Guidance from Culture..

Loved this article from the Herald earlier in the week about getting guidance from Albus Dumbledore, and the premise of a the book Slack is working on called What Would Dumbledore Do? - a self-help guide to living in the world according to the tenets of Albus Dumbledore.

It reminded me of a book that I read some time ago now called "I learned Everything I know from Watching Star Trek". There is some fun in this book but not sure there's any more than that.

Couple of Random Shorts..

I just finished reading Chris Abani's "Song For Night" last night. I linked to an excerpt from his address at the Brisbane Writers Festival last year. The address, along with this book is well worth a read. The story is the journey through a warzone from the perspective of a child soldier.

"Every star is a soul, every soul is a destiny meant to be lived out. They fill the night sky, revealing like a diviner's spread the destiny of those gifted in reading their drift, their endless shift, like a desert, revealing and burying the way alternatively.

I have killed many people during the last three year. Half of those were innocent, half of those were unarmed -- and some of those killings have been a pleasure. But event with all of this, even with the knowledge that there are some sins too big even for God to forgive, every night my sky is still full of stars; a wonderful son
for night." [page 59]

~~~~

On my travels through the papers was this piece by Richard Glover about how lives are governed by a web of rules, and this interesting article about research addressing a couple of paradoxes puzzling social scientists.

The first paradox is the widespread perception among Americans that the US is a politically polarized country, when in fact ... research shows that most Americans are neither consistently "liberal" nor "conservative." In fact, among self-declared Republicans, 85% take a non-conservative stance on abortion, affirmative action, or government support for health insurance. Similar counter-intuitive results can be found among self-declared Democrats.The second paradox is that people also tend to think that their friends' beliefs are more similar to their own than they actually are—suggesting that people don't know their friends as well as they think they do. [from Friend Sense]

More U2 Wordles

I recently posted a Wordle of U2's latest CD. This site here has 'wordles' of
all of their albums. Quite enjoyed having a look at it.

g-ball ....

I caught this via Google Australia this morning - apparently Google has come up with a new technology and created the gBall - more information is available here.

In other exciting news this morning was the development that Shane Warne was being flown to South Africa to join the Australia Cricket team. He is said to be thrilled to have received the SOS from Ricky Ponting. [I heard it via NOVA].

~~
Update: Pranksters out in force today... [via The Age]. And here [SMH]. Apparently the Guardian was going to the birds. [Tweet Tweet]. Anyone get any other ones?

32 Songs... in 8 minutes..

I loved this youtube clip..

Friday fun ..

Loved this story about Edgar Mueller's 3D art on the NineMSN website this afternoon.His drawings look so real. There are more photos here.

[.. happy birthday ... ]

I enjoyed this article about how Facebook impacted celebration of birthdays:

Birthdays used to be a measure of intimacy. Who remembered yours? Whose did you remember? The club was small, typically limited to family members, two high school pals, four college friends, two co-workers and one person you broke up with a long time ago.

The author goes on to remind us that -

Facebook is a giant non-stop birthday party. Every day, it reminds its members which of their "friends" are about to mark another year, which means that Facebook members are now likely to get more "Happy birthdays" in a single birthday than they've gotten in all their past years combined.

Facebook isn't the only prompt though ... how many people get automatic messages from mailing lists they are on, saying "Happy Birthday" or have an intranet which tells people at work. I guess there's perhaps something in this, but at the same time I do find it nice that people remember (and tell wish me a happy birthday via sms, email, card, or facebook message).

25 Random things...

No, I'm not succumbing and writing my very own list of 25 Random things. Rather I'm going to post a few random articles about "25 Random things". The first, is a direct reply, to the request to list 25 things.

I enjoyed this reminder, that while there are 25 things in each list, there is not necessarily much about it which is random, the 25 things we chose to say gives us a chance to paint our online persona a little more the way we want. And for those who are trying to work out 25 things to write, this article gives a few helpful pointers - such as recount a dramatic moment, like having your heart broken or getting arrested, but withhold details, forcing readers to ask for them in your "comments'' section. In case you didn't know, comments equate to status on Facebook even more than number of friends; and make one up. 

Here is another piece, reminding me that there's really nothing new about the 25 things list, as these quizzes have been doing the e-rounds for years, and this is article is another response to the 25 things I [don't] want to know about you...

Who throws a shoe - II

Here's a link to other forms of insults from around the world.. [via the NYT]

'Honestly ... who throws a shoe'

Yesterday morning, there was footage of an Iraqi journalist throwing not one - but both his shoes .. at President Bush, during a press conference. Today - the footage has circumnavigated the globe, and transformed into a game, be incorporated with footage of the three stooges; the Austin Powers film - to name a few. (Have a look at this article here).

40 Inspirational Speeches from Hollywood...

This is great ..

Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I'm not going home. We've come too far! And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I'm not saying it's going to be easy. You're going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That's how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you've got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You're like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death... that's the Chicago Way! Who's with me? Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let's fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our Independence Day! ::

Some Musical Fun ..

Via a U2 mailing list -- The Wiggles do U2

:: Corrected Link

Spring break...

I'm down in Canberra for the weekend, and spending a night keeping in touch with the NSW by-elections (yes, I am a dag).

Have had quite a lazy afternoon reading the papers, and a few articles really caught my eye: the first God, address unknown, escapes on technicality. Apparently, an injunction against God, to stop causing "widespread death, destruction and terrorisation of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants". failed, because God did not have an address. I have to admit that I found this to be quite amusing.  

Secondly, I really enjoyed the excerpt posted of Chris Abani's address 'When we cannot look away' given last month at the Brisbane Writers Festival. The quote below really hit me, as I think about what writers are seeking to do 

This is what the art I make requires of me, that in order to have an honest conversation with a reader, I must reveal myself in all my vulnerability. Reveal myself, not in the sense of my autobiography, but in the sense of the deeper self, the one we keep too often hidden even from ourselves.

