Bless This Mess / Born to Be My Baby / Have a Nice Day / Keep the Faith / Bed of Roses / Lay Your Hands on Me / I'll Sleep When I'm Dead / Captain Crash & the Beauty Queen From Mars / Livin' on a Prayer / 
Encore: Bad Medicine / Wanted Dead or Alive / I'll Be There for You / 
Encore 2: Blood on Blood / Someday I'll Be Saturday Night

They both were wonderful shows. I have to admit it Saturday night had more of a greatest hits tour rather than a tour promoting/supporting their latest album This House is Not For Sale. As an aside I've really enjoyed listening to live recording of This House is Not For Sale.

While I think its fair to say the songs still sound amazing. The noise of the crowd and band during Livin' on a Prayer was amazing Jon Bon Jovi's voice perhaps isn't is good as it once was. Though it might well have been the sound mix (and stadium).

The highlights of the night for me where Livin' on a Prayer, Bed of Roses, I'll Be There For You and Blood on Blood. The band certainly played many of my favourite songs.

Funnily enough the lyrics of Blood on Blood don't sit as well with me now.  The idea of paying for sex equated with coming of age.

I was slightly saddened by the fact they didn't play much of This House is Not for Sale,

I miss Richie Sambora who was involved in a lot of their earlier song-writing.  Can't for the life of me think why, but I hadn't heard as much of their music between These Days and 'This House..''. 

Sporting shorts

It's been interesting looking at the cricket - still India's test to lose, but Australia have been chasing the runs. Much rather this than a block-a-thon. Shame the crowd hasn't been the best.

The other Cricket story is NZ's first win against Pakistan outside New Zealand in almost 50 years. Williamson was super impressive, he might not be as good a player as Smith, Root, or Kohli, but he's certainly as important to the New Zealand team as any of those. His 228 aggregate in the match is the most by a NZ player against Pakistan. NZ had a number of contributions from across the team.

Shah during the test became the fastest man to 200 test wickets. Breaking an 82 year old record in the process. Shah also has taken the most wickets in a three match series (29).

NZ's next assignment is a home series against Sri Lanka beginning on 15th December

The World Cup Drawer happened over the weekend and Australia's Matildas have drawn, Italy, Jamaica and Brazil. (Full draw and reaction here). NZ's draw was Canada, Cameroon, and European champions the Netherlands.

On the stadiums, still seems strange that we are talking about knocking down both the Sydney Football Stadium and Olympic Stadium, both of which are fully functional stadiums. I'm not a fan of their locations, but they still seem fit-for-purpose.

Sporting shorts...

• So, onto European Soccer and the Champions League – so far the teams who have qualified of the second round are: Ajax, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona*, Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Manchester City, Manchester United, Porto*, Real Madrid*, Roma, Schalke. (* denotes as group winner). Other contenders are Inter Milan, Liverpool, Lyon, Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain, Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham Hotspur.
• The third placed team in each group qualifies for the phase of the Europa League currently Benfica, Club Brugge, Valencia will qualify and with a chance to join them are; CSKA Moskva, Crvena zvezda, Galatasaray, Hoffenheim, Lokomotiv Moskva, Viktoria Plzeň.
• Arsenal had a good win against Spurs this morning – one of the few times in recent memory they’ve managed to win the derby.  I guess that’s what often happens when you are an outsider supporting a team, the love-hate relationships don’t have the same intensity as they would if you live in London. I have a soft spot for Tottenham, possibly because they’re not one of the perennial favourites for the championship.
• Next week will see the draw completed for the World Cup – and the Matilda’s will possibly find themselves in Pot A, amongst the top seeds for the tournament.  Still on Soccer – the NZ U17 All Whites (Women’s) team became the first NZ team to finish with a media at a World Cup after they beat Canada 2-1 in the play-off for third. Quite an awesome achievement.
• While I think the Bronco’s have made the right call regarding Wayne Bennett, I hope the SMH article is not true and he wasn’t sacked via voicemail. He certainly deserved better than that, whatever he's decided to do. I have to admit I can't follow the coaching merry-go-round. 
• The other biggish sports story is the start of the Australia v India Test series in Cricket. I feel it might just be closer than expected with some one unexpected to start, along with Starc (who is my pick for top wicket-taker for the series. Kohli, will be the top run scorer. And I’m predicting a drawn series. But it will be nice to see some cricket take centre stage rather than talk about how Australia play and the ball tampering from earlier in the year

Sporting notes

The biggest news was Fiji’s first ever win over France in Rugby, other results saw NZ rejoin the winners list with a 66-3 win over Italy. The Wallabies lost 18-37 to England. Yes, I think we still have to work out what it all means in the lead up to the world cup. 

Fair enough for Ireland to named team of the year. Maybe more surprising to some that there was one All Black in the Wolrd XV. I think we're lucking to get one. 

Speaking of World Cup’s – as expected the Southern Stars won the Women’s T20 Wold Cup. Certainly, a lot of players in the Australian team my children can look up too. The first test between Australia and India is coming up soon which should be interesting.

The Champions League groups will more or less be decided this week – with a host of teams set to confirm the qualification for the next stage of the Europa League or Champions League. The tournament should get a whole lot more interesting with some of the next stage ties.

The New Zealand u/17s have made the Semi-finals of the tournament for the first time defeating Japan 4-3 on penalties. NZ will play Spain for a spot in the final. Needlesss to say more wiill be re draw for the Women’s World Cup will be held on December 8.

Def Leppard / Scorpions (Dallas Crane) Concert review

Def Leppard was one of the first metal bands I recall getting into - I think it was David Gray and Michael Gromek who were the inspiration. It was I think 1991, and Let's Get Rocked cane out. The attitude in that song certainly resonated with the teenager in me. I don't recall Def Leppard visiting Australia often, so I had been keeping an eye on tickets hopeful that if I was well enough the week before, I'd buy a ticket and go. I do have to admit it was touch and go at some points about whether I would go, but I did end up going, and they did not disappoint.

I have to admit, I am a Scorpions fan, and the fact they couldn't perform was disappointing, as was the way the news wasn't really circulated before the show at the venue. That said I still had an awesome night. Most people would remember The Scorpions from this song Winds of Change. I feel like it was their only big hit in Australia.

It was quite an interesting crowd, comprised mostly of dads and their teenage daughters and sons. There was certainly a lot of long hair in the room.

Have to take my hat of to Dallas Crane - a Melbourne based rcok band who were invited mid afternoon to play. The crowd warmed up slowly for them. Have to admit I won't be checking them out in the future, but they did a great job, in the circumstances.

Def Leppard hit the stage just after 9, and began by playing their album Hysteria in full, before concluding with a variety of tracks - some pre Hysteria and some more recent, like Let's Get Rocked, Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad.  Hard to believe that Hsyteria is now 31 years old.

A couple of highlights for me were Love Bites, Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad, Hysteria, and there was a very tasteful and moving tribute to Stephen Clark, their original lead guitarist. I am blown away every time I look at Rick Allen - their drummer who has one arm and plays mostly with his feet. If you're just listening to the music you'd just never know that.

Joe Elliot fnished by telling us we were a great audience, and that they won't forget us, and they're will be a next time - they will be back. I'm certainly hoping his words come true.

Edited to include the setlist:

Women / Rocket / Animal / Love Bites / Pour Some Sugar on Me / Armageddon It / Gods of War / Don't Shoot Shotgun / Run Riot / Hysteria / Excitable / Love and Affection
Encore: Let It Go / When Love and Hate Collide / Let's Get Rocked / Rock of Ages / Photograph.

What I've been in to - October Part II

I wanted to revisit this post from October as I feel there's a few more points to make.  While I was in hospital the last time my cousin gave me a copy of Geraint Thomas' The World of Cycling According to G'. 

I finally finished the reading it, and while it hasn't turned my to love cycling and certainly have a greater appreciation for the tactics and training involved in the sport and likewise understand while so many get so little sleep each Winter because of a race around France. Thomas writes with a sense of fun and love of the sport and both are clearly come across on each page. His followup based on his experiences on the Tour de France could be a good read too.

I haven't pick a new book to start so with oodles of waiting room time on the cards this weeks I will have to soon :)

Back on to the music front, My treat to myself this month was an 8 CD and 1 DVD collection of R.E.M. performances recorded by the BBC. While I haven't yet worked my through the whole collection, the complete recording of their 1999 set from Glastonbury and from Jools Holland stood out as collections I wanted to hear.  It's fascinating reading the linear notes, and the journalists reflection on both the music and musicians.

The other notable musical event was the release of Abby Dobson's new solo album. I've always just loved her voice and songwriting, and the album certainly doesn't disappoint of that front.

Onto sport. 
Not a lot to say I guess. It is actually on of the harder weeks I find to be a sports fan, with the build up, running and post-game of the Melbourne Cup dominating TV.  I just can't seem to get into it.

• Its maddening the South Africa v Australia One Series is not on free-to-air TV. Though with the Australian performance - losing by 6 wickets with 120 balls to spare - maybe that is a small mercy that it is not on TV.  In case you were wondering the next ODI is on Friday from Adelaide. Hopefully a more competitive game.
• NZ lost 8/23 to lose the match and their T20 series against Pakistan 3-0. The NZ summer of cricket continues with Tests against Pakistan.
• The Champions League continues this week too with a few teams able to seal their passage into the next round on Wednesday and Thursday morning. Interestingly also this week was talk of a new European Super League. Not sure what I think about this.  I do kind of like the Champions League in its current form. 

.
.

Update...

I saw my palliative care doctor today, and I have a few prayer points and reflections from that. It has been quite draining just going in and out of hospital and I remain hopeful there are not more unexpected hospital visits. It was certainly easier to prepare myself and the family for the brain surgery because we knew not only what was happening but how long I was likely to stay in hospital and how long the recovery would take. 

Next week, I’m seeing most of my Doctors and having some scans, so my prayer is that I will again have a clearer picture of what the next few months will look like.

In terms of prayer, the last few months I have discovered my memory is not as good as it was, and its certainly confronting being told stuff you have absolutely no recollection of. It is confronting realising that being alone with me is not among the safer places for my children and I know I’m not the man, husband and father I want to me because of my disease, the drugs and the interplay between the two. I certainly find that hard.

I know that in the midst of this, I serve a God who is faithful and true, who is love, and His love for each of us, led Him to Calvary.

In him, I have redemption and strength. In you, your love and prayers I also have strength. I honestly don’t know how far along this road I would have gone without my family and friends (without you – without your prayers and practical support).

Please keep praying, and I will give another update next week with what, God-willing, will be a clearer picture of my treatment and my prognosis.

What I've been into October

Wow, I’m back to writing other post on what I’ve been into this month. Given that I spent two full weeks in hospital I have been able to get a little more reading done than usual.

The highlight for the month was Leigh Sales ‘Any Ordinary Day’ it certainly gave me a lot to think about around the topic of resilience and dealing with adversity.

Other books I’ve read – Carly Gelsinger on her Christian upbringing and how toxic Christianity can be; Boys will be Boys by Clementine Ford – really thought provoking book about raising boys. I also finished Gillian Triggs memoir. Both Carly and Clementine's books left me unsettled in how both revealed so much about me that I don't (and didn't) like. I'm certainly not the fundamentalist teenager I was, and I'm so thankful to God for that. I know as a father of two children I'm playing such a significant role in shaping how they understand themselves, their identity and the world in which they live. I think I want to equip them to ask questions, not to have down-pat answers. 

I’m now working my way through Geraint Thomas book - The World of Cycling According to G. Geraint is a cyclist – I don’t know much about either Geraint or cycling as a sport (though I certainly understand its appeal) – so it has been making for interesting reading.

Onto the music front. During my last stay in hospital, I decided to work on a few playlists. The first was focused around some of the music I listened to while I was in high school (excluding U2 and R.E.M.) I was inspired seeing a list of nominees for entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Def Leppard was up so I decided to start the playlist with them, and other rock bands I was introduced to while I was at school, which aren't necessarily household names like Mr Big, Living Colour, Extreme and Dream Theatre, so I labelled the list Rediscoveries. 

I expanded it out to included other bands I was listening to in 1991-92 like Genesis (We Can't Dance), Scorpions (Crazy World), Metallica (Metallica), Phil Collins (Both Sides of the Story) and some of the one hit wonders from the year like Ugly Kid Joe. Funnily enough a few of these bands, Def Leppard, Scorpions, Bon Jovi and Phil Collins are all due to tour our shores over the next few months.

The other playlist I decided to try my hand at creating featured Australia and New Zealand music. I do have to admit I was a little less happy with it because it is a little light on the New Zealand front and I’m not happy with the female artist representation, so will work on fixing that. Maybe with Australia claiming a lot of successful Kiwi’s as theirs I have more New Zealand representation than I think.

Under the Radar have updated their playlist on Spotify so I will check out that too as its been a great way of finding new Christian music.

I'm a great fan of Spotify. It made it easy to compile the playlists and listen to them while I'm on the go. 

Onto TV. Not a lot here  I’ve been watching a little bit more of Suits, and have been appreciating it as I go. 

I generally spend a more time watching kids TV mostly Lego – Ninjago and True and the Rainbow Kingdom,  Both shows are fascinating and frustrating at the same time. Particularly in the light of the messages they send young boys and girls.

I've just started trying to rewatch News Room as well. 

Sporting shorts

So, I thought I'd take some time to write a little on sport for the week.