 ~~~~

Recently I've been reading ...

… a bit about the Olympics, and the ‘b’ word. (That’s ‘boycott’ by the way)

I have to admit that I am moving towards a position of advocating ‘some-sort-of- boycott’; not only because of the recent developments in Tibet but also the Chinese role in Darfur.

Also consider,
A number of the arguments often used against such a move, are actually arguments in favour of such a move. (see Greg Baum’s article in The Age, referencing this article by Anne Applebaum)

when China won the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games seven years ago, Liu Qi, president of the Beijing organising committee and the then Beijing city mayor, told the International Olympic Committee: 'If Beijing wins its bid to host the Olympic Games, it will be conducive to China's economic and social progress; at the same time, it will also make further progress on the promotion of human rights.'

Wang Wei secretary-general of the Beijing 2008 Olympic bid committee, backed him up: 'We will grant full freedom of the press to the journalists coming to China; they will be able to visit Beijing and other Chinese cities and cover any news event before and during the Olympic Games. We will also allow demonstrations.'

Four months before the Games begin, those promises look shattered. China's human-rights record remains poor. Environmental, trade union and human-rights activists suffer house arrest or imprisonment, only tried under the catch-all charge of 'subverting state power'. This so-called crime saw human-rights campaigner Yang Chunlin condemned to five years' imprisonment last week. China has seen little progress towards more freedom of expression; the country executes more people and arrests more journalists than the rest of the world combined. It routinely blocks foreign news to which the state objects and censors the internet. The conditions that existed in 2001 have not improved at all; in many ways, they have worsened. [The Guardian]

The below comment from Applebaum also intrigued me:
Perhaps, the question we should now be asking Is what would an boycott look like – some European leaders have already indicated that they will not attend the opening ceremony, and it would not be a stretch for athletes to do likewise.

the modern Olympics were set up with a political purpose: to promote international peace by encouraging healthy competition between nations. Hence the emphasis on national teams instead of individual competitors; hence the opening and closing ceremonies—since copied by other sporting events—as well as the national flags and national anthems.

The Germany water polo team is going to wear orange robes to show solidarity with the Tibetan monks. The New York Times has a piece about decisions some American athletes are making.

… another bit from Kristof in the New York Times,
His Wikipedia of hope article was just an inspiring read.

… a April fools prank
Maybe not the best, but I thought it was quite good

Questions...

While we were in Melbourne, I saw quite a fascinating book: What are you optimistic about?, put out by Edge, in the books they pose a question, and then ask a number of 'thinkers' to provide an answer, after looking at their website, I discovered they pose a question each year.