Cricket

• Australia's series against Pakistan finished with one of Australia's heaviest defeats in terms of runs (373). I didn't realise at the time but of the team that won the Ashes against England the only players likely to face India are Lyon, Starc, Paine. There's question marks over the Marsh brothers and Khawaja now sadly injured. I might be wrong, but I feel Maxwell has to be a chance. The Marsh brothers did play well in the Ashes so maybe the selectors should stick with them. It will be interesting to see who they go with for the first test against India which starts on December 6. 
• Before then Australia's Men's team has T20 Internationals against UAE, Pakistan, South Africa and India, and the Women have their own T20 World Cup coming up soon.

World Series

• The World Series starts soon and will feature the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. Should be quite an interesting series.

Other

• Great to see Wimbledon change the rules and move to a tie-breaker rather than advantage at 12-12 in the fifth set. It will be interesting to see if the Australian and French Open decide to follow suit.  
• The Australian Basketball and Football (Soccer) season started over the weekend. Feel it is hard for those sports because people who love Soccer and Basketball tend to follow the US (Basketball) or European (Soccer) competitions instead of the local game.  It did not escape my attention that the Wellington Phoenix started their season with a win :)

Boys will be boys - Clementine Ford

Just finished reading Clementine Ford’s ‘Boys will be Boys’, it certainly wasn’t an easy read. It’s certainly left me a little emotional and unsettled once I finished. It’s in part because I know what Clementine writes about the lived experience of women in our society scratches the surface of reality, and that anyone could be subjected to what women and girls are subject to is difficult to deal with. Secondly as a father of both a boy and girl the reality of my responsibility and weight of my failings has really hit me.

The book also touches on domestic labour and the mental load of running a house, and while I feel I could fairly say I carry my weight in terms of domestic labour, it would be fair to say I don’t do my fair share in terms of carrying the mental load of running our household.

The book talks a little about stereotypes and how we socialise boys and girls differently. I want my son to know its okay to be sensitive, it is okay to cry, gentleness is appropriate and not weak. Likewise, I want my daughter to chase her dreams – whatever they are. I want her to be free to assert her opinion without being labelled bossy or coping abuse.

I’ve quite often flipped pronouns as I’ve been reading books to the kids, and It is difficult finding good books and TV shows to show the kids in terms of gender representation. The way women are portrayed in film is concerning to me. How women are represented on TV matters.

I’m longing for more stories written by women, featuring well developed female characters that aren’t simply a love interest or tack-on.

I found the section about ‘rape’ the most confronting. I’ve started trying to teach my kids about consent now and will continue to do that as they grow.

I think what I have found confronting about the book is that I’ve been reminded that the standard I walk past is the standard I accept. I need to acknowledge how is the past I’ve stayed silent when I should have called out sexist behaviour. I also know that I haven’t always given my son a great example of how to treat women.

I’m thankful to Clementine Ford for writing the book. The letter she writes to her son to conclude is beautiful and captures many of the things I need to understand and pass on to my son.

Yes, I would recommend that all men, fathers read this book. Like I said it won't be an easy read, but I think it is an important read.

On Christian music

Just finished listening to an interesting podcast, focusing on the question of the 'best year' for Christian music. The answer offered by the podcast is 1998 (for a list of reasons see here).

Personally, I find it hard to disagree. At the time I was working out the sort of music I wanted to listen to and 1998 offered such a broad range of artists across different styles of music especially Christian music,

Many of the artists I listened to then I'm still listening to now. Artists like The Normals (and their lead singer Andrew Osenga), Jars of Clay, Nichole Nordeman, Sarah Masen and Jennifer Knapp.

That said, I'm a huge fan of the independent Christian music scene now. There are so many great independent Christian artists.

I love how with platforms like Kickstarter and Pledgemusic you can support them, with platforms like facebook and twitter you can interact and communicate with them.

Follow the leader ....

As I mentioned in my last blog post I was going to look at reading Laura Tingle’s Quarterly Essay on Leadership next. I’ve now done that. It is quite an interesting read. It certainly makes me reflect on the absence of political leadership in our country. I look at both our major parties and I see no vision for what Australia can or should be. To me, Abbott was defined by what he was against, Turnbull never fought for his beliefs but yielded ground on everything and it isn’t really fair to judge Morrison yet, but I’m not hearing a narrative from him about what he believes Australia can (or should) be, so I will be listening out for that  as we get closer to our election. What I’m yearning for is big ideas about where we should be going as a nation, new ways to handle complex issues like immigration and refugees and taking some steps on improving how we treat our first peoples.

I certainly agree with Tingle that we haven’t seen a Prime Minister guide and lead a discussion on a difficult and complex policy issue we face. We need a Prime Minister who makes it their role to reshape and recast how political discussions happen. To me it seems Howard was the last Prime Minister who embraced tough reform and sought to explain it to the electorate.

The essay also talks about Obama, Merkel Marcon and Trump and how they differ from what we’ve seen in Australia to date. She talks about how Merkel leads from ‘behind’, waiting to the last moment to communicate her position and decision, for Marcon is about creating a new grand narrative, giving people direction and vision. The interesting point she makes about Obama is did he use his oratory ability to persuade, lead or drive change in the electorate. The danger of Trump is that when he’s criticised he doubles down on his position and creates a twitter-storm. He appears unwilling to listen to advice.  

I would encourage you to read the essay and think about the sort of leadership you want, then let that influence your political action, beginning with your vote.

On the reading table..

Decided to take some to write a little about what I've been reading.  As I mentioned I had been working my way through Gillian Triggs' memior 'Speaking Up', which to be fair is as much about Gender and Human Rights in Australia (perhaps focused on the rights of refugees and our first peoples) as it is about Trigg's and her career. 

One of the issues she touches on is quotas. Its hard not to see a value in quotas and the change that representation in parliament will make. I certainly believe you can't be, what you can't see.

Was intrigued as I read to see how Australia's attitude to human rights and our obligations has seemingly changed from being involved in drafting these documents, and leading these discussions to evading the obligations contained in both the letter and spirit of the documents in question.

I am also reminded of how progressive NZ is, and that I'd like to see Australia take a leaf or three out of NZ's book particularly when it comes to indigenous rights and recognition within parliament and broader society. Both major parties are failing the leadership test in terms of pushing or driving change in terms of indigenous rights, rights of the refugee.

Her chapter about Adam Goodes and the abuse he copped is also well worth the read. Adam Goodes treatment is a black spot in our history. We can and must do better when it comes to how we treat indigenous people, and particularly indigenous people who decide to speak up and out about their treatment.

The book didn't really address the question, but I do wonder what she is doing now. I'm certainly thankful for her work and believe that our Liberal Government has treated her appallingly.

Given the enforced time in bed I have also been able to read Yuval Noah Harari's 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. I didn't know much about the author prior to starting to read the book. It was a really fascinating look at what the future may hold.

I found the chapters on God and religion to be interesting while I didn't completely agree with them I do think religion does face a battle for relevance in its future. I certainly think religion is relevant and has an important role in shaping both individuals and society it appears this is a less common thought than it used to be.

Harari certainly made me think about a range of social issues and the impact they may have on us as people and societies. Well worth a read.

Next on my list is Laura Tingle's Quarterly Essay on Leadership which is now relevant again with Australia having a 'new Prime Minister'. Questions about leadership will certainly be on my mind as we approach the election next year. To me, Australia is crying out for real leadership and I don't think I see genuine leadership in either Scott Morrison or Bill Shorten.

Sporting shorts

The final weekend of the Rugby Championship was a story of comebacks – the All Blacks trailed South Africa 13-31 before coming back to win, the Wallabies trailed Argentina 7-31 at half time.

The Spring tour at the end of next month will be interesting, but its really next year - the World Cup year that matters. 

The International Cricket Season started this week too with the New Zealand Women’s team just swept by the Southern Stars in their three-game Twenty-20 Series. I didn’t look at the scores but its fair to say NZ left their best cricket at home and put in three disappointing performances. 

I know I had similar thoughts to this last year, but it seems tougher writing about the sport during the off season of the AFL and Rugby League. 

That's not to say I'm not following a bit of sport at the moment. I’m keeping tabs on Cricket, Baseball, Basketball, the NFL. Given ESPN is part of Optus’ Fetch TV package I’m able to see a little bit more live coverage some American sport. The NBA starts in another 10 days and at this stage I find it hard to go past Golden State Warriors to win, the NFL is now four games into their season and I just don't know enough to predict a winner. 

New to Optus for the 2018/19 season is European Soccer, which is perhaps a touch surprising given their World Cup disaster earlier in the year. I don't mind the surprise as it was so great to see Arsenal's Europa League tie. 

It is quite a big year for European Soccer with a new tournament being added. The UEFA Nations League is a European competition with matches being held during the ‘international windows’ when ‘friendlies’ were usually played. (Read more about the tournament here). 

With ‘American’ sport – In most of the codes it’s an appreciation of the contest without loyalty to a team or player. There’s certainly something enjoyable about being able to watch a game without having a vested interest in the outcome. Though, that said, I did decided to follow the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team and probably have cost them any chance of success in the near future ;)

One strange thing about American sport is the fact that franchises can move cities. Still seems sad to me that Seattle don't have a basketball team based in their city.

The one thing I would like transplant from the US is a rotating city hosting the Championship game. In thinking about both AFL and NRL, I can certainly see Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney all hosting the Grand Finals. 

I think it would certainly broaden the appeal of the game, and I prefer that than to move towards a best of three final series which has been talked about in relationship to the AFL.

All that said, I think you can expect some irregular posts on the European Soccer, especially the continental competitions where you find Football's best players. I might post a little more about the World Series and Superbowl but we'll see. 

Any Ordinary Day – Leigh Sales.

So, after going to the Leigh Sales talk about her book earlier in the week, I finally finished reading it. It’s just a wonderfully written book. I have an immense amount of respect for Leigh in terms of the work she does on the 7.30 report. She’s certainly one of the many reasons I respect and trust the work of the ABC.

Leigh’s professionalism is clear for all to see in how open and candidly she discusses some of the mistakes she has made in her career.

The book is an open and honest look at how people cope when their lives are turned upside down when life throws you a 'curveball'. Can help but say I'd been very interested in reading some of the academic papers she came across in preparing the book. 

I wasn’t really expecting a big or detailed conversation about religion in the book, but that came out clearly, particularly in the interviews with Michael Spence and Louise Hope. Lousie Hope who was one of the many held captive during the Lindt Coffee shop siege during 2014. 

Michael Spence is the Chancellor of Sydney University and his wife died suddenly from cancer. The Spence family are deeply religious and there was a lot which resonated from their comments about their experiences.

The section which perhaps caught me the most by surprise was Sales discussion with former Prime Minister John Howard. Howard ]created a reputation for himself as 'mourner in chief'. He was Prime Minister after Port Arthur (1996), September 11 (2001) and the Bali Bombing (2002). He certainly spoke of our nation’s grief during these times. 

As an aside I do miss a Prime Minister like Howard (or Keating for that matter), where you knew what you were going to get, and they stayed in the job long enough to make a difference. 

In many ways the book tapped into how I’m approaching life with cancer, and how my faith interplays with the fact that I have cancer. The overarching theme I want to have or live by is why not me. Why not me, in the sense of how I can redeem the season I’m in. Thinking about how people find resilience and hope when the world the knew is turned upside down.

What I've been into - September 2018

In terms of what I've been reading, watching and listening to, I shared that in the post about what I did in hospital.  The only couple of things to add was that I've now started reading Leigh Sales book  Any Ordinary Day. In the book Leigh Sales details what happens the day after your life is turned upside down. A lot of publicity on the book talks about Phillip Hughes (a cricketer killed on the field in 2015) and the back stories of the workers caught up in the Lindt Cafe siege. Interwoven with those stories is some of the tragedies from her own life and the story of Stuart Diver.

I was lucky enough to hear her speak about the book at Stanton Library this week. She's such a wonderful engaging speaker and worthwhile listening to. I'm looking forward to getting deeper into the book.  As an aside, I'm certainly going to keep my eyes open to see what other events Stanton Library has on.

Onto the music front. The album I'm really listening to a bit this month is Andrew Osenga's 'The Painted Desert'. Andrew Osenga is one of my favourite singer-songwriters who writes deep, and at times challenging songs. He is one reason that every so often I dream of travelling to Nashville to spend a month just listening to live music.

On to TV, I watched the pilot of '13 Reasons Why' the other day. It is a really interesting looking show and one that I'll look at more deeply soon.

I've kind of covered the other more personal health update here. The only thing to add here is that I'm going to go back onto Chemo in the next few weeks as the last time my lungs were treated was late July. The alternative drug they are thinking about for me is still being cleared for the PBS. A process which seems to take it's time. 

Sporting shorts - No 30.

And with that weekend the football seasons are over. I can't recall what happened, but I didn't end up watching the Rugby League grand final. I had a great afternoon watching the AFL grand final with friends

NRL

• Was great to read that Cronk played in the final
• For me, it is hard not to say the best team on balance through the year won the competition. 
• A massive congrats to the Brisbane Broncos winner of the first Women's competition. 
• I'm really looking forward to the Indigenous v Maori game which will start next year's season. 

AFL

• The loss will hurt Collingwood, they certainly started brilliantly but weren't able to sustain that effort across the four quarters. 
• Luke Shuey was the deserved Norm Smith Medallist. 
• Such a great story too, given West Coast were tipped by most to miss the finals. 

Rugby

• With their win against Argentina, the All Blacks won the championship with a game to go. 
• Australia lost again and have now slipped to 7th in World Rankings. 

That's it for sporting shorts for the year, we'll see what 2019 brings.

'Letting go ... and letting God'

One of the bloggers I’ve been following Addie Zierman has been doing a link up, and the topic has been ‘to let Go, and let God’.