The three recent questions were:

:: What are you optimistic about, and why? (2007)
:: What Is Your Dangerous Idea? (2006)
:: What We Believe but Cannot Prove? (2005)

And the question for 2008 is: What have you changed your mind about? Why? I'll have to have a look for these here.

~~~~

Incidentally, in case you were wondering 2008, is the International Year of Planet Earth, the year of the Potato, and the year of sanitation.

Random Links

Five Seconds Ok ?!

The roots of ethnic violence
Samantha Power’s book A Problem From Hell, mentioned in the article, looks like it will interesting, but no doubt depressing reading.

Questions from Life Being Beautiful

1. What is the most romantic/loving thing you have done in the name of love?

Oh golly... I think it is still to be done... But maybe God's got other ideas. I think I've done a few romantic things, flowers, calls.. and the like..

2. If you could star in any movie/broadway show/musical what would it be, who would you play and why?

Hmm this is tough. It's a preview of a later answer, but probably "Jean Valjean" from Les Miserables. The musical has such a rich tapestry of stories running through it. But in a sense the thread that holds that together is the story of Valjean (24601), and his response to the mercy that was shown to him.

3. What event in your life has been the most profound and why is that? How did God speak to you through it?

I think there are probably three big events that have shaped my life, that have challenged me as I seek to live for God. The first was when my family moved from Lower Hutt, the second was my time going into teaching, and the third was a conference I attended while at University, called Mid Year Conference. (I think I'll use this question as the heading for a seperate post).

4. What piece of literature do you wish you'd written and why?

I think the book that I wish that I wrote is Victor Hugo's classic "Les Miserables". It's a beautiful tale of mercy, justice and redemption, set with the backdrop of 19th Century Europe, in the midst of revolution.

The characters are beautifully constructed. (If you've seen the musical, you'll have a taste of what I mean).

5. What are you buying me for my birthday and what am I buying you?

I'm going to buy you a book. Not sure what however, but I think it would be something by C.S. Lewis, or J.I. Packer. You'd also probably buy me a book. a Christian book, not sure what though :)

These are the rules ...

1. If you want to participate, leave a comment saying "interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions—each person's will be different.
3. You will update your journal or blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

So ... as I type this, my mind is thinking of some questions to ask you all :)

Questions... courtesy of Jess

1. Easy one first - you recently went overseas - where did you go, and what was the best part about the places you went to?

That's a tougher question that you realise, but I'll live :) Well I spent for weeks, wandering around the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland. I really loved seeing parts of the world that were new to me. I'd been in London before, when I was about 7. But this was the first time that these places would leave more than an small impression.

Various things stood out. I went to the Arsenal v Manchester United (Charity Sheild Final). I spent a morning at Lord's. At the moment the one that really stands out was the Giant's Causeway. I was overwhelmed while I was there. It's simply unique.

Belfast really intrigued me. I felt while I was there it was two cities. There was the city which you and I are familar with, as we live in one - a normal city, going about its normal business - people going to work, university or school. But below that, it's not a normal city ... it's a city that's torn in two. It's a city filled with violence, and deep hatred. On the day I arrived I was told to not go into a certain pub. The night before I left I drank in an Loyalist Pub. So they city is divided.. but most of the people I met, were just trying to get on with their lives.

Edinburgh is my favourite city though. It's just such a romantic city. As for the time I spent in the highlands, both words, and photo's fail to do justice to it.


2. If you were stranded on a desert island (and it's a pretty sophisticated one!) what five things would you not be able to do without?

Hmm. I would take both paper, and a pen. (one item or two) ;) I'd need to take music. My Bible would be important too.

As for the last items. I'm not really sure.

3. What is your favourite music/artist? and why?

Toughie. The two artists that I really love at the moment are U2, and Nichole Nordemann.

Nichole is a brilliant christian singer, her latest CD has been living in my cd player pretty much since I bought it. It's mainly the words - she writes from the heart, with a refreshing honesty, and they challenge me.

U2 are a band that I have listened to for ages. Bono, to me, is one of the greatest lyricists. He writes beautiful and challenging songs, that really speak to the world in which we live. And whether he is a Christian or not, some of his songs have impacted the way I think about God.

4. How does a Kiwi guy survive in Australia?!

I guess pretty much the same way an Australian does... although somewhat more mocked.... (thank goodness the Bledisloe Cup is back home)

5. Has God been telling you anything profound lately? (I know, I know, I had to ask ONE spiritual one, didn't I?!)

Well. I've been really challenged to think about what I should do with my life. God has measured my days, and I need to redeem that time, in service to Him.