In many ways that’s a phrase I’m trying to adopt on so many different levels. I don’t know a whole lot about the season of life I’m in - I don’t know why I am walking through it, I don’t for how long and how the story ends. 

As an aside If you could tell me, I don’t really know that I would really want you to, I see some positiveness in it just ending without a countdown or fanfare.

I do find a sense of peace in letting go. Letting life take its course. I’ve often said that I want to make the most of the season I am in. I want to be open to be used by God, whatever that looks like. I don’t want to be a prisoner of the disease and its impacts

I guess, ‘letting God’ in the situation I am in, is entrusting my present and future to him. I am not prisoner to anything but praying that God enables me to see both the big and little signs of his grace and activity in my life. I have been trying to think in terms of why not me. How can I use the season I’m in to bring God glory?

I think ‘letting God’ is freeing. Freeing in the sense that we can’t control the outcome, so we don’t think about it, but also freeing me up to think about Him, and living in His world. How can I bring light and life to friends and family now? I guess I see that as not leaving the positive unsaid or undone, taking the time to tell people what I think now.

Letting the fact that God has experienced the darkened valleys shape how I think about the season I’m in. God knows pain, and on top of that pain, sorrow and tears will be dealt with completely. 

Update

It is quite hard to believe, but I’ve now been out of hospital for the longest since I had the tumour removed (in August), and in many ways I’m actually also feeling the best I have post operation. In that light I thought it timely to give a little bit of an update on where things are sitting.

Since the tumour was removed I’ve been in hospital (read ED) each week. The positive point to start with is that the tumour in my brain has been removed and I have had two of five radiotherapy treatments on the area. The scans they have done since my surgery are showing that the swelling is reducing, and it is healing as anticipated. I am having radiotherapy to reduce the likelihood the tumour will come back.

What radiotherapy involves is lying down on the scanning bed, they then affix a mask over my head to assist in keeping me still before administering the dose. I'm blessed I don't reel too claustrophobic when you combine the machine and mask.

The whole process takes about 15-20 minutes to do. The main side-effects is likely tiredness, the impact is cumulative too so once we finish the cycle (8 October) it might be at its worst.

Once the treatment process here is done, we will go back to focusing on the tumours in my lungs. These tumours have been playing up a little and I’ve been experiencing the odd bit of shortness of breath or chest-pain. I’ve been giving medicine to help deal with this too. It is the first time that I’ve really be symptomatic.

The past few weeks have been quite a tough period. It was testing being in and out of hospital, tough for me in terms of re-entering life and conserving my energy. I’m planning to take some time to talk with an Occupational Therapist about energy conversation and what I can do to manage my tiredness better.

My last hospital stay was down to an infection, and they have noted that my right kidney is not draining properly, and a stent needs to be installed to reduce the chance of a future infection. It seems like this would be a day or overnight procedure and timing wise would fit after the radiotherapy, and before I go on new medical to deal with the tumours in my lungs but we're still waiting to find out some details there.

So, I now feel that I know what is happening for the short term.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I know that I’m in the very best hands. I really cannot fault the staff who have treated me; I cannot fault them in terms of their professionalism, courtesy, knowledge and patience. Our medical system certainly isn’t perfect, but I’m comfortable and confident with the people I’ve met across the hospitals and allied health sector.
Beyond that, being known and loved by God who is walking with me and has secured my future is a great source of comfort.

What I've been into ...

Over the past few stays at hospital I’ve been able to discover a bit more music, books and a little television. So I thought that I’d take the time to share a few of these.  

Musically speaking – while I often have found U2 to be the soundtrack to my life and I certainly listened to Songs of Experience a lot while I was in hospital - I tried to listen to music from new artists too. 

I used Under the Radar to help. Under the Radar Media is an American based, independent Christian Music website. UTR had coincidentally just put together a playlist on Spotify, so I listened to that; exploring albums from artists I liked the sound of as I went through the playlist.

Some recent discoveries were Drakeford (a folk duo), Jillian Jones (probably folk as well).  The playlist included recent songs from long-term favourite artists of mine like Andrew Osenga, Andrew Peterson, Taylor Leonhardt and Christa Wells to name a few.

Another artist I listened to while I was in hospital was Shane & Shane – I really enjoyed hearing them sing some of the Psalms. The Psalms are a book of the bible I’ve found myself coming back to a bit over the last little while.

Bottom line – if you’re looking for more music, especially Christian music, and don’t know where to start I’ll totally recommend the Under the Radar playlist on Spotify. If you do like what you find – visit the artists website and buy their albums.

Onto books – the last few I finished were Father Rod Bower’s ‘Outspoken’, Behrouz Boochani’s ‘No Friend but the Mountains’ and Kon Karapanagiotidis’ ‘Power of Hope’. Each of which are powerful works, challenging reminders of the times we are living in and in their own way each provoked me to think about the person I am and the life I'm living. 

Boochani is a detainee on Manus Island and writes an account from the prison. His book is a reminder to me that the Australian government and opposition have lost their moral compass. It certainly is a difficult read. It is hard to read it and not be moved by it - moved to action, moved to dismay that our political leadership sees Manus Island and what it represents as how to best deal with refugees. 

Father Bower currently serves at Gosford Anglican Church and came to prominence through some of the messages he has put up on the churches sign board. The church speaks with a compelling voice for social justice. The book is autobiographical and details Rob’s life and ministry, but at the same time offers a challenge to Christians in terms of how they live out and let their faith impact their life.

Kon’s book the Power of Hope is not only autobiographical but details an Australia we could be prouder of, in terms of how the country treats our first peoples, refugees and women. 

Implicit in all three books is the challenge we face to help make Australia better than it is, and to make our world a better place. I know that I’ll be re-reading the books by Kon Karapanagiotidis and Father Bower, primarily to think more about their manifesto for change in themselves.

Currently on my to read list is Dr Kirstin Ferguson's 'Womenkind' which recaps her Celebrating Women project from last year; Leigh Sales new book 'Any Ordinary Day: Blindsides, Resilience and What Happens After the Worst Day of Your Life' and Gillian Triggs' autobiography 'Speaking Up'.

Before leaving books, if anyone has any recommendations for some funny stories to read I’d love to get them, would make a change from the serious and challenging books I tend to read. 

On the TV front – I started to watch Suits. Started to watch might be slightly kind – I slept through some of it. But I plan to revisit it.

Last Monday night’s Australian Story, Four Corners and QandA were all quite exceptional.  The discussion on QandA was really fascinating, and I enjoyed listening to Germaine Greer more than I thought I would.  It has been a while since I really watched QandA and the episode seemed to do better than most at showing how good the show can be. I’m a big fan of the addition of the ‘People’s panellist’ who’s designed to represent the average punter.

Four Corners was a slightly depressing view about the state of aged care facilities in this country. It certainly will be interesting to see what is uncovered by the Royal Commission and what is done especially seeing as along with a Federal Election, elections in New South Wales and Victoria are imminent. I know that the picture of what Aged Care centres look like in Australia is more complicated than shown in the television show and there are some great homes out there, but that the incidents could happen at all is concerning.

Australian Story focused on the story of Emma Watkin (aka Emma Wiggle). Detailing how she became a ‘Wiggle’, her health battles and her relationship with ‘Lachy’ (the purple Wiggle). I certainly admire her openness about both her health and relationship with Lachy.

Sporting shorts - Number 29.

Preliminary final weekend done for another year. We started with twenty teams in both the league and AFL and are now down to the final two. I'm certainly not seeing the teams I would have predicted at the beginning or even half way through the year.

AFL

• We're looking at a Collingwood v West Coast Final. I know the unwritten law seems to be that the only option here is to cheer for West Coast, and I certainly will be cheering for West Coast but I can't help but what to praise Collingwood for keeping their faith in Nathan Buckley, and in some senses it would be fitting for him to end his career as a Premiership Coach. Sadly he never won the flag as a player. 
• Hard to believe but that was Collingwood's first finals win over Richmond in 80 years. 
• I haven't heard this out of Richmond, but the slowness of their start did make me wonder if they were harmed by having the 'bye' before their final and then the week off prior to the Preliminary final. I certainly felt the week off may have hurt Geelong last year too. 

NRL

• The final will see the Sydney Roosters tackle Melbourne. I'll be cheering for the Storm here. It's going to quite the anti-climax if Cronk's ruled out with injury and Slater is suspended. I think it's largely in how I hear some non-Melbourne fans talk about Melbourne which make it an easy decision to cheer for them.  I also really enjoy, for the most part, the way the play the game on the field. 
• I personally haven't seen the incident, so I won't comment on Slater's shoulder charge except to say that I hope he gets a fine and can play. He deserves to go out a champion. 
• In spite of the above with Napa and Mitchell back you think the Roosters will be a good chance to win. 
• Melbourne in many ways are a benchmark club in how they are run, and how they continue to seem to develop many exceptionally talented players

Other

• No Rugby Championship games this weekend, that competition will resume next weekend with Australia travelling to South Africa, and New Zealand in Argentina. 
• The English Soccer is settling down to business as usual pretty much - Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea leading the way as three unbeaten teams. As for Arsenal, they had a tough start to the season but are slowly improving. 
• I'm looking forward to following the European Champions League which started this week. 
• Didn't realise is started so early, but the Domestic Cricket Season is already upon us, with Warner and Smith starting out on their 'redemptive' journey in Grade Cricket this weekend, and the Inter-State One Day Competition starting this week too. 

Sporting shorts - Round 28.

Well we're almost there, Prelim Final weekend's coming up. It's setting up nicely for a Sydney team to win the League and a Melbourne team the AFL, but we'll see. This weeks post has been delayed by another hospital stay, but I'm hoping to be home tomorrow, and enjoy the Preliminary Final weekend and Grand Final weekend from home rather than hospital.


NRL

• Penrith tried for one comeback too many and are now out with a one point loss to the Sharks. 
• The Dragons were perhaps a touch unlucky but its lovely to see the Bunnies in the Preliminary Final. Who knows the Sexting controversy might just help them along the tough finals road. 
• Next weekend Cronulla play Melbourne and Souths tackle the Roosters. Melbourne can make their third Grand Final in three years and I think this is the Roosters six Preliminary final in as many years.
• Laying my cards on the table - I'm going for the Storm to win the competition (and probably beat Cronk's Roosters to do it). It is easier than I thought to cheer for Melbourne because of the rabid dislike some Sydney residents have for them. 

AFL

• Relieved the Demon's win. Who'd have thought at the start of the year Collingwood, West Coast and Melbourne would be playing Preliminary finals. 
• Massive credit to Nathan Buckley - midway through last year (or maybe the year before) he endured the often terminal coaching review and the team have done incredibly well this year. 
• Sadly, the two teams I care about are on the same side of the draw with Melbourne playing in Perth. Just can't be a fan of Richmond or Collingwood. 
• I'm expecting Richmond to play Melbourne in the first all Melbourne final for a few years. My heart is with Melbourne but sadly my head is saying Richmond will be to good this year. 

Rugby

• Feel like maybe All Blacks go what they deserved - still likely to win the championship but would have liked a win over the weekend :) I think they just need to avoid defeat in their next game. 
• Surprised that Argentina won in Australia. I do feel that the Puma's have improved since they've been part of the Rugby Championship.
• Can't really pick a pecking order for the World Cup. Yes I suspect NZ will start favourites, Ireland are my dark horse. 

Other

• Saddened that Glen Maxwell didn't get a call up for the upcoming tests against Pakistan. Given the players still banned it seems like the perfect time to give him another go. 
• So, we're week two into the new NFL season and for me the biggest news is the Browns didn't lose their first game - it finished in an overtime tie. We'll see how the teams settle.  I think I need to work out who to cheer for, might need help in working out who to go for. NFL seems to be a sport where the teams can move cities. At the moment - I'm leaning to Seattle because a good friend lives there.
• The MLB is heating up with just the wild card races to decide. The Blue Jays won't make the post season this year but seem to have done slightly better than last year :)  So there is still hope :) 

Sporting shorts - No. 27

So, let's be honest, the weekend didn't quite go the way I was hoping in Rugby League or the AFL, at least the All Blacks did okay :) 

AFL

• The Swans just didn't show up and deservedly paid the price. I didn't really expect to win but I hoped for more fight. Hard to believe but Sydney lost seven games at the SCG this year. 
• Was really great to see Melbourne play well and win their final. I'll be cheering from them to go all the way now. 
• Richmond did what everyone expected in clicked into finals mode and are in the Preliminary Final. Will be interesting to see how they go with another week off.  Given that the West Coast Eagles host the other Preliminary Final, maybe we are looking at the West Coast-Richmond Grand final. 
• Next week we see Colllngwood host the Giants and Hawthorn play Melbourne.

NRL

• Was so great to see the launch of the Women's Competition over the weekend. Part of me wanted to see more than four teams take part, but its good to see the NRL take it slowly and build a great competition from the ground up. 
• Didn't expect to see the Dragons live to fight another week but with their injury toll next week might be tough. 
• The Warriors looked out of their depth on the weekend. Will be cheering for the Panthers now. 
• Have to admit, if I was the CEO of the NRL I would be concerned in the crowd figures from the Semi-Finals. I'm not sure what we do solution wise, but it does seem Sydney-siders prefer to watch the games on TV rather than at the ground.  
• Next weekend we see the Sharks tackle Penrith and the Rabbits play the Dragons. Again, the two teams I care the most about are on the same side of the draw. 
• One of the things that caught me eye over the weekend was the story about referees potentially going on strike over their pay. It certainly feels to me we need to pay our referees more. 

Tennis

• Congrats to Naomi Osaka winner of the US Open. Deserved champion. If my memory is correct the last eight Grand Slam tournaments have been won by different women
• I am a fan of Serena Williams, and to me she's certainly one of the best players who have played tennis, but she's let herself down in how she's handled moments like this.
• A couple of points, I do think the tennis has made its own bed by not really stamping down hard on abuse of umpires. Secondly, like Rugby League I think tennis does need to invest more money in its umpires. 
• Was great to see Djokovic win too.
• Couple of other great stories from the tournament - John Millman's win over Federer and Ash Barty winning the Women's Doubles with CoCo Vandeweghe. Here's hoping it leads to some great things for Ash Barty next year. 

Rugby Union

• Certainly feel it was a significant win for the Wallabies over the weekend. Hoping its a sign of a tight world cup next year. 

Cricket

• Congrats to Alistair Cook on a wonderful career for England - and to finish with a century in his last innings is really fitting. He was such a joy to watch. 
• It will be very intriguing to see how the series between Australia and India goes at the end of the year. I'm leaning softly to Australia winning the test series, but time till well.

Sporting Shorts - No 26

Well it is now September which means its almost footy finals time. The last round of the NRL was played, and AFL had their prefinals bye and the Rugby Championship had a week off.

AFL

• I have to admit, I'm not a fan of the week off, I do not really think it adds anything, and also reduces the advantage of finishing in the top four. 
• There are some intriguing match ups - Richmond v Hawthorn (Thursday), Melbourne v Geelong (Friday) and then the two Saturday games Sydney v Giants and West Coast v Collingwood. 
• I'm tipping Richmond to beat Hawthorn; Melbourne to beat Geelong, the Giants to beat Sydney and West Coast to beat Collingwood. 

NRL

• Was quite a fascinating round of Rugby League fixtures with the composition of the top eight not confirmed until after the Broncos-Manly game. With the top eight separated by just two points its been the closest finish in NRL history. 
• Was impressed with Penrith who travelled to Melbourne and won to cement their place in the eight, and maybe earn a home final. 
• The Roosters won their fourth minor premiership in six seasons after a comprehensive win over Parramatta. Is the reward for the Minor Premiers enough?
• The Warriors win was good for the form line of the team, but given other results may not mean too much. 
• Was glad to see Thurston go out a winner - will miss his humility, his laughter, his grace and just watching him play. 
• Here's the line up for the NRL Semi Finals - Storm - Rabbitohs, Panthers - Warriors, Roosters - Sharks, Broncos - Dragons. There's some pretty intriguing match ups. My predictions - Storm, Panthers, Roosters, Broncos.

Rugby

• The Rugby Championship has a week off which is good I guess, gives everyone a chance to recover :)

Other

• The other thing that caught my eye was the Umpire in the US Open who got down off his chair and gave Kyrgios a 'pep-talk'. I'm still trying to work out what I think about it. I don't think the talk changed the result of the match, but was asking Krygios if he was okay out of line?
• Don't really think there is too much more to say sports wise - the draw for the group stage of the European Champions League was made, still can't really see any surprises. I'll be expecting more of Manchester City this year. 

What I've been in to - August

This month's 'What I'm in to'is being written at North Shore Private hospital. I was admitted this week to have a tumour removed from my brain. The surgery went well. I will spend this coming weekend in hospital to recover.

As I've written elsewhere - I'm so very thankful for our health system, and the people working in it. I'm relieved the operation went well even if feeling a little sore and tired. I'm so very thankful to have so many wonderful people walking along this road with me.

What I've been reading
August has been quite a productive month for reading. I've mostly read non-fiction books:

• Lizzie Marvelly - 'That F Word Growing Up Feminist in Aotearoa' 
• Brene Brown - 'Braving the Wilderness'
• Austin Channing-Brown - 'I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness'
• Kon Karapanagiotidis - The Power of Hope
• William McInnes - Fatherhood
• Richard Glover - Flesh Wounds
• Titus O'Rielly - A Thoroughly Unhelpful History of Australian Sport
• Erin Loechner - Chasing Slow: Courage to Journey Off the Beaten Path
• Rebecca Solnit - The Faraway Nearby

Of the above, the highlights were Kon K's book The Power of Hope, Titus O'Rielly's book on sport, and Lizzie Marvelly's book about growing up feminist in New Zealand.  I recommend everyone reads Kon's book, a really powerful and moving book. Titus O'Reilly's book details the place of sport in Australian society. Lizzie's book details feminsim in New Zealand (and I extrapolate probably Australia too).  It's saddening to read, because it highlights the lived experience of so many women in our world. 

What I've been listening to

On my playlist through August has been Wildness (Snow Patrol) and a collection of Christian songs that we sing at church.  September will see me dig into U2's music, as they are back on the road again. Still sad there is no Australian tour, but can kind of understand why it is difficult to come to Australia/NZ/Africa and Asia.  I'm also digging into Bon Jovi because one of my their best albums 'New Jersey' will turn 30 this year.  I haven't got tickets, but I'm still thinking of seeing Bon Jovi later this year if seats are available. Even though they won't be the same without Richie Sambora they can still write a great tune and out on a great show. 

On the music front, apparently Pearl Jam may have a new album coming out. They're another band I'd love to see. I'm also tempted by Phil Collins who is touring early next year. 

Keen for recommendations too if anyone has some :)

What I've been Watching

Just a few here, even though it has been sad, I've enjoyed watching 'Call the Midwife'. Thanks to Jen Carrick's recommendation I started on Suits. Just the pilot to date, but I might watch more tomorrow (Editor's note, perhaps sleep through rather than watch, can't blame the show though ;))

Sporting shorts no 25

Well we've almost got there - the AFL 'home and away' season finished today - the NRL have one more round next weekend while the AFL use next weekend for their pre-finals bye and has the weekend off.

Onto the football

AFL

• Haven't really be surprised by much this weekend. Yes, I certainly wanted to see the Swans win this weekend, but now they're hosting the Giants in Sydney for a final. I can't help but wonder if playing every week might suit the Swans. That said, I don't think we're good enough to do much damage in the finals. 
• Have to take my hat off to Alistair Clarkson and the work he has done with Hawthorn to get them into top four - and a serious challenger for the title. 
• The first week of the finals sees some mouthwatering matchups - Richmond v Hawthorn; Collingwood v West Coast, Sydney v Giants and Melbourne v Geelong. I'm expecting Richmond, Collingwood, Sydney and Geelong to win. 

NRL

• The Warriors make the final for the first time in seven years. A win next weekend with some fortunate results and they will host a game otherwise they play in Sydney. To be honest I can see them doing much damage in a final, but I that sport is full of surprises
• Was a little stunned to see the Bulldogs big win over the Dragons, and with the Rabbits and Roosters both losing, Melbourne are now in the drivers seat for the minor premiership plate. 
• There's a lot of movement still possible within the eight before we have our finals match-ups
• I agree with Craig Bellamy that more needs to be done to reward clubs who develop and nurture their young players - salary cap concessions seems like a great way to do this. 

Rugby

• Great win by Argentina this morning. Both the BlackFerns and All Blacks had good solid wins against Australia. Barrett really showed his class with a four try performance. There's a week off next weekend before the next tests.
• Hoping that we now see the Women's World Cup awarded to New Zealand and another sell-out final played at Eden Park - but we'll see. 

General

• I'm really looking forward to the final series - and some great football, where I'm not overly invested in the results. I'm looking forward to seeing the Women's Rugby League competition start too. It will be well worth following. 

Sporting shorts - No. 24

Well another really big weekend of football is over. I had planned to watch at least some of it with Hamish. While he decided that other things were more appealing the results were a a healthy reminder to be a gracious winner. He has decided to choose the Wallabies and Giants as teams to support. Can understand both decisions, but it does make it hit home that when my team wins I need to be gracious, and when my team loses not to be too upset or to talk too much about the referees.

All that said, I should get back to the on field action.

Bledisloe Cup

• I’ll begin with the Rugby, it’s the sport which is the most significant to me. 
• It was a pretty impressive performance from the All Blacks. Made slightly easier by the inability of Australia to control their own line out ball. 
• Was so lovely that it was a doubleheader, as the women’s teams played before the men the NZ women won by 33-11. I think that makes sixteen straight wins to New Zealand. 
• The second Bledisloe cup test is in Auckland next week, with a third test to be played during October in Yokohama. 
• In the other Championship game, South Africa defeated Argentina by seven (31-24)

NRL

• The Warriors were defeated by the Bulldogs 26-27 in Sydney. While they will still stay in the eight it’s not the result I hoped for.
• With two games to go, I think the top eight is set. Positions in the eight may change but I can’t see the Tigers sneaking in. 
• Lovely to see Newcastle win, and the result means they’re unlikely to finish with the wooden spoon. 
• Aside from the Warriors, finding it hard to locate a team I want to win the Grand Final.

AFL

• Have to admit, that I was surprised by the Swans win in the derby against the Giants. The result means that the Swans will almost certainly play finals, and a win against Hawthorn next week may mean they will finish the season in the top four.
• I’m not reading too much into the Hawks tough win against St Kilda. They will be up for the game against us, and given our home record this year, I think I’d prefer the game in Melbourne. 
• Richmond are minor premiers, and still my favourite to win the grand final. 
• I guess Sydney could spring a surprise, but I’m not overly confident they will. 
• Awesome to see Melboune make the finals, I read for the first time in twelve years. If we don’t win the flag, I’ll be cheering for them. Or maybe West Coast. 

Soccer

• We’re now two rounds into the new English soccer season. I’m not panicking that Arsenal have lost to both Chelsea and Manchester City in the first two games of the season. Hoping to better results to come. 
• The other exciting thing is that the Spanish League are interested in holding games for points outside Spain, would love it if England did the same thing. 

Davis Cup

• Never really thought I’d be saying this, but I kind of like the changes to the Davis Cup competition. If it means more of the big name players play in the competition, it’s a good thing. 
• I wouldn’t made if they made the teams need to include one male and one female player. 
• I feel that competition will add to the tradition and history of the sport.

Think I’ll leave it here. 

Sporting shorts - No. 23

The seasons are now coming to a close with three rounds to go in the League before the final series and two more in the AFL. It’s meant the quality of football is improving and I think the competitions are really even with no really clear cut favourite. The talk on the League front is mostly about Penrith sacking their coach just before the final series starts and the Panthers haven’t been doing too bad.

AFL

• The Swans had a must win game against Melbourne and for once they managed to pull it of. Feel devasted for Alex Johnson, he has injured his other knee in his second game back after six years out. He deserved better ‘luck’. My gut tells me that if the Swans stay in the eight, they won’t do much damage. 
• It didn’t rate West Coast’s chances at the beginning of the year but they’re sitting second and may be a chance to win the competition. 
• The Giants are still a great chance to win, they are likely to get some key players back over the next few weeks
• Hawthorn are still in the hunt for a top four spot. Well done Clarkson, he has really done well in refreshing their team and players. 
• I think North Melbourne blew their chance to get into the eight. Essendon has games against Richmond and Port Adelaide so I think they’re gone too. After their loss to West Coast it seems Port Adelaide are trying to not play finals. 
• Sydney and Melbourne are the two teams in the most danger of slipping out of the eight. 

NRL

• I’ll start with the Warriors, they had a good win against Newcastle. One of the games they had to win if they want to be considered a chance for the title. I still wouldn’t put money on them to do much in the finals, but it looks like they will finish in the top eight.
• The Dragons are running away from finals football, with a 4-40 loss to the Eels. Have to admit, I really don’t know what’s happened to Eels. They were in my top eight at the start of the year. The Dragons were looking like Premiers in April. Now not so much. 
• Was stoked to see Cronulla beat Melbourne. I have a little soft spot for the Sharkies. They might be one of the dark horses along with the Panthers. 
• At the moment, I think one of the Rabbits, Roosters or Melbourne will win the title. It’d be fitting for Slater to end his career with a premiership. Slater is certainly one of, if not the best fullbacks I’ve seen play the game.

Rugby Union

• Not much happened over the weekend, but the Rugby Championship starts next weekend, with the Wallabies taking on the All Blacks in Sydney, and Argentina travelling to South Africa.
• Still think the Wallabies are a chance this year. 

Other

• Arsenal started the season as I expected, with a 0-2 loss to Manchester City. A little opimistic about Arsenal this year, their first year after Wenger’s retirement. Not optimistic that they will challenge for the title, but hopeful they will qualify for Europe. 
• As always, I’m looking forward to the European football leagues and continental tournaments starting. Don’t think we’re in for much of a surprise though. A team that has won the competition previously will win it again this year. 
• In Cricket, India may not be the challenge they were built into this year. England currently lead the test series 2-0. Apart from Kohli, India just haven't shown up. 
• I think the New Zealand Women’s team is over in Australia later this year, I may try and go to one of the games. 
• Other than that, I’m not sure what sport is on the horizon for the year. Next year has the Women’s Football World Cup and Australia has a realistic chance of winning: and we also have the Men’s Rugby World Cup in Japan which will be a fun tournament. 
• I don’t have a team, but the NFL starts early next month. It should be an interesting year, especially seeing I don’t have team I’m cheering for or against. It’s the best part of the season, everybody is 0-0 and the storyline is yet to be written. Anyone can win it. 
• In Baseball, hard to pick a favourite, but the Red Sox have the best record. My baseball team, Toronto’s Blue Jays won’t figure in the playoffs about 17 games out of the wildcard position. 
• The challengers at this point are the reigning champions (Houston Astros) and the Indians (Cleveland). Though I do wonder if there’s a team lurking in the background who will surprise us all.